Help Tabitha Maggs Beat FIP

Hi, my name is Sam Maggs. You might know me from my books or comics or (worst of all) from the Internet, and I've never asked for money from the public, but I find myself in a desperate situation and now I have no choice: my beloved kitten, Tabitha (Tibby for short) is sick, and I need all the help I can get to help her get well again.

I adopted Tabitha in July of 2023, right before her first birthday, from a shelter in Los Angeles called Sante D'or. She's a rare kind of Siamese cat called a Snowshoe, and she is perfect: She loves belly rubs more than anything, adores sitting in laps, and has never once bitten or scratched anyone in her whole life. She's one and a half now and has never done anything wrong.

On Wednesday Feb. 7 I came home to find Tabitha hiding, extremely unusual behaviour from her. She was shaking and crying, didn't want to be touched, and was having difficulty walking—her back legs were uncoordinated. I took her to the emergency vet, who did bloodwork and took x-rays and told me it looked like constipation (frequent in cats) leading to a bit of an inflamed colon. We put her on laxatives and antibiotics.

I took Tabitha to her own vet the first opening they had, on Friday morning. She was improving, walking around fine, and had pooped twice. This was great news! The vet put her on a liver support pill and a probiotic and asked me to keep monitoring her.

By Sunday afternoon, it was clear she had taken a turn for the worse. She was hiding, shaking uncontrollably, hadn't pooped since Thursday morning, wasn't drinking or eating. I showed up without an appointment on my vet's doorstep at 8am begging for help.

A couple hours later, our vet came out with the look on your face you never want to see. She didn't want to say it, but she was convinced Tabitha had something called Feline Infectious Peritonitis (FIP). It is a coronavirus that lies dormant in most cats, but in some, it mutates into a fatal version of itself. It causes cats' immune systems overreact and affects their liver, abdomen, kidneys, and brain. It is aggressive, progressive, and there has, historically, been no cure.

Until now.

FIP is a coronavirus, the feline version, and the same drugs that we developed to cure COVID in humans have been proven to cure FIP in cats, at almost a 90% rate—taking the prognosis of a cat with FIP from functionally 0% to ~90%. It is a matter of timing; the fast the cats start treatment, the better their odds for survival. It is called GS-441524, and is functionally identical to the human drug Remdesivir, which you may remember from the early days of the pandemic. You can read more about the drug, which has been approved for animal use in the UK, here, and more about FIP here. The treatment is so effective—improvement within 12-36 hours, 85%+ cure rate—that it is hailed by many cat parents as a miracle drug.

There is just one issue:

The FDA has not approved the drug for use in cats.

Only in humans.

And therefore it cannot be prescribed by my vet.

Which means I have to come by it... otherwise.

On Monday, after receiving Tabitha's probable diagnosis, and the help of some extremely wonderful people in the FIP Warriors Facebook group, cat-knowledgeable friends, and the instant mobilization of a whole team of people on my end, I was able to drive to Irvine and give a stranger cash in a parking lot for ten vials of Tabitha's medicine. I drove back to Los Angeles and by 6pm that same night, she had received her first anti-viral injection dose.

Today is Valentine's Day, and she's on her third dose. She is still hospitalized, but the nurses say she is alert, eating, and using the litter box—and even asking for cheek rubs. All great signs.

I DO have pet insurance, but the issue here is with Tabitha's, uh... off-label medication. I have to pay for it all out of pocket, obviously. And she's going to need at least 51 vials. I'm going to have to give her 84 days of daily injections, and that means sharps, swaddles, sharp disposals, a scale to weigh her daily in order to adjust her dose, monthly bloodwork checkins... not to mention the thousands getting Tabitha diagnosed and hospitalized has already cost. Worth every single penny. I just want to make sure I can keep her in her meds for the full 84 days.

Here's a breakdown of some of the costs:

I'm putting enough here toward my goal that it will at least cover the costs of her vials and her sharps, and hope we're okay from there. If she ends up needing more treatment (some cats may relapse after the 84 days of shots, during which they're placed on an 84 day observation period before being declared officially cured.) The place from which I'm getting her vials will give you the extra vials for free, as a form of insurance. (I will not be posting the links to her meds here because we want to keep this treatment available for anyone with an FIP cat—if you need them to help someone, let me know).

If you've ever enjoyed one of my books, or video games, or comics, or hell, even a tweet, please—if you're able, I know things are incredibly difficult for everyone out there right now—please consider donating if you can. If you're unable to at this time, please share the link; every view helps.

Thank you from the bottom of my heart, from me and Tabitha and my family. We are forever in your debt.

I have high hopes for her recovery, and will keep everyone posted here and on socials <3