Health
Pet medication for deadly cat illness soon to be available in US: 'Huge triumph'
Many cat owners are rejoicing at the news that a drug used to treat an otherwise fatal illness for cats will be available in the United States as of June 1.
“Stokes Pharmacy has formed an exclusive partnership with the Bova Group to offer a U.S.-made compounded oral treatment for feline infectious peritonitis (FIP),” according to a statement from Stokes Pharmacy, a New Jersey-based compounding pharmacy.
Bova, a veterinary pharmaceuticals company based in the U.K. and Australia, began selling GS-441524, a drug compound to treat FIP, in 2021 — but the drug was not available for sale in the United States.
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“This treatment is supported by Bova’s unique drug formula, which has been used in clinical research studies across the globe and is currently in use in the U.K. and Australia,” said Stokes.
Fox News Digital reached out to Stokes Pharmacy for further comment.
A drug that has been used in other countries to successfully treat FIP – an illness that kills cats unless treated – is now available in the United States. (iStock)
In a May 10 statement, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said there are “certain conditions where the agency does not intend to take enforcement actions for compounded products for use in animals,” and that the drugs are still not technically FDA-approved.
FIP is a “viral disease of cats caused by certain strains of a virus called the feline coronavirus,” according to the website for Cornell University’s Feline Health Center.
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While most feline coronaviruses are relatively harmless and resolve on their own, the virus sometimes mutates into what is known as FIP.
“Once a cat develops clinical FIP, the disease is usually progressive and almost always fatal,” the Cornell website states.
Until now, U.S. cat owners have had to turn to the “black market” to obtain a drug that was not yet approved in this country.
While most feline coronaviruses are relatively harmless and resolve on their own, the virus sometimes mutates into what is known as FIP. (iStock)
FIP Warriors, a group founded in March 2019 that helps connect cat owners with medications needed to treat their cats, told Fox News Digital that they are “cautiously optimistic” at the news that veterinarians will be able to prescribe treatment for cats with FIP.
Still, the group noted, “We have very little factual information at this time and eagerly await more details from Bova and Stokes to become available. We are in direct contact with Bova and will be sharing all updates we receive with the entire FIP Warriors community.”
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“Our sincere hope is that a safe, affordable and easily accessible medication option will help treat and cure as many FIP cats as possible and that this is a positive first step toward that goal,” the group added.
“We will continue our diligent work to educate both veterinarians and cat parents as the FIP landscape evolves.”
“Within 48 hours, I could see that my cat was starting to feel better, and within a week she was back to normal.”
One of the cat owners helped by the FIP Warriors organization told Fox News Digital about what she went through to save her cat.
Jessica Guyette, a resident of Washington, D.C., told Fox News Digital that she returned home from a trip to discover that one of her two cats had lost a significant amount of weight and was acting strangely.
Jessica Guyette of Washington, D.C., successfully treated her cat’s FIP with a drug regimen not yet legal in the United States. Above is her cat, pictured while sick, left, and after she was cured, right. (Jessica Guyette)
After several vet visits, Guyette was informed that her cat had FIP — and that there was nothing legally that could be done.
A veterinarian “secretly suggested” that she turn to online groups to acquire the drugs that might save her cat, which is what led her to FIP Warriors.
“At this point, there were no other options,” she said. “She was still losing weight, very lethargic, and I could tell that she was dying.”
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Guyette, who works as a researcher for the National Institutes of Health, said she and her cat saw quick results.
“Within 48 hours, I could see that my cat was starting to feel better, and within a week she was back to normal,” she said — describing the overall experience of trying to save her as “terrifying.”
She added, “I brought her in [to the vet] every month to run blood tests and the vet was astonished to find that she was back to normal, when she had been on the brink of death.”
Hannah Shaw, known on YouTube as the “Kitten Lady,” runs a nonprofit to rescue kittens and to educate others on how to care for vulnerable kittens. (Andrew Marttila)
Activist and author Hannah Shaw, founder of the nonprofit organization Kitten Lady, also treated her own cat, Coco, for FIP using black market drugs and documented the process on her YouTube channel, “Kitten Lady.”
“It is a huge triumph that FIP — which has been considered a fatal disease for so long — is now able to be legally treated by veterinarians,” the California-based Shaw told Fox News Digital via email.
“This moment is the culmination of years of research, advocacy and activism from a movement that is sick of seeing cats die due to lacking access to lifesaving treatment.”
Shaw’s latest book, “Cats of the World,” will be released in October.
In the past, when veterinarians were told to “remain hands-off” when advising cat owners about treating FIP, it was “confusing and isolating for people who discover that their cats have been diagnosed with the disease,” she said.
Even more frustrating, said Shaw, was how “animal advocates have been successfully treating cats for FIP for a number of years, but navigating that care has been incredibly complicated for the average cat guardian.”
Coco, one of Shaw’s cats, developed FIP while undergoing chemotherapy, she told Fox News Digital.
It was only due to “total strangers on the internet” that Shaw was able to obtain the medication and successfully treat Coco, she said.
“It is a huge triumph that FIP — which has been considered a fatal disease for so long — is now able to be legally treated by veterinarians,” an activist told Fox News Digital. (iStock)
“GS-441524 completely cured her of FIP, and thanks to the drug, I got another amazing two years with her,” she said.
The ability for veterinarians to discuss FIP treatment with cat owners and for the drugs to be obtained through legal means is a “massive win,” Shaw said, “and is going to help so many people save their cats’ lives.”
“This moment is the culmination of years of research, advocacy and activism from a movement that is sick of seeing cats die due to lacking access to lifesaving treatment, and it’s a huge cause for celebration,” she added.
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A new report by the American Heart Association (AHA) included some troubling predictions for the future of women’s health.
The forecast, published in the journal Circulation on Wednesday, projected increases in various comorbidities in American females by 2050.
More than 59% of women were predicted to have high blood pressure, up from less than 49% currently.
The review also projected that more than 25% of women will have diabetes, compared to about 15% today, and more than 61% will have obesity, compared to 44% currently.
As a result of these risk factors, the prevalence of cardiovascular disease and stroke is expected to rise to 14.4% from 10.7%.
The prevalence of cardiovascular disease and stroke in women is expected to rise to 14.4% from 10.7% by 2050. (iStock)
Not all trends were negative, as unhealthy cholesterol prevalence is expected to drop to about 22% from more than 42% today, the report stated.
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Dr. Elizabeth Klodas, a cardiologist and founder of Step One Foods in Minnesota, commented on these “jarring findings.”
“The fact that on our current trajectory, cardiometabolic disease is projected to explode in women within one generation should be a huge wake-up call,” she told Fox News Digital.
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“Hypertension, diabetes, obesity — these are all major risk factors for heart disease, and we are already seeing what those risks are driving. Heart disease is the No. 1 killer of women, eclipsing all other causes of death, including breast cancer.”
Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death for women in the U.S. and around the world. (iStock)
Klodas warned that heart disease starts early, progresses “stealthily,” and can present “out of the blue in devastating ways.”
The AHA published another study on Thursday revealing one million hospitalizations, showing that heart attack deaths are climbing among adults below the age of 55.
The more alarming finding, according to Klodas, is that young women were found more likely to die after their first heart attack than men of the same age.
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“This is all especially tragic since heart disease is almost entirely preventable,” she said. “The earlier you start, the better.”
Children can show early evidence of plaque deposition in their arteries, which can be reversed through lifestyle changes if “undertaken early enough and aggressively enough,” according to the expert.
Moving more is one part of protecting a healthy heart, according to experts. (iStock)
Klodas suggested that rising heart conditions are associated with traditional risk factors, like smoking, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, obesity and a sedentary lifestyle.
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Doctors are also seeing higher rates of preeclampsia, or high blood pressure during pregnancy, as well as gestational diabetes. Klodas noted that these are sex-specific risk factors that don’t typically contribute to complications until after menopause.
The best way to protect a healthy heart is to “do the basics,” Klodas recommended, including the following lifestyle habits.
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Klodas especially emphasized making improvements to diet, as the food people eat affects “every single risk factor that the AHA’s report highlights.”
“High blood pressure, high blood sugar, high cholesterol, excess weight – these are all conditions that are driven in part or in whole by food,” she said. “We eat multiple times every single day, which means what we eat has profound cumulative effects over time.”
“Even a small improvement in dietary intake, when maintained, can have a massive positive impact on health,” a doctor said. (iStock)
“Even a small improvement in dietary intake, when maintained, can have a massive positive impact on health.”
The doctor also recommends changing out a few snacks per day for healthier choices, which has been proven to “yield medication-level cholesterol reductions” in a month.
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“Keep up that small change and, over the course of a year, you could also lose 20 pounds and reduce your sodium intake enough to avoid blood pressure-lowering medications,” Klodas added.
“Women should not view the AHA report as inevitable. We have power over our health destinies. We just need to use it.”
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Nearsightedness (myopia) is skyrocketing globally, with nearly half of the world’s population expected to be myopic by 2050, according to the World Health Organization.
Heavy use of smartphones and other devices is associated with an 80% higher risk of myopia when combined with excessive computer use, but a new study suggests that dim indoor lighting could also be a factor.
For years, scientists have been puzzled by the different ways myopia is triggered. In lab settings, it can be induced by blurring vision or using different lenses. Conversely, it can be slowed by something as simple as spending time outdoors, research suggests.
Nearsightedness occurs when the eyeball grows too long from front to back, according to the American Optometric Association (AOA). This physical elongation causes light to focus in front of the retina rather than directly on it, making distant objects appear blurry.
The study suggests that myopia isn’t caused by the digital devices themselves, but by the low-light environments where they are typically used. (iStock)
Researchers at the State University of New York (SUNY) College of Optometry identified a potential specific trigger for this growth. When someone looks at a phone or a book up close, the pupil naturally constricts.
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“In bright outdoor light, the pupil constricts to protect the eye while still allowing ample light to reach the retina,” Urusha Maharjan, a SUNY Optometry doctoral student who conducted the study, said in a press release.
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“When people focus on close objects indoors, such as phones, tablets or books, the pupil can also constrict — not because of brightness, but to sharpen the image,” she went on. “In dim lighting, this combination may significantly reduce retinal illumination.”
High-intensity natural light prevents myopia because it provides enough retinal stimulation to override the “stop growing” signal, even when pupils are constricted. (iStock)
The hypothesis suggests that when the retina is deprived of light during extended close-up work, it sends a signal for the eye to grow.
In a dim environment, the narrowed pupil allows so little light through that the retinal activity isn’t strong enough to signal the eye to stop growing, the researchers found.
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In contrast, being outdoors provides light levels much brighter than indoors. This ensures that even when the pupil narrows to focus on a nearby object, the retina still receives a strong signal, maintaining healthy eye development.
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The team noted some limitations of the study, including the small subject group and the inability to directly measure internal lens changes, as the bright backgrounds used to mimic the outdoors made pupils too small for standard equipment.
Researchers believe that increasing indoor brightness during close-up work could be a simple, testable way to slow the global nearsightedness epidemic. (iStock)
“This is not a final answer,” Jose-Manuel Alonso, MD, PhD, SUNY distinguished professor and senior author of the study, said in the release.
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“But the study offers a testable hypothesis that reframes how visual habits, lighting and eye focusing interact.”
The study was published in the journal Cell Reports.
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