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SOCK IT TO FIP!
SOCK FIP NEWSLETTER - JUNE 2011
Devon Rex Breed Club Contributes $8,300 to FIP Research at UC Davis
To the Rescue – SOCK FIP and Cat Rescue Groups
Our Gratitude to You and to the Max T. and Grace D. Morgan Foundation
Dr. Pedersen’s Research Corner
Veterinarians and Breeders in Denmark Contribute Essential DNA Samples
Call For Samples!
WINNing the FIP Fight: Veterinarians Reveal the Latest at Winn Feline Symposium
SOCK FIP’s Tax-Exempt Status Granted
SOCK FIP Ambassadors Around Town
Check Out Our Award-Winning Website
Join Us on Facebook
Please help support SOCK FIP
Devon Rex Breed Club Contributes $8,300
to FIP Research at UC Davis
SOCK FIP would like to extend a huge, heartfelt
thank you to the Devon Rex Breed Club (DRBC) for an
extremely generous $8,300 donation to Dr. Pedersen’s
research. The club’s fundraising efforts were led by SOCK
FIP board member and DRBC President, Anita Henrikson
(below, with Dr. Pedersen). The incredible generosity
of the club members have helped us take another step
closer to the day when we can say that we SOCKed it to
FIP. Help us thank the members of the DRBC by going to
their website: http://devonrexbreedclub.com/
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To the Rescue - SOCK FIP and Cat Rescue
Rescue groups play an important role in this coalition
of cat lovers, as they have unique opportunities to meet
with the public regularly at adoption events as well as
assist and counsel private owners/families who need
help with medical issues for their feline family members.
Through community aid programs and networking,
rescue groups work along side compassionate veterinarians who serve large numbers of cats from a variety of
different situations. They also have an ongoing opportunity to help educate veterinary clients on FIP and SOCK
FIP efforts to support Dr. Pedersen’s Research. We encourage all rescue groups and their clients to
help us fight and find a cure for this disease. There are
several ways you can help :
1. Display our SOCK FIP newsletter and brochures at
your vets’ offices and adoption sites
2. Ask clients to help distribute SOCK FIP brochures
and materials to other cat lovers, especially those
who have tragically lost a cat or kitten to FIP
3. Ask your veterinarian to participate in sending
samples to Dr. Pedersen for his research project 4. Post the SOCKFIP website link on your own
rescue website.
Thank you! Together we WILL find answers to FIP!
Our Gratitude to You and to the Max T.
and Grace D. Morgan Foundation
Thanks to your generosity and a wonderful matching
grant from the Max T. and Grace D. Morgan Foundation,
we had a very successful end of 2010 fundraising appeal,
raising $13,429 for FIP research. We are very grateful to
the foundation and to all who are able to support us in
our efforts to help Dr. Pedersen and his colleagues at UC
Davis find answers to FIP. For more information about
the Max T. and Grace D. Morgan Foundation, please
see the article on our website: http://www.sockfip.org/
news/
SOCK FIP Board Member Sally Morgan Welch
and Dr. Niels\ C. Pedersen
Dr. Pedersen’s Research Corner
At our April 2011 board meeting, the SOCK FIP team
had the pleasure of hearing Dr. Pedersen describe his
research on feline infectious peritonitis (FIP), which we
want to share with you.
There are four primary components of FIP research
currently being conducted at UC Davis:
1. to study the genetics of the virus
2. to study the origins of FECVs in shelter environments and how different shelter environments
and practices may influence the disease incidence
3. to screen human anti-retroviral compounds for
cross-reactivity to FIP virus
4. to determine genetic polymorphisms that may
be associated with resistance/susceptibility to FIP
disease.
The goal of the first component is to better understand the genetics of both the parent FECV and the
mutant FIP virus, and how genetic differences in these
two forms of virus affect their biologic properties (e.g.,
intestinal vs. macrophage tropism; virus shedding from
the gut; infectivity).
The second component involves a close collaboration
with the San Francisco SPCA and IDEXX Laboratories,
Inc. We are studying the precise geographical origins of
the FECVs that infect the shelter cats and whether the
FIP viruses isolated from adopted cats dying of FIP can
be traced back to the shelter, to where they came from
before being taken into the shelter, or to contacts made
after they were adopted. We are also looking for clues
that will help us predict beforehand which cats are at
most risk for developing FIP after adoption.
The third component of our FIP research involves
screening anti-retroviral compounds generated as part
of the search for safe and highly efficacious anti-HIV and
anti-hepatitis B virus drugs. We already know that the
reverse transcriptases of retroviruses, hepadnaviruses,
and coronaviruses have common features and that some
anti-retroviral drugs used to combat HIV/AIDS possess
activity against FIP virus. The goal is to identify those
with the highest anti-coronavirus activity and the lowest cat toxicity in a cell culture system. Such compounds
can be further modified to make them even more feline
coronavirus specific, produced in large quantities, and
tested in healthy cats for safety and in cats with FIP for
efficacy.
The fourth component of our study involves what
is called a “whole genome association study” using the
newly created Illumina high density SNP arrays. For this
study, we need to study breeds of cats with a known FIP
problem and breeders willing to cooperate in submitting
buccal swabs and pedigrees with accurate disease histories. Three groups of cats will be studied: those who are
affected by FIP, those who are related to cats affected
by FIP, and those from breeding lines that have not seen
FIP for three generations. (See article below regarding
DNA Samples received from Denmark.)
All these components of Dr. Pedersen’s research
have implications for how we can control, prevent, and
cure the disease in the future. While there are still many
questions to be answered, Dr. Pedersen and his team
have taken some great steps forward in understanding
this terrible disease!
Veterinarians and Breeders in Denmark
Contribute Essential DNA Samples
Dr. Pedersen is delighted to announce an important
collaboration with Birman breeders in Denmark, and
hopefully in Sweden as well. The Birman breed is popular in both countries and is known to suffer from FIP.
The breed is also much inbred, making whole genome
association studies more powerful. The fact that Birman
cats suffer almost exclusively from dry FIP means that
they have acquired some degree of genetic resistance to
the FIP virus. This makes them an ideal breed to study.
We have already acquired buccal swabs, complete
three generation pedigrees, and disease histories from
almost 400 Danish Birman cats and will hopefully get
more from Denmark and an equal number from Swedish breeders. The response of the Danish Birman breeders has been extraordinary and we hope their efforts
will pay off and genetic associations will be found with
FIP resistance/susceptibility. If such associations can be
found, the effort will be extended to samples that we
have in our collection from other pure and random bred
cats that have died from FIP.
Call for Samples!
The samples from Denmark are a wonderful start,
but we need additional samples from any cats that have
died from FIP, from pedigreed cats from the same bloodlines as FIP affected cats, and pedigreed cats that have
no known relationship to an FIP affected cat for three
generations. These DNA samples are easy for anyone to
do. You can get the samples yourself by swabbing your
cat’s cheek with a q-tip, letting the swab dry, putting it in
an envelope with information about your cat, and sending it to UC Davis. Veterinarians can also help with UC
Davis FIP studies through providing necropsy samples
from cats who have died from FIP. ALL SUBMISSIONS
ARE COMPLETELY CONFIDENTIAL. For more information
on how to take and submit your samples please visit our
website at: http://www.sockfip.org/fip-studies.html
Petunia, our SOCK FIP Spokes-Cat
Carol Horace, SOCK FIP Board Member
in a SOCK FIP Booth at a Show
SOCK FIP Ambassadors Around Town
SOCK FIP volunteers continue to try and help cat
lovers and veterinarians better understand FIP and to
spread the word about supporting FIP research at UC
Davis. We will be at the CFA Annual in Reston, Virginia
in June, and are looking at other upcoming shows and
events for this year in California.
We also would like to gratefully acknowledge the
wonderful help of SOCK FIP Ambassadors including Julie
Welch and Heather Mueller, who through booths at cat
shows on the east coast are helping raise awareness for
both SOCK FIP and the Winn Feline Foundation’s Bria
Fund. If you have an event that might host a SOCK FIP
booth, please contact us at [email protected]
WINNing the FIP Fight: Veterinarians
Reveal the Latest at the Winn Feline
Symposium
From the Winn Feline Foundation: “To announce
new directions in FIP research, and actual successes,
world renowned researchers Dr. Niels Pederson, director for the Center of Companion Animal Health at the
University of California School of Veterinary Medicine,
Davis and Dr. Al Legendre, professor at the University
of Tennessee College of Veterinary Medicine, Knoxville
headline the 2011 Winn Feline Foundation Symposium,
WINNing the FIP Fight, June 23, at the Hyatt Regency
Reston Town Center, Reston, Virginia. Proceeds benefit
the Winn Feline Foundation Bria Fund, which provides
funding for FIP research.”
Several SOCK FIP board members will be attending
the WINN Symposium in Reston, and we’ll have a report
on the event in the next newsletter. To read the complete article, please go to Steve Dale’s Pet World website
here.
Share Our Newsletter/Join Our List
Please feel free to forward our newsletter to your
veterinarian or anyone who might be interested in learning more about FIP. Thank you! If you would like to be
added to our mailing list, or if you are on our list and
prefer not to receive updates from SOCK FIP, please email
us at [email protected]
PLEASE HELP US SOCK IT TO FIP!
If you can help support Dr. Pedersen’s research,
please contact us at [email protected], or visit our
website at sockfip.org. You can also make a donation
through PayPal by clicking here .
The Center for Companion Animal Health (CCAH)
at UC Davis
SOCK FIP’s Tax-Exempt Status Granted
The Board of Directors of SOCK FIP is delighted to
announce that we have been granted tax-exempt 501(c)
(3) status from the Internal Revenue Service. Please be
assured that the funds we raise will continue to be directed toward Dr. Niels C. Pederson’s FIP research at the
UC Davis Center for Companion Animal Health (CCAH).
Having our own non-profit status will make it easier for
SOCK FIP to conduct direct fundraising efforts to augment what is currently being done by the CCAH.
Check Out Our Award Winning Website
SOCK FIP
Save Our Cats and Kittens from
Feline Infectious Peritonitis
a 501 (c)(3) tax exempt organization
685 W. Sunnyoaks Avenue
Campbell, CA 95008
sockfip.me.com
www.sockfip.org
In October 2010, the SOCK FIP website received a
Certificate of Excellence from the Cat Writers’ Association. Our team has worked very hard to make the website a valuable source for FIP information and support
and we are excited about this honor! If you have not yet
been to our award-winning website (or haven’t visited
recently) please be sure to check it out at:
www.sockfip.org
Join Us on Facebook
Are you active on Facebook? Please go to http://
www.facebook.com/sockfip and “like” our page to get
the latest updates from SOCK FIP. We also have a cause
at: http://www.causes.com/causes/281809
Dr. Niels C. Pedersen and Friends