Poor Spike has contracted feline corona virus 
He almost certainly picked it up from Clawdius before Clawdius developed FIP, but Spike is a fit & healthy adult cat so the risk of him developing FIP are quite small.
When Clawdius was confirmed to have FIP I decided I needed to get Spike and Loula tested for corona virus because obviously I don’t want Toshi to end up getting infected – Kittens are at particular risk of CV mutating to the form which causes FIP and especially when they are stressed such as after being re-homed.
So I bundled them both into carriers and took a trip to the vet to get bloods taken. Loula wasn’t really that bothered about the procedure, although I felt a little uncomfortable seeing them having blood taken straight from the jugular :O
When it came to Spike it was a completely different matter of course, you would have thought they were amputating his leg with the struggle he put up, after 2 failed attempts it took three of us to hold him so the vet could get the sample.
So samples were dispatched to the lab and I waited for the results, it turned out that Loula was CV titre zero and completely clear but Spike had a titre of 340 which means he is infected and fighting the infection. This was really quite surprising as I would have expected both of them to be infected not just one, but pleased though I am that only one of them has the virus it does mean they have to be separated until Spikes titre comes back down to negative (less than 10)
So Spike has had to be quarantined in the bedroom for now while Loula gets to play in the new cat playground.
To ease the boredom of being locked in a room on his own I have made a makeshift shelf up to the window and a cubby hole out of a large strong cardboard box for Spike to sleep in – he really loves it, he sits on top of it looking out of the window all night and sleeps in it all day.
As a further treat for him I have made a walking jacket/ harness so I can take him outside. He protested about the harness for a couple of minutes when I first put it on him and then didn’t seem bothered so I attached a leash and took him out in the back garden which he seemed to enjoy, he used to be an outdoor cat before I got him so I think he misses being outside.
I went to Pets At Home and bought a 5 meter extending leash to give him a bit more freedom and took him up to the children’s play area up the street, there is more room for him there and longer grass for him to play in. He really enjoyed it, hiding in the grass and wondering about.
Here is a slide show of the photos I took, it was a challenge to keep his eyes in focus with him hiding in the grass but if you check out the full size images on Flickr you will see I managed it in most of them 
