In March of last year, I was faced with the agonizing decision to put my beloved black cat, Hershey, to rest. At nearly 21 years old, her health challenges were mounting; and the diagnosis of a mass near one of her kidneys seemed pretty bleak. I just wanted her to not suffer any more and for her to be at greater peace. I still mourn her loss deeply. While I could never, ever replace Hershey, I so much wanted the furry companionship of another cat. Two months later, I adopted another rescue kitten, Lyla; and two months after the adoption, the FIP diagnosis came crashing down on our world. The thoughts of Hershey’s passing and the likelihood of losing Lyla in the same year were unbearable. In my heart, I felt that I could not give up on Lyla at such a young age (5 months). I really wanted to give her the chance of living as full of a life as possible. Thankfully, I had the will, ability, and support to seek treatments for Lyla. When looking back at Lyla’s battle with FIP, I am reminded of this Chinese proverb: “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” Our journey battling FIP began with a single step – acting on the encouragement of Lyla’s veterinarian and reaching-out to a FIP support group. Lyla and I were very blessed in this first step – we had tremendous encouragement from our vet clinic and the FIP support group. There were quite a few nights when the journey of treating Lyla truly felt like a 1,000 mile slog uphill. I was alone in giving Lyla her treatments, and there were days when my initial efforts to deliver the needed medication went wrong (mostly due to my lack of skill…not my lack of trying). As we approached “shot time” every night, it was always a time of high anxiety for me. There were days when the bumps and sores appeared (thankfully not many…but alarming nonetheless). And, there were times when guilty feelings and worrying thoughts crept in….“What if I precipitated the virus mutation by getting Lyla spayed, and what if the treatments eventually stop working for her?” Thankfully, Lyla was a fierce FIP warrior; and she was incredibly patient with my injection efforts over the course of 3 months. I am so very, very grateful that our treatment journey ended well. We received extremely reassuring feedback based on the reviews of her bloodwork results and clinical signs throughout the observation period. With a lot of support, the positive impact of her treatments, and divine intervention, Lyla was able to win her battle against FIP. As a result of this journey, I empathize with so many kitty parents out there whose journey is much rougher than ours – the financial struggles to pay for the treatments, the struggles to give injections, and the challenges of caring for kitties with other health issues on top of FIP. As crazy as this sounds (and to many it will sound really crazy), I feel a connection with animals that I often don’t feel with people. I strongly believe that our furry companions understand our hearts better than we do, and I strongly believe that they have an appreciation of our struggles – from the financial struggles to the struggles of trying to fulfill the role of a vet tech delivering injections. Whether these journeys end well or become a mountain that is just too tall to climb, we travel on this journey with love and good intentions. Those furry companions who have defeated FIP and those who have passed on and wait for us at the Rainbow Bridge understand our love and good intentions.