"Every Cat, Every Day Benefits From Winn-Funded Research"
July 5, 2017
Welcome to Winn's Weekly Feline Research Bytes
Special Symposium guests -Debra Roberts,
Dr. Niels Pedersen, and Peter Cohen

2018 is the 50th Anniversary year of Winn Feline Foundation.

Winn kicked off an early anniversary celebration with their 39th Annual Symposium a t the start of the The Cat Fanciers' Association annual meeting in Chicago. 

Cures4CatsDay, a day established by Winn to raise awareness about the critical need for evidence-based medicine and health answers involving cats, will be Saturday, October 21st.

There is a special presentation, sponsored by Merck Animal Health, planned on this first Cures4Cats Day during the American Association of Feline Practitioner's October conference in Denver, covering advancements in cat health.

Winn's inaugural weekly "Winn Wins Wednesday" research bytes, introduced here, will share how cats have benefited every day from Winn-funded research over our almost 50 year history.

Can human antiviral drugs help cats?

Coronaviruses are large RNA viruses which are prone to mutations, leading to multiple strains of the virus. There are two major feline coronavirus biotypes, the ubiquitous feline coronavirus (FECV) and the more lethal version, feline infectious peritonitis virus (FIPV).

A class of human antiviral drugs known as protease inhibitors stop virus replication by inhibiting protease, an enzyme the virus needs to infect more cells.This class of drug has been used to treat HIV in people and prevent resistance. 

A newer class of antiviral drugs currently being used to treat Hepatitis C in people are called nucleoside inhibitors of reverse transcription or NRTs (slang term - "nukes"). These drugs halt virus replication at a very early stage, therefore they have the potential for being quite effective.


L earn how GC376 (a protease inhibitor) and EBO984 (a NRT) may open the door to treating FIP in cats. In the cases of Smokey, Luna, Flora and other cats, they are now surviving FIP.

Winn has been helping to find a cure for FIP through the Bria Fund for FIP Research, now we need to focus on funding a cure. 

Our 2017 Winn Symposium audio gives further details and is now available. #EndFIP #Cures4CatsDay




There's no place like Winn for the future of cat health!
       
Winn Feline Foundation 
Phone: 201-275-0624 
Fax: 877-933-0939