{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,28]],"date-time":"2026-10-28T23:35:10Z","timestamp":1793230510366,"version":"4.5.0"},"reference-count":23,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"8","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2021,7,30]],"date-time":"2021-07-30T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1627603200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Animals"],"abstract":"<jats:p>The goal of this study was to formally evaluate the administration of unlicensed, crowd-sourced antiviral GS-441524-like therapy for cats suspected to have feline infectious peritonitis (FIP), a previously fatal disease. Members of a large social media support and GS-441524-like drug distribution group were surveyed via the Internet. The survey was targeted toward owners who had treated their cats for at least 12 weeks with unlicensed GS-441524-like drugs. Of the 393 analyzed surveys which met inclusion criteria, 73.7% of owners utilizing this therapy were from the United States. Only 8.7% of owners reported receiving help from their veterinarian in administering the treatment to their cat. The mean cost of treatment was USD 4920. A majority of owners (88.2%) reported noticeable improvement in clinical signs within one week of initiating therapy. At the time of the survey, 96.7% (380 cats) were alive, with 54.0% of them considered cured and another 43.3% being monitored in the 12-week observation period. A total of 12.7% of the cats suffered a relapse of clinical signs of FIP, and 3.3% of the cats died despite GS-441524-like therapy. Reported complications were mostly related to owner administration of subcutaneous injections of the acidic GS-441525-like therapy, such as vocalization, pain, struggling, and injection-site wounds. Limitations of this study include a retrospective design, bias in case selection, reliance on owner-reported data, and inability to confirm the contents of unlicensed pharmaceuticals; however, important lessons can be learned from the experiences of these owners. While unconventional, and certainly not free from medical and legal risks, unlicensed, at-home GS-441524-like therapy, according to owner reports, can apparently offer benefits in the treatment of cats suspected of FIP.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/ani11082257","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2021,7,30]],"date-time":"2021-07-30T12:59:24Z","timestamp":1627649964000},"page":"2257","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":67,"title":["Unlicensed GS-441524-Like Antiviral Therapy Can Be Effective for at-Home Treatment of Feline Infectious Peritonitis"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"11","author":[{"given":"Sarah","family":"Jones","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Veterinary Biosciences, College of Veterinary Medicine, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Wendy","family":"Novicoff","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Departments of Orthopaedic Surgery and Public Health Sciences, School of Medicine, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA 22903, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Julie","family":"Nadeau","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Hamilton Region Veterinary Emergency Clinic, Hamilton, ON L8P 4W3, Canada"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-2182-0684","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Samantha","family":"Evans","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Veterinary Biosciences, College of Veterinary Medicine, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2021,7,30]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"123","DOI":"10.1016\/j.cegh.2020.07.011","article-title":"Remdesivir and its antiviral activity against COVID-19: A systematic review","volume":"9","author":"Frediansyah","year":"2021","journal-title":"Clin. Epidemiol. Glob. Health"},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"226","DOI":"10.1016\/j.vetmic.2018.04.026","article-title":"The nucleoside analog GS-441524 strongly inhibits feline infectious peritonitis (FIP) virus in tissue culture and experimental cat infection studies","volume":"219","author":"Murphy","year":"2018","journal-title":"Vet. Microbiol."},{"key":"ref_3","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"271","DOI":"10.1177\/1098612X19825701","article-title":"Efficacy and safety of the nucleoside analog GS-441524 for treatment of cats with naturally occurring feline infectious peritonitis","volume":"21","author":"Pedersen","year":"2019","journal-title":"J. Feline Med. Surg."},{"key":"ref_4","unstructured":"Pubchem (2021, May 28). PubChem Compound Summary for CID 44468216 [Internet]. National Center for Biotechnology Information, Available online: https:\/\/pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/compound\/gs-441524."},{"key":"ref_5","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"123","DOI":"10.1016\/j.tvjl.2014.04.017","article-title":"An update on feline infectious peritonitis: Virology and immunopathogenesis","volume":"201","author":"Pedersen","year":"2014","journal-title":"Vet. J."},{"key":"ref_6","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1133","DOI":"10.1016\/j.cvsm.2011.08.004","article-title":"Feline coronavirus in multicat environments","volume":"41","author":"Drechsler","year":"2011","journal-title":"Vet. Clin. N. Am. Small Anim. Pract."},{"key":"ref_7","unstructured":"Ettinger, S.J., Feldman, E.C., and Cote, E. (2017). Textbook of Veterinary Internal Medicine\u2014eBook, Elsevier Health Sciences."},{"key":"ref_8","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1358","DOI":"10.1099\/vir.0.000084","article-title":"Genotyping coronaviruses associated with feline infectious peritonitis","volume":"96","author":"Lewis","year":"2015","journal-title":"J. Gen. Virol."},{"key":"ref_9","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"649","DOI":"10.1136\/vr.148.21.649","article-title":"Use of a reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction for monitoring the shedding of feline coronavirus by healthy cats","volume":"148","author":"Addie","year":"2001","journal-title":"Vet. Rec."},{"key":"ref_10","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"133","DOI":"10.1016\/j.tvjl.2014.04.016","article-title":"An update on feline infectious peritonitis: Diagnostics and therapeutics","volume":"201","author":"Pedersen","year":"2014","journal-title":"Vet. J."},{"key":"ref_11","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jfms.2005.04.003","article-title":"Prevalence of feline infectious peritonitis in specific cat breeds","volume":"8","author":"Radzai","year":"2006","journal-title":"J. Feline Med. Surg."},{"key":"ref_12","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"348","DOI":"10.1177\/1098612X15586209","article-title":"Clinical and laboratory features of cats with feline infectious peritonitis\u2014A retrospective study of 231 confirmed cases (2000\u20132010)","volume":"18","author":"Riemer","year":"2016","journal-title":"J. Feline Med. Surg."},{"key":"ref_13","unstructured":"MUTIAN (2021, March 01). Cat FIP Symptoms & Treatment: Free Online Support. Available online: https:\/www.mutian.us\/."},{"key":"ref_14","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Addie, D.D., Covell-Ritchie, J., Jarrett, O., and Fosbery, M. (2020). Rapid Resolution of Non-Effusive Feline Infectious Peritonitis Uveitis with an Oral Adenosine Nucleoside Analogue and Feline Interferon Omega. Viruses, 12.","DOI":"10.3390\/v12111216"},{"key":"ref_15","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"686","DOI":"10.1177\/1098612X12447730","article-title":"Serum cobalamin concentrations in cats with gastrointestinal signs: Correlation with histopathological findings and duration of clinical signs","volume":"14","author":"Maunder","year":"2012","journal-title":"J. Feline Med. Surg."},{"key":"ref_16","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"299","DOI":"10.3390\/nu2030299","article-title":"Vitamin B12 in health and disease","volume":"2","author":"Samman","year":"2010","journal-title":"Nutrients"},{"key":"ref_17","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"172","DOI":"10.1016\/j.vetimm.2008.01.026","article-title":"Treatment of cats with feline infectious peritonitis","volume":"123","author":"Hartmann","year":"2008","journal-title":"Vet. Immunol. Immunopathol."},{"key":"ref_18","first-page":"614001","article-title":"Mechanisms of low level light therapy. Mechanisms for Low-Light Therapy","volume":"6140","author":"Hamblin","year":"2006","journal-title":"Int. Soc. Opt. Photonics"},{"key":"ref_19","first-page":"320","article-title":"Light therapy in veterinary practice","volume":"28","author":"Venter","year":"2013","journal-title":"Vet. Nurs. J."},{"key":"ref_20","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"378","DOI":"10.1177\/1098612X17729626","article-title":"Efficacy of a 3C-like protease inhibitor in treating various forms of acquired feline infectious peritonitis","volume":"20","author":"Pedersen","year":"2018","journal-title":"J. Feline Med. Surg."},{"key":"ref_21","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"110532","DOI":"10.1016\/j.biopha.2020.110532","article-title":"Safety profile of the antiviral drug remdesivir: An update","volume":"130","author":"Fan","year":"2020","journal-title":"Biomed. Pharmacother."},{"key":"ref_22","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"5208","DOI":"10.1038\/s41598-021-84754-0","article-title":"A retrospective study of clinical and laboratory features and treatment on cats highly suspected of feline infectious peritonitis in Wuhan, China","volume":"11","author":"Yin","year":"2021","journal-title":"Sci. Rep."},{"key":"ref_23","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"267","DOI":"10.1046\/j.1468-2508.2004.00151.x","article-title":"The Effects of Ballot Position on Election Outcomes","volume":"66","author":"Koppell","year":"2004","journal-title":"J. Politics"}],"container-title":["Animals"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2076-2615\/11\/8\/2257\/pdf","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,11]],"date-time":"2025-10-11T06:37:51Z","timestamp":1760164671000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2076-2615\/11\/8\/2257"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2021,7,30]]},"references-count":23,"journal-issue":{"issue":"8","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2021,8]]}},"alternative-id":["ani11082257"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/ani11082257","relation":{},"ISSN":["2076-2615"],"issn-type":[{"value":"2076-2615","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2021,7,30]]}}}