Dr Kelsey Renner: I completed my Bachelor of Veterinary Science at Massey University in 2019. Following this, I moved to the North Shore with my fiancé, and completed a rotating internship followed by an internal medicine specialty internship and a three year internal medicine residency at the Animal Referral Centre (ARC). I’m now working as an Internal medicine registrar at the ARC Central hospital. My favorite patients are cats and cat-sized dogs. My fiance and I have a 3 year old cat called Bonnie, who lives a life of luxury. Outside of work I enjoy growing vegetables, tending to my many houseplants and discovering new cafes and restaurants with my friends.

My presentation is about my research journey during my residency training, specifically focused on my research on the treatment of feline infectious peritonitis (FIP) in cats in New Zealand. This was my first time being involved in research, and it had a steep learning curve. I’d like to demonstrate that it’s possible to do valuable research in private veterinary practice.

FIP is a viral disease in cats, caused by a mutated form of the feline coronavirus. Until recently there wasn’t a treatment for FIP, and almost all cats who developed the disease died. During the COVID 19 pandemic, antiviral drugs used for COVID in people were also trialled in cats with FIP, and a successful treatment for FIP was discovered. 

In New Zealand, we only have legal access to one of these medications, remdesivir, which is only commercially manufactured as an injectable medication. Remdesivir requires daily painful injections for 12 weeks, and can be prohibitively expensive. These factors limited its use, and it was devastating to see cats continue to die from this disease despite there being a cure. Myself and my colleagues at ARC had remdesivir compounded into a capsule formulation, and used it in cats whose owners couldn’t afford the injections or whose cats didn’t tolerate them. Fortunately, this was successful and we treated many cats with remdesivir capsules. 

My research, which is the first research on FIP conducted in New Zealand, was focused on evaluating the pharmacokinetics of oral remdesivir to determine the ideal dose for cats with FIP, and report the treatment outcomes in these cats.