08/10/2026
The Luca Fund for FIP Research: An Infinite Promise and an Ethical Legacy 💜
🔬 October 2026 Research Update 🦠
The Luca Fund for FIP Research represents a profound milestone in the global fight against Feline Infectious Peritonitis (FIP), born from an extraordinary bond and a transformative vision. My connection with my beloved cat, Luca, was one of pure love and deep devotion. During the painful days of his illness, as I held him close, I made him a sacred vow—an infinite promise that I would do everything in my power to find a permanent end to FIP, and that one day, I would make a pilgrimage to Assisi in his honor. On the fifth anniversary of his passing, that promise came full circle when the fund was officially launched in the historic and peaceful setting of Assisi, Italy, physically anchoring our eternal bond to a global mission of hope.
This year, we honor that enduring dedication as we celebrate eight years since our founding. Since its inception, the fund has steadily expanded its reach, transforming from a deeply personal tribute into a vital pillar of support for modern veterinary science. Operating under a strict, unyielding cruelty-free pledge, the Luca Fund occupies a unique space by sponsoring non-invasive, ethical clinical research and diagnostic advancements that completely reject the experimental infection or use of laboratory cats. By partnering with leading institutions, the fund actively turns an infinite promise into tangible, lifesaving scientific progress, proving that a future free of FIP can be achieved through compassion, integrity, and honor.
As we mark this eight-year milestone of collaborative effort and ethical advancement, we are honored to share a formal research update directly from the heart of our scientific operations. Below, Professor Willie Weir, the Academic Head of Infectious Disease at the University of Glasgow Veterinary Diagnostic Services (VDS), provides an official look into the critical, non-invasive breakthroughs and ongoing diagnostic progress being made possible through your steadfast support of the Luca Fund.
🔬 Official Research News 🩺
1. Building Towards Better Diagnosis of Feline Infectious Peritonitis
Thanks to funding from EndFIP®, researchers at the University of Glasgow are continuing to develop innovative ways to improve the diagnosis of feline infectious peritonitis (FIP), helping veterinarians identify affected cats more confidently and quickly.
Building on earlier EndFIP®-supported research published in 2024, which demonstrated that machine learning (a branch of artificial intelligence) could accurately distinguish cats with non-effusive (“dry”) FIP from those without the disease using routine clinical and laboratory information, this latest study takes the approach a step further by focusing on effusive FIP, where fluid accumulates in the abdomen or chest.
Using data from hundreds of cats, doctoral researcher Dawn Dunbar developed and tested machine-learning models that analyse information from these fluid samples and identify patterns associated with FIP. The results were highly encouraging, demonstrating the potential for artificial intelligence to support veterinarians in making this challenging diagnosis.
Together, these studies show how EndFIP®-supported research is building towards a broader diagnostic approach that could help recognise different forms of FIP using information already routinely collected in veterinary practice. Ultimately, the goal is to provide vets with reliable additional tools to reach a diagnosis more quickly and confidently, helping affected cats access appropriate treatment sooner. Further research and validation in different clinical settings will be needed before such tools can be introduced into routine practice, but this work represents an important step towards more accessible, consistent and accurate diagnosis of FIP.
2. Exploring a New Treatment for Feline Herpesvirus
In a study co-funded by EndFIP®, VDS veterinary researcher Marybeth Tan has taken an encouraging step towards finding a new, accessible treatment for feline herpesvirus (FHV-1), a common cause of a painful eye disease in cats.
The study tested Rose Bengal, an inexpensive and readily available dye already used in veterinary eye examinations and found that it could significantly reduce the virus in laboratory testing without harming cells at the most promising concentration. Although further research is needed to confirm its safety and effectiveness in cats, these results raise the exciting possibility that Rose Bengal could become a simple, affordable treatment option for cats affected by FHV-1. This work brings us one step closer to improving treatment for a widespread and often recurring condition.
3. Investing In Future Veterinary Researchers
EndFIP® continues to fund the development of early-career stage veterinary researchers. Two Master of Veterinary Medicine (MVM) students, working on feline calicivirus and herpesvirus genomics, are midway through their projects, the results of which are currently being compiled. We have again this year hosted an undergraduate veterinary student in the laboratory who has been searching for evidence of antiviral drug resistance in FHV in the field, under Marybeth’s supervision.
And after eight years of studying part-time for her PhD, we are gratified to report that VDS Infectious Disease Laboratory Manager, Dawn Dunbar, is in the final stages of writing her doctoral thesis. EndFIP® funding has been critical in supporting these varied and challenging studies with the common goal of improving feline health, and for this support, the laboratory remains ever grateful.
None of these milestones, nor the vital progress shared by Professor Weir, would be possible without the incredible community that stands beside us. To our donors, members of the Luca Club, and supporters around the world: I thank you from the very bottom of my heart. When I made that infinite promise to Luca thirteen years ago, I was a grieving mother facing an impossible mountain alone. Today, because of your kindness, generosity, and shared belief in a cruelty-free future, we climb it together.
Your love for your own companions—and your empathy for cats you will never meet—fuels this mission every single day. You are not just funding research; you are actively helping me keep a promise to my boy, and for that gift, I am eternally grateful.
Maria S. Bonino
Founder/Director
EndFIP® | Luca Fund for FIP Research
https://www.endfip.com/guvs-research-update/
EndFIP® and the Luca Fund for FIP Research are dedicated to keeping cats healthy and happy. 💜
www.endfip.com | www.LucaFundforFIP.com
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