In 2023, Marlena Arjo's adopted kitten Otto developed feline infectious peritonitis (FIP), a fatal disease for most cats. After conventional treatment options failed, her vet directed her to an underground Facebook group where she could obtain drugs not officially available through veterinary clinics. The article explores the emergence of this black market for cat medications and how it came about due to lack of official treatments, eventually leading to changes in pharmaceutical regulations.
Written by the local model on 2026-09-12,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
Story summary
In 2023, Marlena Arjo adopted a one-eyed kitten named Otto who developed feline infectious peritonitis (FIP), a fatal disease for cats. After her vet said there was nothing the clinic could do, she discovered a Facebook group offering illegal drugs that might help treat FIP. This week's episode of Reveal, in partnership with the Hyperfixed podcast, discusses how cat lovers turned to black market drugs due to limited legal treatment options and their subsequent efforts to change regulations, making such black markets obsolete. The original story aired in January 2026, but this update focuses on the ongoing impact and changes since then.
Written for “Black Market Cat Medication” on 2026-09-12,
grounded in this article and the 0 other(s) covering the same event.
Why this leaning score
This article does not take a side on a contested political
question, so it has no leaning score. That is an
answer rather than a gap: a match report or a rescue can be warmly
or critically written without being left or right, and scoring it
anyway is how approval of a subject gets recorded as a political
position.
No political leaning scored for article 8205 · logged 2026-09-12
In 2023, Marlena Arjo adopted a one-eyed kitten with a penchant for destruction.
asserted
Arjo → adopt → destruction
She named him Otto, and over the next eight months, Otto grew into his own little chaotic personality.
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Otto → name → personality
“ He’s laying on houseplants, he’s tearing books out of the bookshelves, ripping the calendar off the wall…
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he → lay → wall
I wasn’t prepared for having a criminal in my home,” Arjo joked.
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Arjo → prepare → home
Within months, Otto got sick and stopped eating.
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Otto → get → months
Arjo rushed him to a vet and learned he had feline infectious peritonitis, better known as FIP, a disease that kills nearly all cats that contract it.
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that → rush → it
The vet said there was nothing the clinic could do.
uncertain
clinic → say → ?
But there was something Arjo could do.
uncertain
Arjo → be → ?
“I shouldn’t tell you this,” Arjo recalled the vet telling her.
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vet → tell → her
“But by the way, you can get drugs for this if you go to this Facebook group.”
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you → get → group
This week on Reveal, in partnership with the Hyperfixed podcast, we tell the story of the cat drug black market, why it was even necessary, and how cat lovers fought for big changes to make the black market obsolete.
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market → tell → changes
This is an update of a show that originally aired in January 2026.
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that → air → January
