Healthy cat with chronic bloated belly

azrajdel

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Hi everyone, first time poster. Hopefully you can be of some assistance.


I have a one year old foster kitty, a female dilute long haired calico. She has a bit of a bloated belly, and has pretty much had one since we got her at 3 months old.

When we first got her, she went in for vaccinations and a checkup. They discovered she had worms and was treated for them. About a month after treatment, she continued to have loose stools and her belly still felt bloated. So, she went through another round of de-worming.

Her last checkup after the de-worming, she tested negative for worms or any other parasites. Her diarrhea also cleared up. The tummy bloating continued to stay.

Took her back to the vet, and they did a more through exam. Negative for parisites, FIV and FLV (2nd time testing both), heart and lungs sound great, weight is healthy, no nasal discharge, a pretty healthy cat. Her eating/drinking habits at home are normal, activity levels and sleep normal, bathroom habits normal.

The only thing the vet found was that she has moderate gingivitis and mild intestinal bloating(cause of the bloated appearance). They suggested I try a pro-biotic in her food (Fortiflora) but it ony helped a little bit. I've tried weaning her from her Purina cat chow onto a grain-free diet, didn't work. Tried weaning her onto Science Diet sensitive systems, didn't work. She mostly eats dried food, but does get wet food on occasion.

Anyone ever experienced this or have any idea what else can be going on with her? To better understand the bloat, when you press the side it feels like pressing on a balloon. She does not appear to be in any discomfort and shows no signs whatsoever that she is ill. She's a very healthy and active kitty. Could she just be extremely gassy?
 

jennyr

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Hi there and welcome. When I saw your title I immeniately thought 'worms', but she has been treated, tested and is now seemingly free of parasites. I know this may sound silly, but have you tried feeding her natural yoghurt? Most cats love it, it is low lactose and so does not upset their tummies like cows' milk, and is a natural pro-biotic. I found it good for cats with tummy complaints. It just might get her system back to normal.
 
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azrajdel

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Hi, thanks for replying


I have not tried yogurt, but I just added it to my grocery list. I'm willing to try anything. My bf tells me that I worry too much and if it was something serious, she would be in discomfort or show signs of illness. Still, she's one of my furbabies, I can't help but wonder! I can take her back to the vet again, but I really don't see what else they can possibly do for it since they haven't found anything on her previous visits.

Thanks for the advice!
 

strange_wings

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If a deworming treatment isn't done right it won't be successful.
Try asking the vet to deworm her again with a broad spectrum that takes care of tapeworms, too, then do at least a couple months of Revolution (if she can have that topical on her). If you don't use Revolution the deworming will need to be repeated in two weeks. A clean fecal doesn't necessarily mean no parasites in the cat, just that the sample didn't have any parasites in it. So false negatives happen.

You also have to make sure the environment (home and litter box) are cleaned to remove as much eggs as possible. You don't want to reinfest your cat.

Instead of going to a big switch like her current food to a grain free (which some kitties can't handle), why not find a good one grain one meat source food that has the grain (usually corn or rice) lower in the list of ingredients? You can make a thread in the nutrition section asking for recommendations on simple foods that other people's cats find tasty. (mine all have specific food needs so I can't offer cat taste approved choices that may be better for your kitty)
 
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azrajdel

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Hi strange_wings, thanks for the reply


If a deworming treatment isn't done right it won't be successful.

She's been offically de-wormed 3 times now, all by the vet, three treatments spaced two weeks apart per session. I forgot to mention the third treatment in my first post (sorry). The third time was as a precaution after her 2nd fecal test turned up negative and we were still puzzled by the bloating. After the third round of treatment, still negative. I'm positive it's not any type of parasite.

Her litter box gets scrubbed out once a week with soap/water with fresh litter. I have a total of 4 litter boxes in the house, which all get cleaned the same way. I have 2 cats of my own and they are both healthy with no problems.

In regards to her food, I did wean her onto the grain-free. It took about a month to get her on it, as I didn't want to upset her tummy by doing a hurried switch. I only tried it as a suggestion by my vet, but it didn't seem to improve her belly. So, I slowly got her back onto the food she prefers which is plain ole' Purina cat chow.

Thanks for the suggestion about looking into posting on the nutrition section. I've been reading up quite a bit on cat food as I am starting to feel it is a simple food issue. It's a good thing she's not a really picky eater! I'm going to start with the yogurt idea and see what happens, if it doesn't help I'll start looking into alternative food ideas.

Thanks again
 

gloriajh

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yeah, de-worming isn't all that easy as giving meds - clean litter, keeping it cleaned out, clean litter pan, etc. ...

I wonder - have you thought any about "no grain" diets? --- Is she on canned or dry foods?
 

feralvr

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I don't think it is worms since she has been wormed three times at three weeks apart. What was the dewormer called?? Just curious. Profender is a new topical dewormer and covers every common parasite and all stages of the parasite plus tapeworms. Tapeworms won't show up on a fecal float.

How are her stools? I am guessing normal since you did not mention a problem. Is she overweight on top of the bloated look? Maybe she is just eating too much food? Magilla strangely enough has a bit of a bloated belly too, but it gets bigger after she eats. She too, is completely parasite free and has very normal poops. I will be curious to see if you get some answers here
 
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azrajdel

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Hi everyone, sorry it took so long to get back to reply.


I did not have more in depth testing in regards to fluid build up. I am hoping that the vet would have noticed that at her last two exams. The vet felt around on her abdominal area pretty good, and diagnosed it as mild intestinal bloating.

Her weight is normal and her poop is also normal. I've actually been able to catch her going a few times and made sure to look at it when she was done (gross, but necessary). I didn't see anything out of the ordinary.

The de-wormer she was on was Pyrental. Yellow liquid administered by syringe.

I'm going to call the vet tomorrow and make another appointment, have her checked again and see what the vet says. Kitty shows no signs of illness or discomfort and acts normal, but it's better to be safe than sorry. Thanks again to everyone for all of the kind words and advice.
 

strange_wings

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Do you know that Pyrental does not treat tapeworms and that tapeworms do not show up in fecal tests? The average owner can miss them, too, as it's fairly often on here that someone has had a indoor cat for years on flea topicals and suddenly discovers tapeworm proglottids.


Though tapes usually do not cause bloated bellies like that in many cats, usually it's roundworms that do that.
 

bluerexbear

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Could it be coccidia or giardia? Those two are not taken care of by traditional de-wormers. Usually they involve diarrhea, but not always...especially if the cat is healthy and young (but not a kitten). For coccidia, she would be treated with Albon, for Giardia, metronidazole. She would only shed those parasites occasionally and they can be missed on 7 out of 10 fecal tests. I would, honestly, ask the vet to give Albon a try for 10 days and see if it helps. It is a place to start anyway and it seems like you have tried everything else.

Good luck!
 

angier106

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Back in 2007, I had my Sassy, Tom's sister.
One night, I noticed that she was also bloated.
I took her to the vet and she found nothing wrong.
She did blood work looking for any kind if disease. Also, she did an xray and didn't find anything.
She sent her home without any meds.
A Few days later, my Sassy passed away and I never knew what really happened.
She was an outdoor cat at the time and well, it looked like she had been hit by a car. I still wonder if her she had had an illness that my have debilitated her so she couldn't run when the car hit her?
I just think that what a coincidence that it happened like it did...
 

vivalasunday

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Hi there,

I am writing because I am having a very similar issue with my Cat. Well, I'm not even sure it's an issue which is one of the reasons why it is bothering me so much!

My cat started to bloat about 4 weeks ago and I initially thought she was just growing up and getting fat. About a week ago I became worried because I realized that she was laying funny because of it, and after further inspection it looked as though she was pregnant! She is acting like a healthy cat; normal poop consistency and her usual high energy level. She doesn't get upset or whine when I press on her belly, indicating that she's not in pain. She does sleep a lot, but it's nothing out of the ordinary for a cat. I called the vet for an appointment the moment I read on the internet that bloat can be the indicator of a serious illness in cats. 

When the vet felt my cat's belly she proclaimed my cat as bloated and that she couldn't feel a specific issue so she would need to get a stool sample and xrays. Because of the price of the visit, I opted to leave a stool sample to rule out parasites before I took her back for an xray. I called back a day later and her results came back as negative for parasites. When I asked to speak to the vet for advice on what to do next, the receptionist told me that the vet who tended to my furry friend was on holiday for a week and a half and that I should call back later. I'm afraid that a week and a half is too long of a time to wait incase there is something wrong with my cat, so I wanted to follow up with your thread here and ask you if you ever found a solution to your cat's bloat.

She isn't showing any signs of illness or pain, but she does walk and lay a little funny because of the shape and size of her abdomen. I started to ween her onto a grain free diet hoping that maybe this will help but I'm still worried sick about my little balloon-bellied kitty. She doesn't seem to be in pain, but it still bothers me that her belly is definitely not the size it should be. 

Any advice or insight would be incredibly helpful. Thank you!
 

vivalasunday

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Hi KiTIvr62,

Please keep me posted! I called two local vets and asked for their opinion, and they all said to follow with an xray, possibly bloodwork and an ultrasound. I was unable to schedule an appointment before the holiday, and because none of the vets eluded to her case as an emergency, I made an appointment for the Monday after xmas.

I'm hope that our little furry friends are okay! I'll let you know any updates from my vet visit.
 
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