Spay-sway

[jennyr]

One of my new fosters was spayed by the adoption society before she was brought to me. It was a spay-abort, apparently quite late. She has recovered fine, the scar is not as bad as I feared it might be, and all is well. But she has been left with a very pronounced loose lower belly, far more than I have ever seen in a cat who has undergone a normal spay. Even the vet remarked on it when I took her for her vaccinations.

Has anyone ever experienced this in a similar situation? Will it tighten up eventually? I guess in a cat who delivers kittens normally her belly lessens slowly as she nurses. It is not as if I can give her exercises to do! My camera is not working so I can't show you.

 

[StefanZ]

One of my new fosters was spayed by the adoption society before she was brought to me. It was a spay-abort, apparently quite late. She has recovered fine, the scar is not as bad as I feared it might be, and all is well. But she has been left with a very pronounced loose lower belly, far more than I have ever seen in a cat who has undergone a normal spay. Even the vet remarked on it when I took her for her vaccinations.

Has anyone ever experienced this in a similar situation? Will it tighten up eventually? I guess in a cat who delivers kittens normally her belly lessens slowly as she nurses. It is not as if I can give her exercises to do! My camera is not working so I can't show you.

Is it alike the pouch cats especielly male cats do often have?   Females may have it too sometimes.

 

[Sarthur2]

It will probably never go away, unfortunately, since as you said, there is no uterus to shrink, and no nursing. She was stretched to accommodate the unborn kittens, and will likely have this extra skin for life. Cats who have multiple litters for years often have this too.

 

[catlover73]

I have a cat that never had any litters and was spayed as a kitten. She has had a pouch since and she is now 9 years old. Sometimes it just happens for no reason.

 

[Sarthur2]

Yes, I've seen it in many cats, quite honestly.

 

[jennyr]

Yes, all my females have a certain spay pouch, but hers seems bigger than normal. I suspect that following a normal birth the withdrawal of hormones causes the uterus to shrink gradually and the skin, at least partially, shrinks slowly, too. In this case the hormones were stopped drastically and the skin was left as it way. I guess I will just have to wait and see. It does nothelp that she is still rather small and skinny and then there is this great empty pouch hanging under her belly. Not attractive for a potential adopter to see!

 

[Sarthur2]

Poor gal. Hopefully, potential adopters will look past that and see a sweet, gentle cat who needs a home. I'd say it's another reason not to perform late-term spay/termination.

 

[jennyr]

Poor gal. Hopefully, potential adopters will look past that and see a sweet, gentle cat who needs a home. I'd say it's another reason not to perform late-term spay/termination.

I agree - I would have taken her and raised/rehomed the kittens. But it was an adoption society decision and I did not even know about it till it was too late. And I do understand the thinking behind it.