Swollen Belly?

[joyfulrose]

Hey guys,
Sorry for all the questions lately. I have 4 beautiful kitties (all seniors) A 10 yr old, 11 yr old, 16yr old and a 17yr old. Seems like the past couple of weeks they each have a different issue going on.

I have written on here about my oldest kitty, the 17 yr old before. She was first diagnosed with early stages of CKD about 6 months ago and some mild pancreatitis, also she had some sort of infection. She was losing lots of weight and having diarrhea and never really ate very much. She was down to 7lbs 3oz. Recently I took her to get another blood test done and the results showed that she actually didn't have CKD. Her bun and creatine were normal but the pancreatitis had progressed a bit, and she was anemic(non regenerative anemia) and she also had an infection of some sort. The vet gave me some antibiotics and said that most of this can be due to her infection so to give her the antibiotics and then monitor her for a month after and see if she gets better. if not, he said we could do another round of antibiotics but if the second round does not help then we may need to do more tests (ultrasound, xrays, and biopsy)

So I began giving her the antibiotics starting Nov 14th. Every time I gave them to her I felt like she looked like she was feeling better than before. She began to show more interest in food and her appetite was great. So i took advantage of her increased appetite and began to add more wet food to her diet in hopes to help her put on some weight. I bought various types of can foods to see which she would like and eat most of. I got her fancy feast classics chicken and chicken liver and the original chicken pates. I also got her some weruva slide n serve, b.f.f. pate, and tiki velvet pouches. She loved the b.f.f. and Fancy feast the most. The last time I remember giving her fancy feast was when she was much younger and I remember she hated it so I never bought it again until now. She actually loved the fancy feast so much she would eat about 3/4 of the 3oz can. Thats more than she would ever eat from any canned food.(before she would only take a couple licks and then that would be it) I made it my mission to try to get her at least finish one can of wet food per day, So I gave her as much of it as she would eat every day. She would be hungry every hour/2 hours so I gave her all she wanted. She also ate some dry food along with the wet but not as much.(mix of TOTW Rocky Mountain and Farmina Boar and apple)

I started weighing her every day to see if she was putting on any weight and she WAS! For the first time in over a year her weight was going up every time that I weighed her. So i continued with this way of feeding her and she seemed to be doing really well until the last couple of days.

The day I gave her the last dose of her antibiotics is when I noticed she didn't look very good. She began to sit hunched up a lot more than usual(she had been doing that for a while but not this much) and that is when I noticed her stomach seemed to be a little swollen. I monitored her litter box habits and noticed that she was only passing small, dark, hard bowels each time. But she did not look to be straining or in any pain while passing a bowel. She still ate very well and she drinks LOTS of water.

Yesterday she drank so much water I began to worry. So I decided to give her just a tiny pea size amount of some hairball gel. She licked it from my finger and seemed to be pretty good afterwards.

This morning she had a bowel movement and half of it was dark(almost black) and the rest was normal color, size, and consistency. I felt relieved that it wasn't small and dark like before. I thought that maybe she will feel better now and maybe she was just constipated.
But she is still sitting hunched up a lot and I know that can mean they are in pain. Sometimes I feel like it may be from her joints because there are times when she sits down very slowly and carefully but I don't know if the hunched up/meatloaf position is because of that or something else? Her stomach still looks swollen to me but she is still eating really well, drinking lots of water, and urinating fine.

When I weighed her today she was 7lbs 10oz. (2 weeks ago she was 7lbs 3oz) I do not know if this is actual weight gain or the result of her swollen belly.

Does anyone have any thoughts and/or opinions on why her tummy might be so swollen? Thanks so much if you actually took the time to read all of this I'm sorry for the long post but I just wanted to be as detailed as possible in case someone has went through something similar.

 

[FeebysOwner]

Hi. There are many reasons for belly swelling. It is good that she is still eating and drinking, but whatever is wrong hasn't yet taken its toll on that part of her life. The best bet would be to see if the vet would be willing to take a sample of the fluid in her belly and go from there, not to mention the other tests they were already talking about doing.

The slow sitting down and getting up could be from whatever is causing the accumulation in her belly. Or, it could also be from arthritis. Feeby, who is otherwise mostly healthy, does that same thing, and she does have some arthritis which I am treating her for with Glyco Flex Plus. She is jumping up and down on things that she wasn't previously doing, but still does the slow sit down/get up thing.

But, for now get her into a vet about the fluid in her belly. That is the first thing to take care of.

 

[joyfulrose]

Hi. There are many reasons for belly swelling. It is good that she is still eating and drinking, but whatever is wrong hasn't yet taken its toll on that part of her life. The best bet would be to see if the vet would be willing to take a sample of the fluid in her belly and go from there, not to mention the other tests they were already talking about doing.

The slow sitting down and getting up could be from whatever is causing the accumulation in her belly. Or, it could also be from arthritis. Feeby, who is otherwise mostly healthy, does that same thing, and she does have some arthritis which I am treating her for with Glyco Flex Plus. She is jumping up and down on things that she wasn't previously doing, but still does the slow sit down/get up thing.

But, for now get her into a vet about the fluid in her belly. That is the first thing to take care of.

I am currently trying to find a new vet for her because this last vet was actually very rude and uncaring so I do not feel comfortable going there again. He did not care about my cat and did not want to fight for her.

I also felt like it might be arthritis because she stopped playing and doesn't ever use her cat tree. She jumps up and down from my bed but she seems weaker.

But the hunched up/meatloaf position sometimes happens after she drinks water or after she eats the canned food. That's why I am not sure exactly what it's from. I think she doesn't do that when she eats dry food though.

 

[FeebysOwner]

The belly swelling could be causing all of what you describe - not to say there isn't some arthritis involved as well. If she is a nibbler on the dry, it might not be filling her belly as much as the wet food and water does. The meatloaf position could be from her feeling discomfort because the food is 'competing' with the space taken up by the extra fluid.

The change for the better in the poop is good to hear also.

I hope you find a new vet very, very soon, and be sure to ask for ALL of your records from the current vet. They should give it to you willingly, although it is highly likely they could charge you for it.

 

[joyfulrose]

The belly swelling could be causing all of what you describe - not to say there isn't some arthritis involved as well. If she is a nibbler on the dry, it might not be filling her belly as much as the wet food and water does. The meatloaf position could be from her feeling discomfort because the food is 'competing' with the space taken up by the extra fluid.

The change for the better in the poop is good to hear also.

I hope you find a new vet very, very soon, and be sure to ask for ALL of your records from the current vet. They should give it to you willingly, although it is highly likely they could charge you for it.

Yes she is a nibbler on the dry so you may be right about that. I noticed this swelling happening when she started eating the Fancy Feast every day. The hunched up/meatloaf position she had done in the past but not as much as she does now.(even when her belly wasn't swollen) I just don't want to see her in any type of pain, it breaks my heart. Everything else seems fine though- No vomiting, eating and drinking very well. Urinating a few times every day. She did seem constipated for a few days but it seems to have resolved now.. She walks around the house a lot too. So all seems to be normal except for that hunched up position she does. I will be taking her to the vet asap. Hopefully the new one will be more honest and caring.

 

[FeebysOwner]

Oh, so many things. She is older and going to show signs of that. Feeby does that from time to time - no specific reason that I know of. Just not one of her better days - kind of
like senior people.

The fluid in the belly is the main focus. That is the biggest factor to determing what is going on.

 

[joyfulrose]

Yeah, she is the only one of my four senior kitties that does it so much. She will sit like that for more than a few mins and she looks to be having some discomfort. The 11yr old kitty does it from time to time also but she only sits hunched up for a min or two then seems perfectly fine afterwards and doesn't look to be in any sort of pain. My other two cats almost never sit in the hunched up/meatloaf position. I guess every cat is different though! I was just worried because I know it can mean they are in pain and it makes me so sad to see her in any type of pain. She is the sweetest most loving kitty in the world.

But yes, the fluid in the belly is the main concern right now. I am trying my best to get her to the vet asap.

Thank you for replying and reading my very long post.

 

[PushPurrCatPaws]

... Recently I took her to get another blood test done and the results showed that she actually didn't have CKD. Her bun and creatine were normal but the pancreatitis had progressed a bit, and she was anemic(non regenerative anemia) and she also had an infection of some sort. The vet gave me some antibiotics and said that most of this can be due to her infection so to give her the antibiotics and then monitor her for a month after and see if she gets better. if not, he said we could do another round of antibiotics but if the second round does not help then we may need to do more tests (ultrasound, xrays, and biopsy)

... She also ate some dry food along with the wet but not as much.(mix of TOTW Rocky Mountain and Farmina Boar and apple) ...
So i continued with this way of feeding her and she seemed to be doing really well until the last couple of days. ...

... The day I gave her the last dose of her antibiotics is when I noticed she didn't look very good. She began to sit hunched up a lot more than usual(she had been doing that for a while but not this much) and that is when I noticed her stomach seemed to be a little swollen. I monitored her litter box habits and noticed that she was only passing small, dark, hard bowels each time. But she did not look to be straining or in any pain while passing a bowel. She still ate very well and she drinks LOTS of water.

Yesterday she drank so much water I began to worry. ...

But she is still sitting hunched up a lot and I know that can mean they are in pain. Sometimes I feel like it may be from her joints because there are times when she sits down very slowly and carefully but I don't know if the hunched up/meatloaf position is because of that or something else? Her stomach still looks swollen to me but she is still eating really well, drinking lots of water, and urinating fine.

When I weighed her today she was 7lbs 10oz. (2 weeks ago she was 7lbs 3oz) I do not know if this is actual weight gain or the result of her swollen belly.

Does anyone have any thoughts and/or opinions on why her tummy might be so swollen? Thanks so much if you actually took the time to read all of this I'm sorry for the long post but I just wanted to be as detailed as possible in case someone has went through something similar.

So sorry to hear about what your kitty is going through!
--I've excerpted and highlighted in blue ^ the things that stuck out for me in your post, as having been important in my own experience.--

My last cat had pancreatitis and, often, any changes to certain foods would trigger a pancreatitis attack and cause a lot of pain, tenderness, and feeling ill. We had to use buprenex for our kitty's pain. We stayed away from dry food entirely, and also stayed away from the "gamier" meats when serving wet food. It's possible your kitty is going through a bout of pancreatitis & pain from all of the food changes the last two weeks (but I am NOT a vet). Since I've personally been through having a cat that had 3-4 serious bouts of pancreatitis during her last year of life, I'd really recommend from my experience that you have an ultrasound done, maybe even an aspirate biopsy of any fluid in her tummy. Note too (from me highlighting it in blue above) that I think the extra drinking of water is not a great sign. My vet told us that the pancreas is tied into insulin production, and a lot of cats who experience some of these harder health issues either had diabetes before the pancreatitis, or developed diabetes secondary to pancreatitis. They can go hand-in-hand, unfortunately. Again, I'd really recommend letting your vet know of the latest things that are concerning you about your kitty, and maybe asking about an ultrasound and further tests, if needed or wanted.
Sending you a lot of positive vibes!

 

[tarasgirl06]

Hey guys,
Sorry for all the questions lately. I have 4 beautiful kitties (all seniors) A 10 yr old, 11 yr old, 16yr old and a 17yr old. Seems like the past couple of weeks they each have a different issue going on.

I have written on here about my oldest kitty, the 17 yr old before. She was first diagnosed with early stages of CKD about 6 months ago and some mild pancreatitis, also she had some sort of infection. She was losing lots of weight and having diarrhea and never really ate very much. She was down to 7lbs 3oz. Recently I took her to get another blood test done and the results showed that she actually didn't have CKD. Her bun and creatine were normal but the pancreatitis had progressed a bit, and she was anemic(non regenerative anemia) and she also had an infection of some sort. The vet gave me some antibiotics and said that most of this can be due to her infection so to give her the antibiotics and then monitor her for a month after and see if she gets better. if not, he said we could do another round of antibiotics but if the second round does not help then we may need to do more tests (ultrasound, xrays, and biopsy)

So I began giving her the antibiotics starting Nov 14th. Every time I gave them to her I felt like she looked like she was feeling better than before. She began to show more interest in food and her appetite was great. So i took advantage of her increased appetite and began to add more wet food to her diet in hopes to help her put on some weight. I bought various types of can foods to see which she would like and eat most of. I got her fancy feast classics chicken and chicken liver and the original chicken pates. I also got her some weruva slide n serve, b.f.f. pate, and tiki velvet pouches. She loved the b.f.f. and Fancy feast the most. The last time I remember giving her fancy feast was when she was much younger and I remember she hated it so I never bought it again until now. She actually loved the fancy feast so much she would eat about 3/4 of the 3oz can. Thats more than she would ever eat from any canned food.(before she would only take a couple licks and then that would be it) I made it my mission to try to get her at least finish one can of wet food per day, So I gave her as much of it as she would eat every day. She would be hungry every hour/2 hours so I gave her all she wanted. She also ate some dry food along with the wet but not as much.(mix of TOTW Rocky Mountain and Farmina Boar and apple)

I started weighing her every day to see if she was putting on any weight and she WAS! For the first time in over a year her weight was going up every time that I weighed her. So i continued with this way of feeding her and she seemed to be doing really well until the last couple of days.

The day I gave her the last dose of her antibiotics is when I noticed she didn't look very good. She began to sit hunched up a lot more than usual(she had been doing that for a while but not this much) and that is when I noticed her stomach seemed to be a little swollen. I monitored her litter box habits and noticed that she was only passing small, dark, hard bowels each time. But she did not look to be straining or in any pain while passing a bowel. She still ate very well and she drinks LOTS of water.

Yesterday she drank so much water I began to worry. So I decided to give her just a tiny pea size amount of some hairball gel. She licked it from my finger and seemed to be pretty good afterwards.

This morning she had a bowel movement and half of it was dark(almost black) and the rest was normal color, size, and consistency. I felt relieved that it wasn't small and dark like before. I thought that maybe she will feel better now and maybe she was just constipated.
But she is still sitting hunched up a lot and I know that can mean they are in pain. Sometimes I feel like it may be from her joints because there are times when she sits down very slowly and carefully but I don't know if the hunched up/meatloaf position is because of that or something else? Her stomach still looks swollen to me but she is still eating really well, drinking lots of water, and urinating fine.

When I weighed her today she was 7lbs 10oz. (2 weeks ago she was 7lbs 3oz) I do not know if this is actual weight gain or the result of her swollen belly.

Does anyone have any thoughts and/or opinions on why her tummy might be so swollen? Thanks so much if you actually took the time to read all of this I'm sorry for the long post but I just wanted to be as detailed as possible in case someone has went through something similar.

Hello, joyfulrose and family. Other posters have made excellent suggestions, the most important one being to DEFINITELY find a caring vet and DEFINITELY take her in for a checkup as soon as possible. I would also hope they could draw fluid from her. Then you go from there. I would not make any kind of guesses, because this could be a very wide variety of things, and I would never guess something that should absolutely be assessed by a vet. *PRAYERS* and best, best thoughts for your cat and for you.

 

[joyfulrose]

So sorry to hear about what your kitty is going through!
--I've excerpted and highlighted in blue ^ the things that stuck out for me in your post, as having been important in my own experience.--

My last cat had pancreatitis and, often, any changes to certain foods would trigger a pancreatitis attack and cause a lot of pain, tenderness, and feeling ill. We had to use buprenex for our kitty's pain. We stayed away from dry food entirely, and also stayed away from the "gamier" meats when serving wet food. It's possible your kitty is going through a bout of pancreatitis & pain from all of the food changes the last two weeks (but I am NOT a vet). Since I've personally been through having a cat that had 3-4 serious bouts of pancreatitis during her last year of life, I'd really recommend from my experience that you have an ultrasound done, maybe even an aspirate biopsy of any fluid in her tummy. Note too (from me highlighting it in blue above) that I think the extra drinking of water is not a great sign. My vet told us that the pancreas is tied into insulin production, and a lot of cats who experience some of these harder health issues either had diabetes before the pancreatitis, or developed diabetes secondary to pancreatitis. They can go hand-in-hand, unfortunately. Again, I'd really recommend letting your vet know of the latest things that are concerning you about your kitty, and maybe asking about an ultrasound and further tests, if needed or wanted.
Sending you a lot of positive vibes!

Thank you for replying and I'm so sorry about your cat. Pancreatitis is so scary and so confusing. I also get the feeling that the hunched up position can be due to the pancreatitis but I have been to 2 different vets and the first vet told me the results for pancreatitis were inconclusive and she wasn't entirely convinced she had pancreatitis she said just to monitor her and if she gets worse then she may need to stay the night at the hospital.(this was 6 months ago and she didn't seem to be in any pain or discomfort or have any symptoms at the time) And the second vet kept making me feel like she was gonna die tomorrow. He would speak to me so rudely when i would ask him any questions to try to better understand what is going on with my kitty. He told me he would consider her a critical patient and he kept saying "You have to face it, she is sick" Which I understand, though everything seems to be normal except for the hunched up position. But yeah, I understand she is sick and I am trying to do all i can to help her. I love her so much and can't imagine her not being in my life. He was just very rude and unprofessional and though he told me we could do further tests such as the biopsy he said he didn't feel we should do the biopsy..

I feel like you may be right about the food changes though, and i would have loved NOT to change her food at all.. but a short while ago right before I took her to the second vet she completely stopped eating her current food. It was the Fromm Hasen ducken (rabbit and duck flavor) she did so well on that for many months and I never noticed her sitting in that hunched up position much while she was eating that. But unfortunately I did have to try other foods to get her eating again.
It was very hard to find something she would finally eat. I had a bag of Taste of the wild rocky mountain and I decided to try it when I couldn't find anything else she liked. I wet it a little bit and she started eating it and liked it so I stuck with that for a while until she began to lose interest in that as well. That was when I tried the farmina and slowly mixed it with totw- that got her eating a lot more. But then she stopped eating that as well just a couple days ago.

I had been giving my other cats Fussie Cat Quail and Duck meal dry cat food and the other day I noticed her eating so much of the fussie cat from my other cats bowl and that is what she is currently willing to eating now. I do give her mostly wet though as i mentioned in my original post, but for some reason I feel she sits in that position only after she eats the wet food or after she drinks water. But when she eats dry food she doesn't really do that.

If you don't mind sharing what foods worked out best for your kitty that had pancreatitis? (brands/flavors)?

The lots of water drinking does concern me a bit, but I feel like she has always loved water more than all my other cats... even when she was younger. But lately it's been so much water drinking ( although today she seems better and not drinking as much) Her results did not show any type of diabetes so I am not sure if that could still be possible?

Everything seems to be pretty normal right now, eating, drinking, urinating, not vomiting. Though she did seem to be constipated but yesterday she had a normal bowel. I wonder if it's possible she could be backed up?

Another odd thing I just noticed was she stopped meowing since a few days ago. It started with squeaky meows she could barely get out then now she doesn't meow at all. She was never extremely vocal or anything but any time she would want water or canned food she would meow at me. And at night she would make very loud meowing noises and bring me gifts on my bed (her toys) but that has stopped for a few days as well :/
I mentioned the squeaky meows to the vet when I was there and he looked in her mouth quickly but didn't seem concerned. I guess he thought it was just a URI or something and that the antibiotics would help with that, which they haven't..

I have been calling vets all day and trying to make her an appointment as soon as possible. Hopefully I will get some clear answers soon. Thank you again for taking the time to read all of this I greatly appreciate it.

 

[joyfulrose]

Hello, joyfulrose and family. Other posters have made excellent suggestions, the most important one being to DEFINITELY find a caring vet and DEFINITELY take her in for a checkup as soon as possible. I would also hope they could draw fluid from her. Then you go from there. I would not make any kind of guesses, because this could be a very wide variety of things, and I would never guess something that should absolutely be assessed by a vet. *PRAYERS* and best, best thoughts for your cat and for you.

Thank you so much, i appreciate it!

 

[joyfulrose]

I have taken my kitty to the vet and I have an update.

So the night before yesterday I noticed my kitty going in and out of the litter box. I thought she was just urinating normally as she always does because she drinks so much water throughout the day. When I looked in her litter box I noticed that her urine was much smaller than it had been the previous day. I didn't see her straining or anything but just incase I gave her a small dab of some urinary tract infection gel I had that always worked on my other kitty when she would get very mild utis. The next morning (Yesterday) I again saw her going in and out of the litter box but this time I did see straining and she was also growling a little. She was still eating and drinking normally.. But was only having very small bowel movements and trouble urinating. I was sure this had to be a UTI so immediately made an appointment with the only vet who was still open because it was a Saturday and most in my area were closed or closing soon and could not see me that same day. So we booked an appointment at Banfield in Petsmart.

Right as I was getting my kitty into her carrier she urinated all over it and this time it looked like a normal amount of urine. I felt a little bit relieved now. On the ride to the vet she actually started meowing again too. I hadn't heard her meow in a couple days, I was beginning to get really worried but i am glad she seems to have gotten her voice back now!

When we arrived they weighed my kitty- she was 7lbs 7oz which was lower than when I weighed her at home a few days prior but her belly was still very swollen. The vet examined her and commented on her being very underweight despite her eating pretty well lately and she also noticed her gums were pale and that she seemed very dehydrated. I asked about her swollen belly and she said it feels like fluid but she didn't think it was from her bladder. Even though I mentioned to her that she was having trouble urinating and passing bowels but it seemed as if she didn't believe that?

She asked to see any previous test results I had from previous vets and noticed that her last blood test (from 2 weeks ago) she was anemic. She said that could be why her gums were so pale. She also saw that the spec fpl test showed pancreatitis and she said though it is not always accurate it is very likely she has inflammation in the pancreas. She also saw that my kitty had tested positive for coronavirus. Which to my understanding many cats test positive for corona but it can just mean they have been exposed to it. She spoke to me about FIP and said there is a possibility but we just don't know for sure now. Basically she said none of this looks good.

She recommended we do further testing before she moves forward with any treatments of some sort. She wants to have an ultrasound done which costs around $500 but unfortunately I don't have the money for that right now

So after spending over an hour there, she could not do anything more for us. She just wrote me a prescription for Royal Canin Intestinal High Energy for her pancreatitis. I did pick some of that up along with some Purina Pro Plan Focus Urinary Tract Health cans.

When we got home, my kitty was in and out of the litter box again only producing small amounts of urine, sometimes even just drops. I fed her some of the Purina Pro Plan and she seemed to really enjoy it. I was glad she still had her appetite. A few hours later, she had passed a small bowel movement.. then a few mins after she had 3 more bowel movements (her stool was kinda soft) She looked an seemed better after that.

Later that night she continued to go in and out the litter box in a short amount of time in between. I spent the night crying and praying.. I wish we could have gotten some more answers. I worry this might be FIP, but despite everythng she looks pretty okay to me and I heard when they have FIP it's really bad. Also 6 months ago she also tested positive for coronavirus and I thought that if it is FIP it happens very quickly and they are unable to make it for very long.


The swelling in her belly just happened recently like a couple of days ago. Could it still possibly indicate FIP? I don't know, I am just very sad and very confused. I wish I had the money right now for the ultrasound so that hopefully things can make more sense. I will also try to see if I can get a second opinion. I would like to go to a feline only vet.

Please keep my kitty in your thoughts and prayers. I honestly love this cat so much, she is so special to me. It breaks my heart seeing her this way.

 

[war&wisdom]

I'm thinking about you and your kitty.

 

[joyfulrose]

I'm thinking about you and your kitty.

Thank you so much

 

[PushPurrCatPaws]

Thanks for that update, joyfulrose! It's so tough when our kitties are going through times like this. I'm really praying and hoping for the best for you both! Did the vet not want to give you anything to address her dehydration and anemia? Maybe I missed that part in reading your post. Even the dehydration can cause vomiting and nausea, which leads to more dehydration, and it's a vicious circle, a bad spiral to be in.
Giving you a lot of hugs right now!

 

[FeebysOwner]

Hi. Thanks for the update. I am confused as to why the vet would not treat the anemia or hydrate her. Was that because you can't afford it, or? The vet also didn't suggest drawing fluid from her belly to test it? I am not understanding the need for an ultrasound before treating any of her symptoms. Did the vet explain this to you ? At least the vet did give you advice about helping with the pancreatitis, and it is good that your little gal likes the food too.

I am not a vet, but I still think the belly swelling could be from the pancreatitis.
And, just so you know, pretty much any time a vet sees fluid in the belly they are going to bring up FIP. Just because a cat tests positive for the corona virus does not mean they are automatically going to have that virus mutate into FIP. Many cats who have tested for corona live long happy lives without it ever mutating. Although, the virus may more likely mutate when a cat's immune system is weakened by other illnesses - but that is not a guarantee that it will.

I hope she keeps eating - and drinking!! Keep an eye on her peeing and pooping just as you have been doing. You might want to try additional hydration by using a water filled syringe, holding her and then squirting a little bit at a time in the side of her mouth. You could also add a little water to her food, if she will eat it that way.

Hope this helps a little.

 

[tarasgirl06]

joyfulrose Absolutely your cat -- and you -- are in my *PRAYERS*! FeebysOwner 's post reflects my own thoughts. As for possible assistance financially, you may want to visit www.bestfriends.org/resources where there are links related to financial assistance.

 

[joyfulrose]

Thank you all for your replies and thank you for your kind words and prayers. I appreciate it more than you will ever know.

To answer some of your questions, the vet at banfield just kept pushing the ultrasound. They said before they could do ANYTHING we should do an ultrasound first just so they can see exactly what is going on before proceeding forward. When I asked if it was possible for them to express her bladder or drain the fluid in her belly, they again said that we should not do that before getting the ultrasound done because it might not be safe to do so if they don't know what is exactly going on. They did recommend Sub-Q fluids for the dehydration, but because the last blood test from 2 weeks ago showed she was pretty anemic, they wanted me to get another blood test done to see if anything has changed.. Because if they give too much fluids I was told she could go into shock and die.
And I honestly didn't have the funds for the ultrasound or another blood test. I just had one done 2 weeks ago. I was going to sign up for one of the wellness plans they offer- that way most of the testing I would need would be included and I would just have to pay a small amount monthly for a year. But the vet told me she doesn't recommend I do that because she doesn't think my kitty will even make it another month and I would be paying monthly for the next year whether she makes it that long or not. This really upset me when she said that and made me feel like she was just saying that so I would pay for whatever needed to be done in full instead of the small monthly payment.

I decided to call around some other vets in my area to get another opinion. I found a vet who was willing to see my kitty right away after I explained everything to them. So this is now the 4th vet we have seen :/

The vet examined my kitty really well. She listened to heart and mentioned it was kind of rapid (she said it could be heart disease- but every other vet I have seen said her heart was good so I am not sure, I think she was just very stressed and scared.) She listened to her lungs and said she didnt hear any fluid in her lungs. She commented on how thin and bony she was and asked me if she was eating good. I answered that she eats a lot better than she ever used to lately but she can never seem to put on any weight. The vet then vet her abdomen and said she does feel some fluid. She felt her bladder and said she didn't think the swollen belly was because she was unable to urinate. She said that she is urinating small amounts because she has a small bladder? I mentioned that my kitty seemed to be constipated as well for a couple weeks along with the trouble urinating. She told me that I could give her some petromalt for the constipation and that the way to deal with these issues is to give her lots and lots of fluids (canned food and water- I already do that and have been doing that for weeks- she drinks LOTS of water) She looked over all her blood work and noticed that my kitty tested positive for coronavirus- she said it could be FIP because my kitty seems to have a lot of the symptoms. She said we could test the fluid in her belly and see if it is FIP but she says she feels pretty confident that is what it is. (without even having done any testing?) She told me theres not much we can do for the cat, just to try to make her comfortable. I asked her if the swelling could be from the pancreatitis. She told me she doesn't think my cat even has pancreatitis because she has no symptoms of vomiting or nausea. She said that is the number one most common symptom with pancreatitis. (My kitty never vomits) She did not say anything about draining the belly but she did say they can give SUB-Q fluids for the dehydration and it might helps with the constipation and her not being able to urinate but they said there can be risks to doing that because her belly is already so full with fluid. So we decided to do a urinalysis first to rule out any possible UTI.

I got the results yesterday, the vet said there was no bacteria and no crystals so she doesn't think my kitty has a uti but there was some protein in the urine and she said that means there are likely some kidney issues going on. Other than that she said it didn't really tell us very much. She continued to say she feels very confident that it is FIP...

I just don't understand.. 2 weeks ago she had no kidney issues and now she does? and how can she be so sure it's FIP when we have done no tests to rule it out? I still feel like the swelling could be from the constipation. I am just so confused, do kitties with FIP tend to have these sorts of issues? Everything I have been reading says cats with FIP always have diarrhea and loss of appetite. Her appetite seems to be normal and there is no diarrhea...

I can't help but think maybe I am the reason for her kidney issues though. 6 months ago she showed some kidney issues and I tried to feed her low phosphorus foods and I even gave her Hills K/D despite it not being the best because she actually loved it and ate a lot of it. When she was on the hills k/d i started to worry that maybe she doesn't even have CKD because she had none of the symptoms so i decided to take her to get another blood test done to be sure cuz i heard its bad for them to eat k/d if they don't actually have kidney issues. When we tested 2 weeks ago and the vet told me her kidneys are normal and she doesn't have ckd- he said she could eat anything even high protein and phosphorus because he felt her issue was the pancreatitis... So that was when i started giving her anything she was willing to eat in hopes of her putting on weight. I gave her lots of fancy feast because it was her favorite. and now it seems like she is having kidney issues and I am the one to blame

Now she seems to be declining more and more she is losing her balance and seems very weak and unable to walk properly. She is still eating and drinking normally and she actually started urinating normal amounts now. I feel like she is still constipated tho, I don't think i have seen her have a bowel movement in the last few days. I have been giving her small dabs of petromalt, lots of pumpkin wet foods, wet food with fiber, lots and lots of water and she still doesnt look to have had a bowel movement. I am not 100 % sure tho because I have 3 other cats but I have never actually seen her have a bowel movement. Just a few hours ago she urinated then right after she just laid in her litter box like she was too weak to move. I am so scared and have been crying for days, I don't know how else to help her. Please if anyone has any other suggestions on what this could be or what i could do or try i would really appreciate it.
I don't want to lose her. I worry if I take her to the vet again she may pass on the car ride due to stress... she hates going to the vet. And every time we go there its such long wait times by the time we get seen by the vet she is so weak I don't think she could handle any more testing she is so fragile right now

 

[tarasgirl06]

Thank you all for your replies and thank you for your kind words and prayers. I appreciate it more than you will ever know.

To answer some of your questions, the vet at banfield just kept pushing the ultrasound. They said before they could do ANYTHING we should do an ultrasound first just so they can see exactly what is going on before proceeding forward. When I asked if it was possible for them to express her bladder or drain the fluid in her belly, they again said that we should not do that before getting the ultrasound done because it might not be safe to do so if they don't know what is exactly going on. They did recommend Sub-Q fluids for the dehydration, but because the last blood test from 2 weeks ago showed she was pretty anemic, they wanted me to get another blood test done to see if anything has changed.. Because if they give too much fluids I was told she could go into shock and die.
And I honestly didn't have the funds for the ultrasound or another blood test. I just had one done 2 weeks ago. I was going to sign up for one of the wellness plans they offer- that way most of the testing I would need would be included and I would just have to pay a small amount monthly for a year. But the vet told me she doesn't recommend I do that because she doesn't think my kitty will even make it another month and I would be paying monthly for the next year whether she makes it that long or not. This really upset me when she said that and made me feel like she was just saying that so I would pay for whatever needed to be done in full instead of the small monthly payment.

I decided to call around some other vets in my area to get another opinion. I found a vet who was willing to see my kitty right away after I explained everything to them. So this is now the 4th vet we have seen :/

The vet examined my kitty really well. She listened to heart and mentioned it was kind of rapid (she said it could be heart disease- but every other vet I have seen said her heart was good so I am not sure, I think she was just very stressed and scared.) She listened to her lungs and said she didnt hear any fluid in her lungs. She commented on how thin and bony she was and asked me if she was eating good. I answered that she eats a lot better than she ever used to lately but she can never seem to put on any weight. The vet then vet her abdomen and said she does feel some fluid. She felt her bladder and said she didn't think the swollen belly was because she was unable to urinate. She said that she is urinating small amounts because she has a small bladder? I mentioned that my kitty seemed to be constipated as well for a couple weeks along with the trouble urinating. She told me that I could give her some petromalt for the constipation and that the way to deal with these issues is to give her lots and lots of fluids (canned food and water- I already do that and have been doing that for weeks- she drinks LOTS of water) She looked over all her blood work and noticed that my kitty tested positive for coronavirus- she said it could be FIP because my kitty seems to have a lot of the symptoms. She said we could test the fluid in her belly and see if it is FIP but she says she feels pretty confident that is what it is. (without even having done any testing?) She told me theres not much we can do for the cat, just to try to make her comfortable. I asked her if the swelling could be from the pancreatitis. She told me she doesn't think my cat even has pancreatitis because she has no symptoms of vomiting or nausea. She said that is the number one most common symptom with pancreatitis. (My kitty never vomits) She did not say anything about draining the belly but she did say they can give SUB-Q fluids for the dehydration and it might helps with the constipation and her not being able to urinate but they said there can be risks to doing that because her belly is already so full with fluid. So we decided to do a urinalysis first to rule out any possible UTI.

I got the results yesterday, the vet said there was no bacteria and no crystals so she doesn't think my kitty has a uti but there was some protein in the urine and she said that means there are likely some kidney issues going on. Other than that she said it didn't really tell us very much. She continued to say she feels very confident that it is FIP...

I just don't understand.. 2 weeks ago she had no kidney issues and now she does? and how can she be so sure it's FIP when we have done no tests to rule it out? I still feel like the swelling could be from the constipation. I am just so confused, do kitties with FIP tend to have these sorts of issues? Everything I have been reading says cats with FIP always have diarrhea and loss of appetite. Her appetite seems to be normal and there is no diarrhea...

I can't help but think maybe I am the reason for her kidney issues though. 6 months ago she showed some kidney issues and I tried to feed her low phosphorus foods and I even gave her Hills K/D despite it not being the best because she actually loved it and ate a lot of it. When she was on the hills k/d i started to worry that maybe she doesn't even have CKD because she had none of the symptoms so i decided to take her to get another blood test done to be sure cuz i heard its bad for them to eat k/d if they don't actually have kidney issues. When we tested 2 weeks ago and the vet told me her kidneys are normal and she doesn't have ckd- he said she could eat anything even high protein and phosphorus because he felt her issue was the pancreatitis... So that was when i started giving her anything she was willing to eat in hopes of her putting on weight. I gave her lots of fancy feast because it was her favorite. and now it seems like she is having kidney issues and I am the one to blame

Now she seems to be declining more and more she is losing her balance and seems very weak and unable to walk properly. She is still eating and drinking normally and she actually started urinating normal amounts now. I feel like she is still constipated tho, I don't think i have seen her have a bowel movement in the last few days. I have been giving her small dabs of petromalt, lots of pumpkin wet foods, wet food with fiber, lots and lots of water and she still doesnt look to have had a bowel movement. I am not 100 % sure tho because I have 3 other cats but I have never actually seen her have a bowel movement. Just a few hours ago she urinated then right after she just laid in her litter box like she was too weak to move. I am so scared and have been crying for days, I don't know how else to help her. Please if anyone has any other suggestions on what this could be or what i could do or try i would really appreciate it.
I don't want to lose her. I worry if I take her to the vet again she may pass on the car ride due to stress... she hates going to the vet. And every time we go there its such long wait times by the time we get seen by the vet she is so weak I don't think she could handle any more testing she is so fragile right now

joyfulrose , my *PRAYERS* are for her and for you. I could say hopeful things. Of course there is always a chance and one should always keep hope. But in this case, I am going to be honest with you because that is what I would want if I was facing this. I have faced it before. We adopted a bouncy, adorable, seemingly healthy kitten from a friend who had found her on the street and loved her but was financially not in as good a shape as we were at the time. We took her right in to our vet for her exam and kitten innoculations. I had lost my beloved Sun to what was diagnosed as dry-form FIP a couple of years before, after a Herculean battle and he lived an almost unheard of around 16 years with regular veterinary checkups and innoculations (Immunoregulin, B-12 and sometimes cortisone) so I was very aware of FIP and at that time, there were intranasal vax for it, so of course I had this for this sweet kitten girl.
Seemingly overnight, she developed all of the classic symptoms of wet-form FIP, the most telling of which is a suddenly very swollen belly. I will always believe it was caused by the vax.
We were going to take her in for checkup the next moring, but during the night, she passed.
I am praying for you both but I am asking you to prepare yourself. I am so very sorry to say this, but she is exhibiting the signs.

 

[FeebysOwner]

Hi. I am so sorry that all of this is happening. There is no test that will absolutely confirm or rule out FIP. And, as you know there is no cure.

At the same, pancreatitis can cause many of the same symptoms your baby has been demonstrating. And, the only real treatment for that is many of things you have already been doing. There is no cure for pancreatitis, just the support care you have been doing. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.

I don't like that you weren't able to get two vets to agree on a diagnosis. But, if you had been able to get an ultrasound, there is no guarantee that an absolute diagnosis would have been made.

Keep taking care of your baby to the best of your ability, make sure she is comfortable. I am sure she already knows how much you love her.