Air Under Cat's Skin?

How many ccs is the 2 ounces

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Using the handy water method of measuring just now, I came up with 8 cc=2 tsp; 24cc=
6 tsp, which is 2 Tbsp, which would be 1/4 cup, or 2 oz. (those cc to tsp. numbers are approximations) You might want to check that yourself; like I said, it's early, and math has never been my strong suit. I hope your specialist can find a cause for Willow's problem. It's one thing to know what's going on with your kitty, it's different when you have no clue as to what's causing the problem.

So not eating on her own and diarrhea and vomiting. How often is she vomiting?

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For the last couple of days, it's only been when I've tried to feed her too much at one time. I can tell when she's had enough, but if there's only a little bit left I try to get it into her. This morning I gave her an ounce by syringe, then hand-fed her some canned chicken cat food. She immediately threw up when I put her down. I waited a few minutes, gave her another ounce by syringe and she kept it down just fine. I did a quick search on this site last night regarding the tiny amount of foamy liquid she threw up and came up with 2 reasons for that; 1) she's hungry and 2) she has an upset stomach. I'm giving her 1/4 of a Pepcid tablet daily, hoping that will help with the upset tummy.
It looks as if I'll be calling the vet Tuesday morning. If this was just a virus, I'd think she'd be over it by now. I don't know that she's pooped since Saturday, either. Granted, she's eating nothing but paste from a syringe, but wouldn't that be enough to make her poop occasionally? I can understand not eating if you're feeling puny, but the not drinking part really worries me.

Isnt she going in for a barium on thursday? Sure sounds like something is blocking her food from getting down. The barium as I said will check for a blockage or thickening somehwere.

We had a cat at the clinic one time thats esophagus was smaller at the entrance to the stomche. DO not even know hwo that happened. She had to have surgery to correct it.

Katie is confusing me big time. Yesterday, DH decided she needed some grass, so he brought some in and she actually ate it. Of course, 5 hours later it came back up again. She also ate a couple of pieces of dry kitten food.
This morning, she hasn't thrown up at all. The vet called and when I told her all the weekend events she was as confused as I am (she's an intern). She talked to the head vet, who decided we should treat this as IBD. So, I started the prednisone this morning and she actually ate some prescription d/d food on her own! Yea! She's been circling the food dish meowing at me, even tho' there are 4 different kinds of food there to tempt her. I'm still going to syringe-feed her a few times today and see how things go.
The vet said if the vomiting decreases significantly, we'll keep her on the prednisone. If the vomiting continues, we'll do the barium xrays. If those don't show any blockage, they want to check for heart worms (since she was an outside kitty for months). Her breathing is fine, so they really don't think it's necessary to check her for the heart worms at this point.
She's been really lovely today, wanting attention constantly (which is normal fo her). Keep your fingers crossed that the meds take care of the problem.

Katie has eaten some dry food on her own, but it comes back up within an hour. I'm really relieved that she has an appetite, I just wish she could keep more food down. She's vomiting about every other time she eats, whether it'd something she's eaten on her own or I've syringe-fed her.
I still wonder if she's fighting off a virus. Today is the one week mark of her vomiting/diarrhea problems; the vet said a virus should run it's course within a week, so I guess we'll see.
It's funny, the first time I put the d/d food in front of her, she ate it up. After that, she wouldn't touch it. Picky, picky. That's what's going in the syringe now, whether she likes it or not!

All that vomiting is hard on her. I would opt for the barium series anyhow, it really seems like there is more going on than IBD.

Read about IBD on my website. Click below and search the right panel for IBD

My kitty (the one that lives with my mom) had that problem too. Hers was under different circumstances. My mom found her under a bush one afternoon panting, foaming at the mouth, and she had pooped on herself. My mom cleaned her up and noticed that she was barely breathing. She took her to the emergency room and the vet said she had a collapsed lung. They put her in an oxygen chamber to help her breathe and they didn't know if she would make it. Funny thing is, they couldn't find any puncture wound on her either, so we never found out what could have happened. They got her all fixed up, and she had the air under her skin too from where the air had leaked out of her lung. It was weird, and when you pet her head it crackled. I called her bubble wrap head for a while. She's fine now though!

I hope your kitty gets all better!

We live in the country and Our cat C is strictly a house cat we let him out to go potty, well for some reason he took off and returned a day later. He was having trouble breathing, hardly moving and from his neck clear down his back to his tail was like someone took a needle and inflated air under his skin, like airing up a basketball. we contacted our vet and they told us there was nothing they could do that he was going to die. He looked miserable and we almost had him put down but decided to keep an eye on him. Its been a week and now he is up jumping around being normal. The skin still feels like air but all else seems good. Just wanted to reply because this is the first time we have ever seen this thank you for you story. 

I think you are right on and I think it's called the same thing in a cat.  I was told that occasionally when cats are intubated (sp?) that the trachia gets a small tear and air escapes into the body.  This happened to a small kitten I was fostering when she was spayed.  

I had been trying to figure out what this was since my cat presented with similar symptoms last night. the only difference with my Macy is she was spayed a week ago. the surgical emphysema diagnosis seemed accurate for her symptoms. we did take her back to the vet last night when symptoms presented and they said there was nothing that could be done so were hoping she gets over this very soon she seems so uncomfortable :-( she is eating and drinking but not acting like her normal self she seems to just sleep most of the time.just very uncomfortably ;-(  I'm glad I came across this thread now I see Macy isn't the only kitty this has happened to the vet had never seen it before and didn't have a diagnosis just that he figured air  got in somehow during her spaying 

Macysmom, my kitty healed after 2 full weeks.  She had no other symptoms, so evidently her "leak" wasn't bad.  Vet said it it got bigger or worse, we would have to open her to find the hole.  Hope your kitty is better too.

libby74 said:

We took our 1 1/2 y/o Katie to the vet yesterday because of vomiting and diarrhea. Blood work was good, x-rays were negative---probably a virus. I've given her sub-q fluids and syringe fed her because she has no appetite at the moment. The vet mentioned that Katie's x-rays showed air trapped under the skin on her left side. They had looked all over her little furry body for a puncture wound of some kind, but couldn't find anything. The vet explained that sometimes a puncture wound can let air enter the body and cause a build-up that usually disipates within 7 days. If you press your fingers on Katie's side, it almost feels as if she's got tiny pieces of bubble wrap under her fur! The vet said it's nothing to worry about, just sort of unusual.
I think the only way Katie could have received a puncture wound would have been from 'fighting' with one of the other kitties. (mine are all indoor only cats) I've never heard of anything like this before, and was wonderng if anyone else had.
BTW, a few vibes for my little girl probably wouldn't hurt, either.

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Hi, I had a similar issue with my daughter's couple days old kittens. They were full of tiny bubbles when she took to the vet (one had died) he said there was nothing to be done. They think mom might have passed something on in utero or from her milk.. I can't find the paperwork on what it was called so I looked it up. It said the air then goes upward and into the brain and they die. Mortified having 4 babies, 2 of which were making the death cry, I decided that if the bubbles go up to the brain and kill them, what happens if I push them down VERY slowly and lightly. It was a 3 day process as it seemed very painful for them. I had decided that if I took my finger in a small area and knew that area had been now semi cleared, if when I kept checking on them it returned and made more in that area, I would stop. This was so painful esp for the 2 that were worse off. If I couldn't help I was going to take vet advice and keep them as comfortable as possible until they passed.
I continued to check on them that night but didn't see any return of leaked air. But I was positive the one kitten that was the worst off wouldn't make it. Next morning I wake, put my hand into cat carrier believing I was atleast going to pull out 1 dead kitten. Shock and awe presented itself. They were all alive and doing better, so I kept up the same thing for a cpl more days until all bubbles were gone. I handfed them during the process and after. They all lived, grew up to be gorgeous cats and healthy.
I still have one 10 yrs later. He was the 2nd worse one. He's the most wonderful and loving cat.
I presented this to another vet later on with the paperwork and she was very surprised and asked if she could copy the paperwork. I've posted at different times so people know if they're having this situation, the kittens can be saved.