New Kitten - Problem

Wasn't sure whether to put this thread in here or the health forum.

Neighbour came round today to say come and collect our new kitten (who we've decided to name Keno). He is 8 weeks old now.

I think he's going to be quite a big cat as he has big paws. He's too cute for words and as bold as brass

Unfortunately, it looks like he's got an umbilical hernia. Neighbour said she thought she felt a lump on his belly the other day, but couldn't find it again. I couldn't feel it either to start with - then I did

It feels approximately 3/4" to 1" wide. She says she is taking him to the vets tomorrow and will hopefully get it fixed.

Being suspicious (and poor Keno is crawling with fleas so guaranteed he'll have worms as well) I rang my vet - we get a free kitten check with them anyway.

Advice to me was to bring the kitten in and they would decide if it was a case for urgent surgery or if he could wait until 5 - 6 months so he could be neutered and have the hernia repair at the same time - and of course, arrange vaccinations and have him wormed and flead.

Pre-empting another possible vet bill I asked for a rough estimate - £300 - eek!!!

Right now, all I seem to be doing is paying vet bills.

I soooooo need to win the lottery

Anyway, has anyone else had a kitten with an umbilical hernia and if so, did the kitten need surgery to close the hole or did it close on it's own?

I've had two kittens with umbilical hernias. Both are just fine now!

The first one was born in my house to a mom I rescued 2 weeks before she gave birth. We had been handling him since birth but did not notice it until we heard him squealing while pooping - the vet said that of course he had it since birth, but as he grew it got bigger too and this particular kitten had an overall weakness down his front. They did fix his hernia at 8 weeks and neutered him a few months later. He only had to have the two surgeries due to the hernia obviously causing him pain. He's a big, healthy almost 2 year old boy now!

The second kitten was one I caught outside at an estimated 5 weeks. I knew right away she had one as it was quite obvious. Did not bother her a bit and we were able to wait until she was 6-7 months old to have it repaired when she was spayed. She was up and removing her stitches immediately after surgery - she got the e-collar off multiple times! Keeping her away from her incision was the most complicated part of her surgery

I've never heard of one closing on it's own, but this is the limit of my experience - maybe some can.

If it's not bothering him you may well be able to wait, but it definitely bears a vet evaluation. I'm sure your vet will be able to advise the best course of action for your particular kitty. Keep us posted!

I think hernias can close by themselves, but I believe that is very rare and most need surgery to close them.

Neighbour says she is taking kitten to her vet tomorrow but I don't really trust her to do so. I bet she will say that the hernia will repair itself. Either way, the kitten will be seeing my vet ASAP.

I trust what my vet says, not what someone else says.

It may be that it can wait until he's 6 months and be done the same time as he is neutered but I'd rather not take the chance of something awful happening to him so, regardless of what my neighbour says, the kitten will be seeing my vet. Need to get him wormed and de-flead anyway.

I am really looking forward to getting him. Long time since we had a kitten wreaking havoc in the house. Stocked up on kitten food tonight. It was on special offer at the supermarket

Congratulations on your kitten. If the hernia is not that bad then I would wait for the Neutering.

We have also had 2 kittens with umbilical hernias. Both discovered before 12 weeks. One had surgury and the other healed up. It was minor and our vet said it would heal. The surgury cost us about $350 US.

I'm happy to see that you will take care of it. You will find out that it is not a big deal.

I fostered a female kitten with an umbilical hernia around this time last summer. She was about 7-weeks-old when rescued and my vet really didn't want to wait on surgery, so we went ahead with it and she was spayed at the same time. This was a little earlier than the rescue I work with normall does pediatric spay/neuters (2 months and 2.2 lbs), but the kitten came through the surgery just fine and had no further issues. My vet gives a discount for rescues and charged less than $100 to repair the hernia and spay the kitten.

Both of my girls had umbilical hernias when they were babies, as did one of my parents' dogs.

Belle's disappeared on it's own. It was just a tiny one. Delilah's was a bit bigger and it was supposed to be fixed when she was spayed at 6 months. However, they didn't end up fixing it (it kind of came and went and the vet/techs couldn't find it when they went to do the surgery). So, I guess she still has it. I mention it everytime I go to the vet and they tell me that its nothing to worry about. I don't really want to put her through another surgery if I don't have to. I check it frequently to make sure it feels OK and it hasn't caused her any problems at all.

My parents' dog's was fixed when she was spayed at 6 months old. It was only an extra, maybe $60 on top of the spay. No big deal.

Perhaps if they are going to have to open her up to fix it you could convince them to do an early spay, thus saving you some money!

Originally Posted by zoeysmom

Perhaps if they are going to have to open her up to fix it you could convince them to do an early spay, thus saving you some money!

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It's a little boy LOL. Haven't seen sight nor sound of the neighbour nor the kitten

I think she really wants to keep him herself. She's really fond of the little chap. She works shifts so that's why I might not have seen her but her kids are usually going about and I haven't seen them either for a couple of days.

With two poorly cats at the moment, one just recovering from an eye op, and the other with possible epilepsy, I'm not going to chase her for him. In any case, he's still very young so would benefit from being with his mum for another couple of weeks.