Pounce (will be 9 in July) has been gaining weight despite all our efforts to keep it off her. We switched to a low-cal option of her prescription food (for FLUTD), started using an auto-feeder to feed small portions 3 times a day instead of a big portion all at once, started doing daily intense play sessions for exercise, and feed her smaller portions of wet food. To be honest, she eats less than half of the dry food, the only major thing she eats is about 3/4 can of wet food a day. The cans are Fancy Feast size. Of the dry food, she eats about 50 grams a day, though the bag recommends 60-80 for her size. The vet didn't seem worried about her weight gain except to tell us that she is now overweight and definitely needs to lose about 500 g, but I have started to really worry in the past few weeks. Her stomach is ALWAYS swollen tight. She has only a tiny amount of flab on her belly, really insignificant when you compare it to my other cat. She uses the bathroom regularly, no strain, no signs of blood or pain. She is overly eager to get her wet food and will bolt it down so fast that she vomits if I don't stand over her and slow her down. She drinks a good amount - not too much or too little. She has plenty of energy, and her coat is shiny, smells good, and is soft. Behavior-wise, everything is normal, although she HAS begun to be a bit more aggressive with Piccalo. I suspect it could be due to Piccalo's suspected hyperthyroidism - getting that tested now. I have often heard that when a cat is ill, the other cats in the household will attack it or act strangely towards it - maybe I am wrong? In any case, she is not at all aggressive towards us, nor has she started to be any more affectionate than usual.
I want to take her back to the vet, but thought I would sound out you all to see if you heard of anything like it before. I want to be able to ask specific questions at the vet's office if possible. I really have to try extra hard here because of the language barrier (Japanese) and even when my husband translates, a lot gets lost if he doesn't understand a medical term.
Any ideas? I hope I am making something out of nothing, but I do find it odd that she is always swollen up like a drum - stomach is actually hard when I touch it - almost like a full term pregnancy, but she is spayed and has never escaped the apartment. I worry about cancer, but wouldn't there be other changes?
Any help is greatly appreciated!!
I want to take her back to the vet, but thought I would sound out you all to see if you heard of anything like it before. I want to be able to ask specific questions at the vet's office if possible. I really have to try extra hard here because of the language barrier (Japanese) and even when my husband translates, a lot gets lost if he doesn't understand a medical term.
Any ideas? I hope I am making something out of nothing, but I do find it odd that she is always swollen up like a drum - stomach is actually hard when I touch it - almost like a full term pregnancy, but she is spayed and has never escaped the apartment. I worry about cancer, but wouldn't there be other changes?
Any help is greatly appreciated!!
