bloated abdomen

Hi, I'm posting about one of my grown up rescue kittens Speedy. He's a 2 yr old neutered male, his family were all very sick with cat flu when I took them in 2 years ago, and he seems to get flare ups of runny eyes and vomiting every so often. So I didn't pay too much attention when he started sleeping a lot and sneezing with runny eyes recently. But I did notice that his belly has got big. I recently took him to the vet for his booster, which he couldn't have as he was running a temperature. I mentioned the belly to the vet, who had a good feel of him and then asked me does he eat a lot. He does (we call him Greedy Speedy), and the vet just weighed him and told me he's just fat. But I don't think so because it's just a big belly, and the rest of him is really bony. Plus the belly came on quite quickly, while he's been sick. He's been off colour for weeks now, and today I realised I can feel all of his spine and his hip bones.

I've been reading about FIP and freaking out, but it sounds like he'd be dead already if it was that. Plus surely the vet would have felt if there was fluid when he was examining him? The high temperature wasn't surprising as there has been some kind of mild vomiting bug doing the rounds of my 5 cats.

After typing all this out I think I've realised I need to go to a different vet.... but do these symptoms sound familiar to anyone?

My first thought would be worms or intestinal parasites.  Did the vet do a fecal test to rule those out?  If not, that's where I'd start.
 

Oh sorry I forgot that. The vet wormed him, though he is wormed every 3 months and only 2 had passed. That was a few weeks ago and he isn't any less bloated.
 

Saw a different vet and Speedy's been admitted for dehydration and high temp of 104. He's had a blood panel which showed up anaemia, but liver fine and kidneys are ok. They sampled the liquid from his abdomen and it doesn't look like FIP.

So it's still a mystery, and I'm still hoping someone will recognise the symptoms, ie.

• bloated abdomen
• weight loss
• anaemia
• high temperature

I should be happy it's not FIP, but I just have a really bad feeling about this. I just hope he gets to come home

I'm so glad you took him into the vet and I hope they can figure out what's going on with him.
 

so the vet went through the symptoms and all of the possible causes have bad outcomes. I've brought Speedy home to hospice
 

I'm sorry to hear this. 

stephanietx said:

I'm sorry to hear this. 

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Me too

for Speedy

stephanietx said:

I'm sorry to hear this. 

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Me too.  I hope Speedy is comfortable just now and you are able to have some extra special time with him.     

Thank you. I was cutting a dressing off his leg today and it was upsetting him. His mother ran up and licked his head the whole time I was doing it. It was the sweetest thing, I thought the maternal bond was gone but it isn't.

Speedy was put to sleep today, we never did find out for sure what was wrong. Heartbroken, and very scared for my other cats
 

I'm so sorry .  Is there any reason to think whatever was wrong with him was contagious?  Are any of your other cats showing any signs of illness? 

for the rest of the household

Rest in peace,  Speedy

I'm so sad to hear about Speedy, and it must be so much harder not to knowing what was wrong.  Speedy was lucky to live with such a loving and caring family.  My thoughts are with you, and I hope all your other cats are well and not showing any symptoms so you can begin to relax a little about all your other family members. I hope your vet has been able to give you some reassurance.  The hardest bit about loving so much is when someone has to move on, and then you worry about everyone else too.  I hope you have had some precious moments with Speedy over the past week and that you are slowly able to remember more of the times he was well. 

So many of us on this site have experienced loss and I know that want to I share your pain as I remember my girls who are no longer with me.  

Vet thought it was most likely lymphoma. But I know that this all started with runny eyes, sneezing and vomiting, which went through my cats one by one. I might be paranoid but I don't think they're eating as much as normal. And if it was lymphoma I'm still worried as I have speedy's mother and sister. Sorry, just sounding off, its been a horrible day. This is the first pet I've had to have euthanised and it wasn't as peaceful as I thought it would be. I'm feeling a lot of regret tonight

Well, your entire household is probably feeling Speedy's loss, so the other cats very well may be eating a little less right now,just because they are also in mourning.  They may act a little "off" for a couple of days, or even longer.  But do keep an eye on them to make sure they eat enough, and check their ears and paws for fever, if you suspect anything is wrong.

I think most of us second guess ourselves when "the time" comes.     I'm sorry it wasn't peaceful though.  I don't know what happened, but at least now Speedy is free from whatever it was that was wrong with him, which didn't sound very good.