Please help - is is always a very poor prognosis for cats with fluid in abdomen??

Hi, I'm new to the forum and am after advice or thoughts from fellow cat owners.  Apologies for such a long first post - I guess you guys must get this a lot.

We were away for a couple of days over the weekend; when we got back yesterday evening (around 8pm) one of our Bengal cats was really off colour.  (We have four, three neutered boys and one spayed girl.  Their ages range between 8 and 10.  Two of the boys are litter mates and the other two are from the same breeder but are not related.  The brothers we've had since they were 12 weeks old and the others since they were 18 months - 2 years old.)

"Fireblade" is the oldest at 10.  He didn't come to greet us at the door and was very quiet. He can be a private cat but if we've been away for more than 12 hours it's unusual for him not to greet us.  

He eventually came into the lounge and he looked like he'd swallowed a barrel - his abdomen was hugely distended - normally he's a "look at me, I'm starved" sort of shape.  His face also looks subtly "wrong" but I can't pin down exactly why - it's like his eyes suddenly got too big for his face.  All the cats are indoor though they have access to a fenced in, completely enclosed cat run 24 hours a day.  The other three cats are fine and show no signs at all of any illness or injury.

He was really still and quiet this morning - hardly moving, not vocalising like he normally does - so I got him up to vet at 9.20am.  She said his temperature was high (41) and that his abdomen felt very soft; she couldn't feel any hard lumps or masses.  I decided to go down the blood test route - but he wouldn't let them get near him (he detests being picked up or restrained!!) so she said she'd need to sedate him and as that was the case she might as well also do an x-ray.  

Bloodwork shows liver and kidney function are normal; but his white blood cell count is over double what it should be.  The xray showed that his abdomen is full of fluid but apparently his organs all looked normal - nothing enlarged/twisted/ruptured.  The small sample of fluid drawn from his abdomen is clear with a faint straw-like colour.  Though no formal lab tests have been done, the vet did a rough analysis to see if she could get an idea of what sort of fluid it was.  Because of the fluid they were unable to see if any growths were present though she didn't feel any.

However she kept saying that we need to bear in mind that "cats with fluid on their abdomens always have a very poor prognosis and don't do well".  Is this correct?  It seems overly fatalistic considering she is not able to give us a steer on what is actually causing the issue.  He was 100% healthy on Saturday with no problems at all and then we came home to him looking like he'd been pumped full of air!

We picked him up earlier and he has eaten 25grams of dry cat food and drunk quite a lot, and has also used the litter tray.  His stomach seems less swollen than yesterday but he is still not in any way "right".

Has anyone else experienced this sort of thing?  What was the outcome or treatment?  Is the vet right when she says that cats presenting with these symptoms always have a poor prognosis?

Thank you if you can help

I'm so sorry your kitty is not well. Unfortunately, I agree that a buildup of fluid is usually not good, especially when it's accompanied by a high fever and high WBC count.    Feline infectious peritonitis (FIP) would be your worst case scenario and I really hope its not this. This site lists some other potential causes: http://www.petmd.com/cat/conditions/cardiovascular/c_ct_ascites

Sending lots of vibes for your boy.   

ETA: Here's another link: http://www.vetinfo.com/cat-fluid-in-abdomen.html

GoHolistic said:

 
I'm so sorry your kitty is not well. Unfortunately, I agree that a buildup of fluid is usually not good, especially when it's accompanied by a high fever and high WBC count. 

  Feline infectious peritonitis (FIP) would be your worst case scenario and I really hope its not this. This site lists some other potential causes: http://www.petmd.com/cat/conditions/cardiovascular/c_ct_ascites

Sending lots of vibes for your boy. 

 

ETA: Here's another link: http://www.vetinfo.com/cat-fluid-in-abdomen.html

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Thank you for the links.  I've been searching various things on the web since I got home which is how I've found this site....

She did mention FIP but said she had more or less ruled it out because of his age, as it normally presents in kittens or young cats.  Something that came up on both her lists with regards to the type of fluid (exudates or transudates??) was neo-something - basically a tumour.    But the onset has been so sudden - surely we would have seen signs of something rather than sudden very fast build up of fluid??

He's in the lounge with us so we can keep an eye on him; he's quite withdrawn in himself but is drinking and eating.  Actually he's drinking more than he normally would as far as I can see.

Is it odd that the vet is unable to pinpoint with more accuracy what's caused the build up of fluid?  His breathing is fine.  She mentioned that an option might be to operate and drain the fluid and then they could have a look at the abdominal cavity for any growths etc but although she didn't actually come out and say so the impression I got was that it might be a waste of time....   But he's a relatively young cat at 10 so surely there must be options

Once they examine the fluid one would think they could determine the cause of infection fairly rapidly and treat her quickly from there.    Not sure what the difficulty would be.   Unless it has to be sent to a special lab.

Good luck!!!

zoneout said:

Once they examine the fluid one would think they could determine the cause of infection fairly rapidly and treat her quickly from there.    Not sure what the difficulty would be.   Unless it has to be sent to a special lab.

Good luck!!!

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I don't think they have a full lab on site so any fluid would need to be sent away for analysis which she said would take a week. What she did yesterday was some sort of rough analysis to try and get some idea of what might be going on. I think we are going to ask her to take more fluid and send away but unfortunately this means sedating him again...

OH has just gone to work, says Blade still lethargic but tummy less swollen than it was and he's "talking" a bit which he wasn't yesterday.

I just can't believe that he's gone from his normal bright self to being seriously ill with a poor prognosis virtually overnight...

Glittercat said:

I don't think they have a full lab on site so any fluid would need to be sent away for analysis which she said would take a week. What she did yesterday was some sort of rough analysis to try and get some idea of what might be going on. I think we are going to ask her to take more fluid and send away but unfortunately this means sedating him again...

OH has just gone to work, says Blade still lethargic but tummy less swollen than it was and he's "talking" a bit which he wasn't yesterday.

I just can't believe that he's gone from his normal bright self to being seriously ill with a poor prognosis virtually overnight...

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He is at an age where his body is still very strong.   Animals have strong recuperative powers that nature has endowed them with so I am hoping his system is working and he is slowly recovering.   It almost sounds like an allergic reaction but its probably not that.   Wish I knew....sorry.

So, I am going to go out on a limb here and suggest another vet. If you are able I would try to find ideal : An Internal Medicine Veterinary Specialist, or a Feline only Veterinary Hospital.

What country are you in?

That temp is very high. I am really surprised he is eating.

You said they sedated him to get the fluid from his abdomen. Do you know if they did anything else during that time? Do you know what they used to sedate him?

I would be very leery of having him sedated again. To much stress.

I think you  would do better with a feline only vet that hopefully would know that restraint in a Bengal is not the way to do anything with them and when that fails trying more restraint is completely idiotic. With Bengals you have to show them respect in order to do anything. You don't hold them down. You work fast and get in and out so to speak and you never have two people doing anything to him at the same time.  You utilize your time so they are never sitting around waiting on you.

I digress. Sorry.

Your cat does sound very ill. That is a high fever.  

The best diagnostic visual tool is ultrasound if there is fluid involved. Ultrasounds work best with fluid, radiographs with air. Fluid on a radiograph looks white and fuzzy.

Below is from the Merck Veterinary Manual on line. Go to the site and search for FIP and read what is there.

What I have pasted is a test that the vet can run in house and could be done on the fluid they already have from the abdomen.

It would be nice to see the lab work if you have it. If not try to find out if the Globulin is high. I worry about him with all that fluid in the abdomen they can suffer from protein loss.

I would contact the breeder and see if she has had any of her cats from his line coming down with FIP lately.

Plenty of fresh water for him and for now I would keep him by himself or at least not with the other cats. Unless it is upsetting to him.

Watch his stress level. Stress could be his undoing .

Do you know what the protein level was of the fluid she tested?

If it is FIP it can in some cases come on very quickly.

Did she start him on any medications?

Do you know if he was eating when you were gone?

Was anyone checking on them? Did they note anything?

Is there any sign of yellow to the insides of his ears?

Only answer what you want to and don't worry if you don't want to answer anything. I always ask allot of questions.

I am very sorry your cat is so ill.

Quiet - just to note I have posted replies to all your questions, but I included a pic of Blade on the post and so it's gone to moderation.  I presume it will pop up at some point in the near future....

Glittercat said:

Quiet - just to note I have posted replies to all your questions, but I included a pic of Blade on the post and so it's gone to moderation.  I presume it will pop up at some point in the near future....

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I've changed your profile and this shouldn't happen to you again.

Glittercat said:

He's curled up next to me now on the sofa while I'm typing.

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What a lovely boy indeed - Beautiful markings .. I am so sorry to hear that he is not well. I don't really have much to offer in the way of advice, but did find the following information that points to other possibilities besides FIP

Exudates may be caused by other conditions such as a bacterial infection that has occurred as the result of an injury. They may also be the result of cancer that is attacking your cat’s abdomen and this is referred to as neoplastic effusion. However, there is still one other major player in potential fluid causes; transudates. Unlike exudates, transudates are clear fluids that result from some type of pressure that is blocking the normal flow of blood in your cat’s abdomen.

Sending many positive vibes  

Thanks all. We were back at the vet this afternoon...

She said his temperature has come down - still high at 39.5 but lower than it was (41).  The swelling from the fluid in his abdomen was noticeably less than it was on Tuesday when I took him in, so also a good thing, though it is still very visible from what his normal shape is.  It looks as though the antibiotics she gave him yesterday have done some good though he is still not well.  However he was much brighter and more alert when he came out of his basket onto the counter than Tuesday which she thought was a good/hopeful sign.  Still eating OK and drinking, though not as much as he was drinking yesterday - I guess the sedation left him with a dry mouth!!

We are going down the route of sending the fluid sample off to the lab for a full screen - she wasn't able to test for globulin? when she did it but she did say that she'd only been able to do a very basic analysis of it to try and pick up some clues.   I guess they can do more with the blood than the fluid as it's only a small practice.  

She gave him three more injections today - one anti-inflammatory, one more antibiotic and the third I think may have been a pain killer though I am not 100% certain.  She has given us an oral suspension of inflammatory drugs to be given tomorrow and Friday, unless it shows blood or any major change in stools.  We've also been given tablets to give him, 2 x day for 5 days.  Gawd only knows how we're going to do that - he HATES being handled or restrained in any way and he's a REALLY picky eater.  We've got some wet food she gave me, to crush the tablets into but I'm not convinced he'll actually eat it....  He's a right fusspot!

Our options after that will depend on what the lab results come back with, if they can provide more definite information on the make up of the fluid.  Worse case is FIP (though she doesn't think it's that) and second worse is some sort of cancer

Next appointment is Tues 15th at 5pm though obviously if anything happens before then we'll get him straight back up to the surgery to be seen.   She expects the lab results to be back by then as well.

xx

I don't think anyone would blame you for going out of town for two days leaving the cats with ample food and water. I have done that on occasion. Its been a long time but I have. You can run into all sorts of different problems if you have someone checking on them that you aren't 100% sure of. Even if you had I doubt they would have noticed anything wrong anyway. Also it probably wouldn't have made a difference.

Sorry those links didn't show up. Good that you found online the Merck one.

I wish I had something more positive to say.

I will say that your cat is just beautiful. is he the color that has the glimmers in the fur? Is that a recent photo?

Let us know what happens at the vet today if you can,

Quiet said:

 
I don't think anyone would blame you for going out of town for two days leaving the cats with ample food and water. I have done that on occasion. Its been a long time but I have. You can run into all sorts of different problems if you have someone checking on them that you aren't 100% sure of. Even if you had I doubt they would have noticed anything wrong anyway. Also it probably wouldn't have made a difference.

Sorry those links didn't show up. Good that you found online the Merck one.

I wish I had something more positive to say.

I will say that your cat is just beautiful. is he the color that has the glimmers in the fur? Is that a recent photo?

Let us know what happens at the vet today if you can,

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Pic is probably a couple of months old  He does have "glitter" on his fur, three of our four do, though he's much lighter in colour than our two of our other boys - they're almost russet with solid brown spots, whereas Blade is creamier with proper rosettes  His base colour gets a little darker in the winter but not much.  He used to be a stud cat but hated being out in the runs so the breeders decided that he'd be much happier in a pet home where he was in a house.  I think we've had him since he was about two years old...

He's now asleep on "his" duvet on the floor in front one one of the vivariums - he's twitching well so I really hope it's good dreams

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Glittercat said:

 
Thanks all. We were back at the vet this afternoon...

...It looks as though the antibiotics she gave him yesterday have done some good   [ you previously said that this was an injection ]

She gave him three more injections today - one anti-inflammatory, one more antibiotic and the third I think may have been a pain killer though I am not 100% certain.  She has given us an oral suspension of inflammatory drugs to be given tomorrow and Friday
 
Next appointment is Tues 15th

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Hi Glittercat !

I'm really concerned about the potential harm from some of these drugs, in particular, the "anti-inflammatories". Here's why:

Cats are almost, if not unique in their inability to 'process' anti-inflammatory substances which are in the non-steroidal anti-inflammatory class of drug (NSAID). You and I (and most other mammals) can metabolize these drugs easily (human NSAIDs like Advil and aspirin)....but, not cats. They simply did not evolve with the particular liver enzymes needed to process them.

The end result is usually damage to the kidneys.....which can range from minor to severe to death.

Can you post the exact name of the anti-inflammatory drug that was injected (that may be on your invoice), as well as the exact name of the anti-inflammatory oral suspension (that should be on the bottle) ?

Can you find out the exact name of the 3rd injection that was given ?

Can you find out the exact name of each of the antibiotic injections that were given ?

I'm asking about the other drugs too, because, there are certain drugs which must not be given with certain NSAIDs.

Finally, am I correct that three days ago he also received   "an anti-inflammatory and antibiotic injection" ?

Then, can you find out the exact names of those two drugs ?

Earlier in the thread, there was mention of 'feline specialists'.......there are Vets who focus more on/only treat felines.....you would be wise to do a search on this site: http://www.icatcare.org/cat-campaigns-cat-friendly-clinic/accredited-clinics