Spay on a 4 month old kitten with Pectus excavatum

Hello ~  I have posted here a few times about my kitten who has Pectus Excavatum.  Well she has survived since I adopted her on May 23rd.  She's gained two pounds and is almost 3 pounds now, so she is thriving.  She runs, climbs, acts like a silly kitten and her personality is really coming out now, I love her soo.

It's time for her spay, so she will be going in tomorrow to have the vet do an exam on her to determine if she is healthy enough to go thru anesthesia.  A friend suggested I look into having this spay done while she is on her side, not laying on her back. If she had to be on her back during the surgery she would stop breathing due to her PE and in all possibility pass away.

If the vet does not feel she is ready for this surgery, I'll put it off until she is either 6 months of age or starts into heat.  In either event, her condition will never improve.

I feel soo helpless right now.  If the vet feels she is healthy enough to do the spay, it's a high risk surgery anyway, whether we wait 2 more months or not.

I should know more tomorrow. 

Thank you for listening.

Gosh, what a tough situation. Don't lose hope though. Given that the vet is aware of her condition, I am sure they will not operate if not as safe as can be given the circumstances. I am sure they will want to take every precaution and monitor carefully during surgery as well.

Also, while I am one to wholeheartedly recommend spay and neuter, if this is a situation where a spay would be very likely fatal, I would discuss not spaying with your vet if she can definitely be kept inside and away from intact males. Many vibes for the both of you.

Thank you vball91.  I was thinking of not spaying her at all.  She will be strictly indoors.  I'm soo on the fence as to what to do.  Females not spayed can also develop cancer so that's another concern and so is Pyrometra of the uterus. 

There are definitely risks to not spaying but given the situation, I guess you have to weigh the immediate risks of the spay vs the possible future risks. Definitely not an easy decision, but I am sure you and your vet will make the best decision possible for her.

Stella was turned away at the clinic this morning.  We were talking about doing a sling spay, which is a spay on the side instead of keeping the cat on the back.  The clinic refused to do the surgery due to her condition and told me never to bring her back there again as they would not take the risk. 

Her litter mate is being neutered today and will have all his final shots and micro-chipped. So, he's all set and won't impregnate Stella when she goes into heat. 

The rescue person who I adopted Stella from is helping me find a grant to help fund Stella's upcoming surgery.  I am going to wait another 2-3 months to see if her ribs continue to grow with the rest of her body successfully and not impinge on her heart and lungs.  Then in 2-3 months will reconsider the spay.  She will always be a high-risk cat for this procedure or any procedure going under anesthesia.

She didn't ask for this condition, so I am giving her the best possible life while she is alive on this earth.

Thank you for listening.

Aww, bless you for taking such good care of her. She is lucky to have found you.

You might consider waiting until the kitten is older-- maybe closer to a year if you can tolerate estrus. Hopefully, she would have an endotracheal tube in place to protect her airway and provide assisted respiration if needed during the anesthesia. You might ask the vet about that because not all vets use that technique routinely on healthy kittens. Low-cost spay clinics are known for NOT using the tubes, so definitely ask! Hope you get this straightened out. 

I would definitely try to come up with the extra needed to take her to a board certified feline specialist for surgery.  I take my kitties to a cats only clinic where the head vet is a certified specialist because one of my kitties has a chronic health condition.  They do cost more than a general vet but there is a difference in the level of knowledge and care.  That is true at least for the clinic I take mine to now.

I agree with the advice to seek an opinion from a board-certified feline specialist. Stella is so sweet-looking and lucky to have you!

Hey, I've recently been researching Pectus Excavatum as I am sure my kitten Felix has the condition. His breathing is rapid and he has a slight heart murmur. He's underweight and has a indentation below his ribs but above his stomach. This is more noticeable when he's laying down. I'll post a pic of him, in which I have drawn a line to show the shape of his tummy/chest (it's not very clear though)

Hello Tiggs ~ Yes, looks like what my female kitten has.  My female just was x-rayed and confirmed she has pectus excavatum.

How old is your kitten?

Debbie

He's 23 weeks, I have his mom, he was the only surviving kitten from a litter of 3 so I thought he was the lucky one. But since he was born it's been one complication after another.

My female was very under weight and still is, so I have to wonder if this is part of the deformity.  At 23 weeks of age, if he makes it to 3-4 months he will in all probability survive.  I found what helped my female kitten was to keep her very active to build the muscles needed to protect the lungs and heart.  She did have shortness of breath and would pant alot after exertion.  She did not have a murmur.

What caused the other kittens to pass away from?  Has your PE kitten been x-rayed yet?

Stick with it.  My female was in and out of the vet clinic alot too.  Also, diet plays alot in this role, making sure he has the best balanced food for his growing bones.

Debbie

Oh I don't have to keep him active, he does that by him self. He's a very lively kitten. I'm not 100% sure how the others died. The vets told me originally that the litter was premature, and Felix was lucky to survive, but his birth weight was average for a domestic kitten.

But then after everything that's happened with my little guy, I have to wonder if he was premature after all. I know prematurity can be a contributing factor of PE, but I guess I'll never know for sure.

No he's not been x rayed yet, the vet already gave him an unofficial diagnosis of having an unfused ribcage. But i will be taking him back with all the information I have collected and researched, and see what they have to say. He's got a fair few symptoms, it surely can't be just coincidence.

tiggs2012 said:

Oh I don't have to keep him active, he does that by him self. He's a very lively kitten. I'm not 100% sure how the others died. The vets told me originally that the litter was premature, and Felix was lucky to survive, but his birth weight was average for a domestic kitten.

But then after everything that's happened with my little guy, I have to wonder if he was premature after all. I know prematurity can be a contributing factor of PE, but I guess I'll never know for sure.

No he's not been x rayed yet, the vet already gave him an unofficial diagnosis of having an unfused ribcage. But i will be taking him back with all the information I have collected and researched, and see what they have to say. He's got a fair few symptoms, it surely can't be just coincidence.

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My boy has PE.  He was one of a litter of six and was the only one who survived. They weren't premature, to my knowledge, and why the others died is still a mystery. 

It was touch and go there for a while but now he's 2 years old and, whilst he does get 'puffed', he's doing very well.

It's a really good idea to get the xray to see exactly what you're dealing with.

Also  I took him to a my specialist cat clinic for spaying.  They chose to spay earlier rather than later (4.5 months) and he went through the procedure very well.

Tiggs ~  what are the other symptoms you have been dealing with?

Debbie

I guess his symptoms started really young, but when I was still unaware of what to look for.

-He couldn't suckle at first so had to be hand fed for a while
-His development was behind (walking, eating, playing)
-He was, and still is, underweight
-He had a heart murmur
-Breathing rate was,and still is, very fast
-His chest is small (and flat on the bottom)
-He had no interest in eating solid food until he was 11 weeks old
-He has a "hole" below his ribs but above his stomach (this is extremely noticeable when he's laying down)

These are pretty much all his symptoms form day 2 of his life. although he is eating much better than before, he still only eats small amounts. He is however a very active kitten and doesn't need to much rest before he's at it again lol.

Mani said:

My boy has PE.  He was one of a litter of six and was the only one who survived. They weren't premature, to my knowledge, and why the others died is still a mystery. 
It was touch and go there for a while but now he's 2 years old and, whilst he does get 'puffed', he's doing very well.
It's a really good idea to get the xray to see exactly what you're dealing with.

Also  I took him to a my specialist cat clinic for spaying.  They chose to spay earlier rather than later (4.5 months) and he went through the procedure very well.

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It's really great to hear your boy has reached adulthood! Did having PE affect his growth rate at all? Did it have any significant effect on him as a growing cat? I'm just trying to figure everything out in my head and I'm trying to prepare myself for what may or may not happen as my boys grows.

I'm glad to hear he was neutered with out any problems, that was something I was very concerned about because I made a promise to myself to never own another intact male again lol.

tiggs2012 said:

 

Mani said:

My boy has PE.  He was one of a litter of six and was the only one who survived. They weren't premature, to my knowledge, and why the others died is still a mystery. 
It was touch and go there for a while but now he's 2 years old and, whilst he does get 'puffed', he's doing very well.

It's a really good idea to get the xray to see exactly what you're dealing with.

Also  I took him to a my specialist cat clinic for spaying.  They chose to spay earlier rather than later (4.5 months) and he went through the procedure very well.

Click to expand...

It's really great to hear your boy has reached adulthood! Did having PE affect his growth rate at all? Did it have any significant effect on him as a growing cat? I'm just trying to figure everything out in my head and I'm trying to prepare myself for what may or may not happen as my boys grows.

I'm glad to hear he was neutered with out any problems, that was something I was very concerned about because I made a promise to myself to never own another intact male again lol.

Click to expand...

The clinic I took him to really knew their stuff.

He is now a huge boy!  He's very strong and muscular.. not fat.  I encouraged reaching and climbing exercises when he was young and did a fair bit of gentle massage on him.  He, too, has that 'hole', but he also has a pretty severely compromised spine, so the area his diaphragm has to move within is very small.. thus the ongoing breathlessness if he overdoes it.

All of these problems will vary in how they manifest.  But once Sundar reached four and a half months my vet said he was pretty well past the danger phase.  So since your boy has made it to nearly 6 months, it sounds like he's made it, if the structural issue is his only problem (which sounds likely).  He may only eat small amounts because of the way it impacts on his stomach and digestive system, so small meals more often is a good way to go.   And you'll always need to keep a close eye on him... I do with Sundar.

Keep having him checked... a good vet is a wonderful thing.  

I would say with my little girl with PE, initially she was very frail,only 1 pound when I brought her home, and did not appear she was going to thrive.  She has this huge head and very tiny body and her tail just dragged behind her.  Now, where she is still very thin and delicate looking and small for her age, she is thriving at 5 months.  I think it was due to all the physical activity of chasing the male cat.  And they would both fight to eat and outdo each other in that regard. 

My vet held off doing x-rays or spay until she was 5 months of age.  He wanted to give her a fighting chance with the anesthesia.  Her blood work is all normal, she has no other congenital deformities.

When she stretches out, I can watch her heart beating, it's that obvious and near the surface, so I knew I had to either keep her or help find a home for her where she as the only cat.  Because her rib cage was not protecting her heart a direct hit from the male kitten could have been disastrous.

I think alot of activity and good nutrition are the best for your baby. 

Debbie