4-month old cat with possible Pectus Excavatum and Congenital Diaphramatic Hernia.

Hi there!

So, I went to the vet 2 days ago to get my kitten a shot and as they were doing a routine exam they noticed that there was a hole/ nothing where her chest bone and diaphragm is supposed to be. We got x-rays done and sure enough she has a chest bone deformity, but her chest bone isn't concave like the Pectus Excavatum describes and her chest isn't sunken in or anything either. Her x-rays show her chest bones kind of going outward instead. She hasn't been diagnosed with Pectus Excavatum or Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia, but its what that think she might have. All we know right now is that she has a chest bone deformity. She is perfectly healthy and her heart and breathing rate is normal. She is extremely playful and energetic with no complications. I'm going to see a specialist next week and will probably get an ultrasound done. Does this sound familiar to anyone. Please let me know because I just lost my 2 1/2 year old cat to a disturbing illness that no one is still able to tell me what was going on with her.  I so scared to lose this girl too. Please help!

First welcome to the site

I'm sorry your kitty has this problem.

It sounds to me like your cat may have "flat chested kitten syndrome" (FCKS) this is different to "Pectus Excavatum" funnel chest (PE)

Thankfully FCKS is not quite as serious as PE

FCKS is just like the name says the chest is completely flat not curved like a normal chest shape.

PE (funnel chest) is where the chest is not only just flat, but also the chest bone curves into the body. This crushes the lungs and heart, causing all sorts of breathing problems.

The good news is most FCKS cats grow out of the condition with age and it gets less noticeable with age. Or at least these cats adapt and live normal lives like any other cat.

This condition is quite well known in the cat breeding world, certain breeds are more prone to it like the Burmese. Unfortunately although many breeders have experience or knowledge about it a lot of vets do not. I would highly suggest you do as much research as possible and go to see your vet armed with all this info. Just so you don't end up having any unnecessary and expensive treatment performed on your cat.

Here's are some links about the condition.

http://pawpeds.com/pawacademy/health/flatchest/

http://www.icatcare.org:8080/advice/cat-health/flat-chested-kitten-syndrome

https://www.vetstream.com/felis/Content/Disease/dis60658

http://vetbook.org/wiki/cat/index.php/Flat_chest_syndrome_(kittens)