Etta's Abdomen Size

I have an appointment for my kitty Etta tomorrow. Two weeks ago, my cat Charlie had a swollen belly and it turned out she had fluid in her abdomen and the ultrasound showed a large tumor mass. Her litter mate, Etta I am taking to the vet tomorrow because I started seeing her middle differently when Charlie was diagnosed.

Etta has tended to the chubby side but as she has aged (she's 13) she's started to acquire that elderly kitty look-spine more prominent, hips and shoulders more prominent and less fat around her neck and face. She went through a phase of losing interest in her food, but was all for things like boiled chicken. I was planning on taking her to the vet for a senior exam and blood test when Charlie became so ill (very quickly).  Her other litter-mate Jeffery is slender but strong and doesn't look like an old cat at all. 

I was able to get Etta re-interested in food by feeding it to her on my finger to the point that she was snarfing her plate and then the rest of everyone else's.  She's my one cat who is reliable for preferring the higher end food more than the other cats (who usually just leave a lot of it on their plates). I felt better that she was eating on her own without me hand feeding her. 

But her middle is outsized now to the rest of her and I'm sick to think she also has the same thing as Charlie (which their mother died from an abdominal tumor). She has an appointment tomorrow. I realize it could also be her kidneys or even her heart or hopefully, I'm being paranoid. But I don't think I am.

Unlike Charlie, she doesn't protest when I run my hands down her side. She's interactive and not hiding (which Charlie was). She enjoyed some catnip this afternoon (Charlie wasn't playing at all) And she ate boiled chicken and some Wellness tonight. I see her drinking water a couple times a day at the usual rate (my cats except for Boo are happy to drink water). I don't see any evidence that she is nauseous and her ears aren't hot (no fever). Her gums and whites of eyes look okay. I don't notice loose skin at her neck. I don't think she's dehydrated. She's bathing the way she usually does and litter box habits seem normal.

But I have this dreadful feeling all the same. Maybe it's just because I went through that with Charlie. With Charlie, her tummy was uneven--larger on her left than right--and she sat in a crouched position. As soon as I noticed that I got her to the vet. Etta is more evenly distributed in her middle.  Etta is laying on both her left and right side. She is still socializing with her pal Scoo Baby who a couple of hours ago was piled on top of her, the way he tends to. Her belly doesn't feel hard like Charlie's did. I'll post more tomorrow night. Keep your fingers crossed.

Sounds like she's just gained some weight, which I hope is all it is.  Glad you're getting her to the vet for a check up, though.

Just wanted to pass along more good vibes for tomorrow's vet visit. I hope it is not the same for Etta as it was for Charlie. Hugs and prayers.

Etta has fluid in her abdomen. They took a sample and spun it to see what might be involved. No urine. Has a lot of neutrophils white blood cells indicating that it is attacking some sort of bacterial infection. Ultrasound is iffy.  Organs look good but there looks to be something there that shouldn't be be. Unlike Charlie her innards aren't adhered together.  The vet expressed some doubt about whether she can identify what it is and I'm supposed to take Etta to an internist.  
 

Blood test show good kidney function but high thyroid (10.5). Etta got a an antibiotic shot of Covenia and I have lasix for diuretic. I also have thyroid meds. First dose of lasix and thyroid in. (not easy). I'm going to have to hold her like a baby to administer the thankfully tiny pill portions. Butter and cheese disguise a no -go.

We want to get the fluid down to better see if there is a mass or if it is something else. Very smooth looking and not irregular like Charlie. Etta is Charlie's litter mate. Charlie was super ill and it was very obvious that she felt horrible. Etta eats, plays,drinks water, talks a lot and was hard to keep on the table for an appointment that went from 3:30 to 5:30. She is napping now after dinner and pilling.

I hope I got the Lasix in her. I know I got the thyroid. Anyway, there's no way to put her under anesthesia with her thyroid that high. No steroid until the Convenia does its thing. I don't feel like she is within days of death like Charlie, but that could be refusal to believe this is happening again .  Charlie's ultrasound looked gruesome even to me. I saw the smooth thing that wasn't supposed to be there, but I have a feeling that once the fluid stuff is down, they will be able to tell what it is. Until then I'll just try this. 

Etta sleeps by me every night.  I have to try.  Anyone ever see that movie "Last Holiday" when Queen Latifah's character thinks she's dying because her company has a faulty MRI machine?  There's a part of me that wonders about the ultrasound at my vet.

Vet specialist on Thursday AM  for a more complete ultrasound.  Third dosage of diuretic and her belly looks just as big. Getting the little pill in her without her spitting it back out is hard. I'm also giving her the initial doses of the thyroid stuff. I love it when the pill gets stuck on your finger after you've thought it got into kitty's mouth. grrr.

Her belly is still fluid filled. Maybe the specialist will  simply remove it. 

Sending hugs and prayers that your Etta will be ok. 

Thanks so much! I will take those! I will certainly post an update. Her appointment is in the AM tomorrow. No meds or food because they don't want to get a picture of her breakfast. My imagination perhaps but she doesn't look quite as balloon-like this AM.

have you tried to buy a pill popper? you might be able to put both pills in a capsule-coat with butter-put into the pill popper and sit her between your legs with you on your knees and hold the side of her head with one hand-bend back until mouth falls open-use the pill popper to get it in there-shoot it in there then keep her head back and close jaw then rub throat to get to swallow=before you do this-get a syringe of water ready and syringe feed her water to help wash the pill down. I had a very hard to pill cat and this was the only way we could do it.

So sorry to hear of all the issues going on.  I have a cat on daily antihistamines that is very hard to pill.  I've tried every way imaginable and spent tons on things to wrap it in.  I can't even do it with a pill popper.  The only way I do it now is just to scruff him, get him to slightly open his mouth, and throw it as far back as possible and hope for the best. I've had to do it that way since he has been on the medicine.  He gets so mad at me, but I have to do what I have to do.  He is miserable without the meds.  Sending you good luck

Maybe you could try crushing the pill, mixing with a bit of water and giving it by syringe.  That's what I have done for two of my cats and had success with it each time.  You can buy a small pill crusher from Walgreens:

http://www.walgreens.com/store/c/ezy-dose-tablet-crusher-with-pill-container/ID=prod6144837-product

Thanks!  She is the last one that I thought would go for the pill pockets. She woofed down both medications tonight without incident but I like the idea you present too. 

I like this idea! I will purchase one of those because there is another cat in the house that will be super hard to pill should that need arise. 

Glad the pill pockets worked!  Mine ate the pill pocket, then spit out the pill.  He's a crafty little booger.     Apparently those pill pockets are good, he tried to rip the bag open too one time I left it on the counter!

how is your baby doing? Is the fluid going down at all?

She is at the Olympia Vet Specialty Hospital waiting for the radiologist to do a complete ultrasound. I took her in for a 9 AM appointment and talked with the Vet Internist and then they will call sometime before 4. He said it could be heart disease, liver disease (which can be there even without elevated enzymes) or a tumor.

In any case, something is causing fluid to leak into her abdomen and it's probably one of those three things.  He said that the toll hyperthyroidism takes can lead to liver or heart issues.

My regular vet saw something that "shouldn't be there" when she did the quick ultrasound but she was the one who recommended an internist and a radiologist for the ultrasound because she said that as a general practitioner, she's not going to see everything if it isn't obvious.

I saw what she did on the ultrasound and it was smooth edged with a point so I wondered if it was maybe her liver or gallbladder in an unusual position because of the fluid in her abdomen. That is probably my own wishful thinking because I just cannot believe she would have the same thing as her sister Charlie did.

It's a gamble. We may spend $1,000 to still end up with the same result :-(. But we have to try.

I am so sorry. Yes I have seen the ultrasound of my angel Floeys mass. We let her go last week. A week ago today was our appointment with the new vet. He pointed out so many things wrong. I had already gone to 3 other vets and they couldn't do the ultrasound sooner. So this time we did see lots of irregularities in her organs. Her liver was elongated-we don't know why-but she ended up having a tumor that was causing lots of trouble-it was too late to save her-by the time I got the ultrasound done-it was the end-I only hope this vet you have will be able to determine what is going on. The fluids rising I am sure is making you cry and be upset because I know I would be too. sending you many hugs and vibes that they can help your baby. Heart disease can cause fluids to leak out. yes liver disease as well. This vet you took her to should be able to tell you what exactly is going on=or at least try to take an educated guess=my vet=the new one-saw something funky on the ultrasound-I was there-and the blood work confirmed his suspicions. I was glad to see the ultrasound-they allowed me back there to watch the screen. He explained to me what each organ is we are looking at and what was irregular etc.

Hoping you get good news either way. Sending you some vibes and prayers. It's so hard to not know what is making our babies sick.

I'm very sorry for the loss of your cat. For me, we lost Etta's sister July 23, 2016. Charlie didn't have the massive fluid retention, but she had some and her organs were adhered and it looked like the cancer had spread to her liver based on the ultrasound. We wouldn't have initially thought much about Etta's middle until this week if Charlie hadn't been sick. But after that it was concerning. I made the appointment and by that time, her middle was a bit bigger. She's on Lasix now (not this AM because of the ultrasound) but I think that helps with tissue more than abdomen. I don't really see much of a difference.

On Charlie's last couple of days, she didn't want to be touched at all but she did something she never did, and that was to come sleep by the bed. The day we called the vet to make the appointment she looked like she was done with it. Prior to that she had eaten a bit and was drinking water and on pain medication. She was enjoying things like sitting in the open window. The last couple of days she wasn't enjoying anything. The morning of the day I took her in for the last time, she started drooling. :-(. Her own end was peaceful. She was relaxed and appreciated me wiping the drool away.

It will be amazing if Etta's story is different.

I sure hope so. yes I wiped away Floey's drool on her last day too. She had that look. She was medicated but she was still in so much pain from the cancer. it must have come on fast because she seemed fine a month ago. eating ok but it was really hot so I didnt think anything of it.

Sending you big hugs and vibes. You did the right thing with Charlie. Its so hard to watch them get sick-I know I beat myself up with all the things I should have done but finally realized there was nothing I could have done to stop it. it really was agressive and she was such a strong tough cat. The amount of tumors we saw in there and all the organ issues-I dont know how she was still with us but soon after that ultrasound she gave me the look and the next day we let her go. She didnt want to go out and chew grass anymore so I knew it was closer to her time.

Sending many hugs and vibes and prayers that things don't get worse for you guys.

Etta did well on her visit to the specialist. They loved her and she purred and chirped at them the whole time. So they drained about a liter of fluid from her abdomen and took her off the Lasix. She looks so much more comfortable. That's a good thing.

She has such a high heart rate from the hyperthyroidism, that this may have caused the fluid build up. So in addition to her Methimazole she no  is on Atenolol to bring down her heart rate.

They did an ultrasound  and untrasound guided aspiration of her omentum.  She has nodule on the omentum. The internist won't say "cancer" yet but they took a sample of it and sent it off for tests along with the fluid for tests to get a definitive answer.  But the language is this:

The omentum is thickened and nodular, characterized by innumerable hypechoic ill-defined nodules measuring up to .8cm in diameter.

Her intestinal walls have thickening in some areas which they say "results from thickening of the muscularis layer."   The said that "the caudal pole" of the right kidney is flattened suggesting a "chronic infarct" 'but otherwise normal. liver is mildly enlarged everything else looks okay.

She has some mirtazapine for appetite but there was no need for it tonight. Her Atenolol and methimazole got gobbled up in the pill pockets (still amazed).

Diet: usual diet is preferred. She may be offered a variety of cat foods--in other words whatever it takes to get her to stay eating.

Tonight she dined on Wellness and some chunky turkey fancy feast (I give the cats a plate that has an entrée of the good stuff with side dishes of the Fancy Feast) For whatever reason this keeps them all interested in their plate longer.

Dessert for Etta was a few pieces of boiled chicken breast. :-)

I'm pretty sure it's cancer.  I asked about chemo and he said that they do not make animals sick. He said that there is no point in treating just for life without quality of life. So if it is cancer, I'll talk to the oncologist.

This visit was spendy as could be $891 but it doesn't seem as dire as with Charlie. I feel bad about the hyperthyroid. She's never been a big eater and I thought she lost weight because I took away the kibble and that the diet was successful.