bulge on cats belly?

Hi I just adopted a 2 month old male cat last night from a city animal shelter and when we got home I was playing with him and noticed a bulge on his belly.(it is soft and can be pressed in) When we lay him on his back it pops out more. It doesn't seem to cause him pain or anything though. What could this be? And should it be a cause for alarm if it doesn't seem to be effecting him? I also don't know if it has anything to do with it, but he is pretty underweight too, we even have to wait a few weeks to get him fixed. Has anyone else experienced this? And I do plan on calling the shelter ASAP to see if they noticed it too.

Welcome to TCS.
What is your kitty's name?

Depending on the lump's exact location...this sounds a hernia.
Not an uncommon thing in a kitty.

You need to take your kitty to your personal vet to be checked ASAP.
That is what I would do with a new cat anyway so that you have a baseline exam in his records to refer back to.

Let us know what you find out.

is it around where his umbilical cord would be? could be a hernia in any case id talk to them a vet check would be in order most places u get 2 days to do that here if u adopt from humane society 2 vets in town do the first check up free

Yes it is exactly where the umbilical cord would have been. I thought maybe that had something to do with it (no one else agreed) or that it is a hernia,
but wouldn't he be in pain? I'll be upset if it's something serious because we got him from the ASPCA and they are supposed to have the animals checked out by a vet before they are put up for adoption.

Oh and considering we only got him at like 7 last night we have yet to name him. The shelter had named him "ocho" though and I'm definatly not keeping that name. He is a beautiful almost silvery\\gray kitten with yellow eyes and is extremely mellow.

cats with umbilical hernias have a soft , painless swelling or bulge over their umbilicus. The swelling may come and go depending on the pet’s position and how much it has eaten. Small umbilical hernias contain nothing but a fatty veil called the omentum which normally covers the intestines. Larger umbilical hernias can contain loops of the intestine. Small hernias are not serious and sometimes close spontaneously.Large umbilical hernias can strangulate when a loop of intestine gets pinched off within it. The hernia’s fibrous ring squeezes off blood supply to the strangulated segment of intestine causing cell death and necrosis. This is a life threatening condition. Extremely large hernias are less dangerous then medium size ones. The large ones put no pressure on the intestines. They can be a challenge to close because of a scarcity of available tissue to lap over the defect. Sometimes a sterile synthetic fabric webbing is used as a patch.
thats some info i found on the net my daughter actually had 1 and it close don its own eventually.

Thank you for the info. With him the "bump" is always there, it just pops out more when he rolls onto his back. I was playing with him when i realized it. I've already tried calling the shelter but couldn't get through. I'm hoping they already know what's calling it considering he did get a full check-up and shots. We have to wait a few weeks for him the gain weight and then he goes for his booster shots and will be fixed. Thanks again for your input.

I would still want a base line check-up with my own vet ASAP.
The vet might also have some ideas on food, shots etc.

Congratulations on adopting a shelter kitty.
Let us know your boy's name when you decide.
When you can...post some pictures in the Fur Pictures Forum.

I will post pics as soon as possible. We already have a 3 month old female cat which my 2 yr old daughter calls "Meow Meow" and as of right now she is calling the male cat "Blue". Oh and I made a mistake when I said he is 2 months old, he is 3 months old. We adopted him because he is the same age as our other cat that we also got at the same shelter. We adopted him yesterday after seeing him when picking her up. (she was spayed on saturday)

Okay I posted their pictures in that forum.

Sounds like the herniated umbilical cord my Stormy had when she was a kitten. The vet fixed it when she was spayed.

So hopefully if that's what he has then we can have it taken care of when he goes in to the vet. Like I mentioned previously we have to get his weight up before it can happen. (He is rather boney) Right now I'm giving him kitten food and kitten formula (made for kittens over 8 wks) so hopefully with that combined with a little TLC will help him thrive more then he did in that shelter.

Oh and can i bathe him with regular cat shampoo now? They had him caged with 3 other cats and he smells rather horrible. I had heard though that you shouldn't use regular shampoo until a certain age.

I saw your kitties pictures.
They are adorable. :
Meow Meow is your little girl and Blue is your boy with the lump?

I don't know about cat shampoo...
If he is frail, I would not use anything toxic.

Do you get a free vet appointment from the shelter?
How much wt. were you told he should gain before he was inoculated and neutered?

I would still want have him checked ASAP.

Originally Posted by xocats

I saw your kitties pictures.
They are adorable.

:
Meow Meow is your little girl and Blue is your boy with the lump?

I don't know about cat shampoo...
If he is frail, I would not use anything toxic.

Do you get a free vet appointment from the shelter?
How much wt. were you told he should gain before he was inoculated and neutered?

I would still want have him checked ASAP.

Click to expand...

Thank you and yes the little guy is the one with the bump. We do get a free office visit, plus shots and everything. We were never told his weight, but he is alot smaller then our girl and you can feel his ribs sticking out. When you hold him you feel like you're barely holding anything let alone a three month old cat.

And about the cat shampoo, I need to do something because as I mentioned he was caged with other cats (and not a big cage) so they were all basically huddled together in the litter. Needless to say he smells horrible.

At 3 months old I would say you could bathe him in any petshampoo that has neutral PH values, or I have used Dove shampoo in an emergency, as it is very gentle. Don't get it in his eyes or ears though.

...and of course tear-less baby shampoo

I am not an expert but Blue looks either younger than 3 months or very frail.
Did the shelter tell you why he is so thin & tiny?
Regardless of the free check-up, shots etc....
I would want a good vet to check him right away.

Originally Posted by xocats

I am not an expert but Blue looks either younger than 3 months or very frail.
Did the shelter tell you why he is so thin & tiny?
Regardless of the free check-up, shots etc....
I would want a good vet to check him right away.

Click to expand...

He is small because the picture of "meow Meow" was taken a few weeks ago and you can tell shes bigger. They didn't say why he's so thin and just said his owner gave him up. He had only been there 2 days when we adopted him so his previous owner probably didn't take care of him.

We recently moved also which is why for the time being we use the vet service in that shelter. I don't want it to sound like we're only doing as much for them as we can get from that place. We've taken our other cat there when he was sick since they offer regular vet services and not just adoption.

I commend you for opening your heart & home to shelter kitties.
Maybe your little boy has been really hungry & underfed.
On a good diet hopefully he will put on weight fast.

I'm sending lots of healthy vibes Blue's way.