My mother has a female DSH tortoiseshell cat, Mocha. She is probably almost two years old.
She was adopted from an animal shelter in late December (2008). I believe her records said she was spayed on December 14th of 2008 so when she was adopted she actually still had her stitches in. My mother took her to the vet soon after adopting her to get her stitches taken out (what else I'm not positive). I had noticed when she was adopted that she had a slightly hard tummy.
Well a few months later (late March/early April I believe) she was taken in to the vet because my mother had a kitten that needed to be spayed. So both Mocha and the kitten were taken to the vet to stay throughout the day (the kitten over night for the spay, Mocha to get a few additional shots) while my mom was at work. I happened to be home during the week because I was on my spring break (I'm currently in college). The vet called me to ask if Mocha was pregnant. I was absolutely positive she wasn't, knowing that she had stitches taken out not too long before.
Upon arriving to pick up Mocha, they informed us that they had put her on Drontal (a pill and a half) because they said she was positive for tapeworm when they did a fecal exam. She was very lethargic when brought home so my mom called and they decided to give her metacam (they said she might have been in pain from the shots?). That didn't necessary help her any, she just sleep even more, I believe she was just exhausted from being at the vet all day. In addition, (which makes me think this vet is not so great with cats...) they asked if Mocha had any allergies because her stomach had hair loss. This hair loss was shaven from when she had her spay, it was clearly a straight line and no scratch marks present.
Fast forward a couple of months. My mother had to move so the cats had to stay with a friend(from middle of April to the end of June) My mom was having financial issues and such, a lot happened from April to the beginning of July. Mocha still had her belly when my mother got her back from her friend's (and covered in fleas so that had to be taken care of). So Mocha was taken to the vet again and given tapeworm medicine, Drontal. Nothing happened.
A few weeks ago I ordered some of those trade wind tapeworm tabs for Mocha. I looked up all kinds of different worming medicines and the ingredients, the same ingredients are in this OTC medicine as Drontal. Then I ordered some Panacur because I have yet to see anything in either of the kittie's poo that resembles tapeworm or on their rears (grains of rice near anus). I was hoping the Panacur would help her if she had any roundworms.
I called my mother earlier this week to see if there were any changes since I gave the panacur to her two weeks ago and then tape worm tabs (1 dose 3 weeks ago and then 2 weeks ago). My mother said she thinks she might have gotten smaller (belly wise) but she is not sure. I don't know if this matters or not but the kitten does not display any pot-belly.
I will be driving from college to my mom's in a few hours so I'll be able to observe Mocha myself. But I was hoping that maybe some of you that have seen something like this before?
To recap (and those of you who may not want to read my novel)
Behavior: alert, playful, eats normally (has an appetite and actually eats less than the kitten), doesn't seem to exhibit any pain (she loves her belly rubbed actually), extremely friendly and loving
Coat: VERY soft coat, she does exhibit more shedding than the kitten (her hair took a VERY long time to grow back on her belly from being shaven from the spay)
Appearance: She has a potbelly, very hard
Meds: Drontal hasn't seemed to work, still waiting to see if Tradewinds and Panacur have done anything.
Diet: I believe they are on IAMS right now with wet daily, twice a day. (Mother gets minimum wage so a higher quality diet is not possible right now, and even accessibility to higher quality foods is not present).
Parasites: Supposedly vet did a fecal exam in early April/late March in which she was positive for tape worm. I have not seen any grain-like material near her anus or on her bedding and nothing that resembles a tapeworm in her stool (I have seen tapeworm on a few occasions in dog stool)
I think I put everything here that might be needed... I won't be able to get on until late Sunday night so I wanted to make sure there was sufficient information.
Here are a few photos that might help.
Thank you for anyone who may be able help.
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y147/2364/IMG_0238.jpg
This is when my mom first adopted her, you can see how her belly was shaved and can sort of see the pot-belly.
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y147/2364/IMG_0831.jpg
Direct view of her belly.
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y147/2364/IMG_1587.jpg
Don't mind Melody, the kitten. This is the only photo I have of Mocha standing up. You can definitely see the pot-belly. (They are strictly indoor kitties, except this one evening they were saying goodbye to me and exploring my car).
She was adopted from an animal shelter in late December (2008). I believe her records said she was spayed on December 14th of 2008 so when she was adopted she actually still had her stitches in. My mother took her to the vet soon after adopting her to get her stitches taken out (what else I'm not positive). I had noticed when she was adopted that she had a slightly hard tummy.
Well a few months later (late March/early April I believe) she was taken in to the vet because my mother had a kitten that needed to be spayed. So both Mocha and the kitten were taken to the vet to stay throughout the day (the kitten over night for the spay, Mocha to get a few additional shots) while my mom was at work. I happened to be home during the week because I was on my spring break (I'm currently in college). The vet called me to ask if Mocha was pregnant. I was absolutely positive she wasn't, knowing that she had stitches taken out not too long before.
Upon arriving to pick up Mocha, they informed us that they had put her on Drontal (a pill and a half) because they said she was positive for tapeworm when they did a fecal exam. She was very lethargic when brought home so my mom called and they decided to give her metacam (they said she might have been in pain from the shots?). That didn't necessary help her any, she just sleep even more, I believe she was just exhausted from being at the vet all day. In addition, (which makes me think this vet is not so great with cats...) they asked if Mocha had any allergies because her stomach had hair loss. This hair loss was shaven from when she had her spay, it was clearly a straight line and no scratch marks present.
Fast forward a couple of months. My mother had to move so the cats had to stay with a friend(from middle of April to the end of June) My mom was having financial issues and such, a lot happened from April to the beginning of July. Mocha still had her belly when my mother got her back from her friend's (and covered in fleas so that had to be taken care of). So Mocha was taken to the vet again and given tapeworm medicine, Drontal. Nothing happened.
A few weeks ago I ordered some of those trade wind tapeworm tabs for Mocha. I looked up all kinds of different worming medicines and the ingredients, the same ingredients are in this OTC medicine as Drontal. Then I ordered some Panacur because I have yet to see anything in either of the kittie's poo that resembles tapeworm or on their rears (grains of rice near anus). I was hoping the Panacur would help her if she had any roundworms.
I called my mother earlier this week to see if there were any changes since I gave the panacur to her two weeks ago and then tape worm tabs (1 dose 3 weeks ago and then 2 weeks ago). My mother said she thinks she might have gotten smaller (belly wise) but she is not sure. I don't know if this matters or not but the kitten does not display any pot-belly.
I will be driving from college to my mom's in a few hours so I'll be able to observe Mocha myself. But I was hoping that maybe some of you that have seen something like this before?
To recap (and those of you who may not want to read my novel)
Behavior: alert, playful, eats normally (has an appetite and actually eats less than the kitten), doesn't seem to exhibit any pain (she loves her belly rubbed actually), extremely friendly and loving
Coat: VERY soft coat, she does exhibit more shedding than the kitten (her hair took a VERY long time to grow back on her belly from being shaven from the spay)
Appearance: She has a potbelly, very hard
Meds: Drontal hasn't seemed to work, still waiting to see if Tradewinds and Panacur have done anything.
Diet: I believe they are on IAMS right now with wet daily, twice a day. (Mother gets minimum wage so a higher quality diet is not possible right now, and even accessibility to higher quality foods is not present).
Parasites: Supposedly vet did a fecal exam in early April/late March in which she was positive for tape worm. I have not seen any grain-like material near her anus or on her bedding and nothing that resembles a tapeworm in her stool (I have seen tapeworm on a few occasions in dog stool)
I think I put everything here that might be needed... I won't be able to get on until late Sunday night so I wanted to make sure there was sufficient information.
Here are a few photos that might help.
Thank you for anyone who may be able help.
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y147/2364/IMG_0238.jpg
This is when my mom first adopted her, you can see how her belly was shaved and can sort of see the pot-belly.
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y147/2364/IMG_0831.jpg
Direct view of her belly.
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y147/2364/IMG_1587.jpg
Don't mind Melody, the kitten. This is the only photo I have of Mocha standing up. You can definitely see the pot-belly. (They are strictly indoor kitties, except this one evening they were saying goodbye to me and exploring my car).