I've been stressed about this all day.
I adopted Bitsy from the local Humane Society mid December 2009. They estimated her age as 3 yrs, my own Vet figured more like between 1-2 yrs. She was spayed at the beginning of December (by them). She'd previously delivered kittens in Sept 2009 (H.S. received her pregnant), and went off for a time to a foster home while she weaned her 3 kittens. Following that she went back to the H.S.
I had her tested for FIV and FeLeuk - both negative. She'd been properly dewormed. Very healthy cat.
Very sweet, energetic cat who loves to eat.
She was about 7 lbs the day I adopted her. Her physique was very svelte, almost looked a little skinny to me (I'm used to my big older cats who weigh between 10-11.5 lbs).
She eats a good scoff of canned food twice a day (at least the size equivalent of a can of Fancy Feast)...plus nibbles on premium dry food.
A couple weeks ago I took her into the Vet because I noticed a sore on her ear. They weighed her. I nearly crapped when her weight was 10.2 lbs ! Now I'll admit, she's looked a lot more healthy over the past couple of months so I knew she was likely gaining some weight but not 3 lbs !!! This didn't seem to concern the Vet; he just said she's eating too much.
Well lately I've noticed that when she's standing and I'm looking down at her, the sides of her abdomen almost look like they're bulging out a bit. The thing is though - despite the 3 lb weight gain, you can still easily feel her ribs so it's not like she's fat.
This morning I started to panic thinking, "OMG, maybe she's pregnant!" I ended up calling the H.S. to confirm that they truly DO remove the uterus when spaying (feared maybe they did some kind of cost-effective spaying, like just tying the tubes, who knows?). They confirmed the uterus was removed..........so that rules out pregnancy (whew!)
Then I started to think, "OMG - maybe she has Wet FIP." I know that cats with this will have fluid build-up in their abdomen.
I called the H.S. back and asked them about it (spoke to one of the techs in their health department). She did say that definitely do have cats there who have FIP, they obviously don't screen for it, and any cat that's in there is at risk of contracting it so there was always the chance Bitsy was exposed to it, etc.
She told me that in a cat w/ ascites (fluid build-up in abdomen), it's pretty obvious what it is..........when you feel their belly it feels "squishy" and like pressing on a balloon. And they also LOSE weight if they're at that stage of FIP.....have diarrhea, are lethargic, loss of appetite. DEFINITELY not the case with her.
Bitsy loves to eat, she lives for meal time. A total bundle of energy, racing around here constantly, playing with the other cats, very curious. Normal formed poops. Bright, active.
When you feel her belly and sides of the abdomen, they don't feel squishy at all. Firm but not in an overly-firm way. Just a normal firmness. In fact, her underside feels quite muscular and toned, if anything.
I don't know where she put that 3 lbs considering I can still feel her ribs.......though I guess 10 lbs isn't that overweight?
The Vet should easily be able to tell by feeling her belly if something seems amiss?
I've been stressed about this all day.
Thanks for any info.
I did manage to beg for an appointment with my Vet tomorrow afternoon
I adopted Bitsy from the local Humane Society mid December 2009. They estimated her age as 3 yrs, my own Vet figured more like between 1-2 yrs. She was spayed at the beginning of December (by them). She'd previously delivered kittens in Sept 2009 (H.S. received her pregnant), and went off for a time to a foster home while she weaned her 3 kittens. Following that she went back to the H.S.
I had her tested for FIV and FeLeuk - both negative. She'd been properly dewormed. Very healthy cat.
Very sweet, energetic cat who loves to eat.
She was about 7 lbs the day I adopted her. Her physique was very svelte, almost looked a little skinny to me (I'm used to my big older cats who weigh between 10-11.5 lbs).
She eats a good scoff of canned food twice a day (at least the size equivalent of a can of Fancy Feast)...plus nibbles on premium dry food.
A couple weeks ago I took her into the Vet because I noticed a sore on her ear. They weighed her. I nearly crapped when her weight was 10.2 lbs ! Now I'll admit, she's looked a lot more healthy over the past couple of months so I knew she was likely gaining some weight but not 3 lbs !!! This didn't seem to concern the Vet; he just said she's eating too much.
Well lately I've noticed that when she's standing and I'm looking down at her, the sides of her abdomen almost look like they're bulging out a bit. The thing is though - despite the 3 lb weight gain, you can still easily feel her ribs so it's not like she's fat.
This morning I started to panic thinking, "OMG, maybe she's pregnant!" I ended up calling the H.S. to confirm that they truly DO remove the uterus when spaying (feared maybe they did some kind of cost-effective spaying, like just tying the tubes, who knows?). They confirmed the uterus was removed..........so that rules out pregnancy (whew!)
Then I started to think, "OMG - maybe she has Wet FIP." I know that cats with this will have fluid build-up in their abdomen.
I called the H.S. back and asked them about it (spoke to one of the techs in their health department). She did say that definitely do have cats there who have FIP, they obviously don't screen for it, and any cat that's in there is at risk of contracting it so there was always the chance Bitsy was exposed to it, etc.
She told me that in a cat w/ ascites (fluid build-up in abdomen), it's pretty obvious what it is..........when you feel their belly it feels "squishy" and like pressing on a balloon. And they also LOSE weight if they're at that stage of FIP.....have diarrhea, are lethargic, loss of appetite. DEFINITELY not the case with her.
Bitsy loves to eat, she lives for meal time. A total bundle of energy, racing around here constantly, playing with the other cats, very curious. Normal formed poops. Bright, active.
When you feel her belly and sides of the abdomen, they don't feel squishy at all. Firm but not in an overly-firm way. Just a normal firmness. In fact, her underside feels quite muscular and toned, if anything.
I don't know where she put that 3 lbs considering I can still feel her ribs.......though I guess 10 lbs isn't that overweight?
The Vet should easily be able to tell by feeling her belly if something seems amiss?
I've been stressed about this all day.
Thanks for any info.
I did manage to beg for an appointment with my Vet tomorrow afternoon