Distended abdomen
Q: My cat’s abdomen looks distended. Is it simply weight gain? I’m asking because I haven’t noticed changes on other parts of her body, and it seems to have come on more quickly than excess weight. It’s not really like her stomach got bigger gradually.
Carissa Galison
New York, New York
Dear Ms. Galison,
A: Get your cat to the doctor. She could very well have ascites (pronounced a-site-eez), which is an accumulation of fluid in the abdominal cavity and, unfortunately, often a sign of serious disease. The fluid could potentially be blood from internal bleeding (did your cat recently suffer a trauma that could have caused internal injuries?) or urine from a ruptured bladder. Abdominal fluid can also result from heart disease (and cause labored breathing in addition to an abdomen that looks abnormally large).
Fluid is not the only thing that can make the abdomen distended. So can a tumor — cancerous or otherwise — or an enlarged bladder resulting from a urinary obstruction. Even parasites in the intestine can cause abdominal enlargement (although this is more likely in a kitten). And sometimes a condition like a cancerous mass can lead to ascites in itself.
There’s probably an ultrasound in your cat’s near future to check for fluid and also for misshapen abdominal organs, such as the liver and pancreas. Liver failure or an infection of the pancreas known as pancreatitis could also be what’s causing the distention. Whatever the problem, it needs tending. The chances are very high that this is not something that’s going to resolve on its own.
