Cats stomach

Question
QUESTION: Hi my cat is overweight. I have tried to put her on a diet but she is still big. I have also bought weightloss food and tried that nothing is working. I notice that her belly is sagging. When she walks it just saggs. It lolls like loose skin. Like fluid almost. I recently noticed this. It has gotten worse over 3 months. She is also starting to throw up everytime she eats. Any idea. We have lost 2 cats to pancreatitist and 2 others to leukemia. The other one was renal failure. Any idea on why her stomach sags. Thanks.

ANSWER: You must be very, very careful when putting a cat on a weight-loss diet of ANY type. This is more safely done with the help of a veterinarian. The reason is that when a cat loses weight too fast or without the proper kind of food, they can develop fatty liver disease very quickly which can become fatal even faster.

So it's very important that you get the right food from your vet and have your cat weighed first, and probably a good idea to get her liver checked as well. The food that she will lose weight with is Hills R/D (reducing diet) or Science Diet light. There are very few foods on the market that are truly lower fat diets but these two are.

Having said that, the flap of skin you are seeing is nothing more than that most likely, loose skin. It is very common in fatter, spayed older cats. It is not uncommon at all, but is made worse if they lose weight too fast. What really worries me is the vomiting you said she is doing now. This is why I am concerned about her liver.

Has she been tested for leukemia? You know it's contagious and if she was with the cats that died from it there is a high chance that she has it as well. Vomiting can also be a sign of pancreatitis and that is another reason why you need to get her into the vets to be seen right away. Your other cats must have had signs as well.

Get her in for a check up including a liver function test, as well as to be tested for leukemia. I wouldn't wait especially since you said she has gotten worse over the last 3 months. This is a dangerous sign.

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Hi I got the weightloss food from the vet. Thats all I buy it is like 25 dollars. We separated all the cats from the two others that had leukemia. She also got a leukemia shot I think that's what my vet gave her or it is something like that. She also has feces all over her butt. I have to constiantly have to clean her butt every 2 days. Her butt is red. The vet gave me a solution to put on her butt. It is blue and you mix it with water. I developed fatty liver also it is not that bad but the vet is trying to figure out why both cats had fatty liver and also why I got it. He said their is something that humans can develope if a cat scratches a human. I think it was hepatitis something. She was tested for leukemia awhile back. I need to get her back to the vet to see what is going on. I am going to the mayo clinic so I will have to do it when I get back or have my brother take her their for me. I am having testing in Jacksonville Florida at the mayo clinic. They think I have porphyria and prostate problems. I also have cluster headaches and fatty liver. I have been sick for 5 years and no one can find out what is wrong with me. Any suggestions. Thanks.

Answer
You need to get her in and get her rear end cleaned up as well. Cats can get fly blown and full of maggots really fast in this heat when they are too fat to clean themselves.

Humans cannot get fatty liver from getting scratched by a cat. They can get cat-scratch fever, but that is from a bacteria.

As I said, cats generally get fatty liver if they are dieted too quickly and lose weight too fast, or from a disease process as well.
People get it from drinking, eating high fat foods and other disease processes.

Your cat needs to be seen by a vet soon,especially since she is vomiting. Have your brother take her if need be, but call the vet and get her in soon.