Why is my cat's belly bloated with fluid and he's losing weight?

Fluids in the abdomen can be caused by a lot of things and it usually makes the xray non diagnostical, at this age FIP can be one of the causes but it could also be a severe gastrointestinal infection or a liver problem. The next stage will be a specialist ultrasound, fluids might need to be drained first.

Hi, thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! Poor Cheeteo! Can you post the blood work results and X-rays? Based on your post Cheeto has fluid around his lungs and in his belly. This is a serious, sadly. The most common causes for bicavitary effusion (fluid in BOTH the chest and belly) are cancer, heart failure, and FIP. Heart failure can be managed, FIP sadly has no cure and cancer is not a good diagnosis either. I am guessing that Cheeto didn't respond (didn't get better) on the lasix? The lasix is for heart failure. That only leaves the other diagnoses which are all not good. Unfortunately for a diganosis tests need to be done. If you don't understand what is wrong with Cheeto and why your Vet is recommending certain tests you need to ask them to explain things better so you can make the best decision for you and Cheeto. I hope this helps and I wish you both the best!

I'm so sorry to hear that you and Sam are going through this scary situation. With normal blood work and the normal ultrasound, I would be concerned about the disease called FIP (Feline Infectious Peritonitis) which is an uncommon response to a common virus in which the abdomen fills up with fluid and cats don't tend to recover from it. I would also continue to be concerned about cancer even though you're not seeing any signs in the fluid or on the ultrasound. A tumor has to be at least a centimeter in diameter before it can be seen an ultrasound, so it's not unusual for something to just be too small. Unfortunately, without a diagnosis, it's incredibly difficult to treat. And even with a diagnosis, at his age, it's mostly bad things that it could be. At this point, your vet is probably focusing on palliative care to keep Sam comfortable by removing the fluid, keeping him well hydrated, making sure he is comfortable. I would recommend talking to them about his prognosis and your goals for him.

This sounds like he has a serious medical problem. He could be in renal failure, have an infectious disease like feline leukemia or aids, or this could be a sign of cancer. Regardless, I recommend a veterinary exam. They may do lab tests or X-rays to diagnose his medical condition and then they can start treatment. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach to help you care for Sebastian.

Thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! Common causes for a pot belly include intestinal parasites, organ enlargement and abdominal fluid. Unfortunately, this can also be caused by feline infectious peritonitis (FIP), which can be deadly. The fact that Muffin’s spine has become more prominent is also cause for concern as it indicates weight loss. I recommend having him seen by his vet as soon as possible - they can perform bloodwork, x-rays and an ultrasound if necessary to determine what is going on and begin the appropriate treatment. I hope all is well and that Muffin gets well soon!

That could be caused by an accumulation of fluids in the abdominal cavity caused by FIP (feline infectious peritonitis). A check up and single radiograph (or sometimes only clinical examination) could confirm this clinical suspicion and give you treatment options. Unfortunately the prognosis for this disease is poor. Differential diagnosis could be represented by parasite infestation. Please do not hesitate to contact us again on the forum or by requesting a consultation if you have any more questions or to discuss it any further.

I’m very sorry to hear that Olive isn’t doing well. Unfortunately, there isn’t enough information here for a diagnosis. Some follow up questions I have based on this information would be: -did the vet look at a blood smear to confirm lack of platelets? Nearly absent platelets would make me worry about immune mediated destruction. -what was the composition of the abdominal fluid? -has the heart been evaluated? -was there normal blood protein/albumin/globulins? I’m sorry I can’t provide a specific answer for you but this bloodwork points me to more questions. It sounds like Olive needs additional testing, and you may want to consider referring to a specialty hospital. But I’d start by checking the abdominal fluid and blood protein composition. Based on the age and breed, I’d be a bit worried about FIP. Hope this helps. All the best to you and Olive.