My cat's stomach is hard and she's passing lots of hair. What's wrong?

Hi and thanks for posting! Hard stool can certainly be an indication of constipation and while a hairball formula can help, you can also try a higher fiber diet (one that is formulated for hairball control) or just give a few teaspoons of plain canned pumpkin (not the pie filling) in her food which can help. However, if she is not eating and is acting lethargic, you may want to take her in to see a veterinarian to get checked out. Sometimes underlying health conditions such as liver or kidney disease or certain endocrine problems like diabetes can cause dehydration and can lead to harder stools and episodes of constipation as well as decreased appetite and lethargy. Certainly worth a veterinary visit if the hairball cream doesn't seem to be making a difference in her appetite or energy level. I hope this helps and thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach!

Check if she has milk in one or more of her teats. If so, it is possible she has kittens. When she comes to eat, catch her and take her to your vet for an exam. and then let her go again so she can go feed her kittens. She may have another problelm with her abdomen or she may have retained a kitten. So this is serious.

I would be more inclined to think that your kitty is obstipated (inability to defecate). As the pet gets backed up there is no where for the ingested food to go, so the cat vomits it back up. Also the stomach will be firm and distended with feces that collect in the colon. Cats that cannot poop for several days will also get full anal glands, this causes irritation of the bum and scooting. Your poor kitty needs to be take to the vet to likely have an enema placed to relieve the impacted feces right away. I would recommend taking kitty in to your local vet by tomorrow at the latest. I would caution against using over the counter enema's because most contain phosphate, and this component is toxic in cats. I would agree that intestinal parasites are still a possibility here, but obstipation would be my first concern. Your vet can easily distinguish which one is the cause of your cats current state by just feeling her belly and doing a rectal exam. I hope your kitty gets better soon!

That sounds like it could be worrisome. If it is in her stomach, you could be feeling foreign objects or even tumors. Internal organs can also be palpated and it's possible you are palpating something important. You need to have Princess examined to get a better idea of what you are feeling. I hope this helps.

An increase in the volume of belly noise may or may not be a problem. If Cleo seems to have relatively regular bowel movements, doesn't seem to strain to defecate, and doesn't have any vomiting episodes, I would not necessarily assume there is an issue to be treating. The passage of small balls of fecal material is not abnormal unless you feel Cleo is constipated or backing up. Some problems that CAN be associated with increased belly noise would be allergies to certain foods, gastrointestinal inflammation / pancreatitis, inflammatory bowel disease, and some much less common conditions. The simplest test you can do would be a gradual change to a new diet to see if it makes any difference. Hope this helps.

Hi there. It is common for females that are spayed to gain extra fat in their abdominal region. If the belly is very hard or she seems uncomfortable I would take her in. Otherwise just remember she doesn't have the extra hormone production she used to-changes are normal. Hope this helps

It's hard to tell what is going on, but a rock-hard belly is certainly abnormal. I would recommend that you have Eve checked out by a vet to see if this could be a serious issue or simply related to her missing the kitten.