Why is my senior cat's belly swollen with fluid and legs puffy?

Thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! From the X-rays, I can see that Mara's abdomen appears to be filled with fluid. It is obscuring his liver and intestines from being seen and there may even be a small amount in his lungs. Unfortunately it is impossible to tell what the fluid is from the x-ray alone. His blood work shows some abnormalities with his electrolytes, which may be if he is not eating or from fluid in the abdomen. Mara also has a high white blood cell count, these are the cells that are responsible for fighting off infections and increase if there is one present. Your vet can run some additional diagnostics, and perform a tap and remove the fluid as well as a blood test to determine if Mara is infected with FIP, a mutated form of a common virus that cats are exposed to. I hope this helps!

I am so sorry you and Mimi are going through this. It is perfectly acceptable to seek a second opinion from another veterinarian or veterinary office at any point! If you aren’t comfortable with the testing or diagnosis you may want to reach out to Mimi s doctor first to discuss things again (maybe he had concerns based on the x-Ray? Or maybe fluid was actually examined and cancerous cells were seen?) and in more depth. If you are still uncomfortable though at all , there is no reason not to make an appointment with another vet for their opinion. Anytime a cat has a belly full of fluid, something very serious is going on. And It is unfortunately true that abdominal fluid (aka ascites) in an older kitty is often cancer. The more common cancers we see are lymphoma and adenocarcinoma and mast cell disease. However, there are several other causes including heart failure (the veterinarian would likely be able to rule this out based on exam and x-rays) or infection. Fluid cytology (having fluid submitted to lab to be examined under a microscope) and abdominal ultrasound often can help us start sorting out what could be the underlying problem. Again, I’m sorry Mimi is dealing with this.

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.

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.

In my opinion going to the ER would be best, although you may not be able to have a full ultrasound until Monday morning. Some potential causes of fluid in the abdomen include an infection or abscess in the abdomen, diseases like FIP, or cancer. If there were an infection it would be best to start treatment sooner rather than later. An ER vet could take a sample of fluid to examine for signs of white blood cells or bacteria and might be able to perform a limited ultrasound. It's also possible that a specialist could be called in to perform a full ultrasound if needed over the weekend.

Fluid in the abdomen is called ascites. I agree with your vet that FIP (coronovirus) is the most likely due to your cat's age but there are some other possibilities (none of them good): 1. heart disease 2. tumor/cancer 3. liver disease Coronavirus is constantly mutating so it is actually not easy to test for. I'm not sure what tests your vet did but that may be why they are getting negatives. I suggest you refer to this link for more information and go over this with your vet. ( https://vcahospitals.com/know-your-pet/feline-infectious-peritonitis ) Hope this helps. Best wishes.

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!