Question Details
Distended Abdomen Cat
by landauvet - March 1, 2010
Hi Steve,
I just saw an 8 year old DMLH FS cat. The PC was soft mucussy stools with blood.
The cat was untouchable until she was spayed at age 1. She was aggressive when approached. The vet who spayed her found very cystic ovaries. She has been fed canned meat and a decent quality kibble. Interesting, she became friendlier once spayed, however, gradually, her abdomen started to enlarge.
the owner did not seem worried about the abdomen until the diarrhea started. The entire cranial abdomen is hard and distended. It fells like a volleyball. the cat is as wide as she is long. Not fat besides the abdominal volleyball.
Although friendlier, not friendly enough to treat, feel the pulse, or find active points. The tongue was lavender.
Due to the limited opportunity to evaluate this cat,and the extreme presentation, I wanted to pick a winner.
Blood stasis in the abdomen and damp heat in the colon are the main diagnoses.
Would XYS be a good place to start?

Thanks for your input.
Kevin
Replies
by naturevet
March 1, 2010
Hi Kevin,

It's hard to pick a winner when you're not able to get all the information you'd like. But Xiao Yao San seems like it should be an okay place to start. If the distention had been more generalized, I would have even suggested San Ren Tang. Any vomiting to go with this? If so, it's still a consideration.

Otherwise, we can hope it's a Liver-Spleen disharmony causing the chronic low grade colitis, and that the attitude and distention are otherwise indicative of Liver Qi stagnation.

In the event we're wrong, the loose stools could worsen, since XYS is Blood tonifying, and therefore may aggravate a Damp cat. So start low and work your way up to a full dose. Maybe just send the owner out the door with a little (say, a week's worth). If there is an aggravation, I'd move to San Ren Tang.

Hope that helps,

Steve
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