# loose skin on belly



## cat-guy (May 31, 2013)

There is a stray visiting my mother's house that she is feeding but doesn't want to adopt.

I think it is a neutered male. It's stomach seems sunken, and there is a lot of loose skin hanging almost 2 inches below it's stomach.

I'm a little worried that it might need to go to the vet. My mother doesn't want the cat for a pet and I already have a cat.


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## TabbCatt (Mar 26, 2014)

My fixed kitten has a "spay away pouch". She was altered at around 8 weeks of age, and her primordial pouch has been more pronounced since she was 5 months old. It's pretty common (and normal) after getting them altered for felines.

Are you worried that he's lost too much weight or is too thin?


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## cat-guy (May 31, 2013)

TabbCatt said:


> My fixed kitten has a "spay away pouch". She was altered at around 8 weeks of age, and her primordial pouch has been more pronounced since she was 5 months old. It's pretty common (and normal) after getting them altered for felines.
> 
> Are you worried that he's lost too much weight or is too thin?


This is an adult, and I think it is a male. It seemed like it had testicles, but it did not have the broad face of a tomcat. I guess I don't know it's sex or if it is fixed.

So this is like loose skin hanging hanging under its belly. It's a stray cat my mother is feeding but she doesn't want to get emotionally attached and adopt it.


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## spirite (Jul 31, 2012)

I'm not sure, but I think that belly flap is more common in females than males? That much excess skin on a male cat would probably worry me. The neutered stray that I've been feeding doesn't have a flap, although not all cats develop it. 

cat-guy, when you say his stomach seems sunken, are you looking at him from the side? Does he look too thin if you look at him from the top? 

I understand your mom's not wanting to get emotionally attached - I've been feeding my guy for 4 years and am still resisting. But I do feel that since I'm feeding my stray, he's my responsibility. I took him to the vet last summer for the first time, because he got sick. I tried letting him during the winter, but no one was happy, so now he's back to being outdoor-only. I think that's what enables me to not get too attached - that he doesn't stay in. I haven't adopted him and don't plan to, but I'll take care of his needs. 

I hope this little guy is in good shape and that the extra skin isn't anything to worry about. But if he does require a vet visit, I hope your mom will be willing to take him in and not worry about getting too attached to him.


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## 2Siamese (Apr 6, 2014)

Sprite, interestingly i have the opposite experience. Both my spayed boys have loose skin under the bellies, my girls, also both spayed are both still tucked in tight. Not saying you're wrong, just interested that you say you see it more in females. Cat-guy, the "pouch" where the testicles reside in are not always removed when a male is spayed which might give the appearance of him still having his bits. Is he approachable? If so you should easily be able to tell the difference between still having his bits, or not, they're pretty obvious when you see them. It would be be interesting if he is still intact and not look like a male, but if he is a male and doesn't look like one, I would wonder if at one time he had a home or came from a shelter, that he was perhaps spayed early in his life, never developing that "tomcat look".


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## MowMow (Nov 6, 2010)

This what my vet said about it last night - 
*The Primordial Pouch*

If you've got more than one cat, you may have noticed how they kick at each other's stomachs when they're fighting. That's just play, but the tactic is the means by which they kill prey. Cats have belly fat, like most animals, to protect their viscera. All domestic cats have a loose flap of skin, often called the primordial pouch, which protects their stomachs. It almost looks as if they've swollen to Garfield-sized proportions, slimmed down, and retained the extra skin.


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## cat-guy (May 31, 2013)

spirite said:


> I'm not sure, but I think that belly flap is more common in females than males? That much excess skin on a male cat would probably worry me. The neutered stray that I've been feeding doesn't have a flap, although not all cats develop it.
> 
> cat-guy, when you say his stomach seems sunken, are you looking at him from the side? Does he look too thin if you look at him from the top?
> 
> ...


Thanks. It doesn't look too thin from the top. It's just a bit sunken looking from the side. Maybe I'm not used to short hair cats. It's not super skinny where I can see its ribs. The loose skin gives the illusion of being pear-shaped and fat, but it's actually thin.



2Siamese said:


> Sprite, interestingly i have the opposite experience. Both my spayed boys have loose skin under the bellies, my girls, also both spayed are both still tucked in tight. Not saying you're wrong, just interested that you say you see it more in females. Cat-guy, the "pouch" where the testicles reside in are not always removed when a male is spayed which might give the appearance of him still having his bits. Is he approachable? If so you should easily be able to tell the difference between still having his bits, or not, they're pretty obvious when you see them. It would be be interesting if he is still intact and not look like a male, but if he is a male and doesn't look like one, I would wonder if at one time he had a home or came from a shelter, that he was perhaps spayed early in his life, never developing that "tomcat look".


I tried looking for pictures on the internet for determining sex, but they all seem to be kittens. This cat's tail was amputated, so it's easy to see it's rear-end. There were two furry bumps, that I assumed were testicles. But its face is narrow instead of broad like a tomcat.



MowMow said:


> This what my vet said about it last night -
> *The Primordial Pouch*
> 
> If you've got more than one cat, you may have noticed how they kick at each other's stomachs when they're fighting. That's just play, but the tactic is the means by which they kill prey. Cats have belly fat, like most animals, to protect their viscera. All domestic cats have a loose flap of skin, often called the primordial pouch, which protects their stomachs. It almost looks as if they've swollen to Garfield-sized proportions, slimmed down, and retained the extra skin.


I've never noticed this flap before. I guess it must be more obvious on some. This cat looks weird from the side when it stands up - just like it used to be Garfield-sized.

I'm a worrier about cats and tend to take them to the vet for silly reasons. If I knew more about them, then I could avoid that.

I've wondered if I can get this cat to take tape worm medicine? I've never done that - even to my own cat.


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## 10cats2dogs (Jun 16, 2013)

Cat-Guy, sounds like a male to me, if you see "two furry bumps"!
Do the "furry bumps" hang underneath the tail?
Not all male cats will have a broad face...
Thank you for being concerned about this guy!
Sharon


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## DeafDogs&Cat (Mar 27, 2013)

Munch has a pretty big primordial pouch, makes him look fat, but he's not at all. It drives me nuts because I'm a dog person and only fat dogs have bellies that hang down... thin dogs look thin lol

Sent from Petguide.com Free App


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## wallycat (Nov 10, 2012)

Interesting. My 2 (brother-sister) cats that were fixed at 6-8 weeks both have the pouchy-belly. The male, unrelated, was not fixed till at least 1-2 years old, and I do not believe he has (or not very visibly so) the belly. I'll double check today...
The brother/sister pair developed the belly fairly quickly after the surgery.
--
just checked, the unrelated one does not have a noticeable paunch.
Heredity? Time of surgery??


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## KsKatt (Jul 6, 2014)

I don't know if it's the same everywhere, but the way my cats have been, for quite awhile, they don't take the entire testicle off. My neutered boys still have "two furry bumps".
I take it that you have checked around to make certain the cat isn't just somebodies outdoor cat. 
Not having the tomcat head and chest really makes me think neutered. Does this boy have shelter, is he friendly?


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## MowMow (Nov 6, 2010)

KsKatt said:


> My neutered boys still have "two furry bumps".


Haha! I call them Furry Little Grapes!

MowMOw is the only one with them. Book has no leftover bits and Neelix doesn't SEEM to, but he's so little who can tell.


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## spirite (Jul 31, 2012)

2Siamese, I thought I'd remembered reading that more females develop it, and I'm assumed it was true since my girls have it really obviously, and the 5 male cats I know don't, but it could well be that it happens to both sexes equally. I know my male, neutered stray much more than the other male cats, so it could also be that I've just never noticed. Sometimes, I'm not very observant. 

cat-guy, since so many others have male cats with the same belly thing, and he's not overly thin, even if you're not positive the cat is male, it seems like you don't need to worry!


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## 21inCostaRica (Aug 18, 2013)

I don´t think it´s time of surgery because all my kittens have been spayed or neutered at between five and eight months old, and only a couple of them have it. Others are thin and yet other cats are a bit rounder, but nothing hanging down. Perhaps it´s to do with distribution of adipose cells. I imagine their bodies and metabolisms are different, just like in people.


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## TabbCatt (Mar 26, 2014)

I think it just has to do with cats genes. Maya has it as I mentioned in my first post, but not G. He was neutered before 11 weeks old (when I got him), and he doesn't have "the pouch". Maya and G are now older "kittens", nearing their 1st year and both definitely weigh over 10 lbs (at last vet visit about a month ago) but are not overweight.

This chart can also help with a visual check (scroll down for felines):
SDMVC: We Love Them Too!: Body Conditioning System


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## cat-guy (May 31, 2013)

KsKatt said:


> I don't know if it's the same everywhere, but the way my cats have been, for quite awhile, they don't take the entire testicle off. My neutered boys still have "two furry bumps".
> I take it that you have checked around to make certain the cat isn't just somebodies outdoor cat.
> Not having the tomcat head and chest really makes me think neutered. Does this boy have shelter, is he friendly?


Hmmm. It is very friendly so it must have been a pet at some time - maybe it is somebody's outdoor pet. I wish I knew how to tell about the testicles.

My mother doesn't want it to become dependent on her, because she wants to move in a year. It is not as interested in the dry food, so it may be getting food somewhere else. Of course it likes the canned food. So we've decided to only give it dry food and not encourage it.


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## cat-guy (May 31, 2013)

spirite said:


> 2Siamese, I thought I'd remembered reading that more females develop it, and I'm assumed it was true since my girls have it really obviously, and the 5 male cats I know don't, but it could well be that it happens to both sexes equally. I know my male, neutered stray much more than the other male cats, so it could also be that I've just never noticed. Sometimes, I'm not very observant.
> 
> cat-guy, since so many others have male cats with the same belly thing, and he's not overly thin, even if you're not positive the cat is male, it seems like you don't need to worry!


Thanks, that sounds like good advice.

And thanks to everybody else too. I had never heard of these pouches. I never noticed them before.


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## CrazyCatLazy (Jan 17, 2011)

One of my cats who is spayed and one who is neutered each have this skin pouch. But the male cat also had a belly surgery as a kitten that made it even worse. When he's standing there, sometimes I like to flick it and watch it swing for fun. It's just skin and even as the cats gained weight as they got older, it didn't seem to fill in.


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