# Female "empty sack" belly after spayed



## Phil

Hi,
my 2 year old female "Charlee" was spayed when she was 6 months old. She is long and lean and in perfect health. 

I've always noticed that since the operation, her belly hangs lower than the rest of he body. This is more noticeable when she walks. It's like an empty sack that's just hanging there. When you rub her belly, this part feels empty. We have come to affectionately call this her "gootch".

Is this normal? A result of female spaying? Poor execution by vet to leave skin stretched out?


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## Dusty&Lou

Almost all of the kitties I have seen, male and female, have this saggy, baggy belly. It is perfectly normal.


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## vanillasugar

Yup, most cats I've seen have the pooch of belly skin  Buddy got it soon after his neuter (and that has nothing to do with the abdomen area!), both my parents cats have it, and Lavender, one of the girls at my work also has it. I've begun to wonder if perhaps it has to do with hormone changes... as i've noticed it to appear commonly after speutering procedures...


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## Phil

Strange, I've never seen this on other cats. Maybe I just didn't notice.

...so what is it? My GF seems to think that this mostly only happens with females.


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## Hippyhart

I think they lose some muscle tone when they are spayed/neutered -- both my boys have it and Mom is kinda fat, but I'm sure she has it too.


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## Jeanie

I once rushed one of my cats to the vet, and told him I had an emergency, that my Blacky's abdomen had "collapsed." The vet said he had a cat at home with the same "condition."  What a patient man! It's a wonder he didn't burst out laughing! Of course, Blacky was older than some of your cats, and he had been neutered. I could have sworn it had happened overnight, but obviously, it hadn't. 

OK, guys, don't laugh so hard! :wink: I was not as experienced then as I am now!


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## Phil

There are a few male cats around my house, and none seem to have the "gootch"  That's why I thought only females had this.

I am almost convinced that Charlee developed it only after her spaying operation.

Do these cats need tummy tucks now? :wink:


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## Jeanie

Well, if you're considering that, what about a "whisker lift" at the same time? :lol:


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## Frisha

My females and males all have this bet if they did as much walking and stuff as outside ones they wouldn't have it but...  they will remain 100% inside kitties as long as I live near other people.


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## Jeanie

Frisha said:


> My females and males all have this bet if they did as much walking and stuff as outside ones they wouldn't have it but...  they will remain 100% inside kitties as long as I live near other people.


or dogs, or cars, or disease, etc.


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## Birdgirl

Kayla had it for a couple weeks after getting spayed but now its not as bad.


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## Brynn

This is just my theory:

An unaltered cat is bulkier and more muscular than an altered cat. I theorize that the skin grows to fit what the size of the cat would be if it were not altered. It may just be a "quack" theory on my part...but it makes slight sense.

All of my kitties are either spayed or neutered and they all have a pooch tummy. When I was a child, our family adopted a stray adult male Tom, and after his neuter, he didn't develop as much of a pooch as the cats that were neutered early, but he did develop it to a lesser degree. I can't fully explain this except to note that he was always a muscular cat, even after the neuter. 

Regardless, I think that kitty pooches are adorable, and so enticing...I just have to "play with them". They look like me, after having two very large babies (both over 9# at birth)!  Sit-ups haven't worked for me, so I don't bother to try to make the cats do them, either. :lol: 

Anyway, that is my absolutely unfounded theory...but the fact remains that all cats, after being spayed/neutered, develop this. It is normal.


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## zoeae

Mine have it also. Seems normal to me.


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## Phil

Well thanks for the replies everyone. I feel better now.[/img]


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