Umbilical Hernias in Cats

I mentioned last week that Cupcake had hernia surgery just before joining our family, and I got a couple questions about it afterward. So today, we’re going to talk about cat hernias.

Clipboard: Umbilical Hernia in cats

What is a Hernia?

A hernia is a condition that affects both humans and other species of animals. It means that there is a weak spot in the abdominal muscles or in the diaphragm, and that tissue or organ is bulging through the weak spot.

Hernias very from small and nearly unnoticeable to larger, depending on how big the area is of weak muscle. In rare cases, hernias can become dangerous if the contents of the hernia are constricted where they pass through the hernia and can’t get blood flow. This is called a strangulated hernia.

Diagram of strangulated hernia. Photo credit: depositphotos/blueringmedia

Hernias have different names depending on where on the body they are found. For instance, umbilical hernias are at the site of the belly button, while diaphragmatic hernias are abnormal openings in the diaphragm.

Umbilical Hernias

Cupcake had an umbilical hernia, the most common hernia in cats. These can be hereditary, but can also be caused if the umbilical cord was pulled too hard or if the mother cat chews the umbilical cord too close to the infant kitten’s belly.

Since a cat’s belly button is actually a small opening where the umbilical blood vessels are attached before the kitten is born, it is a small opening that needs to close in every kitten after birth. This means that small umbilical hernias are not uncommon with kittens. Small hernias may close on their own while the kitten is growing for her first few months.

Umbilical Hernia Repair

Cupcake’s hernia was small enough that it wasn’t caught until after her spay surgery. But she was nearly three months old, and she was about to take an airplane flight and be adopted. Even though her hernia was small, we decided it was safest to have her hernia taken care of, so she was scheduled for hernia surgery. The surgery for a an umbilical hernia wasn’t more strenuous on her than her spay surgery, and she was able to travel the next day.

A week later, the most noticeable thing about her surgery site is that her tummy is shaved.

tuxedo kitten's tummy If you look closely, you can see some of the surgical glue left on her fur, and just above that, a pinker bulge where the absorbable stitches are holding together the layers of muscle so they can heal properly. Our vet examined her over the weekend and said she is healing well. We expect the bulge will probably become less noticeable and may even flatten out entirely once she finishes healing.

tuxedo kitten's hernia repair surgery site

It certainly hasn’t slowed her down a bit! Kittens who go through hernia repair are just as bouncy and rambunctious as any other kittens. So if your vet tells you that your new kitten has an umbilical surgery, don’t panic. Cupcake says that getting all fixed up is a piece of cake.

Research and Further Reading:

VCA Hospitals, Umbilical Hernias in Cats
DVM 360, Heriniorraphy (Proceedings)

An #AdoptACatMonth Story

Have you ever met someone you just couldn’t put out our mind afterward? What did you do about it?

For me, that someone was a kitten.

That Fateful Meeting

When I attended the BlogPaws pet social media conference in May, I was fortunate to room with not just my friend Jeanne, who writes Random Felines. That meant I also roomed with three adorable foster kittens she was fostering for the Colony Cats rescue organization: Dior, Gucci, and Armani.

tuxedo kittens and orange tabby kitten

At first, the kittens thought I was a scary stranger. During the course of the stay, their opinion of me changed. This probably had something to do with the fact I brought them a cupcake and let them play the mouse chase game on my iPad.

It was like being a cool aunt, letting them do things like chase my feet under the covers even though I knew that would probably not be allowed in their future homes.

orange tabby kitten crouches on bed

The next-to-last night of the trip, all three kittens chose to sleep in the bed with me instead of with their foster Mom. That was just adorable. I was sorry that they were awake before dawn, running through the room like hooligans before it was light enough to take any photos of them all cuddled up to me.

The final night of the trip, Armani and Gucci slept somewhere else, but little Dior slept right next to me the whole night. When I woke from a terrible nightmare at 4 am, Dior was there, meeping at me. How could anyone’s heart not melt when that happened?

tuxedo kitten yawns

They aren’t yours, I reminded myself. You have three cats at home. There are adopters in Ohio who have waited all winter for kittens. Still, I tried not to embarrass myself by crying when I left them behind and drove home.

Kitten on my Mind

The thought wouldn’t leave my head. Dior picked me, and I should make this work out, somehow. I looked for photos of her on Random Felines blog and social media, noticing how the color of her eyes was changing like I was some kind of a kitten stalker. She was still in foster, but not for much longer. You can hold out, I told myself.

The it even seemed like the kitten herself was telling me to stop all the looking when I saw this photo.

Dior. Photo courtesy Random-Felines.com

I checked airfare to Ohio, and then I reminded myself, There are lots of kittens in Florida.

Back and forth I went inside my head, knowing that my adoration of this particular kitten was impractical. I decided it was best to keep quiet until she was adopted. Then, if I heard her adoption didn’t work out for some reason, that would be my sign. I would speak up and say I wanted to adopt her then.

The Enabler

Then one evening, I was chatting online to my friend Connie from Tails from the Foster Kittens, and I admitted I had been thinking about Dior.

Chat with Connie about Dior

Before I could say “kitten enabler,” a message popped up on my screen from Jeanne: “I really want to drive to Florida.”

Holy cat, it looked like this could really happen!

The Wait

Dior was old enough to be adopted, but she wasn’t spayed yet, so that had to be done by the rescue before she could travel and be adopted.

After her spay surgery, the veterinarian’s office notified the rescue that she needed additional surgery for a hernia. That surgery was scheduled for the day before she was scheduled to travel to Florida.

Each time she had surgery, I would wait to hear news, not wanting to be a pest, but hoping she was all right.

Arrival

The day came at last. I drove to the airport and found Jeanne already waiting with a Sleepypod Air on the curb. The carrier was complaining loudly. I could hear little kitten meows on the short drive from the airport home.

Newton is the first cat to greet visitors, and he was interested in the contents of the cat carrier.

Orange tabby cat sniffs red Sleepypod Air carrier

But he gave me some space to open it so I could finally see our new family member who had traveled a very long way to be reuinted with me.

As part of joining our family, she is also getting a new name. Everyone, meet Cupcake.

tuxedo kitten against striped blanket

She has lots of adventures to share with you very soon!

Thanks

Cupcake joining our family would have been possible without Colony Cats allowing an out-of-state adoption, and Jeanne from Random Felines went the extra mile — literally — to get Cupcake here. A big thank you from all of us!

Also, I never would have made the decision to say anything about wanting to adopt Cupcake if Connie wasn’t such an kitten enabler. So a big thanks to her, too.

An Amazing Evening with the Acro-Cats

When you see a big, purple bus with cat eyes on the front, it means one thing: The Acro-Cats have come to town!

I last saw them perform two years ago, but this time, but time they were traveling in a different bus, since the previous 1963 model was finally replaced in 2016 through a successful Kickstarter campaign. It’s also a great traveling billboard for the cats.

acro cats bus

I was excited to hear that the cat circus was finally returning to Orlando, but the most exciting of all was getting to share it with a kitty-loving friend who had never seen them before.

The Acro-Cats Act

Samantha Martin, an animal trainer, travels the country with her cats, sharing the stories of how the different rescue cats in her group joined her family and show.

Cat raises paw next to "who is number one" sign during Acro-Cats performance in Orlando

Some cats have mastered cute moves, while others show feats of great feline agility as they climb, balance, or leap through hoops.

calico cat jumping through hoop during acro-cats show

Allie, one of the performers, is a great cat athlete, listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as the longest cat jump: 6 feet!

acro-cat leaping

Some of the cats even do very circus-like tricks, like jumping through a hoop whose center is covered in paper.

acro-cat oz jumps through paper hoop during Orlando performance

One of the most fun things about the performance is when it doesn’t go quite as planned. As we all know, cats can have their own ideas about what to do and when to do it. At times, the feline performers wander offstage instead of performing.

black-and-white acro-cat Jax leaves stage during Orlando performance

When that happens, the show goes on with the other cats. Once the kitty returns to the stage from walkabout, they return to their jobs of performing.

tuxedo cat stands up on skull during acro cats performance in orlando

It’s hard to believe how much how much dexterity and concentration these cats have.

black cat pushes glitter ball during acro cats performance in orlando

I’m especially impressed that they perform these feats while a roomful of strangers is watching them, often behaving in ways that my cats would find alarming. For example, there was a woman sitting in the front row during our show who gave a horror-movie scream when a cat lost her footing and fell off a stool. My cats wouldn’t have come out from under the bed for an hour if I screamed like that, but the Acro-Cats are confident professionals, and the kitty jumped right back up to to continue.

The Rock Cats

One of the unique parts of the Acro-Cats show is their all-cat rock band. It features various cats from the troupe performing on different instruments, like the bell…

white cat rings bell during acro-cats performance in Orlando

… the xylophone…

cat playing xylophone at Acro-Cats Orlando show

…or the traditional rock band instruments like guitar, drums, piano, and cymbals. Yes, that’s a chicken playing the cymbals.

cats pretend to be a rock band

Of course, no band is complete without more cowbell, and they have that, too!

white cat rings cowbell during Acro-Cats performance in Orlando

Acro-Cats Rescue

All of the Acro-Cats are rescue kitties, which makes these beautiful kitties extra-special.

Pudge the acro cat

Even more special, as the Acro-Cats travel around the United States, they foster kittens. When the kittens are old enough, they are adopted into loving homes among fans along the way.

While they were in Orlando, the Acro-Cats had two foster kittens with them. One was adopted the first night of the week of shows, and the second continued to make appearances in the show throughout the week. This little kitten was already doing basic tricks like jumping from one chair to another and sitting up on cue.

Look how small she is, and she is already trained to perform. That really is amazing!

acro-cats foster kitten

Most of the foster kittens will find their way to loving homes, but a few will stay on with the troupe and become performers who travel themselves.

orange acro-cat

The Acro-Cats bring a wonderful, positive message about how capable cats are of learning and how much it can improve your bond with your cat to learn together. I left the show thinking “I can teach my cats to do that, too!”

Amazing Acro-Cats Sign