why is my cat swollen and fur falling out

[christimaree]

My Cat is sleeping alot and is swollen kind of up higher around
her rib cage and to touch feels a little lumpy and slightly hard
and her fur is falling out.
as a kitten she had tests for why there was blood in her stool and nothing was found
the vet asumed she had an irrateble bowel?
Im not sure if that means anything but thought it might help.

[christimaree]

Thanks for the comment, I have given her the diet food from the vets, she did a very large nasty looking stool yesterday and her swelling has gone down so she couldnt have that nasty disease fip could she? I will keep her on that diet its the only thing that seems to help her. Thankyou.

[Aleda M Cheng, D.V.M., C.V.A]

It could be IBD, or it could be hypersensitivity to food or environmental allergies.  Have your vet place your cat on a hypoallergenic diet such Hill's Z/D or lamb and pea.  Always use canned only.  It will take 2 months or so for her previous food to get out of her system.

The medications Prednisolone and Atopica should be given simultaneously, to help speed up the healing process.  After one month the Prednisolone can be slowly reduced and eventually discontinued, the Atopica will be fully functioning after the month of loading, and the Prednisolone will not be necessary.

Another serious disease that causes the swelling is feline infectious peritonitis, but FIP usually does not cause hair loss.