Lena is approximately a 3 year old female, spayed, calico cat. Her new owner had brought her in within three days of adopting her, because she felt a mass in her abdomen. The mass was confirmed as abnormal on general physical exam and we decided to take an x-ray to find out more. Surprisingly, we saw two fetuses in her abdomen. I confirmed with the veterinarian that performed the spay procedure, at another veterinary clinic, that Lena had both of her ovaries and her uterus removed. The abdominal radiograph (x-ray) shown above does identify 2 kittens in the abdomen (white arrows pointing to each one) and we could see the kitten’s vertebrae and skulls on the radiograph.
We performed an abdominal ultrasound to see if she had any reproductive structures and to find out if the fetuses were alive. If they were not alive, we needed to know if they were attached to any abdominal organs that would complicate the removal of the dead fetuses. The abdominal ultrasound revealed two mummified fetuses in Lena’s abdomen. One was located near the stomach and the other was located between the left kidney and the spleen. These may have resulted from an ectopic pregnancy or, her uterus could have ruptured during a pregnancy, expelling the fetuses into the abdomen, then healed back up.
We then performed surgery to remove the mummified fetuses. One was covered in a membrane and was attached by scar tissue to the side of her abdomen. The other was walled off by abdominal fat and also attached to the back of her abdomen. Both were successfully removed. Lena stayed in the hospital over night on intravenous fluids, pain medications and antibiotics. She was sent home the next day and made a fabulous recovery.
Lena in surgery showing a mummified fetus at the tip of the arrow
