Sternum visible

[Kirsten]

I wonder if anyone has noticed this in a cat. I can see it in Lily: her sternum seems to stick far out of her chest, you can even see it when she is sitting. It has always been like that, already as a baby. Now I wonder why that is. It doesn't seem to bother her btw.

Kirsten

[CatDad]

Bob's seems to stick out pretty far. Further than Joey's anyway. I had noticed it, but I had not asked the vet about it. She has seen Bob and never mentioned it. It does not seem to bother him either. It is hard to tell the difference between the two visually because of all Bob's fur.

I am not sure why that is. Maybe it is just a difference of genetics like weight and height.

It is a good question, maybe someone like Jen will know.

[Miss Meow]

Tabasco has a protruding sternum! It pokes out of his tummy when he's lying down, but pokes out around his chest when he's sitting upright. Our vet called it a 'deformity', which greatly offended me at the time, because it's not an issue. The sternum bone - instead of pointing inwards in most animals - just points the other way around. It can happen in humans too!

[moosmom]

It's normal in a cat, I asked the vet. I saw MooShoo's sternum protruding (he's hairless) and got a little concerned.

Nothing to be concerned about.

[CatDad]

Miss Meow, moosmom,

I appreciate your reply and the informaiton. I figured is was not a bad thing or my vet would have let me know. She's pretty good about stuff like that.

If it is a deformity, then it is like mine. A quarter of my right eye is brown. It does not affect my vision or hurt my eye in any way. However, it is not normal, so it is considered a deformity or actually it is termed a birth defect. Go figure.

Oh well, at least I now know.

[jenluckenbach]

Most of my kitties seem to have this. I always assumed it was normal.

[Kirsten]

Well, it's a bit harsh by that vet to call these things a deformity or birth defect, isn't it?

Interesting that so many kitties seem to have that. I was wondering if it was caused by something like wrong nutrition during kittenhood but obviously it's genetic.

I'll ask my vet about it the next time even though I had mentioned it before and she did not see a problem.

Kirsten