The feline parvovirus or feline panleukopenia is a disease that’s most common and most severe in kittens and can, all too often, be fatal.

At birth, kittens typically receive antibodies from their mother, which protect them for the first few weeks. By the age of 4 to 12 weeks, however, this protection wanes, and the kittens become vulnerable to the virus. Because the virus is widespread throughout the environment and can survive in it for months, nearly all cats are exposed to it. Not surprisingly then, both sick cats and unvaccinated cats are the ones most likely to contract this disease.

Does your favorite feline have a belly that sways from side to side? Could it be … fat?

According to veterinarians, it’s not fat at all! It’s a primordial pouch: a loose flap comprised of a mixture of fat, skin and fur on the underside of a cat that hangs between her midsection and hind legs and feels floppy to the touch. Although it may look as if an overweight cat who recently lost weight retained the extra skin, that so-called extra skin has less to do with her condition and more to do with genetics.