Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Young cat with stiff back legs from nerve loss and muscle damage
By Rohdin, Cecilia et al.·Published in Journal of feline medicine and surgery·2010·Albano Small Animal Hospital·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Acquired motor neuron loss causing severe pelvic limb contractures in a young cat.
- Species:
- cat
Plain-English summary
A young kitten was brought in with severe weakness in its back legs and stiff joints, unable to move them properly. Tests showed that the kitten had lost motor neurons, leading to muscle degeneration and rigidity in both hind legs. Unfortunately, despite the veterinary team's efforts to diagnose and understand the condition, the kitten passed away three weeks later. This case highlights the challenges of diagnosing motor neuron loss in cats, which can be caused by various factors, including congenital issues.
People also search for: kitten back leg weakness · cat motor neuron disease · why is my kitten's leg stiff
Abstract
PRESENTATION: This report describes a kitten with paraplegia and extensor rigidity of the pelvic limbs associated with motor neuron loss and chronic denervation of skeletal muscle. Persistent skeletal muscle atrophy and degeneration had resulted in immobile stifle and hock joints and severe pelvic limb rigidity consistent with a neurogenic form of arthrogryposis. Both pelvic limbs were equally affected and the kitten showed no signs of pain. INVESTIGATIONS: Electromyography identified spontaneous activity in the pelvic limbs. Muscle and peripheral nerve biopsies showed pathology consistent with denervation. On necropsy, 3 weeks after admittance, severe degenerative changes including axonal necrosis and myelin degeneration were confirmed in the lumbar spinal cord. CLINICAL RELEVANCE: There are very few descriptions of feline motor neuron degeneration in the literature and obtaining an ante-mortem diagnosis is difficult. Although an inherited disorder cannot be ruled out, a condition acquired congenitally in utero or postnatally was suspected in this case.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20193915/