Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Ischemic spinal cord damage in older cats causing neck weakness
By Simpson, Katherine M et al.·Published in Journal of feline medicine and surgery·2014·Davies Veterinary Specialists, United Kingdom·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Feline ischaemic myelopathy with a predilection for the cranial cervical spinal cord in older cats.
- Species:
- cat
Plain-English summary
An older cat, around 14 years old, was brought in with severe weakness and difficulty moving, a condition known as cervical ischaemic myelopathy. The cat showed signs of neck muscle weakness and had other health issues like kidney disease and heart problems. After treatment, the cat was able to walk again within about 6 days. However, some cats in the study experienced relapses, and one cat had to be euthanized due to worsening symptoms. This case emphasizes the need for thorough testing in older cats with similar symptoms to rule out other serious conditions.
People also search for: cat weakness treatment · older cat cervical myelopathy · cat kidney disease symptoms · cat heart problems · why is my cat not walking
Abstract
All previous studies on feline ischaemic myelopathy (IM) have reported an acute onset of a single event with no recurrence of clinical signs. This study aimed to evaluate clinical and long-term follow-up data in cats presumptively diagnosed with cervical IM in the territory of the ventral spinal artery (VSA). Eight cats (four females and four males) were included with a mean age of 14 years and 2 months. Neurological status at the time of presentation ranged from ambulatory tetraparesis to tetraplegia with nociception present. Six cats had marked cervical ventroflexion. All eight cats were diagnosed with one or more concurrent medical conditions, including chronic kidney disease (n = 2), hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (n = 2) and hypertension (n = 6). Median time to ambulation was 5.7 days (range 2-14 days). Long-term follow-up ranged from 7 months to 3 years and 3 months (median 1 year and 2 months). Five cats had no reported recurrence of clinical signs and 3/8 had a chronic relapsing disease course. One cat had an acute recurrence of clinical signs 4 months after the first event and was euthanased. Two cats had acute onsets of suspected intracranial infarctions, one of which had further suspected intracranial infarcts every 3 months and was euthanased after one of these. This study highlights the importance of performing ancillary diagnostic tests in older cats presenting with IM, particularly when VSA embolisation is suspected.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24509256/