Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Spongiform brain disease causing wobbliness in a Persian kitten
By Salvadori, Claudia et al.·Published in Journal of feline medicine and surgery·2007·Dipartimento di Patologia Animale, Italy·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Spongiform neurodegenerative disease in a Persian kitten.
- Species:
- cat
Plain-English summary
A 4-month-old male Persian kitten was brought in because he was acting depressed and having trouble walking, showing signs like a head tilt and weakness in all four legs. After examining the kitten, the veterinarian found serious issues in his brain, indicating a congenital neurodegenerative disease, which means it was present from birth. Unfortunately, due to the severity of the brain damage, the prognosis was poor, and the kitten's condition was not treatable.
People also search for: kitten with head tilt · Persian cat ataxia · congenital brain disease in cats
Abstract
A congenital encephalopathy with spongiform degeneration and prominent neuronal apoptosis was observed in a 4-month-old Persian male cat with a history of depressed mental status and ataxia. On clinical examination, signs included right head tilt, ventroflexion of the head and neck, and tetraparesis. Histological examination of the central nervous system revealed multifocal, bilateral and symmetrical vacuolar degeneration of the neuropil, mainly involving the cerebellar and vestibular nuclei area, the caudal colliculi, the mesencephalic nuclei, the tegmental area and the deeper layer of the cerebral cortex. Accumulation of phosphorylated neurofilaments was detected in neuronal perikarya of the deep cortical layers, hippocampus and thalamus. Numerous pyknotic and apoptotic neurons were also observed in the cerebral cortex. These neuropathological changes differ from those observed in previous reports of spongiform degeneration of the grey matter in cats and were suggestive of a congenital neurodegenerative disease.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17475530/