Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Kitten with stunted growth treated successfully with human growth
By Corre, Pauline L & Faucher, Mathieu R·Published in Open veterinary journal·2025·Small Animal Alliance Clinic, France·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Successful treatment with recombinant human GH in a kitten with suspected congenital hyposomatotropism.
- Species:
- cat
Plain-English summary
A 4-month-old female British Longhair kitten was brought in for not growing as expected. After ruling out other causes, the vet diagnosed her with a rare condition called hyposomatotropism, which means she had low growth hormone levels. The kitten was treated with a human growth hormone (rhGH) for 20 weeks, and by the end of treatment, she had caught up to her littermates in weight. Five months later, her hormone levels were normal, and she showed no side effects from the treatment.
People also search for: kitten not growing · cat growth hormone treatment · British Longhair stunted growth
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Hyposomatotropism is an extremely rare disease in cats. It is associated with stunted growth, and a severely decreased life expectancy is suspected based on the very few cases that have been reported in this species. To date, no treatment has been recommended in cats. CASE DESCRIPTION: A 4-month-old female British Longhair was presented for stunted growth without any other clinical signs reported. All other causes of growth retardation were excluded, and persistently low circulating insulin growth factor-1 levels were documented, leading to a diagnosis of presumed isolated GH-deficiency. This cat was subcutaneously treated with recombinant human GH (rhGH) for 20 weeks. At the time of treatment discontinuation, the cat had reached the weight of its littermates. No treatment adverse effects were observed. Serum IGF-1 levels were measured 5 months after treatment discontinuation and were within the reference range. CONCLUSION: This case report describes the successful treatment of a presumed GH-deficient cat with rhGH without adverse effects. rhGH might be a reasonable treatment option in GH-deficient cats, considering the grave prognosis associated with this disease in the few cases described.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41246431/