Content
- What is ataxia?
- Causes and types of ataxia
- Ataxia symptoms in cats
- Diagnosis of ataxia in cats and possible treatments
Anyone who has a cat as a life partner should try to offer him as much well-being as possible. So it's important to stay well informed about their basic needs and the most common illnesses they may suffer.
From the Animal Expert, we always try to provide all possible information about the animals that are in our coexistence.
In this new article, we're going to talk about a domestic cat health problem that is more common than it might seem at first. Keep reading if you want to find out what the ataxia in cats, its symptoms and treatments possible.
What is ataxia?
Perhaps you've seen a kitten with a peculiar gait, walking uncoordinated and staggering. This is because he suffers from something known as ataxia. defines itself as the lack of coordination and precision in movements of an animal. It affects the sense of movement and balance, stability, body posture, especially the extremities and head of the animal that suffers from this condition. If the steps that the cat takes are rather short, that is, if it advances with the shortest gait, and it appears that it jumps instead of walking, we will say that it suffers from hypometry. On the other hand, if your steps are longer and it seems that the cat is dragging itself to advance, we will be facing a case of hypermetry.
This condition occurs when there is a conflict or injury in one of the areas that control movementtherefore, ataxia is considered a symptom and not a disease. These main areas responsible for the movements of an animal's body are:
- THE proprioception or sensory system it is found in the peripheral nerves and spinal cord. It helps the animal detect the position or movement of its muscles, tendons and joints. Therefore, a problem or injury to this system causes loss of control of position and movement.
- O vestibular system it serves to maintain the correct position of the animal's extremities, torso and eyes when it moves its head, to give the sensation of balance. Problems usually occur in the middle or inner ear, vestibular nerve, and brain stem. Lesions are usually unilateral and we can see the cat turn its head to the affected side.
- O cerebellum has several functions that affect the coordination and precision of movements. First, it receives information from the sensory, vestibular, and visual and auditory systems. Then, the cerebellum processes the received information about position and movements, compares the data with the movement you want to perform, and gives the order, coordinating the muscles needed to perform them.
Ataxia can occur after a complication of some kind or accident that the cat has suffered, causing an injury. It may still be born with the problem or appear within weeks or months of life. The best thing we can do for our little fellow is to contact our trusted veterinarian to diagnose the problem immediately., since there are other diseases that produce a similar picture. Once detected the problem and its cause, the specialist will indicate how to proceed so that the cat can recover, if possible, or return to maximum normality, according to the seriousness of the problem.
Causes and types of ataxia
the ataxia has various causes, the most important are indicated below:
- A lesion in any of the three systems discussed above (vestibular, sensory and cerebellum)
- Nervous system conditions
- A great weakness caused by other problems such as hunger, anemia, etc.
- muscle problems
- Problems in systems that affect the functioning of the brain and peripheral nerves
- Orthopedic Conditions Affecting Bones and Joints
- Some of the symptoms and injuries can result from accidents, poisonings, serious dietary problems, tumors and serious infections, among many other possibilities.
In addition, ataxia can be divided into three types different depending on the affected area:
- Cerebellar Ataxia: It affects the cerebellum, weakening the control over balance and coordination of movements. Cats with this type of ataxia can stand upright, but they walk in an uncoordinated and exaggerated way, with their legs spread, jumping and trembling, their accuracy is very affected, so it becomes very difficult to jump and when they do it ends up being a exaggerated and clumsy heels.
- Vestibular Ataxia: Caused by a problem in the middle or inner ear, or in some nerves that connect the ear to the brain. Usually the problem is one-sided, on the side where the cat bends its head. They tend to wobble and fall to the affected side. On the other hand, when it occurs bilaterally, there is an oscillation from side to side, as they lose their balance. They have all the symptoms of a vestibular disease.
- Sensory Ataxia: Also known as generalized proprioceptive ataxia. It is the one that occurs when the problem is in the brain, spinal cord or peripheral nerves. Therefore, the information does not reach the central nervous system well and as responsible for the movement and position of the body, due to the lack of information, it cannot act correctly. Cats that suffer from this can stand and walk with their extremities far apart, because there is usually a delay in extending the limbs when walking, so there is a longer stride than normal. There are cats that even walk with the back of their legs, dragging their fingers. In addition, they have muscle weakness due to problems located in the nerves of the muscular system.
Ataxia symptoms in cats
The symptoms are very varied in Ataxia. According to the type and, consequently, according to the cause of the ataxia, some of the symptoms vary, but the most important are the following:
- Lack of coordination
- disorientation
- Weakness
- tremors
- Staggers, loses balance and falls easily
- Strange steps (smaller or larger than normal)
- Stay seated longer than usual for fear of moving
- Difficulties eating, drinking, urinating and defecating
- Drag the paws, supporting the toes to walk
- moves close to the ground
- moves by jumping
- Your jumps are exaggerated and uncoordinated
- twist your head to one side
- uncontrolled eye movement
- walk in circles to the same side
- Poor precision in movements
- Loss of appetite and vomiting
- Stress and constant meowing
It is vitally important direct us to our trusted veterinarian any of these symptoms, especially if several occur at the same time. In this way, we will start testing until we find the reason the symptoms can find a diagnosis and start treatment as soon as possible.
Diagnosis of ataxia in cats and possible treatments
When visiting the clinic, the veterinarian will have to perform several tests and will have to perform a detailed physical examination where you can see how the kitten moves and what its reactions are to different stimuli, which will help you assess what kind of ataxia it might be.
In addition, you should have blood tests, urine tests, x-rays, some neurological tests, an eye exam and all thetypes of analysis that the specialist may require to be sure of the diagnosis and rule out other diseases, in addition to correctly determining what type of ataxia our feline suffers from.
It's true that many causes of ataxia in felines have no remedyTherefore, our cat will have to learn to live with this condition. Fortunately, in most cases, the kitten can learn to live with ataxia perfectly, as it appears at very early ages.
It's also true that some of the causes have a solution. For example, some of the causes of vestibular ataxia are treatable. One must know how to deal with the main damage to the vestibular system and study whether it is really a correctable problem or not. If the problem is caused by a tumor, it must be examined if it is operable or not and if it presents an infection, or a poisoning, it must be known if it is reversible and what damage can result in the cat. That's why it's vital for our puppy's future to visit the vet for a checkup, at the slightest sign or anything unusual in his behavior, as there's less chance of complications if we identify the health problems early.
This article is for information purposes only, at PeritoAnimal.com.br we are not able to prescribe veterinary treatments or perform any type of diagnosis. We suggest that you take your pet to the veterinarian in case it has any type of condition or discomfort.