Introduction

• Cause: genetic disease.
• Signs: muscle weakness and atrophy, progressive unsteady gait.
• Diagnosis: DNA testing, definitive diagnosis made post-mortem.
• Treatment: none.
• Prognosis: signs are progressive although affected cats do seem to stabilize and most live very comfortably as indoor cats for many years.

Pathogenesis

Etiology

• Genetic disease Inherited diseases: genetic tests.
• Large deletion of chromosome A1 that removed 2 genes
• Mutation is inherited as a simple autosomal recessive trait.

Pathophysiology

• Loss of ventral horn motor neuron in the spinal cord that activate skeletal muscles of the trunk and limbs.
• Loss of neurons in the first few months of life leads to muscle weakness and atrophy that first become apparent at 3-4 months of age.

Timecourse

• By 5-6 months of age affected kittensare too weak in the pelvic limbs to readily jump up on furniture and often have a clumsy landing when jumping down.

Diagnosis

Treatment

Prevention

Outcomes