Monthly Archives: February 2017

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Clumsy but capable! Cerebellar Hypoplasia in cats


Cats and kittens come in many shapes, sizes and abilities! One particular set of our feline friends are cats that have a congenital dysfunction in the area of the brain responsible for balance and walking.

These kitties have a cerebellum that was not properly developed during pregnancy. Most of the time this happens because of an infection with Feline panleukopenia virus, the same virus that causes distemper in cats. If the queen gets infected with this virus during pregnancy, it will interfere with the normal development of the cerebellum in her kittens. Not all kittens are affected the same way, so what might happen is that a litter can have babies that are severely affected and kitties that don’t seem to have any issues.

The cerebellum is the area of the brain that helps animals walk and move correctly. Knowing this, it means that cats with this disease have issues getting around and doing more precise movements. You might see your kitty tremble a lot, have difficulty reaching the bowl to eat and look really clumsy walking but don’t worry because it doesn’t hurt!

The good news about cerebellar hypoplasia is that these purring partners can have great quality of life and a normal lifespan. This disease is not progressive, painful or contagious and with time, they can even learn to compensate for these issues.

Living with a cat with cerebellar hypoplasia might require some special attention, depending on the severity of the problem. They have a normal lifespan but are more prone to accidents, like not handling stairs well, falling from high places, requiring special litter boxes or hitting sharp corners on furniture.

We leave you with some top tips on how to make life for your lovely, clumsy cat a little easier: Carpeted floors help them get better traction, try putting soft bumpers on your furniture so they don’t get hurt when they fall or have a litter box with high sides so they have the extra support.

Keep an eye out for ways you can improve the life of your feline friend with cerebellar hypoplasia and they will surely save many purrs for you.

Would you like to know more about cats? Check our Feline Courses:

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Dogs

Canine pancreatitis – When your dog’s pancreatic enzimes run wild!


Pancreatitis is a common disease in middle-aged to old dogs that can be very painful and even life-threatening.

The pancreas is very important for dogs and humans alike. This is the organ directly responsible for the production of insulin, which plays a key role in the way the body handles sugar, and for the production of digestive enzimes that will help with food digestion. This organ is located within the abdomen, behind the stomach and the first portion of the small intestine.

Pancreatitis refers to inflammation of the pancreas and although it is still unclear exactly what triggers this condition, the process involved and some predisposing factors are known.

The pancreas produces digestive enzimes meant to become activated once they reach the small intestine so they can contribute to breaking down and digesting food. The body has natural safeguards that keep these enzimes from being activated anywhere other than the gut but it is possible for these mechanisms to fail. When this happens, pancreatic enzimes become prematurely activated and can start digesting the pancreas from within, causing inflammation and affecting other organs.

Pancreatitis can be acute or chronic and dogs with chronic pancreatitis display low grade, intermittent clinical signs. Clinical signs commonly related to pancreatitis include depression, loss of appetite, vomiting, diarrhoea and abdominal pain. It is typical for dogs in pain to raise their hindlimbs and extend their forelimbs assuming a “prayer” position. This position helps them alleviate pain.

Several risk factors have been recognised and associated with pancreatitis in dogs such as obesity, dietary mishaps normally associated with fatty foods, concurrent diseases such as endocrine conditions, and certain drugs. Canine pancreatitis is really just one more reason to help your dog reach and maintain a healthy weight.

An association between certain breeds and canine pancreatitis has also been observed. Yorkshire Terriers, Miniature Schnauzers, Cavalier King Charles Spaniels, English Cocker Spaniels, Boxers and Collies are described as more likely to develop this condition.

If your dog is showing suspicious signs or if you could use some advice to help your pet lose weight consult with your veterinary surgeon.

Would you like to know more about dogs? Check our Canine Courses:

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Cats

The Feline Immunodeficiency Virus or “Feline AIDS”

The Feline Immunodeficiency Virus (FIV) is type of retrovirus (a lentivirus) that affects cats all over the world. It causes an acquired immunodeficiency syndrome which means it interferes with our cats’ immune system, lowering its defences, and causing them to be more vulnerable to opportunistic infections and other diseases.

The way this condition develops and its impact on the cat’s body is quite similar to the human acquired immunodeficiency virus (HIV). For this reason, this condition is often referred to (“feline AIDS”) and it serves as model for the study of infections with human immunodeficiency virus.  It is very important to highlight that despite the similarities between FIV and HIV, FIV only affects cats and cannot be transmitted to us humans.

After infection, the virus can be found in the affected cat’s blood and saliva. This virus is transmitted among cats mostly through bites and fight wounds. As a result, adult entire male cats that have access to the outdoors tend to be most commonly affected. The virus can also be transmitted from infected queens to their kittens.

The Feline Immunodeficiency Virus doesn’t cause very serious clinical signs initially. From the point of entry the virus goes to the nearby lymph nodes and starts reproducing, eventually spreading to other lymph nodes throughout the body. This leads to a generalised enlargement of their lymph nodes often accompanied by fever.

Some cats will deteriorate progressively after being infected, some cats may just present recurrent illness, needing veterinary care more often than non-infected cats, and for many cats the disease progresses to an asymptomatic phase, during which they don’t display any signs of disease. This stage can last for several years.

Eventually, infected cats suffer a decrease in their immune surveillance and they will become more predisposed to other conditions, as well as secondary infections resulting from bacterial, fungal, protozoal, or parasitic infections.

Clinical signs of infected cats include loss of appetite, fever, poor coat condition, diarrhoea, inflamed gums (gingivitis) or mouth (stomatitis), skin problems, respiratory problems, conjunctivitis, immune-mediated diseases, neurologic conditions, and tumours. The most common tumour in these cats is lymphoma and they are 5 times more likely to develop them.

With proper care most cats infected with FIV are able to live many years and even die from other causes, in no way related to their FIV infection.

All cats should be tested for FIV. It is recommended to keep an infected cat indoors to prevent spreading this virus to other cats. This also protects FIV-infected cats from any secondary disease which can be very beneficial, given their impaired immune system. Any new cat being brought into your household should be quarantined and tested before being introduced to the other house cats.

Would you like to know more about cats? Check our Feline Courses:

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Horses

Anaemia in Horses

Anaemia is one of the most important haematological signs in mammals and horses are no exception.

It’s not a disease but a signal that something might be really wrong with your animal. Anaemia manifests as a consequence of many diseases and problems that cause one or several of these:

  • Loss of blood
  • Destruction of red blood cells
  • Lesser red blood cell production

We can classify anaemia as regenerative or as non-regenerative. The difference between these two situations is that regenerative anaemia happens because of blood loss or destruction of red blood cells and there will be a response from the bone marrow to correct this while a non-regenerative anaemia is a product of an insufficient production from the marrow to respond to loss of red blood cells.

This is usually spotted when it becomes a big enough problem to impair tolerance to exercise, depression or reduced ingestion of food. Other signs that may indicate anaemia are high respiratory rate and heartbeat, yellow tinted sclera or mucous membranes, weight loss, increased urination or pale mucous membranes, among others depending on primary cause.

Of course, many of the problems that can cause anaemia may take a long time to develop and horses may be able to create mechanisms to compensate for the lowered capacity to transport oxygen.

This leads to a sort of subclinical yet chronic anaemia that only flares up during exercise and leads to reduced performance and a very high heartbeat.

As we’ve mentioned, anaemia is secondary to a whole host of other issues and they include everything from trauma that causes haemorrhage, iron deficiency, kidney disease, bacterial toxins like Clostridium, autoimmune haemolytic anaemia to parasites, cancer or various viral diseases.

The underlying cause of anaemia can be a very severe condition, as stated above, so if you think your horse might be suffering from it do not hesitate to contact your vet!

Would you like to know more about horses? Check our Equine Courses:

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