Have you ever seen a cat walk with its head shaking its head like this?
Pictured from: weibo
Pictured from: Tubing
Why do some cats take such a step of "six relatives do not recognize"?
What happened to them?
The cat took such a step of "six relatives do not recognize", not because of drag, it is likely that they are sick...
Whether it is a cat or a shoveler, the running, jumping, and walking that keeps the posture not crooked or coordinated and balanced is mainly the cerebellum, sensory system, and vestibular system at work.
When cats show abnormalities such as limb incoordination and unstable balance disorder, they are mostly caused by ataxia or mild paralysis.
Some common causes include:
▌ Worsening of an infection in the middle or inner ear
The vestibular cochlear nerve is responsible for transmitting information about balance from the inner ear to the brain, and once damaged, it will show abnormal manifestations such as crooked head, crooked body, and falling to one side.
If the cat is infected with cat ringworm, Malassezia, etc., resulting in an infection of the middle or inner ear, it may cause damage to the vestibular system.
The middle ear is very close to the auditory nerve From: thesprucepets
▌ Improper diet leads to nutritional deficiencies
For example, thiamine (vitamin B1) deficiency can lead to cardiovascular system and neurological symptoms (peripheral neuritis) in cats.
Vitamin B1 itself is abundant in animal tissues, legumes, and wheat, but if cat food is not properly preserved, long-term exposure (oxidation) or exposure to the sun (high temperature), vitamin B1 will be lost.
In addition, or excessive consumption of raw fish, shrimp and other foods containing thiamine enzymes, oxidation of vitamins, will cause the body's thiamine levels to decrease.
▌ Disease complications or sequelae
Some diseases can damage the nervous system and cause cats to lose their balance:
● Feline plague may cause abnormal fetal cerebellar development;
● Dry abdominal variant virus may enter the brain into nerve infections;
● Severe hypoglycemia can cause damage to nerve axons and pathological damage to sensorimotor neuropathic damage;
Tumors, especially brain or spine tumors, can compress nerves;
Poisoning, or some rare adverse drug toxicity (relatively common antibiotics in cats whose ear canals have been damaged);
● Anemia due to various other causes of disease.
▌ Trauma and other neurological abnormalities
Trauma, spinal cord and spinal deformities, spinal cysts, blood loss from the nervous system due to blood clots blocking blood vessels, degeneration of nerve roots and spinal cord (structural changes in the spinal cord, often due to trauma or age), degeneration and atrophy of the cerebellum, etc., may also lead to unsteady walking in cats.
Cats fall out of bed (rare cases), the gait tilts to the right Pictured from: YouTube
▌ Idiopathic vestibular disease of cats
The cause is unclear, usually the relative incidence of peripheral vestibular disease is higher, but the prognosis recovers well, and the cat has no or few sequelae.
Other common causes of gait instability
● Anesthesia "medicine is not strong"
The common sterilization and tooth cleaning surgery of cats is basically general anesthesia, and anesthesia mainly acts on the central nervous system.
And when the drug is not fully metabolized, it will appear dizzy and dangling. Usually a few hours after surgery, after the drug is metabolized, it will return to normal.
● Kittens are just beginning to learn to walk
Cats usually in 3 to 4 days, the forelimbs began to support the body to stand, they will first learn how to sit steadily (5 to 15 days), in about 20 days to learn to stagger walking, 21 to 22 days can not help but explore the tree climbing.
▌ Cats that are out of balance may also exhibit the following symptoms:
● Difficulty standing, constant falls, weakness in limbs or hind legs
● Stumbling when walking, lack of coordination when moving limbs
● Relatively fixed circle, the center of gravity is biased towards a movement
● Head and/or eyes are tilted to one side, posture is abnormal
● Abnormal movement of the eyeball instability
● Vomiting, loss of appetite
● Hearing difficulties
● Howl of pain
▌ Once it is found that the cat suddenly cannot stand or has an abnormal stride, you can first conduct a self-examination:
● Are there any other abnormalities mentioned above
● Whether there is poisoning caused by pica or accidental ingestion
● Whether other conditions have been confirmed or suspected
● Whether there are abnormalities in the ears (dirty, smelly, itchy and scratching)
● Whether there is trauma
This information can help doctors narrow down their investigations and help doctors examine and confirm the cause of abnormalities in cats.
So what tests will the cat do after taking it to the hospital?
➤ Usually the first physical examination, the first neurological examination, the basic localization of the lesion location. At the same time, the initial investigation of ear infections and traumas with a high probability is also investigated.
➤ In addition, otoscopes, bacterial cultures of the ear, etc. may be required to further confirm infections such as parasites and Malassezia.
➤ Biochemistry, blood routine, ultrasound, urine test, etc., can help doctors check some other diseases that may cause abnormalities in cats, such as diabetes, abdominal transmission, etc.
➤ Depending on the situation, MRI (brain, spinal cord tumor, cerebral obstruction, etc.), ct (cerebral hemorrhage, etc.), spinal tap, cerebrospinal fluid analysis (inflammation and/or infection in the brain) may also be required.
The choice of treatment option depends on whether the cat's imbalance is idiopathic.
➤ Complications of the primary disease: treatment of the underlying cause
If there is a clear cause such as ear infections, tumors, complications of other diseases, or exposure to toxins, the cat's walking instability will also improve after the cause has been treated or relieved.
The prognosis and recovery of treatment is usually related to the type of primary disease, the degree of onset, and the timeliness of treatment intervention. Therefore, it is recommended that if the cat is found to be abnormal, the first time to seek medical examination to avoid delaying the condition.
➤ Idiopathic vestibular disease: remission-oriented
If the abnormality is idiopathic and the cause cannot be found, the doctor will focus more on relieving the cat's vomiting and anxiety caused by dizziness, helping the cat increase appetite and relieve anxiety.
Cat idiopathic vestibular disease, most of which have a good prognosis, are more good in 2 weeks to 3 turnover, and there are also cases that turn better in a few months, and most of them are transient and will not recur.
Usually, in order to avoid secondary injuries to cats, treatment requires caged restrictions, so cat emotions should also be considered during maintenance.
In addition, it is very important to insist on feeding medicine according to the doctor's advice, so parents need more patience and perseverance to slowly recover with the cat.
There are also some cats that do not need to be caged to restrict activities
But it also requires more patient and careful care
Although there is no preventive measure of idiopathic "shaking of the head", it is usually found that the cat has abnormalities, and it is necessary to detect and actively treat it as soon as possible.
On the one hand, like ear mites, if they are not dragged or aggravated, they will not affect the damage to the nervous system;
On the other hand, early control of the disease will also make some damage reversible and will not regret it for life.
【Director Interaction in this issue】
Have you ever seen any cats behave strangely?
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bibliography:
[1] m.s, thatcher, c.d, et al.small animal clinical nutrition v[m], 2010.
[2] Gary d.norsworthy, sharon foosheegrace, et al. Cat Disease (4th ed.). 4th Edition. China Agriculture Press,2015:210-213.]
[3] ernest ward. vestibular disease in cats[ed/ol]. https://vcahospitals.com/know-your-pet/feline-vestibular-disease
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This article is the original of the Cat Research Institute, and it is not allowed to be reproduced arbitrarily