Bengal Cat Forums

Zohar · Posted: Sun Feb 07, 2010 9:04 am Post subject: Hip Dysplasia

Hello.

Have anyone ever heard of Hip Dysplasia on a bengal cat?

We have had similar problems with 2 of our kittens from 2 different litters.
2 kittens from same queen(different stud) have had similar symptoms that have started at almost same age (6 months)

They suddenly loose mobility of their hindlegs, they can´t (wont) climb,jump or walk normally.
One of these kittens suffered for months, untill it suddenly got well.
All of the symptoms and pain was suddenly gone!

Our vet do not not think at this moment that the reason for these kittens broblems is related of hip dysplasia but im affraid that this might be something that is genetic and so i don´t know if we should breed this queen again.

manic cats · Posted: Sun Feb 07, 2010 9:56 am Post subject:

It sounds like bengal neurology. Most common cause is inflammation of the distal nerves.

We had it some years ago with two kittens first time mum and new stud. These kittens went through loads of tests, including sending off biopsies to USA and they came back with the neurology. They said they see at least 100 cases a year in youngsters. Cause is unknown but could be genetic. Kittens, in most cases, get over it although they can have a relapse. Older cats dont tend to get over it. Our kittens were treated with steroids and they got better and were fine afterwards.

We wanted to know if it was coming from our stud or our queen so we mated the queen to our other proven stud and, again, two kitten from this litter presented with the same at around 5/6 months of age. Again, treated with steroids and within days back to normal. Obviously, we spayed the queen. Interestingly, as cause is unknown I did try a little experiment with this second litter. There were five in the litter, three were put onto another queen at birth and I left two with mum to nurse. The two that were left with mum were the two that went down with the neurology. Is it something that passes in maternal milk? This information was passed onto the relevant veterinary people for their research. They found it interesting. Was it coincidence or not?
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Best wishes, Sue
Chataya Tonkinese
(and Bengal heart-owned)

junglerose · Posted: Sun Feb 07, 2010 12:56 pm Post subject:

http://bengalcatforums.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=2607&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0&sid=85734ad57d31509bf619217577b50963

and

http://www.fabcats.org/breeders/inherited_disorders/bengal.php

Bengal distal neuropathy does seem to have a genetic component, though cats need also to be checked for diabetes and thyroid status to exclude those causes. Bengal neuropathy is a relapsing disorder so it may return in the kittens if that is what they have.

manic cats · Posted: Sun Feb 07, 2010 1:31 pm Post subject:

Hi Elaine

Yes, their hips were x-rayed and were fine. Within days of being put on predinsone, they were running around and climbing as normal. One kitten had a relapse about four months later. Went on the the prednisone again, slightly higher dose. Again, within days recovered and never showed any further signs. Just a normal, manic bouncing bengal.
_________________
Best wishes, Sue
Chataya Tonkinese
(and Bengal heart-owned)

Zohar · Posted: Sun Feb 07, 2010 2:19 pm Post subject:

Well im glad that i asked about this in here! Maybe this information can help our kittens.

Both of these cats were X-rayed and there was some signs of hip dysplasia but it did not look that significant so the vet didn´t think it was the causing these symptoms.

Lacemoat · Posted: Sun Feb 07, 2010 4:44 pm Post subject:

I have two GSD's where it is a problem in the breed - have had my boy hip scored (with a fantastic low score) and if the cat was dysplastic it would be evident on the xrays - the ball socket would not be alligned correctly in the joint or sat out of it....you would be able to see this with your own eyes aswell as the vet being able to see it...and if it was causing this problem it would be much more evident then it obviously is

I had a chincilla persian about 10years ago and all of a sudden one morning he looked to be going off his back legs from no where....literally within a few days he was dragging is legs behind him...we took him to the vets asap and he was diagnosed with having feline leukemia (app he could tell by looking in his eyes) and said he needed to be PTS...me being me was not happy about this and wanted a second opinion...

to cut a long story short...myself and my mom nursed him back to full health after another vet checked him and found no signs of FL....within a couple of weeks he was back to normal...unfortunately we lost him at 2yrs old as he was hit by a car Sad

What happened to george sounds familiar to what sue has mentioned
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