In April 1996, an outbreak of toxic polyneuropathy in cats occurred in the Netherlands. All cats had been fed one of two brands of dry cat food from one manufacturer. Chemical analyses of these foods, stomach contents, and liver and kidney of affected cats revealed contamination with the ionophor salinomycin. Epidemiologic and clinical data were collected from 823 cats, or about 1% of the cats at risk. In 21 affected cats, postmortem examination was performed. The affected cats had acute onset of lameness and paralysis of the hindlimbs followed by the forelimbs. Clinical and pathologic examination indicated a distal polyneuropathy involving both the sensory and motor nerves.

This report describes nine unrelated cats with acute idiopathic polyneuropathy. All cats presented with acutely developing tetraparesis or tetraparalysis and loss of spinal reflexes. Seven cats recovered completely within 4 to 6 weeks, without any medication. Two years after complete recovery, none of these cats had had a relapse. In the acute stage, two cats were euthanized because of respiratory complications. Postmortem examination was performed on one of these cats and revealed generalized peripheral motor polyneuropathy. The clinical signs in these cats were identical to those of the Guillain-Barré syndrome in humans.

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SUMMARYThis study describes the occurrence of fibrocartilaginous embolism of the spinal cord (FCE) in eight juvenile Irish Wolfhounds that were presented within a period of 16 months (1996-1997). The dogs, seven males and one female between eight and 13 weeks of age, were presented because of an acute onset of abnormal locomotion. Five dogs were euthanized and FCE was diagnosed by the histomorphological presence of focal myelomalacia and Alcian blue-positive-nucleus-pulposus material in the spinal cord vasculature. Three dogs, which were thought to have FCE because of their clinical symptoms, improved with partial or almost complete return to normal locomotion. Although the observed high incidence may be a coincidence, oral information from breeders and lay reports of similar cases in journals for dog breeders from various countries suggest that FCE is a common disorder in young Irish Wolfhounds.