Spontaneous Lumbar Intervertebral Disc Protrusion in Cats: Literature Review and Case Presentations

Abstract

Reports on intervertebral disc disease in cats are rare in the veterinary literature. It has been postulated that intervertebral disc protrusion is a frequent finding during necropsy in cats, without having any clinical relevance (King and Smith 1958, King & Smith 1960a, King & Smith 1960b). However, a total of six cases with disc protrusions and clinically significant neurological deficits have been reported over the past decade. (Heavner 1971, Seim & Nafe 1981, Gilmore 1983, Littlewood et al 1984, Sparkes & Skerry 1990, Bagley et al 1995). As in dogs, there are also two types of intervertebral disc disease in cats: Hansen's type I (extrusion), and type II (herniation). Cervical spinal cord involvement was more commonly recognised in cats than the lumbar or the thoraco lumbar area. Cats over 15 years were mainly affected (King & Smith 1958, King & Smith 1960a, King & Smith 1960b). We describe two cats with lumbar intervertebral disc protrusions. Emphasis is placed on differential diagnoses, treatment and follow-up.

What is your diagnosis?

“…More recently, accumulating clinical cases in the literature suggest that though rare, clinically significant disc disease does occur and is probably more frequent than was previously thought (Kathmann and others 2000, Knipe and others 2001, Munana and others 2001). Affected animals tend to be less than 10 years old and are not infrequently relatively young adults – one reported case was only 18 months old – and clinical signs usually relate to thoracolumbar or lumbar cord compression (Fig 3), as in the current case.…”

Feline Spinal Cord Diseases

“…38 Recently, various investigators have published single case reports or case series of cats with IVDD, and there are 17 reports describing a total of 44 clinically affected cats with 50 intervertebral disc protrusions published between 1981 and November 2009. 1,35,[39][40][41][42][43][44][45][46][47][48][49][50][51][52][53] One case report from 1971 was not considered, because the author later included the same case in a study on spinal lymphosarcoma. 54 Based on the information provided in these publications and including data from 8 cats from Marioni-Henry and colleagues, 1 the median and mean age of cats with clinical signs of IVDD was 8 years (range 1.5-17 years; 28 male cats and 16 female).…”

“…Thirty cats had surgery, and 16 of them had an excellent outcome with the cat returning to normal; 5 cats had a good outcome with some residual neurologic deficits, 5 had a fair outcome, 3 were lost to follow-up, and 1 died. 1,35,[39][40][41][42][43][44][45][46][47][48][49][50][51][52][53] Ten cats were treated conservatively, 3 cats had a good outcome, and 1 an excellent outcome after treatment with corticosteroids, acupuncture, and physical therapy. Among the cats with IVDD treated conservatively, 1 cat had a poor outcome, 1 died, and 4 were euthanized; the remaining 5 cats were euthanized immediately after the diagnosis.…”

“…Among the cats with IVDD treated conservatively, 1 cat had a poor outcome, 1 died, and 4 were euthanized; the remaining 5 cats were euthanized immediately after the diagnosis. 1,35,[39][40][41][42][43][44][45][46][47][48][49][50][51][52][53]…”

Cervical disc disease

“…Disc herniation is not uncommon in cats, particularly in the cervical region, but clinical signs related to these lesions are rare (Heavner, 1971;Littlewood et al, 1984;Kathmann et al, 2000;Knipe et al, 2001;Muñana et al, 2001). The principles of diagnosis and treatment are discussed above.…”