Outbreak of dysautonomia (Key-Gaskell syndrome) in a closed colony of pet cats.
Six of eight pet cats in a closed colony developed overt signs of dysautonomia over a period of seven days; two of them died and one was euthanased. Dysautonomia was confirmed histopathologically in two of these cats, and in the others the diagnosis was based on the characteristic clinical and radiographic findings. In the two apparently unaffected cats abnormal oesophageal motility was demonstrated by fluoroscopy, suggesting that there may be a subclinical form of the disease. The surviving cats had higher and more variable heart rates (mean 165 bpm) than the non-survivors (mean 121 bpm).
Department of Veterinary Clinical Studies, University of Glasgow Veterinary School, Bearsden Road, Bearsden, Glasgow G61 1QH.
T A
TA
Cave
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C
Knottenbelt
D J
DJ
Mellor
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F
Nunn
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P
Nart
S W J
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Reid
D000822:Animal Husbandry; D000818:Animals; D000829:Animals, Domestic; D001342:Autonomic Nervous System Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000662:veterinary*; D002371:Cat Diseases / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology / Q000473:pathology; D002415:Cats; D003645:Death, Sudden / Q000662:veterinary; D004196:Disease Outbreaks / Q000662:veterinary*; D004739:England / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D008297:Male; D011859:Radiography; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013577:Syndrome