Bite wounds from other cats and gunshot wounds are occasionally encountered. In cats, the two most common causes of trauma are falls from a height and road traffic accidents. Trauma is a word vets often use to describe an accident or injury. Thiamine deficiency initially causes salivation, loss of appetite, and vomiting, but progresses to cause loss of coordination, rigidity of the head and neck, twitching, seizures, and coma. Vegetarian diets, raw-fish diets, or cat foods preserved with sulfur dioxide can all cause a cat to become thiamine deficient. If cats are fed a diet deficient in thiamine, after 2–4 weeks they will start to show signs of neurological dysfunction. Cats mainly derive their dietary thiamine from meat. This vitamin is required for carbohydrate metabolism, muscle contraction, and nerve conduction. Unfortunately, the prognosis for cats with neurological lymphoma is poor in the long term, though chemotherapy protocols can be undertaken. These signs can be sudden in their onset, but more often they progress slowly over time. If lymphoma is compressing the brain or spinal cord, cats may develop seizures, behavioral changes, back pain, and wobbliness.
While more common in older cats, young cats are also affected by lymphoma. Lymphoma can affect not just the brain and spinal cord, but also the bowels, kidneys, lymph nodes, and skin of cats. This is a tumor made up of abnormal, cancerous lymphocytes, which are one of the main cells of the immune system. Tumorsįar and away the most common tumor in cats is lymphoma (previously called “lymphosarcoma”). A diagnosis can usually be reached by testing blood and tissue samples, and treatment can be attempted if guided by your veterinarian. Cats tend to be affected by Toxoplasmosis when they are kittens and often show other signs of disease too. The most common protozoal infection in cats is Toxoplasmosis, caused by Toxoplasma gondii. Treatment for Cryptococcosis using a long course of antifungal medication is possible.
Signs that a cat’s brain or spinal cord is involved include seizures, sudden blindness, behavioral changes, and back pain occasionally, wobbliness of the legs will be present. Infection with Cryptococcus can affect other organ systems too, including the skin, lungs, and eyes. The most common fungus to cause neurological problems in cats is Cryptococcus neoformans. While FIV and FeLV are not treatable, new treatment options for FIP are very promising. This can result in seizures, eye problems, spinal pain, and partial paralysis of either two or four legs. These viruses sometimes make their way to the brain and spinal cord, where they cause inflammation. Although cats are usually infected at a young age, they may not show signs of disease until they are older. FIV and FeLV are transmitted by fights with other cats. FIP is caused by an abnormal immune response to a common intestinal virus (feline coronavirus, which is not the same as Covid-19). Cats tend to be infected with these viruses at a young age.