Vestibular syndrome is one of the most common dysfunctions in cats and has very characteristic and easily recognizable symptoms such as sloping head, shaky gaitation and lack of motor coordination, although symptoms are easy to recognize, the cause can be very difficult to diagnose and is sometimes defined as feline idiopathic vestibular syndrome.For more information about feline vestibular syndrome, its symptoms, causes and treatments, continue reading this Animal Expert article.
To understand what canine or feline vestibular syndrome is, it is necessary to know a little more about the vestibular system.
- The vestibular system is the set of organs of the ear.
- Responsible for ensuring posture and maintaining the balance of the body.
- Regulating the position of the eyes.
- Trunk and limbs according to the position of the head and maintaining a sense of direction and balance.
- This system can be divided into two components:.
Although there is little difference between the clinical symptoms of peripheral vestibular syndrome in cats and those in the central lobby, it is important to be able to locate the injury and understand whether it is a central injury and/or device, because it could be anything.more or less serious.
Vestibular syndrome is the set of clinical symptoms that can appear suddenly and are due to changes in the vestibular system, causing, among other things, motor imbalance and uncoordination.
Feline vestibular syndrome itself is not fatal, but the underlying cause may be, so it’s very important to consult your veterinarian if you notice any of the synatoms we’ll refer to below.
The various clinical symptoms observed in vestibular syndrome
The degree of inclination can range from a slight inclination, noticeable through a lower ear, to steep head tilts and difficulty keeping the animal upright.
In feline ataxia, the animal has an uncoordinated and shaky gait, walks in circles (called circles) normally on the affected side and tends to also fall from the side of the lesion (in rare cases, on the unaffected side).
Continuous, rhythmic and involuntary eye movement that can be horizontal, vertical, rotational or the combination of these three types, this symptom is very easy to identify in your pet: just keep it still, in a normal position, you will notice that the eyes make small continuous movements, as if they were shaking.
It can be positional or spontaneous (when the animal’s head is lifted), the eyes do not have the normal central position.
Otitis in cats can be one of the symptoms of feline vestibular syndrome.
Although rare in cats, this can happen
Loss of facial sensitivity can be difficult to discover.Normally, the animal does not feel pain, even if it touches its face.The atrophy of the chewing muscles is visible when looking at the animal head-on and finding that the muscles are more developed on one side than on the other.
Horner syndrome is the result of loss of eyeball energy due to damage to the facial and eye nerves, and is characterized by myosis, anisocoria (pupils of different sizes), ptosis of the eyelids (upper eyelid dropped), enophthalmia (destruction of the eyeball within the eye socket) and protruding from the third eyelid (the third eyelid is visible , when not normally) on the side of the vestibular injury.
Important note: there is rarely a bilateral vestibular injury, when this injury occurs is a peripheral vestibular syndrome and the animals are reluctant to walk, to unbalance on both sides, to walk with open legs to maintain balance and to exaggerate and wide movements of the head when turning, do not usually show tilt of the head or nystagmus.
Although this article is for cats, it is important to note that these symptoms described above also apply to canine vestibular syndrome.
In most cases, it is not possible to know what causes feline vestibular syndrome and is therefore defined as a feline idiopathic vestibular syndrome.
Infections such as otitis media or internal otitis are common causes of this syndrome, but although tumors are not very common, they should always be considered in older cats.
Some breeds, such as Siamese, Persian and Burmese cats, are more likely to develop this congenital disease and show symptoms from birth to a few weeks, these kittens may have associated deafness, in addition to vestibular clinical symptoms, so it is suspected that these changes may be hereditary, the affected animals should not reproduce.
Middle and/or inner ear infections are middle and/or inner ear infections that originate in the outer ear canal and progress from the middle ear to the inner ear.
Most ear infections in our pets are caused by bacteria, certain fungi and ectoparasites such as Otodectes cynotis mites, which cause itching, redness of the ear, sores, excess earwax and discomfort to the animal causing the animal to sway the head and scratch the ears.otitis media may not show symptoms of external otitis, because if the cause does not come from an infection of the outer ear, but from an internal origin that causes the infection to occur retrogradely, the external ear canal may not be affected.
Other examples of diseases that can cause vestibular syndrome in cats include diseases such as feline infectious peritonitis (PIF), toxoplasmosis, cryptococosis and parasitic encephalomyelitis.
Small masses composed of vascularized fibrous tissue that develop gradually occupying the nasopharynge and reaching the middle ear; this type of polyps is common in cats aged 1 to 5 years and can be associated with sneezing, breathing noises and dysphagia (difficulty swallowing).
Traumatic injuries to the inner or middle ear can affect the peripheral vestibular system.In these cases, animals may also have Horner syndrome.If you think your pet has suffered trauma or trauma, check for swelling of the face, abrasions, open sores, or bleeding in the ear canal.
Symptoms of ototoxicity may be unilateral or bilateral, depending on the route of administration and the toxicity of the drug.
Medications such as certain antibiotics (aminosides) given systemically or topically directly into the animal’s ear or ear can damage the components of your pet’s ear.
Chemotherapy drugs or diuretics such as furosemide may also be ototoxic.
Taurine deficiency and hypothyroidism are two common examples in cats.
Hypothyroidism causes lethargy, general weakness, weight loss and poor hair condition, as well as possible vestibular symptoms.It can lead to peripheral or central vestibular syndrome, acute or chronic, and diagnosis is made by free T4 or T4 hormone medication (low values) and TSH (above normal values).In most cases, vestibular symptoms cease to exist between 2 and 4 weeks after the onset of thyroxine administration.
There are many tumors that can grow and occupy space that is not yours by compressing the surrounding structures, if these tumors compress one or more components of the vestibular system can also cause this syndrome, in the case of an elderly cat, it is common to think about this type of vestibular syndrome.
After eliminating all other possible causes, vestibular syndrome is determined as idiopathic (with no known cause) and, although it may seem strange, this situation is quite common and these acute clinical symptoms usually appear in animals over 5 years of age.
There is no specific test to diagnose vestibular syndrome, most veterinarians rely on the animal’s clinic and the physical examination they perform during the consultation, based on these simple but essential steps it is possible to form a temporary diagnosis.
During the physical exam, your doctor should perform extensive hearing and neurological tests to understand the extent and location of the injury.
Based on the suspicion, the vet will determine what additional tests are necessary to find the cause of this problem: cytology and ear cultures, blood or urine tests, computed tomography (CT) or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).
Treatment and prognosis will depend on the underlying cause, symptoms, and severity of the situation.It is important to note that even after treatment the animal can continue with the head slightly inclined.
Because the cause is usually idiopathic, there is no specific treatment or surgery; however, animals usually recover quickly as this feline idiopathic vestibular syndrome resolves (self-resolution) and symptoms eventually go away.
Never forget to keep your pet’s ears hygienic and clean them periodically with suitable products and materials to avoid injury.
This article is for informational purposes only, in Animal Expert.com.br we cannot prescribe veterinary treatments or make any type of diagnosis, we suggest that you take your pet to the veterinarian in case of any condition or discomfort.
If you want to read similar articles to Vestibular syndrome in cats – Symptoms, causes and treatment, we recommend that you visit our Neurological diseases section.