Tabitha was born on 24th January 2006.
Tabitha was mainly an indoor cat who went out with supervision when the weather was nice. She loved to play. Her favourite past time was chasing a lazer light around the room. She also loved to eat.
The first week of July 2008 Tabitha became really sick. She was off her food, then she started being sick for no reason. We took her to our vets who gave her an injection to help the sickness. After 2 more days she showed no signs of getting better. Tabitha then went back to the vets for tests. She had various blood tests and x-rays. They all came back clear. Tabitha then started having trouble swollowing. Her eyes then became unresponsive to light.
We took her to PETS hospital in Maidstone. The vet there was very good. He took Tabitha in straight away and put her on a drip to rehydrate. I could tell from the vets reaction that it was not good.
The next day we got a phonecall from the PETS hospital to say Tabitha has a very rare and unknown disease called Feline dysautonomia also known as Key-Gaskell Syndrome. We was told this is a poisoning/infection from an unknown source. We also got told this disease had only a 25% chance of survival.
We had to give Tabitha that 25%. There is very little research on the internet as the disease is rare. The information on the internet said they had a 30% chance of survival.
5 months later Tabitha is still fighting this disease and that is one of the reasons why we have done this website so that people who may have a cat who is diagnosed with the same disease can see you can fight this. It is has not been easy and has taken alot of time and money but so far it has worked and she is still with us.
I will be including a page of all medicine and treatment that we have given Tabitha from July until present
I would also like to hear from anyone that has had a cat who has had this disease or is a vet or knows someone that may have any information on this disease as any information we find on the internet is out dated now.
You may contact me on my blog or e-mail me on miss_blue39@hotmail.com
Information On Key-Gaskell Syndrome
Key-Gaskell Syndrome is an autonomic nervous system disorder that is rare. it is also known as Feline Dysautonomia
WHAT IS FELINE DYSAUTONOMIA?
FD is a disease of domestic cats characterised by extensive degeneration of the autonomic nervous system. This causes a variety of clinical signs characterised by regurgitation, constipation, dilated pupils that are unresponsive to light, prolapsed third eyelids, and reduced tear secretion.
Clinical signs usually develop over a matter of days and less than a third of affected cats survive
FD was first reported in 1982 in the UK but has now been reported sporadically from the USA, the United Arab Emirates, New Zealand, and countries throughout Europe. FD appears to be one of a group of primary dysautonomias affecting dogs, hares, rabbits, and horses (equine grass sickness [EGS]). These diseases have very similar clinical signs and underlying pathological changes
With the exception of canine dysautonomia, which has largely been reported from the mid-western USA the vast majority of animals with dysautonomia have been reported in Britain.
After over twenty years of dysautonomia in cats and dogs, and almost a century of EGS, the causes of this group of diseases remains unknown. The study group involves Vale Referrals, University of Glasgow Veterinary School, and University of Edinburgh’s Department of Medical Microbiology.
DISEASE INCIDENCE
Many FD cases were reported in Britain during the early 1980’s Towards the end of the decade, the number of cases and the disease severity appeared to decline.
During the 1990’s a few cases were reported in pet cats and a large outbreak occurred in a closed research cat colony In 2001 an outbreak occurred in a closed colony of pet cats in Scotland Our investigations suggest the current incidence of FD in Britain remains low (between 1 in 20,000 and 1 in 50,000 cats per year).
PROGNOSIS
Original reports described survival in less than 30% of cases. In less severely affected cats survival rates are higher . Extensive megaoesophagus and dysuria have been reported as negative prognostic signs . We found evidence that sequential heart rate measurement may be a prognostic indicator.
Heart rates in surviving cats were higher and had more inter-measurement variation than in non-survivors . Further evaluation in larger groups is required. In survivors, dilated pupils and megaoesophagus appear persistent but cats usually regurgitate less frequently.
Constipation may be recurrent and cats may fail to gain weight. Some surviving cats appear to undergo acute deteriorations later in life. Faecal incontinence or a sudden deterioration in clinical grade may develop as a late complication.
While the disease is typically seen in cats less than 3 years of age, it has been recorded in felines between 2 months of age and 11 years old. Clinical signs develop in less than 48 hrs in most cases and prognosis is poor with a reported 70% mortality rate.
Dysautonomia typically occurs in cats with routine access to the outdoors. and an indoor lifestyle might suggest lower risk for developing the disease
