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Acute Gastric Dilatation in Cats: A Case Series

Akutt magedilatasjon hos katt

Acta Veterinaria Scandinavica volume 37, pages 445–452 (1996)Cite this article

Abstract

Acute gastric dilatation (AGD) is a well-known, acute, life-threatening disease in dogs but its feline counterpart is much less known. This paper provides descriptions of 2 cases of AGD in cats that the authors have seen. Including these a total of 10 cases of feline AGD have been reported. No breed or sex predilection was found among the cases. Age distribution ranged from 11 weeks to 13 years. All 10 cats with AGD had enlarged abdomens on presentation. In 3 of the cases this was the only presenting sign and all 3 were simple, uncomplicated gastric dilatations, that were easily corrected by gastric decompression. Four of the 10 cats with AGD had dyspnea in addition to enlarged abdomens and only one of these cats survived, suggesting that this combination of clinical signs might indicate a guarded prognosis. Five out of the 10 cats with AGD had gastric torsion, 2 of these with concomittant diaphragmatic hernia. Four of the 5 cats with gastric torsion survived after appropriate surgery. Diaphragmatic hernia was a concurrent condition in 3 cats with signs of AGD.

A mortality of 30% was observed in cats with AGD. Treatment was successful in 7 out of 10 cases and consisted of shock therapy combined with gastric decompression or surgery. Prognosis seems favorable once the initial acute stage has been overcome. Recurrence has only been recorded in one cat.

Conclusions drawn from the available material are: 1) clinical signs and therapeutical management of AGD are similar in cats and dogs, 2) the age of the patients seem to differ between feline and canine AGD, 3) more information is needed to fully assess the prognosis and recurrence rate of feline AGD.

Sammendrag

Magedιlatasjon er en velkjent, akutt, lιvstruende tιlstand hos hund. Tilsvarende tilstand hos katt er langt mιndre kjent. Artιkkelen beskrιver 2 tilfeller av akutt magedιlatasjon hos katt som er sett av forfatterne. Foruten disse 2 tιlfellene er 8 andre tιlfeller av magedιlatasjon hos katt beskrevet i litteraturen. Ingen rase- eller kjønnsdisposisj on ble funnet. Aldersfordelingen blant katter med magedilatasjon varierte fra 11 uker til 13 år. Alle de 10 kattene med magedilatasjon hadde forstørret bukomfång ved presentasjon. I de 3 tilfellene hvor dette var det eneste kliniske funnet viste det seg å være ukompliserte magedilatasjoner som lett ble korrigert med ventnkkeldekompnmering. Fιre av 10 katter hadde foruten forstørret bukomfång også dyspaé. Siden bare en av disse overlevde medfører denne kombinasjonen en reservert prognose. Fem av kattene hadde magedreining og av disse hadde to dιafragmabrokk. Fire av disse overlevde den kirurgiske behandlιngen. Dιafragmabrokk ble diagnostιsert hos 3 katter og ιnnebærer at større plass for ventrikkelen som et brokk gιr kan bιdra til dannelsen av magedilatasjon/dreιning.

Tre av 10 katter med dιagnosen akutt magedilatasjon døde. Behandling bestående av sjokkterapi, ventrik-keldekomprimenng eller kirurgi var vellykket ι 7 tilfeller. Prognosen er gunstig dersom katten overlever den akutte behandlιngen. Residiv er bare regιstrert hos en katt.

Kliniske symptomer og behandlιng av akutt mage-dilatasjon/dreιnmg er like hos hund og katt, mens aldersfordelιngen og etιologien synes å være ulιke. Ytterligere kasus er nødvendιg for å kartlegge prognose og residivfrekvens.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pharmarology, Microbiology and Food Hygiene, Norwegian College of Veterinary Medicine, P.O. Box 8146 Dep, N-0033, Oslo, Norway

    W.P. Bredal, A. V. Eggertsdóttir & Ø. Austejjord

  2. Nøtterøy Small Animal Clinic, Nøtterøy, Norway

    W.P. Bredal, A. V. Eggertsdóttir & Ø. Austejjord

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  1. W.P. Bredal
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  2. A. V. Eggertsdóttir
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  3. Ø. Austejjord
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Correspondence to W.P. Bredal.

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Bredal, W., Eggertsdóttir, A.V. & Austejjord, Ø. Acute Gastric Dilatation in Cats: A Case Series. Acta Vet Scand 37, 445–452 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1186/BF03548084

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Acta Veterinaria Scandinavica

ISSN: 1751-0147