Cat Chat Feline Forum

Hi a Little Paws carer has a kitten who jumped & fell, hurt itself & couldn't walk. Taken to vet & X-rays showed no breaks.The vet suggested pts but Deb, president, said no. She text me today kitten still can't walk & hoping it will get stronger a apparently has brittle bone disease. Any one have any experience with this? First time I've heard of it but have done some searching on the net. Doesn't sound too hopeful. I don't go to my volunteer job at vet until Sat 16 Jan so can't pick any brains at the clinic. Vivian

Hello, I am sorry to hear about this kitten. I have a cat, 3 y/o and seems to have BBD (bristle bone disease). It has been a long way since I received him because I live in Latin America, here veterinary is restricted and kittens like these are mostly euthanized and the veterinaries have been reluctant to investigate, the premise is that bones can not be helped. I asume that my cat has BBD because of the symptoms: fragile bones, fractures. Now, about your friends cat, the first part is the diagnose, find out if the bone fragility has an endocrine cause (hyperparathyroidism or diet), you can notice that if it is endocrine or metabolic because your can will have problems with eating or will be low energy, lethargic. If those symptoms are not familiar, then the BBD is an option and the doctor can look at this with X-rays and a skin test. There is no cure for this illness, but there is a therapy with Vitamin C and alendronato, to improve bone density (Harasen and Little, 2012). Another thing that is important is to have the cat in a flat environment, due the fragility of the bones, they can easily brake just jumping off of a chair or playing rough with other kittens. Otherwise, hope this information is useful, I am interested in hearing more about the care of cats in this situation...

Poor little thing. I’ve no experience of cats with BBD but I do know people with the condition who take medications to build bone, so I think it would be worth making further enquiries. Hopefully there is help for the little one.