Patologie ortopediche da alterato sviluppo nel gatto

Abstract

Developmental orthopaedic disorders that most commonly affect cats are hip dysplasia, congenital medial patellar luxation, slipped capital femoral epiphysis (SCFE), osteochondrodysplasia and the osteochondrosis. Hip dysplasia is a well-known disease in the dog, but there is a growing attention toward it also in the feline population. Affected animals may be treated surgically or conservatively. Surgically management includes total hip replacement, juvenile pubic symphysiodesis and femoral head and neck ostectomy (FHNO). The incidence of congenital medial patellar luxation into the feline population is still underestimated because of the lack of apparent signs in most of the affected animals. From an ethiopathogenetic point of view, there are some differences between the dog and the cat, nevertheless the disorder management is similar. The surgical treatment aims to restore the correct alignment of the extensor mechanism through trochleoplasty, tibial crest transposition and/or soft-tissue procedures. The SCFE and the femoral neck metaphyseal osteopathy are very similar diseases, where a fracture of the proximal femur develops. They both affect young, male, obese cats and it’s still to establish whether they’re the same condition at different stages or not. Surgical treatment consists of total hip replacement or FHNO. The Scottish fold cat suffers from a disease called osteochondrodysplasia. It’s a genetic disorder that affect both homozygous and heterozygous cats. Only palliative treatments are available for this pathology. Osteochondrosis and osteochondritis dissecans has also been reported in cats. Their treatment mainly includes surgical fragment removal and lesion curettage. The aim of this compilation thesis is to describe the pathologies, the clinical features, the diagnostic methods and the treatment options.