The Pet Tree House - Where Pets Are Family Too : Rickets in Animals The Pet Tree House - Where Pets Are Family Too : Rickets in Animals
Showing posts with label Rickets in Animals. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Rickets in Animals. Show all posts

Tuesday, August 21, 2018

Do Cats Get Rickets?...Yes, They Do


Rickets is a vitamin D deficiency or otherwise known as calcium, it's rare for cats to get it, but they do. If the kitten has bowed legs that could be a sign. The only thing a vet will do is change the cats diet and possibly add a vitamin supplement, but since cats only need a small amount of vitamin D, it will be small doses. It could have been caused by not the right nutrition, or simply a defect in the cats gene coding.

Few people imagine that such a thing as rickets exists among kittens, just the same as with growing children, resulting in deformed spines and crooked legs. This is caused by improper feeding on foods which are not bone forming.

The first symptoms are lameness when jumping, and in bad cases the kittens become unable to walk at all, and cry when the spine is touched near the tail.

If steps are not taken immediately to effect a cure, the cat has to be destroyed or the spine becomes shortened and a lump forms near the tail on the back, the legs become bowed and enlarged at the joints.

Excessive milk and cereal feeding can cause rickets, as the animal becomes too fat and the legs are not strong enough to carry the weight. Very lean meat, free from fat and gristle, with no other diet, will also result in rickets. Kittens bred from old cats are very subject to this disease, and need more than an ordinary diet.

To learn more about rickets, please read: Disorders Associated with Calcium, Phosphorus, and Vitamin D in Cats


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