Adult-onset Motor Neuron Disease in Three Cats

Motor neuron diseases of domestic animals have rarely been described. Three cats with adult-onset, chronic, progressive generalized muscle weakness characterized initially by trembling on exertion and later by extreme difficulty in walking, cervical ventroflexion, dysphagia, and marked muscle atrophy were elevated. Spinal reflexes were evident early but were nondetectable as the disease progressed. Electromyography revealed fibrillation potentials, with nerve conduction velocities within the reference range. Histologic examination of muscle specimens revealed denervation. Marked neuron loss and gliosis were detected in the ventral horns of the spinal cord, with atrophy of ventral nerve rootlets. Less dramatic neuron loss was seen in brain stem motor nuclei. Electron microscopic examination of the ventral horns disclosed hypertrophied astrocytes, with densely arrayed intermediate filaments, swollen axons with large filamentous accumulations, and many macrophages with lipofuscin-like inclusions. Clinical and pathologic findings were consistent with a progressive neurodegenerative disease affecting spinal and some bulbar motor nuclei.