CASE REPORT Hypervitaminosis A in the cat: a case report and review of the literature

Laboratory of Clinical Diagnosis and Clinical Pathology, School of Veterinary Medicine, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Stavrou Voutyra Street 11, Thessaloniki 546 27, Greece Clinic of Surgery, School of Veterinary Medicine, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Stavrou Voutyra Street 11, Thessaloniki 546 27, Greece Laboratory of Radiology, School of Veterinary Medicine, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Stavrou Voutyra Street 11, Thessaloniki 546 27, Greece A case of hypervitaminosis A with secondary entrapment and compression of the left brachial plexus nerve roots is described. A 9-year-old male castrated domestic shorthair, fed a home-made diet based on raw pork liver, was submitted for examination for a left forelimb lameness that evolved to paralysis over a 2-month period. Clinical examination revealed a flaccid paralysis and atrophy of all left forelimb muscles. An ipsilateral Horner’s syndrome was also noted. Radiological examination of the cervical and thoracic spine showed massive new bone formation at the ventral aspect of the second cervical to sixth thoracic vertebra. The diagnosis of hypervitaminosis A was made, based on the clinical and radiographic findings, as well as the determination of serum vitamin A concentration, which was 630 mg/dl, three times above the upper normal limit for this species. Despite the unfavourable initial prognosis, the cat progressively regained function of the affected limb approximately 6 months after the diet was changed to a commercial canned food.