Scary disease turning cats into living robots

[mbjerkness]

Scary disease is turning cats into 'living robots'

2 hrs ago

 

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Cats in the U.K. have come down with a strange ailment that turns them into "living robots." Twenty-one reported cases of "staggering disease" have been reported in rural Scotland, with the victims' movements becoming progressively more robotic and stiff. Bizarrely, one of the earliest symptoms is seen when the cats become "over-affectionate." There is no cure for the disease, which has also cropped up in Sweden and Austria, and most of the cats with the illness survived just 11 months after symptoms first appeared. Vets are so far stumped by the disorder, but believe that something in the cats' environment might be overstimulating their immune system.

this is scary, has anyone had a cat that has developed this?

 

[luvmyparker]

This is why having outdoor cats is so risky. You just never know what weird diseases they can obtain while outside hunting, digging through trash and so on. Sad though. 

 

[mbjerkness]

thankfully mine are indoor, but ths sounds horrible for kitties to get

 

[cinderella]

I've heard about this but haven't seen or heard from friends that anybody actually has known of a case like this. Hopefully they find what it is, soon. Poor kitties.
 

 

[mrblanche]

Man...that sure sounds like it could be a manifestation of Mad Cow Disease, doesn't it?  I wonder what may be going into their food over there.
 

 

[orientalslave]

If there was a problem with cat food here in the UK a lot, lot more cats would be affected.

 

[turks rule!]

Over "here" in the uk,there has been no mention of this terrible thing.

Where did you get your information from?

 

[mbjerkness]

It was on MSN, http://now.msn.com/living/0416-cat-staggering-disease.aspx

 

[orientalslave]

There have been reports on the BBC's website and it's cats in rural Scotland that are affected.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-north-east-orkney-shetland-17770676

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...s-living-robots--experts-say-theres-cure.html

"As it doesn't seem to spread between cats and all the sick animals are avid hunters, experts believe the most likely source to be a mutant virus carried by mice or voles."

 

[just mike]

This is the first I've heard of the disease.  Thanks to you that have posted links.  Sounds like a very strange and possibly new disease cropping up and well worth keeping an eye on.
 

 

[sky bright]

Cats get Tetanus too. They needs to be updated on vaccination shots and/or receive treatment medications, just like people. There are other animals who have experience the same disease, and they too should receive medicines just as well.

 

[nbrazil]

The known/reported incidence of Lyme (people) is up at least 8 fold in Scotland (and that's just the REPORTED numbers - you can easily triple that for exposure) in this World Wide Epidemic. So, why not cats? It can have severe effects on the nervous system - and robot-like movement and death is the kind of thing I would expect it to do (I'm not an expert, just an Lyme Advocate).

I would hazard a guess that this is not something that would be looked for... but I'll bet that is what it is. (Opinion only.)

Symptoms may Include

• lameness (may shift from leg to leg)
• stiffness, pain
• fever
• decreased appetite
• lethargy

 

[sky bright]

Here you can check out these 2 websites below about TETANUS in cats.

http://www.helpmycat.com/diagnosis.php?dname=1351

Tetanus Symptoms in Cats

http://www.ehow.com/list_6860044_tetanus-symptoms-cats.html

 

[AbbysMom]

Just a note that this thread is almost two years old.