Intussusception in cats
Intussusception, where a portion of intestine telescopes within itself, is a relatively common disease in kittens, with Burmese kittens highly represented. This disease may be more common in Burmese because of close breeding lines employed (brother-sister matings).
Causes
A variety of causes that result in enteritis have been implicated, including intestinal parasites, food allergies, certain worming agents (especially piperazine), genetic predisposition in some lines of cats and viruses (including amongst others, FIP and FeLV).
Diagnosis and Treatment
Diagnosis usually involves palpation of an abdominal mass, radiographic confirmation of large pendulous loops of intestine and presence of fluid in abdomen. The majority of intussusceptions involve the enterocolic (appendix) junction. The kitten is usually anorexic, dehydrated and in terminal stages, vomiting. It is rare to see more than one kitten in a litter affected.
Treatment usually involves surgical removal of diseased intestine or physical correction of telescoped portion of bowel. Formation of adhesions is frequent in cats. Surgical treatments include simple reduction, manual reduction with plication, intestinal resection/anastomosis, and intestinal resection/anastomosis with plication. There is no statistically significant difference in the recurrence rate of the intussusceptions when the various surgical techniques are compared. Recurrence of an intussusception is not related to either the bowel segment involved or whether a simple reduction, bowel resection, or intestinal plication is performed at the initial surgery1. Prognosis is guarded in young kittens.