Manx Syndrome

[emily_the_spoiled]

It seems that the new addition to my house might have Manx Syndrome. He is Siamese and not a Manx, but he seems to have all the symptoms. Does anyone here have experience with this?

[catmandu]

I am not sure what Manx syndrome is , unless it is the problen that some Manx Cats have with thier hips.
The Manx gene is a recessive one and taht they can have trouble walking.
We are praying that your Siamese Friend is not suffering from this

[emily_the_spoiled]

Gary, you are right this is a problem that occurs primarily in Manx cats, but not always. It seems that he is missing a vertebrae and possibly one of his ribs. So needles to say he does not walk well and is suffering from incontinance (and of course right now he has diarrhea ). But I am looking for prayers and any suggestions people might have.

[Karen]

No suggestions, but we can offer prayers. I had thought of that, funny enough, when you first described him.

[Lizzie]

Is this the diagnosis from the neurologist you saw?

If you put in the search term "manx syndrome" on this forum, you will find plenty of information, and if you post a question someone with years of experience will respond within a day or two.

http://handicappedpet.net/helppets/

The only manx syndrome cats I've known at the shelter have needed to be expressed and have found a home with one of two vets who used to work there - luckily for them. It seems there is a wide range of disability within manx syndrome. Did the neurologist tell you how impaired Lynx is?

For diarrhoea try giving him Famatodine (Flagyl), which you will have to get from the vet, and put pumpkin (not the pie filling, just plain pumpkin) in his wet food. It works like a charm and it's worked perfectly with Zazesh. He's gone from streaming diarrhoea to normally formed stools which makes both our lives much easier. If you are diapering him while he has diarrhoea, you may want to put zinc oxide ointment on his nether regions under the diaper to stop any burning and rash. A&D is good also for burning.

Will you keep him as a foster? Has your rescue started trying to get him into a sanctuary?

Did the neurologist tell you you needed to express Lynx? My understanding is that if a cat leaks and does not create puddles of pee then some urine is collecting in their bladder and just sitting there. However, he's lived long enough without getting a UTI so perhaps he will be fine - except for leaking.

I only change Zazesh twice a day and he does well with that - no rash, no burning, no infection. I get the diapers from Walmart (making my first trip to one just for this purchase) and get 92 for about $25.

Good luck and keep us updated.

[emily_the_spoiled]

We have not yet had the appointment with the neurologist, but I did have my vet take an X-ray of his back end. There were two vets working at the time and they bith looked at the X-ray and it seems that he is missing a rib, but it also looks like he is missing a vertebrae. Combined with the rest of his symptoms, that leads me to suspect that it is Manx Syndrome.

I will make an appointment with the neurologist to get an official diagnosis, but unfortunately it won't be for a couple of weeks yet.

He is mine, I adopted him, so there is no rescue that I am working with. But thankfully he does not need to be expressed. He can take care of things on his own (except for the diarrhea right now ).

I ordered some piddle pants (http://www.joybies.com/) so he can come out of the master bath.

Right now I just want to get the diarrhea under control and the piddle pants, then he can come out. Before he got the diarrhea he was out in the master bedroom and managed to climb up on the bed without any assistance (I have a little "stairway" so my CH guys can climb up)