A case of hypertrophic feline muscular dystrophy in a Belgian domestic shorthair cat

Abstract

A 3-year-old, male domestic shorthair cat was presented with signs of progressive muscular hypertrophy. A diagnosis of hypertrophic feline muscular dystrophy was made on the basis of the typical clinical presentation in cats and on the basis of the results of medical imaging, the electrodiagnostics and the findings on histopathology and immunohistochemistry of muscle biopsies. The cat was initially successfully treated with prednisolone. Eight months after presentation, however, the cat was euthanized because of acute renal failure. To the author’s knowledge, this is the first report of hypertrophic feline muscular dystrophy in a domestic cat in Belgium.