Suspected zinc-induced copper deficiency in growing kittens exposed to galvanised iron

To investigate the possible causes of fading coat colour and an acquired hind-limb ataxia affecting sixteen 4 to 5-month old kittens in a closed feline colony during 1993 and 1994.

Records of kittens and litters born in the colony between 1991 and 1997 were analysed. The kittens had been kept from birth until approximately 5 months of age in plastic cages with galvanised iron bar doors. Histopathological sections from 4 of the worst affected ataxic kittens necropsied in 1993 were re-examined. In addition, 6 of the original 16 affected kittens that survived were re-examined as 4 to 5-year old adults, which were moderately ataxic; these cats were then humanely killed for necropsy.

In the kittens, clinical signs included lordosis, dysmetria, ataxia of the hind-limbs and fading coat colour; histopathological lesions included Wallerian-type degeneration in the spinal cord, pons and medulla, and neuronal degeneration in the vestibular nuclei and ventral horns of the spinal cord. Analysis of colony data ruled out an inherited disease, and there was no evidence of dietary inadequacy or excess. Similar, though milder, clinical and histopathological changes were noted in the affected adults.

Circumstantial evidence is consistent with a diagnosis of zinc-induced copper deficiency caused by the ingestion of zinc oxide from the galvanised iron bar doors.

Because of the possibility of zinc-induced copper deficiency, galvanised iron should be avoided when designing and constructing cages for cats in veterinary clinics, pet shops and boarding facilities.