Anybody have experience with manx syndrome?

This is going to be long, but please read!

I work as a vet tech and we had a client come in about a month ago with her new kitten. He's a precious orange and white manx. She had been seeing him leaking urine, and after taking some x-rays, we confirmed manx syndrome. His last vertebrae is nonexistent. We told her the prognosis, and of course she was devastated. She couldn't deal with the expenses or practical issues of having this high needs baby. So she left him with us and we vowed we would take him back to the shelter where she had gotten him. Of course, he became one of our clinic cats and I fell in love. We call him Jack Rabbit because due to the syndrome, when he runs he hops. We haven't had much problems with him, just a tiny bit of urinary leakage. We express his bladder daily and it's controlled pretty well. Until Thursday. We found several tiny spots of diarrhea around the clinic, and of course it was Jack. We did an in house fecal on him and saw no signs of any parasites. So we've been treating him with ponazuril, panacure, and metronidazale and this weekend he seemed to be improving. We have him isolated in a cage to prevent the mess and his diarrhea had almost stopped. I come in today and he's worse than ever. Absolutely no control over his bowels and he's leaking diarrhea every few minutes. He just screams and screams because he hates being locked up and he must be miserable. His anus is so inflamed and bleeding now. We're sending off a fecal to a lab for more rigorous testing, should have the results tomorrow or Thursday.

On to the actual question. Is extreme diarrhea like this associated with manx syndrome? And if so, does it happen this early (he's only 4-5 mo)? This is my first time dealing with a manx syndrome patient and I'm not very familiar with it. I hope the fecal shows something that we can treat but if it is part of the manx syndrome.... There is a surgery option to deal with megacollin (which he is already developing), but it's a very difficult surgery and not very successful. We will most likely have to put our little Jack down, . Did this occur with anybody's manx syndrome babies? What did you do? I'm heartbroken and need some advice/words of encouragement.

Hi there,

My heart goes out to you, and Jack.

My dear angel kitty Taco was a manx (orange with white, too!). He didn't experience a lot of what Jack dealt with but I'll share about of what we did deal with. I adopted him at about 8 wks of age. His 'stump' of tail actually hung down (like a manx with a broken tail) and the food I was feeding him caused him to have loose stools and with his little stump hanging down in the way, what a mess. I constantly had to wash him. Sometimes not so bad. I don't know how many times I took him to the Vet; he had so many fecal tests, always negative. We even tried a course of Prednisone which helped but wasn't a long term solution. I finally decided to switch his diet. Several hundreds (if not thousands) of dollars spent on testing, antibiotics, diets, I tried him on a high fiber prescription diet (Medi-Cal Fibre, dry) and it was the answer! It helped amazing to firm up his stools. However, he ended up gaining a fair bit of weight; mostly because I had 3 other cats at the time, they all were free-fed and he was a pig. Eventually the Vet suggested I put him onto Science Diet Lite (groan) to help with the weight loss. Well that was a joke; if anything he gained more weight.........it was lower in fat but high in carbs. Long story short..............I ended up learning that his real problem was an intolerance to grains. For many years this wasn't so bad and he'd just end up "dropping" a turd here and there.......mostly firm............but when he did develop diabetes 6 yrs ago and I switched him to strictly canned twice a day (even the low carb dry foods were too high in carbs and made it too hard to regulate his diabetes) and the issues stopped! that convinced me; it was the crappy grains: rice, oats, corn, etc. The odd time I'd switch him to a canned that had one of these, he'd get the loose stools again. Sometimes this would happen by accident as the food manufacturer had added one of these ingredients and I didn't realize it.

He never had issues with urination, though.

He never really "leaked" but he often would have a piece of stool 'stuck' hanging there; I attributed it to his lack of sensation and also because his tail hanging right down 'got in the way.'

Check your private messages here in a bit, have something to send ya.

Lisa

Hi,
I have 3 Manx mixes, 1 with a tail and 2 without (a brother and 2 sisters), and my heart goes out to you. I haven't had the problem with the urination, but I agree completely with Lisa. I was getting so frustrated, I felt like I spent half my life cleaning Snow's rear end, and it was inflamed also. For some reason his sister Whisper didn't have the same problem (her biggest problem is attitude ). I think she may have one more vertabrae than Snow. Anyway, I did the same as Lisa, tried just about every food known to man. I didn't have to go the Rx route, the Natural Balance Limited Ingredient dry diets solved the problem about 98% for me. I have to qualify that now by saying that he was diagnosed in November with CRF, and is on Science Diet K/D now, but hasn't had any issues resurface. I still religiously keep tabs on his little behind though (how sad is that).
Jane

Good morning,

I just wanted to thank all of the above for the recommendations for diet. I recently took in a stray kitten. She is solid black and had a full tail. Very soon after taking her in she had extreme diahriah and incontinence. I took her to the Vet who told me she displays several signs of Manx Syndrome including the quirky walk, short front legs, very round full belly and incontinence. Well I was heart broken. Our Vet NEVER mentioned euthanasia. He was very positive and walked us through all possibilities for her future and treatments. Well I am happy to say she has regained control of her bowels, and her stool has formed (for the most part). However I have been concerned that I am not feeding her the right food for her condition. “Sadie†LOVES food and I try to keep food in her bowl at all times so that she will not constantly scream at me She seems to be okay as long as she knows the food is there when she wants to eat We NEVER give her scraps but I have noticed that if I am a bit slow to refill her bowl she will eat the dogâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]s food. Then we have 3 days of little watery messes throughout the house. Her belly is still really round and looks bloated most of the time. I am going to (slowly) try some of the foods you guys have recommended to see if it helps firm up the stool and reduce the bloat. Sadie is just a great little kitty and a joy to watch! I hope you all have success with your kitties as well! I am SO glad that I did not euthanize Sadie! She bounces and racing all over my house and is just a blast to have around!

Hi, I saw your post is fairly old so your situation is probably resolved by now. I have a little Manx female. I got her when she was 4 weeks old. She is a rumpy, no tail. When she was tiny we had a  lot of problems with feces stuck to her fur in her anal area. I had to wash her and anything she came in contact with pretty frequently. She grew out of it at about 6 months and I would guess, learned to groom that area even when she couldn't feel anything there. We also have another cat, a neutered male who often cleaned her.

Moggie is now about 3 and a half years old. I did get her fixed. More because I was concerned that her deformities would make carrying a litter too dangerous.

About 6 months ago she started to develop a problem where she has trouble staying continent while in a deep sleep. She can control her bladder while awake or cart napping but when she goes to sleep she wets herself and whatever unfortunate piece of furniture she is on. I took her to the vet and she is on Antibiotics which seem to have helped the problem a great deal. She refuses to use a cat bed or any other easy to clean solution so I bought a portable upholstry cleaner and we deal with the spots as we find them. She also has intermittent problems with constipation but we took our vet's advise to feed her plain pumpkin filling a few times a week and that has helped greatly. She is a bit overweight. 11+ pounds when she ought to be more like 9 for her size. We have a free feeder and have changed food to a more diet control one. She eats alot. I had thought it might be because she was the runt of her litter.

We call her a 'Cabbit' when anyone asks her breed because of her habit of scooting like a bunny when she runs instead of trotting like a cat normally does. She is a tortie too which seems to only reinforce the look of a bunny. She is very much in charge of this house. She seems to have a great deal of purr-sonality for such a small bit of fur. She is inquisitive, insistent and will argue back with you if you tell her she can't have or do something she wants to. I have raised two teenage humans so I well know that walking away bickering tone, even if I can't understand what she is actually saying. We love her and adjust our living to her needs as we have to. From reading various articles I know it may only get worse as she gets older but we don't even consider the option of putting her to sleep. She is a member of this family. We will give her a good life for as long as she is with us. Tracey Lee Wilson

I just had to have an 8 week old kitten put down. We never did any x rays but the vet and I both agreed it was manx syndrome.

she was found abandoned so I don't know about her background.

she leaked urine and diahrrea badly.

she seemed to have no control whatsoever.

she walked like a drunk her rear falling to one side every few steps. Somehow she did manage to run. She sounded like a thumpy little elephant. she walked on her back feet to the first joint. She looked like she was on skis. She was bright, energetic, curious and I needed her as much as she needed me. My legs don't work right either. She was so loving. I wish u good things for your kitty.  I miss mine.

I have two female Manx cats-both rumpys. Crickett, our oldest Manx, has always been incontinent of urine, especially when she sleeps. Our newest manx Bailey, is incontinent of urine while sleeping as well, and also has major issues with constipation. She does not have megacolon, but definitely has problems with stooling. They are both "special" need cats as they can't be left in the house unattended, especially when they sleep. Crickett sleeps in one of the bathrooms and Bailey in one of the bedrooms. It definitely takes a lot of effort with these two, but I love them like crazy!!! These two cats have the best personalities!!! Neither one of them were purchased from breeders, both were rescued. Manx are a great breed, but I think people really need to know ahead of time that they can have special health issues. 

What type of pumpkin filling are you referring to? I have a manx that has major constipation issues and would love any advice you have. 

Are you familiar with the website felinecrf.org? One of my cats was diagnosed with CRF last year and this website has a ton of great information. 

I guess I'm lucky. My male manx is a rumpy and he has never had any issues with urine incontinence, diarrhea or constipation. He just turned 16 years old this past June.
 

Anyone who is having trouble with their Manx and constipation...I have been there with my little Miss Ketchup.  The miracle was using Clear Metamucil and adding it to her water.  They don't taste it and it dissolves easily.  Miss Ketchup (and my other kitty Maya who doesn't have issues) has been drinking this for the past 3 years and we haven't had to do any enemas!  We were doing enemas at least once a month.  It is a miracle!  Now if I could find a cure for her dribbling urine.  She will be going back to the vet because it might be another UTI although she does it when she doesn't have a UTI too.  UGH!

Hello, 

I hope this info is helpful to you.  I am also caring for a Manx Syndrome cat, that I rescued from a barn thinking I could foster her, "fix" her and re-home.  Well once we x-rayed we know there was no "Fix", so luckily for us, she has joined the family.

She is missing at least 1 vertebrae, but she can walk almost normally.  She has no ability to release her own urine or feces.  It took me a long time and sadly a long stay in a kitty condo for her, but I discovered if we express the bladder about 4 times per day, and feces at the same time (onto a doggie pee pad) she is able to hold it.  My plan for if she loses the ability to hold is acupuncture, she also sees a chiropractor regularly to maintain as much blood flow as possible.

We occasionally experience diarreah, and again trial and error our best fix is 2 pills of "Diarrea Relief" www.naturespetherbs.com 

I know being a vet your first instinct is to reach for meds, but I have worked with many odd health issues and found a mix of traditional and alternative is best.

We have also fed her a mix of organic raw (Purchased so it is high quality and contains the right minerals and vitamins), and just 1 type of canned food.  

What happens with us having 6 animals in the house is that if she gets a food she isn't used to, she will have the runs.  If you can avoid and new food exposure, that will fix the problem.

I really hope this helps, and I hope he gets better.

Kind regards, 

Melissa & Wynnie

I have a manx syndrome kitty - best kitty ever! Not only was my kitty diagnosed with manx syndrome she went from a she to a he- when he grew some testies over the winter. She had been acting like she was in heat- to being a full blown male. Anyway- when he was a kitten - our vet strongly urged us to put her down. What he saw as weakness - I saw as she's a strong determined lil kitten. She went from summer saulting to wobbley to hopping to charging. She is unable to urinate- but we express her several times a day. That leaking has become a minor issue. My key find was with her bowels. We give her a packet of Forti Floura - everyday and she remains very regular and solid! She will have a diahrea run about ever other month for a few days - but usually that's if I skip a day of FortiFlora. She is amazing and patient- quite use to shampoos on her bumm. It's our new normal- what a gift!

Hi - glad to see there are other people going thru the same things as us.   My 10 yr old  Rumpy Manx "Whitey" started getting really constipated about 6 months ago.   We've been to the vet monthly since then, several enemas each time.  

I'm giving him 1/4 tsp Restorolax powder in Royal Canin Fibre canned twice a day, mixing a bit of water in for extra fluid.  Also have been advised to apply 2.5 ml Cisipride topical cream to his ears 1 x / day.    The Cisipride bothered his ears so I didn't do this as regularly as I should have, but need to get back to it.  

Does anyone else need to use Cisipride in addition to the laxatives? 

Also I just started adding plain canned pumpkin to his food in the last couple days.   Now his stools are loose and frequent, think chocolate Dairy Queen soft serve machine!, so I think we'll try adding the Royal Canin Fibre DRY to the diet and see if that changes things.     It's such a trial and error, balancing act!!

He's also started to leak urine when he's relaxed (ie. sleeping on me) or when sitting on the floor.   Aside from manually extracting the urine, has anyone found a solution or med for this?  I tried manual extraction but need to work on my technique.

 My other baby is a 7yr old grey & white Manx girl, she's had no problems at all, but she's got a stumpy. curly piggy tail.   Whitey is actually a Creamsiicle cat - dark orange on top and white belly, sugar feet.  Both are just the best cats ever, fantastic personalities.   Neither have any issues with movement, climbing trees or running or anything.

thanks for any advice or comments.  

Greetings everyone,

I have had a short experience with a Manx recently (~6 months). Most adorable animal I ever had. Everything had to be special for him, and this was because he was himself so special for all of us. So loving, so smart little creature! 

During his sickness, I wanted to figure out the cause of what happened to him but everything happened so quickly that it was only afterwards that I realised what really happened. It was most probably the Manx syndrome. So this was my analysis:

We are often too stressed about long worded diseases that we tend to forget about the essential fluid; blood. Manx lack vertebra(e), which are necessary for blood production. Lack of blood will reduce the effectiveness of medication, and may prove to be fatal as well! (http://www.pethealthnetwork.com/cat-health/cat-diseases-conditions-a-z/immune-mediated-hemolytic-anemia-cats-imha). 

After reading this, I believe you will agree with me that this is the first thing to be checked if you're trying to find out what is going wrong. Contact your vet and get some medication for your beloved cat. Wish you all the best, and your cat a happy recovery. 

Best regards, 

Swav