Winged Cat - Veterinary Reports

Veterinary Reports

• In 1970, Peter Pitchie, a vet in Kent, England, attempted to spay a five-month-old female tabby cat. When he injected the anesthetic, the cat's skin immediately split. When he shaved the cat's flank for the spaying incision, the skin split again. Further splits occurred when he tried to sew up the first two. He eventually sutured all the splits using a round-bodied needle, and, despite their dramatic formation, they healed without complications.

• In 1974, a four-year-old tomcat with fragile skin was taken to Cornell University's New York State Veterinary College Small Animal Clinic for investigation. Dr DV Scott noted that its skin was exceptionally thin and velvety in texture. It was hyperextensible (extremely stretchy) and had a criss-cross network of fine white scars from previously healed tears. When fur was clipped from a foreleg to gain a blood sample, the skin peeled away. Peeling was found to occur whenever the slightest pressure was applied anywhere to the cat's skin. Investigation showed that the collagen fibres in the cat's skin were abnormal.

• In 1975, an adult female cat examined by W.F. Butler of Bristol University's Anatomy Department was found to have very fragile skin on its body. It had abnormally low levels of collagen in the skin of its lower back.

• In 1977, Drs. Donald F. Patterson and Ronald R. Minor of the University of Pennsylvania's School of Veterinary Medicine studied a young short-haired gray tomcat which had severely lacerated its skin through normal scratching. Its skin was found to be delicate and easily torn. It was also abnormally elastic, and the skin of the back could be extended to a distance above the backbone equal to about 22% of the cat's entire body length. They wrote a paper on the subject and included photos of the cat with its skin gently stretched into "wings". Because of the difficulties in caring for a cat with an incurable skin fragility problem, they donated it to the veterinary school. It was mated to four long-haired female cats, and several of the offspring inherited cutaneous asthenia.

An undated veterinary report describes a six-month-old non-pedigree tomcat which presented with two skin wounds on the right side of its body. The skin on the affected areas and on its back was hyperextensible, smooth and easily torn by just a small amount of pressure. Microscopic examination revealed abnormally low levels of connective tissue.

Cats with the condition cannot be grasped by the scruff, as this may tear away. The syndrome is also linked to slipping joints. Dietary supplements may be needed to promote skin healing and regrowth. Antibiotics may be needed to combat infection when skin has split or torn.