Spinal dysplasia with stump tail and hind limb paralysis in a laboratory bred cat.

A case is presented of a specified pathogen free bred cat which was apparently tail-less at birth and at three weeks of age revealed hind limb paralysis. The animal was euthanized at 4 weeks and X-radiography revealed an abnormal spinal curvature, greatly reduced caudal vertebrae and abnormal pelvic development. A small tail was dissected at post-mortem, but other abnormalities were not seen.