Reply To: Pectus Excavatum in a 4 week old kitten

Hi Ashley,

Poor little guy. This is quite an unusual condition, especially the severe cases when it can cause exercise intolerance and respiratory difficulty. I’ve only ever really seen milder forms in brachycephalic dogs, who seem to have this condition slightly more commonly. I have seen a Pug with this condition when it was more severe, but he exercised fine, the only thing that was unusual with him was that his apex beat was shifted to the right and the mean electrical axis of his ECG also showed R deviation – I think we investigated an asymptomatic murmur that was not related. There is a surgical option – external splinting, and there are a few published reports where this has been successful for certain forms of the condition. It also seems to be more successful the younger the animal as their sternum is still soft/ cartilaginous. However, I have no experience of patients having this procedure – not sure if Scott or anyone else do.

Sorry I can’t be more helpful.

Liz