Vitamin B1 (Thiamine) Deficiency in Cats

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PetMD Editorial

Published Oct. 9, 2012

Thiamine Deficiency in Cats

Thiamine, also known as vitamin B1, is a water-soluble vitamin necessary for normal carbohydrate metabolism in cats. Thiamine deficiency results in serious symptoms, many of which are neurological in origin.

Symptoms and Types

Neurological signs are frequently seen with thiamine deficiency and include:

Ventriflexion (bending towards the floor) or curling of the neck
Incoordination
Abnormal or spastic gait
Circling
Falling
Head tilt
Dilated pupils
Opisthotonos (backward arching of the head, neck, and spine)
Stupor
Seizures

Neurological symptoms may be preceded by gastrointestinal symptoms such as vomiting. Excess salivation, depressed appetite, and weight loss can also be seen before neurological symptoms present.

Causes

There are many potential causes of thiamine deficiency. These include:

Prolonged lack of appetite
Diseases that cause malassimilation or malabsorption of nutrients
Extensive surgical resection of jejunum and ileum
Diuresis (excessive urination)
Feeding an all meat diet
Feeding meat based diet that has been preserved with sulfur dioxide
Consumption of diet which has destroyed vitamin B1 during food processing. Some food recalls have been related to thiamine destruction which occurred during processing and caused inadequate thiamine levels in food. Food lacking adequate quantities of thiamine may in turn cause a thiamine deficiency for cats eating the food.
Destruction of B1 by thiaminase present in some bacteria and in certain types of raw fish (cod, catfish, carp, herring, etc).

Diagnosis

Your veterinarian will base the diagnosis based on the presence of clinical signs associated with thiamine deficiency, a history of ingestion of food deficient in thiamine, or other factors that may lead to thiamine deficiency, and response to treatment. Thiamine levels in blood can also be measured to confirm thiamine deficiency.