Acute idiopathic polyneuropathy in nine cats.

This report describes nine unrelated cats with acute idiopathic polyneuropathy. All cats presented with acutely developing tetraparesis or tetraparalysis and loss of spinal reflexes. Seven cats recovered completely within 4 to 6 weeks, without any medication. Two years after complete recovery, none of these cats had had a relapse. In the acute stage, two cats were euthanized because of respiratory complications. Postmortem examination was performed on one of these cats and revealed generalized peripheral motor polyneuropathy. The clinical signs in these cats were identical to those of the Guillain-Barré syndrome in humans.