Overview of Dysautonomia in Animals

The dysautonomias are a group of diseases with similar clinical and pathological signs reported in a number of unrelated species, including horses, dogs, cats, and rabbits and hares. With the exception of the equine form, the incidence of new cases in the UK seems to be decreasing since discovery in the 1980s. For unknown reasons, canine dysautonomia is most common in the midwestern US.

Dysautonomia is characterized by the degeneration of neurons in autonomic ganglia and clinical signs of autonomic nervous system dysfunction. The etiology is unknown in all species, and there is no effective treatment.