My kitten's skin tears easily. Could it be a rare genetic condition?

Question

I have acquired a 6 month old kitten who came from an overbred and possibly inbred mother. He had a history of ripping his neck skin open to the point of needing sutures. He had a large abscess on his foot and while at the veterinarian I was scratching his head to distract him and the skin tore open . She thinks he has that rare condition Ethas Damos (not sure on spelling) have you heard of this . I am a former veterinary technician so I understand most medical issues. Pet's info: Cat | Mixed Breed | Male | unneutered | 6 lbs

Jessica Desrosiers · Accepted Answer

Ehlers-Danlos is a genetic condition that can have symptoms such as easy skin tearing, joint issues and organ dysfunction. As there isn't a cure for it, it's usually treated symptomatically to maintain quality of life for as long as possible. While declawing is not usually advocated in cats, it can help with this particular condition to keep cats from accidentally tearing up their own skin, however it is best to weight the pros and cons between declawing complications and ED symptoms. While Ehlers-Danlos is the human version term for it, you may have better luck researching Feline Cutaneous Aesthenia which is the cat version of the same illness. As this is genetic, any pets affected should also be spayed/neutered and not bred to avoid passing the disease to their kittens.

My kitten's skin tears easily. Could it be a rare genetic condition?

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