The Texas A&M veterinary team pioneered an innovative surgery to treat Luna, a Persian cat with a cleft palate.
Luna Roy, a Persian cat, was born with a cleft palate, which is a rare and dangerous congenital defect. The condition left a large hole in the roof of her mouth, creating a direct passageway into her nasal cavity and posing a high risk of her developing aspiration pneumonia. Because of this, Luna was unable to eat on her own because it was a constant danger that food and liquids would enter her lungs.
According to the Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, cats born with a cleft palate struggle to survive past kittenhood, but Luna took a remarkable turn thanks to her owner and the team at Texas A&M’s Small Animal Teaching Hospital (SATH).
Normally, kittens with a cleft palate go undiagnosed and are often mistaken for having fading kitten syndrome, which is something kittens rarely survive from. Cleft palate occurs in the offspring of pregnant felines and can be caused by the following2:
“Kittens with cleft palate often fail to thrive, meaning they don’t gain weight as they should,” said Adriana Regalado-Ibarra, MVZ, DAVDC. “Without constant care, they usually succumb to malnutrition or respiratory infection early on.”
Allison Roy, Luna’s owner, has been a Persian cat breeder for more than 20 years and immediately recognized Luna’s abnormal symptoms, such as the inability to latch and sneeze while nursing. Luna was then diagnosed with both hard and soft cleft palate after developing aspiration pneumonia. Unlike other cases where 1 palate remains intact, Luna’s was more severe. She lacked a partial barrier to separate her mouth and nasal cavity, so swallowing safely was impossible and increased her risk of complications. To help Luna, she was tube fed, approximately 8 times a day initially, and had around-the-clock care, which significantly improved her health.
“It was exhausting but worth every second,” Roy said. “By 12 weeks, when the other kittens were heading to their new families, Luna had grown just as big and healthy as the rest. She was always full of life and never let her condition stop her, but she deserved more than a life of tube feeding.”
Roy consulted with specialists across Texas trying to find a permanent solution for Luna’s condition, but their recommendations were unsatisfactory for Roy, with some suggestions being removing all of her teeth or permanently inserting a feeding tube in Luna’s neck.1 After a friend encouraged Roy to reach out to Texas A&M's SATH, she began researching the hospital, found Regaldo, and decided she needed to reach out.
Clients and veterinary professionals usually notice at birth or when the cat is still a kitten the symptoms of cleft palate, which include2:
Cleft palate repairs are more commonly documented and performed in dogs, so addressing feline causes presents with unique challenges because of the anatomical difference. Regaldo adapted techniques and materials that are not normally used for feline cleft palate repairs to battle against the complexities, making it a university first.
“We used a horse-derived bone membrane to support the surrounding tissue, close the gap in Luna’s palate, and promote natural tissue and bone regeneration,” Regalado said. “This material undergoes mineral removal to transform the rigid bone into a flexible structure, making it suitable for delicate surgical procedures.”
Regaldo exposed Luna’s palate bone during the surgery, which lasted more than 2 hours, before suturing a custom-fit equine membrane to its thin edges, a procedure that demands extreme precision to not damage the turbinates. After it was secured, the membrane was covered with soft tissue from the palate to allow the rich blood supply from the palatal mucosa. This will promote healing and help the membrane integrate seamlessly with the surrounding tissue.1 A temporary siliconelike layer was applied over the repaired defect to protect the reconstruction from potential disruption, which will either fall off naturally or be removed easily as the tissue underneath stabilizes and heals.
For Luna, the transformation was immediate, and she was able to eat independently for the first time in her life. Her recovery was also "remarkably smooth," according to Texas A&M's SATH, and she was able to adapt easily and quickly to her new freedom.
“Watching her take her first bites of food on her own—it was beyond words,” Roy said. “I had spent 18 months tube feeding her, and suddenly, she was normal. I am beyond grateful.”
Not only is Luna’s case a success story, but it is also now serving as a breakthrough for the Texas A&M veterinary team and feline cleft palate research. The insights that Regaldo and her team gained from Luna’s surgery will be documented and shared to potentially help other owners and animals facing similar challenges.
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