Vitamin A toxicity in cats, caused by excessive liver consumption, causes severe and painful skeletal deformities that are entirely preventable through appropriate diet management.
Vitamin A toxicity causes chronic, progressive pain that profoundly affects quality of life. Cats with cervical exostoses cannot groom their neck and shoulders, cannot turn to look behind them, and find normal feline movements painful. The bony changes are permanent — treatment focuses on preventing further progression and managing pain rather than resolution. Many cases arise from owners trying to feed a "natural" or raw diet heavy in liver, with good intentions but harmful outcomes. The welfare tragedy is complete preventability: feeding liver occasionally as a treat (not daily) and using complete commercial foods eliminates the risk entirely. Pain management with NSAIDs can improve comfort in established cases.