Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Cat with severe skin infection and septic shock from Acinetobacter
By Brachelente, Chiara et al.·Published in Veterinary dermatology·2007·Institute of Animal Pathology·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: A case of necrotizing fasciitis with septic shock in a cat caused by Acinetobacter baumannii.
- Species:
- cat
Plain-English summary
A 4-year-old female domestic shorthair cat was brought to the vet for ongoing constipation after some injuries but quickly showed serious symptoms like fever, unsteady walking, and eventually became unresponsive. After five days in the hospital, she developed severe swelling in her belly and red, blister-like spots on her skin. Tests revealed she had a severe infection caused by a bacteria called Acinetobacter baumannii, which led to a life-threatening condition known as septic shock. Unfortunately, despite the diagnosis and treatment efforts, the cat did not survive.
People also search for: cat with fever and swelling · necrotizing fasciitis in cats · Acinetobacter baumannii infection in pets
Abstract
A 4-year-old, neutered female, domestic shorthair cat admitted to the animal hospital for recurrent constipation presumed to be due to post-traumatic injuries, went into shock with signs including fever and ataxia followed by stupor. On the fifth day of hospitalization, the cat developed severe, diffuse oedema of the ventral abdomen with multifocal to coalescing erythematous areas and small vesicle formation. The results of bacteriological cultures of liver, spleen and kidney specimens led to the diagnosis of Acinetobacter baumannii sepsis. Histopathological findings of skin samples taken during necropsy showed an extensive epidermal and dermal necrosis with septic vasculitis and numerous intralesional gram-negative bacteria. Detection of the bla(OXA-51-like) gene specific for A. baumannii by PCR, performed retrospectively on samples of the deep layers of the skin, confirmed the presence of A. baumannii also in the cutaneous lesions. To our knowledge this is the first report of a necrotizing fasciitis with septic shock in a cat caused by A. baumannii.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17991161/