Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Fungal skin tumor on hind leg of Maine Coon cat case
By Samantha M. Norris et al.·Published in Journal of Veterinary Diagnostic Investigation·2021·View original on Semantic Scholar →
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Original publication title: Chalastospora gossypii in a Maine Coon cat: case report and literature review
- Species:
- cat
Plain-English summary
A 15-year-old male Maine Coon cat was brought in for a rapidly growing, ulcerated mass on his right hind leg that had been present for four months. The mass was large and soft, but initial tests didn’t provide clear answers, so the decision was made to amputate the leg. After surgery, lab tests revealed that the mass was caused by a rare fungus called Chalastospora gossypii. Fortunately, the cat has been doing well a year after the amputation, with no further issues reported.
People also search for: Maine Coon cat leg mass · cat amputation recovery · fungal infection in cats
Abstract
A 15-y-old castrated male Maine Coon cat was evaluated for an ulcerated soft tissue mass on the right hindlimb that had been observed for 4 mo and had grown rapidly. A 3 × 3 cm soft, raised, amorphous, and ulcerated subcutaneous mass was observed on the lateral right metatarsus. In-house cytology via fine-needle aspiration was nondiagnostic. Incisional biopsy of the mass and further staging was declined, and amputation was elected. The amputated limb was submitted for histopathology, which revealed severe chronic nodular granulomatous dermatitis and multifocal granulomatous popliteal lymphadenitis with large numbers of intralesional fungal hyphae. Fungal PCR and sequencing on formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissue identified Chalastospora gossypii. No adjunctive therapy was elected at the time. The patient has done well clinically 1 y post-operatively. C. gossypii is a rare microfungus found worldwide and is considered a minor pathogen of several plants. To our knowledge, infection by this fungus has not been reported previously in veterinary species. Features in our case are comparable to other mycotic infections. Nodular granulomatous mycotic dermatitis and cellulitis, although uncommon, should be a differential for soft tissue masses in veterinary species; C. gossypii is a novel isolate.
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Search related cases →Original publication on Semantic Scholar: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/34109901