Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Black urine in a cat with apocrine gland cancer
By Fournier, Q et al.·Published in Journal of comparative pathology·2020·Hospital for Small Animals, United Kingdom·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Characterization of Black Pigmenturia in a Cat with Apocrine Gland Cystadenocarcinoma.
- Species:
- cat
Plain-English summary
A 8-year-old female domestic shorthair cat was brought in because her urine was black. After further tests, the vet found that she had a type of cancer called apocrine gland cystadenocarcinoma, which had spread to her lymph nodes. Unfortunately, despite treatment efforts, her condition worsened, and she was humanely euthanized two months later. The unusual color of her urine was linked to the cancer producing certain pigments.
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Abstract
An 8-year-old neutered female domestic shorthair cat was presented for further management of an apocrine gland cystadenocarcinoma. Extensive nodal metastasis was diagnosed and the cat was humanely destroyed 2 months after presentation. Post-mortem histopathology of the cystadenocarcinoma revealed areas of yellow-brown granular pigmentation on light microscopy, staining positively for reducing substances with Schmorl's stain and demonstrating autofluorescence on confocal microscopy. The cat's urine was black and also exhibited autofluorescence, and further analysis revealed increased free pentosidine. Based on these findings, it was presumed that the apocrine gland cystadenocarcinoma was producing lipofuscin-like pigments and that the characteristics of the urine were at least partially secondary to advanced glycation end-products.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32359628/