Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Kitten with swollen footpads and fatal pneumonia from feline
By Magliocca, Martina et al.·Published in Pathogens (Basel, Switzerland)·2025·Department of Veterinary Medical Sciences, Italy·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Description of a Virulent Systemic Feline Calicivirus Infection in a Kitten with Footpads Oedema and Fatal Pneumonia.
- Species:
- cat
Plain-English summary
A less-than-one-month-old Maine Coon kitten was found dead after showing signs of severe illness, including swelling in its footpads and pneumonia. The kitten had been in a cattery where other cats had previously shown respiratory problems. After its death, tests revealed that the kitten had a serious infection caused by a virulent strain of feline calicivirus (FCV), which affected multiple organs, especially the lungs. Unfortunately, despite the investigation, no treatment was possible, and the kitten did not survive.
People also search for: kitten pneumonia symptoms · feline calicivirus treatment · swollen footpads in cats
Abstract
Feline calicivirus (FCV) is widespread in multi-cat environments and typically causes acute upper respiratory tract disease (URTD). FCV also causes outbreaks of virulent systemic disease (VSD), mainly in adults, with multiple organ involvement. In this study, an FCV-VSD infection was described in a less-one-month-old Maine Coon kitten originating from a cattery where an outbreak of FCV-URTD had previously been reported. After spontaneous death, post-mortem examination as well as histopathological, immunohistochemical, bacteriological and virological investigations were carried out. Pathological findings were consistent with severe pneumonia and cutaneous oedema of the footpads. No concomitant bacterial infection was detected. FCV RNA was detected in several organs and the highest amount of viral RNA was observed in the lung sample, in which the presence of the FCV antigen was confirmed by immunohistochemistry. With the same immunohistochemical technique, the IBA-1 antibody detected sparse alveolar macrophages, the main viral target cell and pulmonary replication site. The nucleotide sequences of the viral ORF2 gene amplified from all positive tissues were identical with each other and phylogeny confirms that highly virulent FCV strains are not distinguishable from FCV-URTD phenotypes. Our findings reinforce the hypothesis that VSD outbreaks can occur even in small populations, due to the high genetic variability of FCV.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41305419/