Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Feline coronavirus found in lung fluid of cats with unusual breathing
By Wei-Tao Chang et al.·Published in Animals·2024·National Taiwan University Veterinary Hospital, National Taiwan University, Taipei 10672, Taiwan, CH·View original on DOAJ →
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Original publication title: Detection of Feline Coronavirus in Bronchoalveolar Lavage Fluid from Cats with Atypical Lower Airway and Lung Disease: Suspicion of Virus-Associated Pneumonia or Pneumonitis
- Species:
- cat
Plain-English summary
Three cats with breathing problems and lung disease were found to have feline coronavirus (FeCoV) in their lung fluid samples. They showed signs of lung issues, and two of them had specific lung lesions. The veterinarians treated them with corticosteroids, which helped initially, but the long-term outcomes varied for each cat. This suggests that FeCoV might be linked to pneumonia or lung inflammation in cats, but more research is needed to understand this better.
People also search for: cat coughing treatment · feline coronavirus lung disease · cat pneumonia symptoms · corticosteroids for cat lung problems
Abstract
The premortem understanding of the role of feline coronavirus (FeCoV) in the lungs of cats is limited as viruses are seldom inspected in the bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) specimens of small animal patients. This study retrospectively analyzed the prevalence of FeCoV in BAL samples from cats with atypical lower airway and lung disease, as well as the clinical characteristics, diagnostic findings, and follow-up information. Of 1162 clinical samples submitted for FeCoV RT-nPCR, 25 were BAL fluid. After excluding 1 case with chronic aspiration, FeCoV was found in 3/24 (13%) BAL specimens, with 2 having immunofluorescence staining confirming the presence of FeCoV within the cytoplasm of alveolar macrophages. The cats with FeCoV in BAL fluid more often had pulmonary nodular lesions (66% vs. 19%, <i>p</i> = 0.14) and multinucleated cells on cytology (100% vs. 48%, <i>p</i> = 0.22) compared to the cats without, but these differences did not reach statistical significance due to the small sample size. Three cats showed an initial positive response to the corticosteroid treatment based on the clinical signs and radiological findings, but the long-term prognosis varied. The clinical suspicion of FeCoV-associated pneumonia or pneumonitis was raised since no other pathogens were found after extensive investigations. Further studies are warranted to investigate the interaction between FeCoV and lung responses in cats.
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Search related cases →Original publication on DOAJ: https://doi.org/10.3390/ani14081219