Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Kitten with diarrhea and liver infection from Enterococcus hirae
By Lapointe, J M et al.·Published in Veterinary pathology·2000·Dé, Canada·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Enterococcus hirae enteropathy with ascending cholangitis and pancreatitis in a kitten.
- Species:
- cat
Plain-English summary
A 2-month-old female Persian kitten was brought to the vet after experiencing a month of not eating and having diarrhea. Unfortunately, she went into shock and passed away just two days later. Tests revealed a type of bacteria called Enterococcus hirae in her intestines, liver, and pancreas, which caused severe inflammation. This case is notable as it's the first time this bacteria has been linked to such serious digestive and liver issues in a cat.
People also search for: kitten diarrhea treatment · why is my kitten not eating · Enterococcus hirae in cats
Abstract
A 2-month-old female Persian cat that had been showing episodes of anorexia and diarrhea for the previous 4 weeks was presented in shock and died 2 days later. Numerous Gram-positive cocci were located along the brush border of small intestinal villi, without significant inflammatory infiltration. Similar bacteria were present within hepatic bile ducts and pancreatic ducts and were associated with suppurative inflammation and exfoliation of epithelial cells. Culture of the liver and lung yielded bacteria identified as Enterococcus hirae. Fecal culture from an asymptomatic adult female from the same cattery also yielded large numbers of E. hirae. To our knowledge, this is the first report of E. hirae enteropathy in a cat and the first report of ascending cholangitis and ductal pancreatitis caused by an Enterococcus spp.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/10810996/