Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Cat with hind leg weakness caused by spinal heartworm infection
By Favole, Paolo et al.·Published in Journal of feline medicine and surgery·2013·1Neurovet Professional Association, Italy·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Epidural dirofilariosis in a paraparetic cat: case report of Dirofilaria immitis infection.
- Species:
- cat
Plain-English summary
A 6-year-old female cat was brought to the vet because she was having trouble walking, with her back legs becoming weak and eventually unable to move. After some tests, including X-rays and an MRI, the vet found a parasite called Dirofilaria immitis (which causes heartworm disease) lodged in her spine. During surgery, the vet successfully removed the parasite from the area around her spinal cord. Following the procedure, the cat's condition improved, allowing her to regain some mobility.
People also search for: cat back leg weakness · cat heartworm treatment · cat spinal surgery recovery
Abstract
A 6-year-old neutered female cat was examined for chronic and progressive pelvic limb ataxia that progressed to non-ambulatory paraparesis over 1 month. Haematological and serum analyses were mainly within normal ranges. Thoracic and abdominal radiographs did not reveal any morphological abnormalities. Magnetic resonance imaging investigation of the thoraco-lumbar spine demonstrated a well-defined, extradural mass that extended into the epidural space from the L2 to L3 vertebral bodies and expanded in the L2 to L3 left intervertebral foramen. During surgery, a long, narrow, white parasite which was weakly adherent to the phlogistic epidural fat tissue was gently removed from the spinal canal. Histological examination of the pathological tissue supported a diagnosis of epidural steatitis surrounding a female adult Dirofilaria immitis. This is a novel case of natural D immitis infection with spinal localisation in a cat, well documented with magnetic resonance investigation, and cytological and histological examinations, introducing a novel differential diagnosis for extradural spinal masses in cats.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23792333/