Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Cat with heart infection on three valves linked to heart defect
By van Loon, Anne C J et al.·Published in Journal of veterinary cardiology : the official journal of the European Society of Veterinary Cardiology·2020·Small Animal Department·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Infective vegetative endocarditis of the mitral, aortic, and pulmonary valves due to Enterococcus hirae in a cat with a ventricular septal defect.
- Species:
- cat
Plain-English summary
A 2.5-year-old female British Shorthair cat was brought in because she was having trouble breathing, was lethargic, and had a swollen belly. The vet suspected a heart issue after hearing a loud heart murmur and confirmed it with an ultrasound, diagnosing her with infective endocarditis, an infection of the heart valves. Blood tests and a biopsy showed that the infection was caused by a bacteria called Enterococcus hirae. Unfortunately, the cat did not survive, but this case highlights a rare type of heart infection in cats.
People also search for: cat heart murmur · cat breathing problems · British Shorthair heart disease · cat lethargy causes · Enterococcus hirae in cats
Abstract
A 2.5-year-old female intact British Shorthair was presented for progressive complaints of abdominal distention, increased respiratory effort, lethargy and hyporexia. Based on the clinical presentation and a loud heart murmur, a cardiac cause was suspected. An echocardiogram was performed and the presumptive diagnosis of infective endocarditis of the aortic, mitral and pulmonic valves was made. Antemortem blood culture and postmortem valve biopsy confirmed bacterial endocarditis with Enterococcus hirae as etiological agent. To the authors' best knowledge, this case report is the first to describe an infective endocarditis with vegetative lesions on three cardiac valves associated with a ventricular septal defect in a cat, and Enterococcus hirae as causative agent for endocarditis in small animals.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32688282/