Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Thrombocytopenia in UK cats linked to blood and infectious diseases
By Ellis, J et al.·Published in The Journal of small animal practice·2018·Department of Internal Medicine, United Kingdom·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Prevalence and disease associations in feline thrombocytopenia: a retrospective study of 194 cases.
- Species:
- cat
Plain-English summary
A group of cats with low platelet counts (thrombocytopenia) was studied to understand how common it is and what might cause it. About 6% of the cats had this condition, often linked to blood diseases or infections, with some also testing positive for feline leukemia virus. Cats that had unexplained bleeding had the lowest platelet counts. Interestingly, immune-mediated thrombocytopenia, where the body attacks its own platelets, was less common in cats than in dogs. This suggests that severe cases in cats might not be related to viral infections as much as previously thought.
People also search for: cat low platelet count causes · feline leukemia virus symptoms · cat bleeding problems treatment
Abstract
OBJECTIVES: To assess the prevalence of thrombocytopenia in a referral population of cats in the UK, to identify disease processes associated with thrombocytopenia and to assess the proportion of thrombocytopenic cats that tested positive for feline leukaemia virus or feline immunodeficiency virus. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Retrospective analysis of medical records at a UK referral hospital. Cats were grouped by mechanism of thrombocytopenia and disease process (where known). RESULTS: Prevalence of thrombocytopenia was 5·9%. The most common disease processes associated with thrombocytopenia were haematological or infectious disease and neoplasia; 11% of thrombocytopenic cats tested were positive for feline leukaemia virus, which is lower than reported previously. Cats presenting with unexplained haemorrhage had significantly lower platelet counts than other thrombocytopenic cats. Primary immune-mediated thrombocytopenia was less commonly diagnosed than in dogs and associated with the most severe platelet depletion in this study. CLINICAL SIGNIFICANCE: Thrombocytopenia in cats may be more prevalent than previously reported and severe thrombocytopenia may be associated with spontaneous haemorrhage. Severe thrombocytopenia in cats appears less commonly immune-mediated than in dogs. Thrombocytopenia did not appear to be associated with retroviral infections.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29355998/