Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Blood cell problems in cats with no symptoms of feline
By Fujino, Yasuhito et al.·Published in Veterinary microbiology·2009·Department of Veterinary Internal Medicine, Japan·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Prevalence of hematological abnormalities and detection of infected bone marrow cells in asymptomatic cats with feline immunodeficiency virus infection.
- Species:
- cat
Plain-English summary
A group of 50 asymptomatic cats infected with feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV) were tested for blood abnormalities, and about half showed issues like anemia and low white blood cell counts. In a closer look at 8 of these cats with blood problems, researchers found signs of bone marrow infection and abnormalities in blood cell production. This suggests that even cats that seem healthy can have serious blood issues due to FIV. Treatment options for managing these conditions may be necessary, so it's important for pet owners to monitor their cats' health closely.
People also search for: cat FIV symptoms · asymptomatic cat blood problems · feline immunodeficiency virus treatment · cat anemia causes · cat neutropenia treatment
Abstract
Peripheral blood cytopenia such as anemia, leukopenia with neutropenia and thrombocytopenia is frequently observed in cats infected with feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV). Although previous studies report that cytopenia has been observed in FIV-infected symptomatic cats, yet the asymptomatic cats also present cytopenia occasionally. In the present study, hematological and virological analyses in FIV-infected asymptomatic cats were carried out to understand the prevalence and pathogenesis of peripheral blood cytopenia in FIV infection. Hematological abnormalities were detected in 24 of 50 FIV-infected asymptomatic cats (48%) in which no other cause of cytopenia than FIV infection was observed. Anemia only, neutropenia only, thrombocytopenia only, bicytopenia and pancytopenia were observed in 10%, 10%, 6%, 14% and 8%, respectively. Bone marrow (BM) examination was performed in 8 FIV-infected asymptomatic cats with peripheral blood cytopenia. Myeloid dysplasia was observed in 4 cats with neutropenia of which 2 cats with concurrent thrombocytopenia presented morphological abnormalities of megakaryocytes. FIV-infected BM cells in the 8 cats were analyzed by PCR and immunocytochemistry. Lobulated mononuclear cells in BM were infected with FIV in 5 cats with neutropenia of which 2 cats with concurrent thrombocytopenia showed FIV-infected megakaryocytes. Parts of isolated stromal cells from BM were infected with FIV in all the 8 cats. Present results suggest that FIV infection of BM cells can cause peripheral blood cytopenia and myelodysplasia even if the cat is asymptomatic. Such FIV-related hematological abnormalities are supposed to be diagnosed as FIV-myelopathy.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19110384/