Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Cat with immune low platelets and bleeding spots
By Tasker, S et al.·Published in The Journal of small animal practice·1999·Department of Veterinary Clinical Studies, United Kingdom·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Primary immune-mediated thrombocytopenia in a cat.
- Species:
- cat
Plain-English summary
A young female Somali cat was brought in for blood in her urine and had small red spots on her ears and belly. After tests, the vet found she had very low platelet levels due to an autoimmune condition where her body was attacking its own platelets. Despite trying several medications to suppress her immune system, her condition didn't improve until the vet switched her from oral prednisolone to dexamethasone. After this change, her platelet levels returned to normal.
People also search for: cat blood in urine · Somali cat low platelet count treatment · autoimmune thrombocytopenia in cats
Abstract
A young female Somali cat was referred for investigation of chronic intermittent haematuria. Petechiae were found on the ears and ventral abdomen and further investigation revealed severe thrombocytopenia and megakaryocyte hyperplasia. Direct marrow immunohistochemistry detected anti-megakaryocyte autoantibody (Immunoglobulin G), but extensive investigation failed to find secondary causes of immune-mediated thrombocytopenia, so a diagnosis of primary (autoimmune) immune-mediated thrombocytopenia was concluded. Thrombocytopenia persisted despite aggressive immunosuppressive therapy (prednisolone, azathioprine and vincristine) but resolved after oral prednisolone was replaced with dexamethasone.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/10200924/