Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Cat with high calcium caused by leftover thymus tissue
By Pham, L et al.·Published in Australian veterinary journal·2026·Animal Referral Hospital Essendon Fields, Australia·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Remnant thymic tissue as a cause of hypercalcaemia in a cat.
- Species:
- cat
Plain-English summary
A 2-year-old female spayed British Shorthair cat was brought in for chronic diarrhea, which was found to be caused by high calcium levels in her blood. A CT scan revealed a mass in her chest, and surgery was performed to remove it. The mass turned out to be leftover thymic tissue, which is unusual for causing high calcium levels. After the surgery, her calcium levels returned to normal, and her gastrointestinal symptoms improved significantly over the next 10 months.
People also search for: cat diarrhea high calcium · British Shorthair hypercalcemia treatment · cat thymic tissue removal recovery
Abstract
A 2-year-old female spayed British Shorthair cat presented for investigation of chronic small intestinal diarrhoea, which was determined to be attributable to ionised hypercalcaemia. A cranial mediastinal mass was identified on computed tomography; median sternotomy was performed, and the mediastinal mass was excised. Histopathology, including immunohistochemistry, diagnosed the mediastinal mass as being remnant thymic tissue. Subsequent follow-up 10 months postoperatively showed restoration of normocalcaemia and concurrent resolution of gastrointestinal symptoms. To the authors' knowledge, this is the first case to report remnant thymic tissue as a cause of hypercalcaemia. This case report aims to describe the clinical presentation, computed tomography description, histopathological findings and treatment outcome of a thymic remnant causing hypercalcaemia in a cat.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40842305/