Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Feline leishmaniosis caused by Leishmania infantum in cats review
By Maria Garcia-Torres et al.·Published in Parasites & Vectors·2022·Hospital Clínic Veterinari, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, GB·View original on DOAJ →
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Original publication title: Review and statistical analysis of clinical management of feline leishmaniosis caused by Leishmania infantum
- Species:
- cat
Plain-English summary
A group of domestic short-haired cats, mostly around 8 years old, were diagnosed with leishmaniosis caused by the parasite Leishmania infantum, which is common in Mediterranean countries. Many of these cats showed skin problems and had other health issues, particularly feline immunodeficiency virus. The most common treatment was allopurinol, which helped improve their condition significantly. Treated cats lived much longer, averaging about 520 days, compared to only 210 days for those that did not receive treatment.
People also search for: cat leishmaniosis treatment · feline skin problems · allopurinol for cats · cat immunodeficiency virus symptoms
Abstract
Abstract Background There is limited information about feline leishmaniosis (FeL) management in clinical practice. Leishmania infantum is the species of Leishmania most frequently reported in both dogs and cats in countries of the Mediterranean region (henceforth ‘Mediterranean countries’), Central and South America, and Iran. This study was conducted to provide veterinary clinicians with an updated overview of evidence-based information on leishmaniosis in cats. Methods A review was performed using PubMed, Science Direct, Google Scholar and Web of Science. Case reports of FeL caused by L. infantum were sought for the period 1912 to 1 June 2021. Results Sixty-three case reports are included in this review. Fifty-nine out of the 63 cats were from Europe, mostly from Mediterranean countries (88.9%). Most of them were domestic short-haired cats (90%) with a mean age of 7.9 years, and had access to the outdoors (77.3%). Sixty-six percent of the cats had comorbidities, of which feline immunodeficiency virus infection was the most frequent (37.7%). Dermatological lesions (69.8%) was the most frequent clinical sign, and hyperproteinemia (46.3%) the most frequent clinicopathological abnormality. Serology was the most performed diagnostic method (76.2%) and was positive for 93.7% of cats. Medical treatment was applied in 71.4% of cats, and allopurinol was the most used drug (74.4%). Survival time was greater for treated cats (520 days; 71.4% of cats) than non-treated cats (210 days; 25.4%). Conclusions The majority of the cats had comorbidities, of which feline immunodeficiency virus was the most frequent. Dermatological lesions were frequently reported, and systemic clinical signs and clinicopathological abnormalities were also common. Serology may be useful for the diagnosis of FeL in clinical practice, and a positive titer of ≥ 1/40 may be a useful cut-off for sick cats. The reported treatments and dosages varied, but there was a good clinical response and longer survival in most of the cats treated with allopurinol monotherapy. Graphical abstract
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Search related cases →Original publication on DOAJ: https://doi.org/10.1186/s13071-022-05369-6