Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Low vitamin B12 and small intestine ultrasound in cats with gut
By Jugan, Maria C & August, John R·Published in Journal of feline medicine and surgery·2017·1 Department of Small Animal Clinical Sciences, United States·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Serum cobalamin concentrations and small intestinal ultrasound changes in 75 cats with clinical signs of gastrointestinal disease: a retrospective study.
- Species:
- cat
Plain-English summary
A group of cats showing signs of gastrointestinal problems, like vomiting or diarrhea, were found to have low levels of vitamin B12 (cobalamin) in their blood. An ultrasound of their small intestines revealed changes in 65% of the cats, such as thickening of the intestinal walls and other abnormalities. Many of these cats were diagnosed with conditions like inflammatory bowel disease or lymphoma. The study suggests that even if a cat has low-normal cobalamin levels and a normal ultrasound, they may still have gastrointestinal disease, indicating that further testing and possible vitamin B12 supplementation could be beneficial.
People also search for: cat vomiting low vitamin B12 · cat diarrhea ultrasound results · cat inflammatory bowel disease treatment
Abstract
Objectives The aim of the study was to evaluate ultrasonographic changes in the small intestine of cats with clinical signs of gastrointestinal disease and low or low-normal serum cobalamin concentrations. Methods Records for client-owned cats presenting to the small animal hospital with signs of gastrointestinal disease and in which serum cobalamin concentrations were measured from 2000-2013 were reviewed. Inclusion criteria were cobalamin concentrations <500 ng/l, abdominal ultrasound within 1 month of cobalamin testing and definitive diagnosis. Results Of 751 serum cobalamin measurements, hypocobalaminemia or low-normal cobalamin was identified in 270 cats, abdominal ultrasound was performed in 207 of those cats and a diagnosis was available for 75 of them. Small intestinal ultrasound changes were detected in 49/75 (65%) cats. Abnormalities included thickening, loss of wall layer definition, echogenicity alterations and discrete masses. Serum cobalamin concentrations <500 ng/l were observed with diagnoses of inflammatory disease, neoplasia, infectious disease and normal histopathology. Cobalamin concentration was significantly lower in cats with lymphoma or inflammatory bowel disease compared with other gastrointestinal neoplasia ( P = 0.031). No difference was found between cobalamin concentration and the presence of ultrasound abnormalities, specific ultrasound changes or albumin concentration. Conclusions and relevance One-third of symptomatic cats with hypocobalaminemia or low-normal cobalamin concentrations may have an ultrasonographically normal small intestine. For the majority of cats in this study, histopathologic abnormalities were observed in the small intestine, regardless of ultrasound changes. These findings suggest gastrointestinal disease should not be excluded based on low-normal cobalamin concentrations, even with a concurrent normal ultrasound examination. Additional studies are needed in cats with low-normal serum cobalamin concentrations, as a definitive diagnosis was not pursued consistently in those cats. However, data from this study suggest that careful monitoring, histopathologic evaluation and future cobalamin supplementation may be warranted.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26239940/