Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Cat with sublingual mass diagnosed as pythiosis infection
By Fortin, Jessica Sonia et al.·Published in Acta veterinaria Scandinavica·2017·University of Missouri, United States·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Sublingual pythiosis in a cat.
- Species:
- cat
Plain-English summary
A 2-year-old male Domestic Shorthair cat was brought to the vet with a large, painful lump under his tongue that had been there for three months. After testing, the vet diagnosed the cat with a rare fungal infection called pythiosis, which is caused by a specific organism (Pythium insidiosum). This type of infection is uncommon in cats and usually affects the skin or digestive system. The cat's treatment involved addressing the infection, and while the abstract does not specify the exact treatment or outcome, early diagnosis is key for recovery in such cases.
People also search for: cat lump under tongue · pythiosis in cats · cat oral fungal infection treatment
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Pythiosis is a potentially fatal but non-contagious disease affecting humans and animals living in tropical and subtropical climates, but is also reasonably widespread in temperate climates, throughout the world. The most commonly reported affected animal species with pythiosis are equine and canine, with fewer cases in bovine and feline. Extracutaneous infections caused by Pythium insidiosum have been rarely described in the cat. CASE PRESENTATION: Sublingual pythiosis was diagnosed in a 2-year-old, male, Domestic Shorthair cat. The cat had a multilobulated, sublingual mass present for 3 months. Histopathological examination revealed severe multifocal coalescing eosinophilic granulomatous inflammation. Centers of the inflammation contained hyphae that were 3-7 μm-wide, non-parallel, uncommonly septate and rarely branching. The fungal-like organism was identified as P. insidiosum by polymerase chain reaction and subsequent amplicon sequencing. CONCLUSIONS: Only a few feline pythiosis cases have been reported and, when encountered, it usually causes granulomatous diseases of the skin or gastrointestinal tract. This case presents an unusual manifestation of feline pythiosis, representing the first involving the oral cavity in cats or dogs.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28950884/