Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Cat with chronic pus-filled nose discharge had two infections
By Pazzini, Luca et al.·Published in Veterinary clinical pathology·2018·Veterinary Clinic Centro Storico/Altstadt, Italy·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Tritrichomonas foetus and Mycoplasma felis coinfection in the upper respiratory tract of a cat with chronic purulent nasal discharge.
- Species:
- cat
Plain-English summary
A 5-year-old male neutered Siamese cat was brought to the vet for sneezing and a persistent runny nose filled with pus. Tests showed he had a bacterial infection caused by Mycoplasma felis and a protozoal infection from Tritrichomonas foetus in his nasal cavity. The vet treated him with doxycycline and metronidazole, which cleared up his symptoms within two weeks. However, the sneezing and nasal discharge returned after stopping the medication. This case highlights that Tritrichomonas foetus can be involved in nasal infections in cats, especially alongside Mycoplasma felis.
People also search for: cat sneezing and nasal discharge · Siamese cat runny nose treatment · Mycoplasma felis in cats
Abstract
A 5-year-old indoor male neutered Siamese cat was presented with clinical signs of sneezing and chronic bilateral purulent nasal discharge. Multiple nasal cavity swabs were submitted for bacterial cultures, Mycoplasma felis-DNA qPCR, and cytology. M felisqPCR was positive and cytomorphologic diagnosis was severe, acute, purulent, rhinitis with intralesional protozoal microorganisms consistent with a Trichomonas spp. Nested PCR (nPCR) confirmed the diagnosis of Tritrichomonas foetus. Systemic therapy with doxycycline for M felis and metronidazole for T foetus was started with remission of clinical signs within 2 weeks; however, symptoms relapsed shortly after therapy was discontinued. This study represents the first documented case of T foetus associated with chronic nasal discharge in a cat, which supports the hypothesis that T foetus can live in the nasal cavity. It is also the first reported case of M felis and T foetus coinfection, which indicates that with mycoplasmal feline upper respiratory tract infections, T foetus should be considered as a coinfecting agent.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29406595/