Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Treatment options and recovery in cats with aortic blood clots
By Ray, Christopher C et al.·Published in Frontiers in veterinary science·2025·Veterinary Teaching Hospital, United States·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Use of alteplase continuous rate infusion, pentoxifylline, and cyproheptadine in association or not, in acute feline aortic thromboembolism: a study of nine cats.
- Species:
- cat
Plain-English summary
A 9-year-old cat with a serious condition called feline aortic thromboembolism (FATE) was treated with a combination of medications, including tissue plasminogen activator (rtPA), pentoxifylline, and cyproheptadine. All nine cats in the study showed improvement in their ability to move, but only four survived to go home. The treatments helped many cats, but some experienced complications like kidney injury. The results suggest that these medications can be effective for managing FATE in cats, but careful monitoring is needed for potential side effects.
People also search for: cat aortic thromboembolism treatment · cat kidney injury symptoms · feline movement problems medication
Abstract
INTRODUCTION: Locomotion improvement without serious complications is the main goal of treatment for feline aortic thromboembolism (FATE). We aimed to describe the survival and functional recovery of cardiogenic FATE treated with tissue plasminogen activator (rtPA) continuous rate infusion (CRI) and/or pentoxifylline (PTX) and/ or cyproheptadine (CYP), and to identify non-survivor characteristics. METHODS: This is a retrospective, bicentric case series. Inclusion criteria were cardiogenic FATE cats receiving any of the medications described. Proportions of locomotion recovery, survival to discharge, reperfusion injury (RI) and acute kidney injury (AKI) were described. Admission and outcome characteristics were compared between survivors and non-survivors. RESULTS: Nine cats were identified, 8/9 (88.9%) with bilateral FATE. Median age was 8.2 years (5.3-12.5). Median weight was 5.3 kg (4.1-7.1). Admission rectal temperature, affected limb lactate, creatinine and potassium were 36.9°C (35.4-38.8), 14.2 mmol/L (7.1-18.8), 114.9 umol/L (53-185.6) and 3.7 mmol/L (3.5-44.), respectively. No significant differences were found between survivors and non-survivors for relevant admission characteristics. Seven (77.8%) cats received tPA-CRI, 7/9 (77.8%) cats received pentoxifylline and 5/9 (55.6%) cats received cyproheptadine. Three (33.3%) cats received monotherapy (two rtPA-CRI, one PTX), 2/9 (22.2%) cats received dual therapy (one rtPA-CRI/PTX, one PTX/ CYP) and 4/9 (44.4%) cats received triple therapy. All study cats (100%) had an improvement in locomotion, and 4/9 (44.4%) survived to discharge. Reperfusion injury and AKI were documented in 3/9 (33.3%) and 4/9 (44.4%) of cats, respectively. Non-survivors had a greater proportion of AKI than survivors (4/5 (80%) and 0/4 (0%), respectively). No other outcome characteristics were different between survivors and non-survivors. DISCUSSION: rtPA CRI, PTX and/or CYP could be considered for treatment of FATE.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40420956/