Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Feline haemoplasma infection rates in northern Italy cats
By Gentilini, Fabio et al.·Published in Journal of feline medicine and surgery·2009·Veterinary Clinical Department, Italy·View original on PubMed →
PetCaseFinder translated the abstract of this peer-reviewed paper into plain English so pet owners can read it. We do not publish original research — every detail traces back to the citation above. How we work →
Original publication title: Use of combined conventional and real-time PCR to determine the epidemiology of feline haemoplasma infections in northern Italy.
- Species:
- cat
Plain-English summary
A study found that nearly 19% of cats tested in northern Italy had infections from a type of bacteria called haemoplasmas, which can affect their blood. Cats with feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV) were more likely to be infected, especially during the summer months when the risk of transmission is higher. Infected cats showed signs of anemia, including lower red blood cell counts and hemoglobin levels. If your cat is showing symptoms like weakness or pale gums, it’s important to talk to your vet about testing for haemoplasma infections and potential treatments.
People also search for: cat anemia symptoms · feline haemoplasma treatment · why is my cat weak · cat blood test results · FIV and cat infections
Abstract
Although knowledge of feline haemotropic mycoplasmas (haemoplasmas) has dramatically improved in recent years, some issues still remain to be elucidated. The aim of the current study was to evaluate the prevalence of feline haemoplasma infections in blood samples collected from cats in northern Italy. A convenience-sample of 307 cats (40 anaemic; 258 non-anaemic; nine with unknown haematocrit [HCT]) was investigated using polymerase chain reaction assays. Furthermore, the date of blood collection, signalment and clinicopathological data were retrospectively evaluated to assess predictors and risk factors for infection. Haemoplasma infections were highly prevalent in the sample investigated with an overall prevalence of 18.9% (95% confidence interval: 14.5-23.3%). The prevalence for the three feline haemoplasmas was 17.3% for 'Candidatus Mycoplasma haemominutum' (CMhm), 5.9% for Mycoplasma haemofelis (Mhf) and 1.3% for 'Candidatus Mycoplasma turicensis' (CMt). Feline immunodeficiency virus-positive status represented a risk factor for infection with an odds ratio of 4.19 (P=0.02). Moreover, a higher prevalence was observed in summer (odds ratio 1.78; P=0.04) which may be consistent with arthropod-borne disease transmission. Cats infected with Mhf showed significantly lower HCT (P=0.03), haemoglobin values (P=0.02) and red blood cell counts (P=0.04), lower mean corpuscular haemoglobin concentration (P<0.01) and higher white blood cell counts (P<0.01) when compared with non-infected cats.
Find similar cases for your pet
PetCaseFinder finds other peer-reviewed reports of pets with the same symptoms, plus a plain-English summary of what was tried across them.
Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18790658/