Washing machine-induced trauma and coagulopathy in a kitten.

Abstract

A 4-month-old intact male Siamese cat was presented immediately after being found in a washing machine following 30 min of a cold-water wash cycle. The kitten demonstrated clinical signs of shock, respiratory distress, hypothermia, coagulopathy, traumatic brain injury, and ocular injury. Resuscitation and treatment involving IV fluid therapy, hyperosmotic agents, oxygen supplementation, antifibrinolytics, a plasma transfusion, antioxidant medications, broad-spectrum antibiotics, analgesics, topical ophthalmic medications, and intensive nursing care were required. The kitten was discharged 5 d after hospitalization and was reported to be neurologically normal at 11 mo after the incident. This case highlights the many clinical syndromes that may manifest with washing-machine entrapment, as well as the potential for a positive outcome. Key clinical message: Clinical descriptions of cats undergoing or surviving washing-machine entrapment and their resulting injuries are rare, as are reports of traumatic coagulopathies. This report describes clinical conditions of traumatic brain injury, suspected traumatic coagulopathy, and other injuries in a kitten after accidental entrapment within a washing machine. To the authors' knowledge, this is the first report of a cat surviving an extended washing-machine cycle with development of coagulopathy.