Duplex gall bladder associated with choledocholithiasis, cholecystitis, gall bladder rupture and septic peritonitis in a cat

Abstract

A 10-year-old cat was presented with a history of inappetence, pyrexia and weight loss. Clinical investigations showed anaemia, hyperbilirubinaemia, septic peritonitis and a double gall bladder with choleliths in an extrahepatic duct. Initial medical stabilisation was performed. At laparotomy, a duplex gall bladder with two separate cystic ducts was identified. The left gall bladder was thickened and had ruptured at the apex. Multiple choleliths were identified in the left cystic duct. The right gall bladder and cystic duct were grossly normal. The ruptured gall bladder was repaired, the gallstones were removed via a choledochotomy of the left cystic duct and a choledochoduodenostomy was created from the dilated left cystic duct. The cat remained depressed and anorexic, and it was euthanased 72 hours postoperatively at the owners' request. This is the first ante-mortem investigation of extrahepatic biliary disease associated with gall bladder duplication in the cat.