Abstract
Simple SummaryInfections caused by lungworms are an emerging issue in feline medicine. Clinical features in cats may vary from subclinical infections to a severe disease, occasionally including fatal pneumonia, depending on different factors, e.g., lungworm species, parasitic burden, and age of the animal. A case of infection caused by Aelurostrongylus abstrusus in a domestic kitten presenting acute dyspnoea and ascites is presented here. Clinical, radiological, echocardiographic, parasitological, molecular, and pathological data are described. This is the first report of life-threatening pulmonary hypertension inducing congestive heart failure caused by A. abstrusus infection in a domestic kitten.Aelurostrongylus abstrusus is considered the most important respiratory nematode of domestic cats worldwide. This parasite inhabits the alveoli, alveolar ducts, and bronchioles and causes a subacute to chronic respiratory clinical disease. Clinical signs may occur in domestic cats of any age, though they are more often described in young animals. Physical examination, echocardiography, thoracic radiography, pulmonary and cardiac pathological findings, classical, and molecular parasitological analysis of a six-month-old kitten referred at the Veterinary Teaching Hospital of the University of Pisa (Italy) led to a diagnosis of parasitic bronchopneumonia caused by A. abstrusus, which was complicated by severe pulmonary hypertension (PH) and right-sided congestive heart failure (R-CHF) that caused the death of the animal. Cases of reversible PH associated with A. abstrusus infection have been seldom reported in cats. This is the first report of fatal PH and R-CHF in a kitten with clinical aelurostrongylosis.
Highlights
The cosmopolitan metastrongylid Aelurostrongylus abstrusus, known as the “cat lungworm”, is the most prevalent respiratory nematode of the domestic cat [1,2]
This study describes the first report of severe and life-threatening pulmonary hypertension (PH) inducing right-sided congestive heart failure (R-CHF) caused by A. abstrusus in a domestic kitten
The analysis of the abdominal effusion indicated a modified transudate. All these findings were consistent with severe pre-capillary PH and R-CHF
Summary
The cosmopolitan metastrongylid Aelurostrongylus abstrusus, known as the “cat lungworm”, is the most prevalent respiratory nematode of the domestic cat [1,2]. This respiratory nematode infects cats of all ages, regardless of their habitat, lifestyle, breed, or gender [2,3]. In Europe, infection rates vary widely from 1.2% in owned to 50% in free roaming cats [2]. A. abstrusus has been recorded with rates from 0.08% in client-owned to 5.1% in shelter cats in North. Kittens may acquire the infection through the ingestion of tissues of preys offered or regurgitated by the queen during the weaning period [1,9]
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