Bicavitary effusion in cats: retrospective analysis of signalment, clinical investigations, diagnosis and outcome.

OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to describe the clinical and diagnostic findings and outcome of cats with bicavitary effusion presenting to a referral centre. METHODS: Medical records of cats presenting with bicavitary effusion were identified and their history, physical examination findings, clinicopathological data, diagnostic imaging findings, aetiology of bicavitary effusions (cardiac disease, neoplasia, infectious disease, sterile inflammatory disease, severe hypoalbuminaemia, trauma, coagulopathy or 'open' if no definitive diagnosis was reached) and outcome were recorded. Cox regression analysis was performed to identify independent predictors of death in cats with bicavitary effusion. Kaplan-Meier curves were generated for survival analysis. RESULTS: In total, 103 cats with bicavitary effusion were included. Neoplasia and cardiac disease were the most common aetiologies of bicavitary effusion, in 21 (20.4%) and 20 (19.4%) cats, respectively, followed by infectious disease (n = 11, 10.7%), trauma (n = 13, 12.6%), hypoalbuminaemia (n = 6, 5.8%), sterile inflammatory disease (n = 4, 3.9%) and coagulopathy (n = 1, 1.0%). The median survival time for all cats with bicavitary effusion was 3 days. Cats with a neoplastic aetiology had a 2.03 times greater risk of death compared with cats in which no diagnosis was achieved. Neoplasia (P = 0.030) and pedigree breed status (P = 0.016) were independent predictors of death in the multivariable Cox regression model. CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: This study highlights that bicavitary effusions in cats generally carry a guarded to poor prognosis, particularly if neoplasia is the underlying aetiology or if the cat is a pedigree breed. Cardiac disease appeared to be associated with a better prognosis, suggesting that assessment for congestive heart failure should be considered early when evaluating cats with bicavitary effusion. The prognosis for cats with feline infectious peritonitis is likely to be markedly improved by the advent of novel antiviral drugs, compared with the historical cohort of cats presented here.

Etiologies of nontraumatic feline uveitis in the UK: A retrospective observational study of 72 cats.

Background: Uveitis is a common ophthalmic diagnosis in cats, that can lead to discomfort and loss of vision. Identification of nonidiopathic cases facilitates treatment and could reduce morbidity associated with this condition. Aim: To evaluate etiologies of nontraumatic uveitis in the UK, to compare diagnostic features between idiopathic cases and those with an established underlying etiology, and to investigate the association of clinical signs and abnormal diagnostic findings with a confirmed etiology. Methods: Records of cats diagnosed with uveitis at a UK referral center between August 2009 and April 2018 were retrospectively reviewed, excluding traumatic (and reflex) cases. Cases were categorized based on whether an underlying etiology had been established in cases with confirmed etiology, idiopathic, and inconclusive cases. All cases had a minimum of 12-month follow-up unless an underlying etiology had been established. Population characteristics, clinical signs, diagnostic investigation features, and results were reported. Results: 72 cases of uveitis were included, of which male cats and domestic breeds were overrepresented. An underlying etiology was determined in 23.6% of cases: 9.7% had infectious diseases, 5.6% had systemic neoplasia, 4.2% had primary ocular neoplasia, and 4.2% had metabolic disease. Idiopathic uveitis comprised 37.5% of cases, and the remaining 38.9% were inconclusive, of which 35.7% died or were euthanased within the follow-up period. Among the study population, no significant age difference was found between cats with idiopathic disease or confirmed etiology. The unilateral disease was reported in 56.9% of cases and was not different across the idiopathic cases and confirmed etiology groups. The most common ophthalmic clinical sign was an aqueous flare, followed by keratic precipitates and hypotony. Iris color change (p = 0.015) and the presence of an intraocular mass (p = 0.025) were associated with an underlying etiology. Conclusion: Idiopathic uveitis was found to be the most common diagnosis in this study population. However, a similar proportion of cases had possible underlying etiologies as a high proportion manifested systemic disease within the follow-up time. An underlying etiology could be established only in a quarter of cases. Further studies are required to standardize the investigations required when assessing cats with uveitis to minimize patient morbidity.