Uroliths composed of antiviral compound GS-441524 in 2 cats undergoing treatment for feline infectious peritonitis.

Feline infectious peritonitis (FIP) historically has been a fatal disease in cats. Recent unlicensed use of antiviral medication has been shown to markedly improve survival of this infection. An 8-month-old female spayed domestic short-haired cat undergoing treatment for presumptive FIP with the antiviral nucleoside analog GS-441524 developed acute progressive azotemia. Abdominal ultrasound examination identified multifocal urolithiasis including renal, ureteral, and cystic calculi. Unilateral ureteral obstruction progressed to suspected bilateral ureteral obstruction and subcutaneous ureteral bypass (SUB) was performed along with urolith removal and submission for analysis. A 2-year-old male neutered domestic medium-haired cat undergoing treatment for confirmed FIP with GS-441524 developed dysuria (weak urine stream, urinary incontinence, and difficulty expressing the urinary bladder). This cat also was diagnosed sonographically with multifocal urolithiasis requiring temporary tube cystostomy after cystotomy and urolith removal. In both cases, initial urolith analysis showed unidentified material. Additional testing confirmed the calculi in both cats to be 98% consistent with GS-441524. Additional clinical studies are required to determine best screening practices for cats presented for urolithiasis during treatment with GS-441524.

Orchitis in a cat associated with coronavirus infection.

A case of severe, pyogranulomatous and necrotizing orchitis in a cat, which later succumbed to systemic feline infectious peritonitis (FIP), is described. The 3.5-year-old cat, positive for feline immunodeficiency virus infection, presented with a left testicular enlargement. A few months after castration the animal was humanely destroyed due to declining health. Post-mortem examination revealed inflammatory lesions in abdominal organs and in the brain compatible with FIP. Infection was confirmed with a reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction test and by immunohistochemical demonstration of coronavirus antigen in the affected tissues, including the left testicle. FIP is usually a systemic disease. However, lesions and presenting clinical signs in a single organ system such as the brain are not uncommon. The results of this case study indicate that orchitis, although rare, should be on the list of lesions of FIP.