Prevalence and type of ocular disease in a population of aged captive nondomestic felids.

OBJECTIVES: Report of prevalence and type of ocular disease in a captive population of nondomestic felids. METHODS: Medical records of 202 cats from 1993 to 2018 were reviewed. Species, age at diagnosis, sex, ocular examination abnormalities, systemic/physical examination abnormalities, type of examination (visual, sedated, or anesthetized), ocular structures affected, other diagnostics, therapy, and resolution of ocular disease were recorded. RESULTS: A total of 202 nondomestic felids including 18 different species (bobcat, caracal, cougar, Fishing cat, Geoffroy's cat, jaguar, jungle cat, leopard, leopard cat, liger, lion, lynx, ocelot, Sand cat, Savannah cat, serval, snow leopard, and tiger) from a rescue facility were evaluated. Forty-six ocular lesions were diagnosed in 33 (16.3%) cats from 8 different species (bobcat, caracal, cougar, leopard, lion, ocelot, serval, and tiger) with a mean age of 16 ± 5.9 years at time of diagnosis. Ocular lesions included corneal disease (37%) (ulcerations, perforations, keratitis, corneal scars), cataracts (23.9%), hyphema (8.7%), lens luxation (6.5%), retinal detachment (6.5%), uveitis (4.3%), conjunctival disease (4.3%), retinal degeneration (2.1%), glaucoma (2.1%), and optic neuritis (2.1%). Therapies included medical (topical antibiotics, anti-inflammatories, serum, etc.) and/or surgical management (enucleation, intracapsular lens extraction, corneoconjunctival transposition, and corneal burr debridement). CONCLUSIONS: To the authors' knowledge, this is the first report of the prevalence of ocular disease in a population of captive nondomestic felids. It is difficult to diagnose and treat ocular disease in nondomestic cats due to challenges related to handling, diagnostics, and therapeutics in nondomestic species. Ocular disease seen in this population is similar to that found in domestic cat populations.

Idiopathic sclerosing orbital pseudotumor in seven cats.

OBJECTIVE: To review the clinical presentation and histopathologic findings on a series of cats with orbital fibrotic disease and compare the data to that of humans with sclerosing orbital pseudotumor. ANIMALS: A retrospective study was undertaken, which identified tissue samples from seven cats between 1997 and 2002 with a history of orbital mass effect and pathology characterized by fibrous tissue proliferation. PROCEDURE: Information was obtained from medical records for affected cats, including age, sex, clinical signs, management, and outcome, with histopathology re-examined. RESULTS: Six of seven cats presented with unilateral orbital involvement that progressed to bilateral orbital disease despite treatment. Onset was insidious, evolving over weeks to months and was associated with fixation of orbital structures. Owners of six of the cats opted for euthanasia because of disease progression and pain. Histopathology of affected orbital tissue included extensive fibrosis with encapsulation of normal tissues without characteristics of neoplasia. CONCLUSIONS: Clinical findings and histopathology of globes and orbital tissues in cats bore many similarities to idiopathic sclerosing orbital pseudotumor in humans. In cats, the prognosis for the globe appears to be poor but an elucidation of the pathogenesis and earlier diagnosis coupled with more aggressive treatment modalities as indicated in humans may be beneficial.