Spontaneaous linear gastric tears in a cat.

An 11-year-old female cat presented for chronic vomiting. Endoscopy revealed an altered gastric mucosa and spontaneous formation of linear gastric tears during normal organ insufflations. The histopathological diagnosis was atrophic gastritis with Helicobacter pylori infection. Medical treatment permitted a complete resolution of clinical signs. The linear tears observed resembled gastric lesions rarely reported in humans, called "Mallory-Weiss syndrome". To the authors' knowledge this is the first report of spontaneous linear gastric tears in animals.