Feline Red Blood Cell Parasites
iTasker S, Peters IR, Papasouliotis K, et al. Description of outcomes of experimental infection with feline haemoplasmas: copy numbers, haematology, Coombs' testing and blood glucose concentrations. Vet Microbiol. Nov 18 2009;139(3-4):323-332./ibr / br / Feline hemoplasma infections are caused by three separate organisms that infect red blood cells, but only one of these, iMycoplasma haemofelis/i, causes hemolysis with significant disease. However, investigation of clinical parameters following experimental infection with each of the three organisms has not been done. The investigators studied ten cats infected with iMycoplasma haemofelis/i (“HF” group), three cats infected with candidatus iM. haemominutum/i (“HM” group), and three cats infected with candidatus iM. turicensis/i (“TU” group). The cats were followed for 85 days post infection. Using quantitative PCR, they found the TU cats had significantly lower amounts of organisms in their blood than the other groups, and were negative for the organism by 45 days after infection. All HF cats developed significant anemias. While HM and TU group cats did not have anemia or clinical signs, both groups experienced a drop in red blood cell levels for the first three weeks post infection. Only the HF cats had positive results on the Coombs assay, indicating the presence of antibodies to red blood cells. Severe hypoglycemia has been reported in some animals other than cats following hemoplasma infections. In this study, blood glucose levels for all three groups remained in the normal range. While the size of the groups was small, particularly the HM and TU groups, this study does demonstrate the increased pathogenicity of iM. haemofelis/i compared to the other hemoplasmas. [MK]br / a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19615832?itool=EntrezSystem2.PEntrez.Pubmed.Pubmed_ResultsPanel.Pubmed_RVDocSumordinalpos=1"PubMed Abstract/abr / br / bRelated articles:/bbr / Peters IR, Helps CR, Willi B, Hofmann-Lehmann R, Tasker S. The prevalence of three species of feline haemoplasmas in samples submitted to a diagnostics service as determined by three novel real-time duplex PCR assays. Vet Microbiol. 2008;126(1-3):142-150.br / a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17689890?itool=EntrezSystem2.PEntrez.Pubmed.Pubmed_ResultsPanel.Pubmed_RVDocSumordinalpos=5"PubMed Abstract/abr / br / Sykes JE, Terry JC, Lindsay LL, Owens SD. Prevalences of various hemoplasma species among cats in the United States with possible hemoplasmosis. J Am Vet Med Assoc. Feb 1 2008;232(3):372-379.br / a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18241101?itool=EntrezSystem2.PEntrez.Pubmed.Pubmed_ResultsPanel.Pubmed_RVDocSumordinalpos=4"PubMed Abstract/abr / br / More on cat health: a href="http://www.winnfelinehealth.org/Health.html"Winn Feline Foundation Library/abr / a href="http://www.facebook.com/WinnFelineFoundation"Join us on Facebook/abr / a href="http://www.twitter.com/WinnFeline"Follow us on Twitter/adiv class="blogger-post-footer"Providing expert cat health information and supporting cat health research since 1968.img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1170470470666539402-9045854499563337729?l=winnfelinehealth.blogspot.com' alt='' //divdiv class="feedflare" a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/CatHealthNewsFromTheWinnFelineFoundation?a=IAzfbAiOAZU:pfFdQezeph4:yIl2AUoC8zA"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/CatHealthNewsFromTheWinnFelineFoundation?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/CatHealthNewsFromTheWinnFelineFoundation?a=IAzfbAiOAZU:pfFdQezeph4:UT3xtbGYFzA"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/CatHealthNewsFromTheWinnFelineFoundation?d=UT3xtbGYFzA" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/CatHealthNewsFromTheWinnFelineFoundation?a=IAzfbAiOAZU:pfFdQezeph4:qj6IDK7rITs"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/CatHealthNewsFromTheWinnFelineFoundation?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/CatHealthNewsFromTheWinnFelineFoundation?a=IAzfbAiOAZU:pfFdQezeph4:F7zBnMyn0Lo"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/CatHealthNewsFromTheWinnFelineFoundation?i=IAzfbAiOAZU:pfFdQezeph4:F7zBnMyn0Lo" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/CatHealthNewsFromTheWinnFelineFoundation?a=IAzfbAiOAZU:pfFdQezeph4:V_sGLiPBpWU"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/CatHealthNewsFromTheWinnFelineFoundation?i=IAzfbAiOAZU:pfFdQezeph4:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/CatHealthNewsFromTheWinnFelineFoundation?a=IAzfbAiOAZU:pfFdQezeph4:oCFASsrFxfc"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/CatHealthNewsFromTheWinnFelineFoundation?d=oCFASsrFxfc" border="0"/img/a /divimg src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/CatHealthNewsFromTheWinnFelineFoundation/~4/IAzfbAiOAZU" height="1" width="1"/Pradofloxacin for Feline Infectious Anemia
February 26th, 2009 | Comments Off | Posted in Mycoplasma haemofelis, anemia, doxycycline, pradofloxacin
Dowers, K. L., S. Tasker, et al. (2009). "Use of pradofloxacin to treat experimentally induced Mycoplasma hemofelis infection in cats." Am J Vet Res 70(1): 105-11.Mycoplasma hemofelis, formerly known as Hemobartonella felis, is the causative agent of feline infectious anemia. The bacterium is spread through flea bites and causes hemolytic anemia that may result in the death of infected cats. It is believed that most infected cats do not clear the organisms even with appropriate antimicrobial treatment, which most commonly is doxycycline. Pradofloxacin is a new fluoroquinolone antibiotic for veterinary use that appears to have increased effectiveness against many bacteria. In this study, treatment of cats infected with M. hemofelis with doxycycline was compared to low and high doses of pradofloxacin. All treatment regimens were equally effective in improving the clinical condition and blood parameters of infected cats. When assessed by molecular detection for clearance of the organism, both low and high dose pradofloxacin were effective, while none of the doxycycline-treated animals completely cleared detectable organisms. The authors concluded that pradofloxacin not only had anti-M. hemofelis effects, it may be more effective at long term M. hemofelis organism clearance than doxycycline.
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Related articles:
Willi, B., F. S. Boretti, et al. (2007). "From Haemobartonella to hemoplasma: Molecular methods provide new insights." Vet Microbiol 125(3-4): 197-209.
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Ishak, A. M., K. L. Dowers, et al. (2008). "Marbofloxacin for the treatment of experimentally induced Mycoplasma haemofelis infection in cats." J Vet Intern Med 22(2): 288-92.
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Oxyglobin Use in Cats
Weingart, C. and B. Kohn (2008). "Clinical use of a haemoglobin-based oxygen carrying solution (Oxyglobin®) in 48 cats (2002-2006)." Journal of Feline Medicine & Surgery 10(5): 431-438.Blood transfusions are an important component of critical care for anemia in cats, and may be required for various reasons, such as hemolysis or blood loss. While safe and effective, blood transfusions are labour-intensive, requiring typing and cross-matching of donor and recipient. Oxyglobin® (Biopure Corp) is a chemically stabilized hemoglobin in a balanced salt solution intended for intravenous use. It is licensed for treatment of anemia in dogs. Administration of Oxyglobin is less time-consuming than blood transfusion, and the solution can be stored for years, unlike blood products. There is minimal risk of transmission of infectious diseases. While numerous studies have been published on the use of Oxyglobin in dogs, there is little in the veterinary literature regarding the use of the product in cats. The objective of this study was to evaluate Oxyglobin infusions administered to cats between November 2002 and December 2006 at the Clinic for Small Animals of the Free University of Berlin regarding indication, number of infusions, infusion volume, side effects, and survival rate. During the study period, 48 cats received 65 Oxyglobin transfusions. Administration of Oxyglobin efficiently increased the hemoglobin concentration in the majority of tranfusions. However, severe side effects were noted in seven cats with cardiac disease, such as pulmonary edema, pleural effusion, and respiratory distress. Four of the seven cats received whole blood transfusions on the same day; five cats died and one was euthanized. Overall 24-hour survival rate was 77%. The researchers concluded that Oxyglobin is efficient and safe for treatment of anemia in cats, but the volume and rate of the infusion have to be carefully adjusted to the patient. Oxyglobin should be given very cautiously to cats with cardiac (or respiratory) diseases.
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Related articles:
Callan, M. B. and V. T. Rentko (2003). "Clinical application of a hemoglobin-based oxygen-carrying solution." Vet Clin North Am Small Anim Pract 33(6): 1277-93, vi.
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Gibson, G., M. Callan, et al. (2002). "Use of a hemoglobin-based oxygen-carrying solution in cats: 72 cases (1998-2000)." J Amer Vet Med Assoc 221(1): 96-102.
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