Retrospective Study of Pneumony by Aelurostrongylus abstrusus in Cats

ABSTRACT

Background: Aelurostrongylus abstrusus is a lungworm of cats with worldwide distribution. The adult forms of this parasite live in terminal bronchioles and alveoli, and can cause an asymptomatic disease or predominantly respiratory clinical signs, which can be occasionally cause of death. The aim of this study is to describe the epidemiological and pathological findings of infection by A. abstrusus through a necropsy retrospective study.Materials, Methods & Results: the necropsy records from the Department of Veterinary Pathology of the Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul were recovered and cats diagnosed with lungworm by Aelurostrongylus abstrusus were selected since January 1998 until December 2015. General data, such as age, sex, breed, clinical signs, and macroscopic lesions, were analyzed and compiled. The histological slides were reviewed by optical microscopy and detailed the microscopic aspects. In this study, were identified 22 cats with varying degrees of lungworm by A. abstrusus, and in 45.5% of the cases, this was the cause of death. Most part of the cats were mixed breed (19/22), and there were no sex predisposition. The age of the cats ranged from four months to 11 years old, and the most frequent age group was three to six years, with nine cases reported. In 37.5% of the cases were reported respiratory clinical signs, such as dyspnea and nasal discharge