No abstract

Cats with newly diagnosed diabetes mellitus had a fair to good prognosis. High serum creatinine concentration at diagnosis was associated with a poor outcome, likely because of the adverse effects of renal dysfunction. Ketoacidosis apparently was not associated with decreased survival time, suggesting that this complication should not necessarily be regarded as unfavorable.

No abstract

A 12-year-old, mixed-breed domestic cat was diagnosed with a multicystic hepatic mass via ultrasonographic examination and computer tomography scan. The tumor associated with the left medial liver lobe, and connected by a thin stalk to the hilar region, was surgically removed. The mass was firm, encapsulated, mottled white to red black, multinodular, and cystic. Histologic diagnosis was carcinosarcoma supported by positive immunohistochemistry for cytokeratins and vimentin of atypical neoplastic cell populations. On the basis of morphology, the origin was considered to be in the biliary tract. Biliary carcinosarcoma is a rare neoplasm that occurs in people. The epidemiology and risk factors have not yet been determined, and the prognosis is poor except for cases in which curative resection is performed.

Systemic AA-amyloidosis is a protein-misfolding disease that is characterized by fibril deposition of serum amyloid-A protein (SAA) in several organs in humans and many animal species. Fibril deposits originate from abnormally high serum levels of SAA during chronic inflammation. In domestic short-hair cats, AA-amyloidosis has only been anecdotally reported and is considered a rare disease. Here we report that an astonishing 57-73% of early deceased short-hair cats kept in three independent shelters suffer from amyloid deposition in the liver, spleen, or kidney. Histopathology and mass spectrometry of post-mortem extracted deposits identified SAA as the major protein source. The duration of stay in the shelters was positively associated with a histological score of AA-amyloidosis (B=0.026, CI95%=0.007-0.046; p=0.010). Presence of SAA fragments in bile secretions raises the possibility of fecal-oral transmission of the disease.