A 13‐year‐old female neutered domestic short‐hair cat was presented with chronic progressive vestibular ataxia, lethargy and anorexia. Clinical examination revealed bilateral mucopurulent nasal discharge. Neurological examination revealed obtundation, a right head tilt, ambulatory tetraparesis, generalised vestibular ataxia, decreased postural reactions in all limbs, right Horner's syndrome, spontaneous conjugate jerk rotatory nystagmus and right positional ventral strabismus. Neuroanatomical localisation was observed in the right central vestibular system. Computed tomography revealed a solitary ill‐defined contrast‐enhancing mass lesion at the level of the right cerebellopontine angle. Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) analysis revealed mild mononuclear pleocytosis and fungal elements. CSF culture was positive for Curvularia spp. Further tests for underlying diseases were all negative. The cat was treated with antibiotic and antifungal treatment, but it deteriorated rapidly and was euthanased. Necropsy of the brainstem mass lesion revealed pyogranulomatous inflammation. Panfungal polymerase chain reaction (PCR) targeting the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region and subsequent sequencing identified Curvularia lunata in the formalin fixed brain tissue. This is the first report of brainstem phaeohyphomycosis by Curvularia lunata (Pleosporales) in a cat. In addition, this is the first report among animal and humans where fungal elements of Curvularia lunata were found in the CSF cytology. Opportunistic fungal pathogens should be always considered within the differential diagnoses list in cats with neurological signs and advanced imaging findings compatible with solitary mass lesions in the brain. In feline patients with pyogranulomatous meningoencephalitis and a suspicion of a fungal aetiology, panfungal PCR for the ITS region and sequencing should be performed regardless of the absence of fungal elements in histopathology.

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Predicting survival in dogs with parvoviral enteritis with urine biomarkers Discussion: So far only two studies have been published regarding urinary protein excretion in dogs with parvoviral enteritis (van den Berg et al 2018, Oikonomidis et al 2019), and none regarding fractional excretion of electrolytes and ferritin concentrations. The study of Oikonomidis et al (2019) focused on urine albumin and albumin/Creatinine ratio, and that of van den Berg et al ( 2018) included urinary immunoglobulin G, C-reactive protein, RBP and neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin, all of which including UPC were significantly higher in infected dogs compared to healthy controls, however the value of these parameters regarding outcome was not investigated. In a group of dogs with SIRS due to varying pathologies, it was shown that UPC and RBP/Creatinine ratios were higher compared to healthy controls (Schaefer et al 2011), and in a group of dogs with AKI it was found that nonsurvivors had increased FE of electrolytes (Troia et al 2018). Further studies are required in order to evaluate the predictive value of the parameters in our study in parvoviral enteritis and sepsis, however results seem promising regarding RBP/Creatinine ratio and FE. Objectives:The aim of this prospective study was to predict survival to discharge in dogs with parvoviral enteritis by measuring certain biomarkers in urine.

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A 3 year-old, spayed female, mixed-breed dog presented with abdominal distension due to a large mass, detected during abdominal palpation and confirmed by abdominal imaging. Cytological examination of the mass was suggestive of pyogranulomatous inflammation. During exploratory laparotomy, extensive peritoneal adhesions and multifocal nodular lesions on the liver, spleen and omentum were revealed. One week later, the dog deteriorated and was euthanized. Numerous firm masses were observed in the liver, spleen, left kidney, stomach, small and large intestine during necropsy. The lungs, heart, and ocular structures were macroscopically normal. Histopathology results (surgery and necropsy) revealed fungal hyphae enclosed in the pyogranulomatous lesions. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) products showed 100% homology with Aspergillus fumigatus and agar gel double diffusion was positive for IgG antibodies against the same fungus.