Jaundice in cats: Causes and post-mortem findings in 44 cases

Abstract

The aim of this study was to describe the pathological findings and causes of jaundice in 44 cats (Felis catus) over a six-year period. The cats were from two Brazilian metropolitan areas: 34.1% were female, 56.8% were male, and 9.1% had no information regarding their sex. Their ages ranged from 6 months to 13 years. Most of the cats examined were of a mixed breed (40/44), whereas the others were Angora (2/44), Oriental Short Hair (1/44) and Persian (1/44). All animals had mild to marked jaundice, and 39 were diagnosed with mild to marked anemia. The classification of icterus types (pre-hepatic, hepatic and post-hepatic) was based on gross and microscopic findings. Of the 44 animals, 10 were classified as pre-hepatic icterus, 33 with hepatic icterus and seven with post-hepatic icterus. In some cats, two types of icterus were found, of which five were classified as pre-hepatic and hepatic icterus, and one case was hepatic and post-hepatic icterus. According to the gross and microscopic findings, the cause of pre-hepatic icterus was idiopathic hemolytic anemia. The most frequent cause of hepatic icterus was hepatic lipidosis (26/44), followed by perihepatitis and hepatitis compatible with feline infectious peritonitis, lymphoma, glycogenic degeneration, cholangiocarcinoma and metastatic myeloid leukemia. In animals with post-hepatic icterus, the causes included cholangitis due to Platynosomum spp. infection, cholangioma of the common hepatic duct, and chronic cholangitis. Understanding the etiopathogenesis of jaundice requires an accurate clinic-pathological study and concomitant causes of the disease in cats should be considered.