Kitten mortality in the United Kingdom: a retrospective analysis of 274 histopathological examinations (1986 to 2000)

Abstract

The postmortem findings in 274 kittens were reviewed. The kittens were grouped by age at death: perinatal (< one day), neonatal (one to 14 days), preweaning (15 to 34 days) and postweaning (35 to 112 days); 203 (74 per cent) of the kittens were postweaning and 38 (14 per cent) were preweaning. Infectious disease was identified in 55 per cent of the kittens, and 71 per cent of the infectious disease was viral and detected significantly more frequently in rescue shelter kittens than in kittens from private homes. Twenty-five per cent of all kitten mortality was due to feline parvovirus (FPV). During the neonatal and preweaning periods, the main viral infections were feline herpesvirus and calicivirus. Feline infectious peritonitis caused the death of 17 kittens in the postweaning period. The rescue shelter kittens were significantly younger than the kittens from private homes (median survival 49 and 56 days) and were more likely to have FPV. The non-pedigree kittens were significantly younger than the pedigree kittens (42 v 56 days), and the pedigree kittens were significantly less likely to originate from rescue shelters. There was no significant difference between the age distribution of the male and female kittens. No diagnosis could be found in 33 per cent of the kittens, and this failure was correlated significantly with the submission of tissue samples as opposed to the whole carcase.

In Situ Molecular Diagnosis and Histopathological Characterization of EnteroadherentEnterococcus hiraeInfection in Pre-Weaning-Age Kittens

“…Enteritis is second only to the specific diagnosis of feline parvovirus infection as the most common cause of kitten mortality identified by histopathology-based studies (2). Aside from viral, protozoal, and helminthic causes of enteritis, the bacterial culprits of diarrhea are particularly problematic to identify.…”

Mortality in Kittens Is Associated with a Shift in Ileum Mucosa-Associated Enterococci from Enterococcus hirae to Biofilm-Forming Enterococcus faecalis and Adherent Escherichia coli

“…While the exact statistics are unknown, ϳ15% of kittens fostered by these shelters die or are euthanized because of illness before they reach 8 weeks of age (2)(3)(4)(5)(6)). An obvious cause of illness is unknown in as many as 20% of these kittens (3); however, the majority of them are reported to have clinical signs of diarrhea (3,7) or postmortem evidence of enteritis at the time of death (8).…”

A clinical report of entangled neonates' umbilical cord with queen's fur in Persian cat

“…Fading kitten syndrome includes noninfectious and infectious causes for neonatal death and rates differ in different breeding systems [4,25] . Typical time periods of losses are at birth (still birth), and perinatal period.…”