A one-month-old, Ragdoll kitten was presented for necropsy at the Texas A&M Veterinary Medical Diagnostic Laboratory (TVMDL) in College Station after passing away subsequent to hospitalization for respiratory illness. The kitten was part of a large commercial breeding operation where multiple kittens were experiencing similar clinical signs.
The gross necropsy findings indicated that the cause of death was due to respiratory failure with associated pulmonary congestion and edema. Acute pneumonia was suspected and confirmed with histologic examination. The bronchopneumonia was exudative and necrotizing, subacute, and severe, indicating a possible bacterial infection.
Bacterial culture of the lung resulted in heavy growth of Escherichia coli. No other organisms were isolated. The cytotoxic necrotizing factor 1 gene (CNF1) was detected in this isolate by PCR testing. The significance of this finding remains unclear as there are only a few case reports discussing CNF1 detected in E. coli isolated from cats and dogs.
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