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Enterococcus hirae Enteropathy with Ascending Cholangitis and Pancreatitis in a Kitten

Abstract

A 2-month-old female Persian cat that had been showing episodes of anorexia and diarrhea for the previous 4 weeks was presented in shock and died 2 days later. Numerous Gram-positive cocci were located along the brush border of small intestinal villi, without significant inflammatory infiltration. Similar bacteria were present within hepatic bile ducts and pancreatic ducts and were associated with suppurative inflammation and exfoliation of epithelial cells. Culture of the liver and lung yielded bacteria identified as Enterococcus hirae. Fecal culture from an asymptomatic adult female from the same cattery also yielded large numbers of E. hirae. To our knowledge, this is the first report of E. hirae enteropathy in a cat and the first report of ascending cholangitis and ductal pancreatitis caused by an Enterococcus spp.

Key words: Cats; bacterial infections; Enterococcus; enteritis; hepatitis; pancreatitis.

Request reprints from J. M. Lapointe, Département de Pathologie et Microbiologie, Faculté de Médecine Vétérinaire, 3200 Sicotte, St-Hyacinthe, Québec, Canada, J2S 7C6. E-mail: lapoije{at}medvet.umontreal.ca