Diagnosing and Managing Feline Mycobacterial Infections

Presentation Description / Summary: Mycobacterial infections in cats are increasingly recognized throughout many parts of the world, including the United States. Mycobacteria can be divided into two groups: the non-tuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) and the Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex. Feline mycobacterioses present veterinarians with a conundrum. An overlap in the clinical presentation of the disease, regardless of which species of mycobacteria is involved, can make definitive diagnosis challenging. Since different species of mycobacteria vary in terms of the zoonotic risk they carry, as well as optimal antibiotic treatment selection and prognosis, accurate diagnosis, species identification and antimicrobial susceptibility are fundamental clinical priorities. This presentation will discuss mycobacterial infections in cats with particular focus on mycobacterium avium complex (MAC) infection as well as some of the most common rapid growing Mycobacterium spp. as well as less common species of mycobacteria in cats such as M. kansasii and M. farcinogenes. This lecture will show different clinical presentation of mycobacterial diseases in cats and will discuss diagnostic methods for mycobacterial infections as well as treatment options for cats with mycobacterial infections. Administration of immunosuppressive drugs could also predispose cats to mycobacterial infections and recently a disseminated MAC infection was reported in a cat on long-term therapy with cyclosporine and this lecture will discuss the risks of immunosuppressive agents and development of mycobacterial infections in cats.