Feline coronavirus-associated myocarditis in a domestic longhair cat

Ernandes, Maria A; Cantoni, Anna M; Armando, Federico; Corradi, Attilio; Ressel, Lorenzo; Tamborini, Alice

By the following day, the respiratory rate and pattern normalised and therefore furosemide was administered subcutaneously at a dose of 1 mg/kg q12h. Owing to the suspicion of cardiac-related dyspnoea, an echocardiography was performed and revealed left ventricular hypertrophy and bilateral atrial enlargement. Congestive heart failure (CHF) owing to hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) was considered most likely. Nevertheless, the cat started developing four-limb ataxia and weakness. A complete neurological examination was therefore carried out, which revealed ataxia and hypermetric gait on all four limbs and a mild decreased menace reflex bilaterally. Based on the findings, a cerebellar lesion was suspected. An ophthalmic evaluation revealed bilateral uveitis with anterior chamber opacity (worse on the left eye); on examination of the fundus, retinal blood vessel oedema was evident.