2015 ACVIM Forum Research Abstract Program

The results of this study show that the FIP Virus RealPCR Test can be used to confirm the diagnosis of FIP in clinically suspect cats but that the sensitivity of the test appears to be highly dependent on the specimen submitted. Whole blood was the specimen least likely to provide a positive biotype result. Abdominal effusion specimens had a moderate sensitivity. Testing of pleural effusion specimens, tissue aspirates and biopsy samples (especially of spleen, omentum and mesenteric lymph nodes) provided the highest likelihood of a positive biotyping result. Anaplasma phagocytophilum (AP) and Borrelia burgdorferi (BB) infections are vector-borne and have been diagnosed in cats naturally exposed to Ixodes spp.. Laboratory diagnostic testing includes blood smears (AP), PCR (AP) and ELISA (AP and BB). In a recent study, wild-caught I. scapularis (IS) were allowed to feed 7 days on 4 SPF cats and all four cats were tested positive for AP and BB using a commercially available kit for dogs (SNAP 4DX Plus, IDEXX Laboratories), AP morulae in neutrophils by blood smear, and AP DNA in blood (PCR). However, none of the cats developed clinical signs of disease suggesting that clinical signs of AP or BB would occur in cats only after repeated pathogen transmission through exposure to competent vectors.