Aelurostrongylus abstrusus - the cause of respiratory disease

Abstract

The data on the invasion of Aelurostrongylus abstrusus in domestic cats is limited, both for Europe and for the rest of the world. The diagnosis is difficult and the invasion is often not considered in the differential diagnosis of respiratory diseases. Consequently, this invasion is diagnosed late and leads to the death or euthanasia of the animals as the infection is usually asymptomatic. During an intensive invasion, symptoms of the respiratory system disorders and sometimes diarrhoea and anorexia may be observed. A 7 year-old cat, treated in a veterinary clinic in Poland showed the signs of a chronic cough, shortness of breath, nasal mucopurulent discharge, accelerated breathing and a loss of appetite. The first diagnosis was pneumonia. Additionally, parasitological examination was used by a standard flotation technique and decantation method. The flotation test result was negative, the decantation method revealed the presence of one A. abstrusus larva. In order to confirm the diagnosis we used the Baermann’s method. The result was positive, larvae were counted and identified basing on their morphology and morphometry, which demonstrated numerous L1 larvae of A. abstrusus. Aside from the symptomatic treatment, a causal cure using a combination of 10% imidacloprid and moxidectin 1% spot-on was applied. The control examination of faecal samples was performed using the Baermann’s method 7, 14, 30 and 60 days after therapy. One and two weeks after the treatment had found larvae, whereas no larvae were found 30 days and 60 days after therapy. The health status of the cat began to return to normal. A parasitology examination performed 6 months after the completion of treatment failed to confirm the presence of A. abstrusus larvae . The cat is under constant medical supervision and in spite of recurrent symptoms its health state is stable.