* TOXOPLASMOSIS
Stormy Page is a gorgeous 10 year-old Russian blue cat who came to see us back in April this year because his owner had noticed cloudiness in the front part of his eyes. When we had a look with our ophthalmoscope we could see white material sitting between his iris (the coloured part of his eye) and his cornea. This material consisted of white blood cells and is called hypopyon. When hypopyon occurs in one eye only, it is likely due to a problem localized to that eye only, however when it occurs in both eyes we become concerned about more widespread and potentially serious illnesses.

Because of this concern, we collected a blood sample from brave Stormy and ran a number of blood tests to check for retroviruses that suppress the immune system, and for protozoal and fungal infections. When the results came through, the test for antibodies to an organism called Toxoplasma gondii was positive.

Toxoplasmosis is a protozoal infection that cats are susceptible to. Interpretation of the result can be a little complicated because a single positive blood test doesn’t differentiate between an infection some time ago (with possible immunity) and a current infection. Since we strongly suspected that Stormy did indeed have acute toxoplasmosis, we started him on a 6-week course of a special antibiotic to treat it. Unfortunately the antibiotic tablets made him vomit, so we arranged for a pharmacist to make up the medication in a chicken flavoured liquid, which Stormy coped with well. The follow up blood test confirmed that Stormy did indeed have an acute infection with Toxoplasma, so the medication was continued for the full 6 weeks.

During this time, the hypopyon that he had initially come to see us for, had resolved beautifully. Unfortunately, life for Stormy was not that simple. During the course of antibiotics Stormy became depressed, lethargic and stopped eating. He became a shadow of his former robust self. Stormy lost a lot of weight and we were all very concerned about him. A blood test showed that his white blood cells, red blood cells and platelets had all fallen to dangerously low numbers. So, Stormy embarked on another round of tests to try to find the cause of his blood problems. Despite x-rays, ultrasound and also bone marrow biopsies, no definitive cause was identified. Stormy was then started on a form of cortisone called prednisolone (in a flavoured liquid again) to manage a suspected immune-mediated attack on his own blood cells. Since starting this medication his blood cell numbers have risen and Stormy has returned to his more robust self. He is enjoying life again and is back to causing his usual mischief.