Case summary A 6-year-old female spayed Ragdoll presented with a 4-day history of acute onset nonproductive retching, coughing and anorexia. A complete blood count, serum biochemistry, thoracic radiographyand abdominal ultrasound were performed. Initially, aspiration pneumonia was suspected owing to an alveolarlung pattern in the right cranial ventral lung lobes seen on radiographs. The cat did not improve with empiricalantibiotic therapy. Bronchoscopy and bronchoalveolar lavage were performed. An intraluminal tracheal masswas identified and removed via endoscopic guidance and gentle traction. Histopathology results were consistentwith a fibrinous tracheal pseudomembrane. The cat was concurrently diagnosed with Pseudomonas aeruginosapneumonia, which was confirmed on bronchoalveolar lavage. Pseudomonas aeruginosa was also cultured withinthe pseudomembrane. The cat was received antimicrobial therapy for his Pseudomonas pneumonia. In humans,fibrinous tracheal pseudomembranes occur uncommonly as a complication following endotracheal intubation andrarely due to infectious organisms. As there was no prior history of endotracheal intubation, the developmentof fibrinous tracheal pseudomembrane in this cat was suspected to be secondary to Pseudonomas aeruginosaaspiration pneumonia.Relevance and novel information The present case report is the first to describe a tracheal pseudomembrane in acat. Bronchoscopy-guided gentle traction and subsequent removal of the tracheal pseudomembrane resulted in acomplete resolution of the clinical signs.
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