Malignant histiocytosis in a cat - clinical picture and diagnosis of a rare neoplastic disease

Clinical signs described in literature include anorexia, lethargy, hepato- and splenomegaly, anaemia and thrombocytopenia as well as respiratory tract involvement. However, the clinical picture and the laboratory results of this case report are not consistent with cases of feline malignant histiocytosis found in literature. We describe a four year old cat displaying only clinical signs of gastrointestinal disease without showing any abnormalities in regard to laboratory results as well as radiographic and ultrasonic examinations. The diagnosis of malignant histiocytosis was established by means of histopathological and immunohistopathological examination. There was no response to a symptomatic therapy and the cat had to be euthanised due to progressive disease.