Cat Given New Lease of Life After Being Able to Breathe Again

The lovely Tueli was referred to our internal medicine service, and was seen by specialist Andrea Petrelli, for problems associated with breathing and eating. These clinical signs were particularly upsetting as Tueli was only 1.5 years old when she was referred to us from Vets4Pets Wrexham Plas Coch.

A CT of her head revealed a mass within her nasopharynx that was blocking airflow from her nose (red arrow, Image 1). It was thought that the mass represented a nasopharyngeal polyp and it was removed via traction on the same day, avoiding surgery. Histopathology confirmed the diagnosis.

Feline inflammatory polyps are the most common non-cancerous pedunculated growths found in the ear canal or nasopharynx in cats. They usually occur in young cats with an average age of 1.5 years, although they have been reported in cats of all ages.

The cause of the development of the polyp is still debated. It is unclear whether polyps are congenital in origin, or a response to an inflammatory process from chronic viral infection, or a consequence of chronic middle ear and/or upper respiratory inflammation. Tueli was positive for Calicivirus, and we suspect this contributed to the formation of the polyp.

Tueli’s owners report that she is now a happy cat who is able to play, meow and chirp (Image 2). We are delighted that Tueli is doing so well and her owners will continue to monitor her for recurrence of clinical signs.