OBJECTIVE To describe the use of intralesional amphotericin B in localised lesions for the treatment of 26 cats from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with sporotrichosis refractory to oral itraconazole. DESIGN Uncontrolled intervention study. METHOD The 26 cats in this study were diagnosed with sporotrichosis, confirmed by isolation of Sporothrix schenckii, and presented residual localised skin lesions refractory to treatment with oral itraconazole for a minimum period of 8 weeks. The animals received weekly applications of intralesional amphotericin B in conjunction with oral itraconazole. In cases of owner unavailability, a maximum of 2 weeks between the infiltrations was accepted. RESULTS Twenty-two (84.6%) of the 26 treated cats achieved clinical remission, 16 (72.7%) of which were cured, and in the remaining six (27.3%) the lesions recurred at the same site. Lack of clinical response was observed in one animal and three owners abandoned treatment. CONCLUSION The proposed therapeutic regimen is an adjunctive treatment option for cats with sporotrichosis presenting as residual skin lesions refractory to itraconazole.

This study compared the sensitivity of acetate tape impression and skin squeezing with that of deep skin scraping for the diagnosis of demodicosis in dogs. Demodex canis was detected in 100% of acetate tape impressions obtained after skin squeezing and in 90% of deep skin scrapings. There was a significant difference (P < 0.001) between the techniques in the total number of mites detected. Acetate tape impression with skin squeezing was found to be more sensitive than deep skin scraping and is an alternative diagnostic method for canine demodicosis.

SPOROTRICHOSIS is a subcutaneous mycosis caused by the dimorphic fungus Sporothrix schenckii. In domestic cats, sporotrichosis is characterised by the presence of ulcerated and nodular cutaneous lesions, which may be disseminated (Rippon 1988).The treatment of feline sporotrichosis is difficult and represents a challenge to veterinarians (Barros and others 2004) since there are few therapeutic options and the drugs used may have adverse effects (Welsh 2003). Itraconazole is effective and safe when compared to other oral antifungal agents, and is therefore the drug of choice for the treatment of the disease (Sykes and others 2001), especially in situations in which cost is not a limiting factor (Morris-Jones 2002). Local hyperthermia has been used as an alternative treatment for human patients with cutaneous or lymphocutaneous lesions (Hiruma and others 1987, Haruna and others 2006). However, there are no reports regarding the use of local hyperthermia in cases of feline sporotrichosis. This short communication describes a case of localised cutaneous sporotrichosis in a domestic cat that was treated with local hyperthermia.A seven-month-old neutered female crossbred cat, weighing 3·0 kg, was presented to the authors' laboratory with a clinical suspicion of sporotrichosis. Clinical examination revealed the presence of a single ulcerated cutaneous lesion with well-defined borders, measuring 0·7 cm in diameter, in the left lateral thoracic region, and swelling of the axillary lymph node on the same side. According to the owner, the lesion had become apparent approximately three months earlier.A sample of secretion from the lesion was collected for cytopathological analysis and mycological culture. Slides containing the impression of the secretion were stained with Giemsa; microscopic examination revealed the presence of oval and fusiform leveduriform structures. S schenckii was isolated and identified by mycological culture (Rippon 1988). Routine mycological examination consisted of seeding the sample on to Sabouraud's dextrose agar and mycobiotic agar (Difco), which was incubated at 25°C and observed for fungal growth for four weeks. Suspected isolates were subcultured on potato dextrose agar (Difco) at 25°C for macroscopic and microscopic morphological analysis, and dimorphism was demonstrated by conversion to the yeast-like form on brain heart infusion agar (Difco) at 37°C.

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