This case report describes successful medical management of presumed segmental ureteritis in a 10-year-old, male, neutered, domestic shorthair cat. The cat presented for acute onset of lethargy, weight loss and a heart murmur. Abdominal palpation revealed renal asymmetry. Urinalysis and culture identified haematuria, struvite crystalluria and Proteus mirabilis infection. Abdominal ultrasound showed right hydronephrosis, right hydroureter and a focal right ureteral mass. Successful resolution of the right hydronephrosis, hydroureter and ureteral mass was achieved with antimicrobial therapy alone. Medical management may be an alternative, less invasive treatment to surgery for presumed feline segmental ureteritis.
BACKGROUNDMechanical obstruction of the ureter can occur from an intraluminal, mural or extraluminal lesion. 1 Causes of ureteral obstruction in dogs and cats include ureteral calculi, neoplasia, trauma, inflammation, fibrosis, stricture, foreign bodies and haematoma. 1 There are two reports of ureteritis in dogs and cats causing mural ureteral obstruction: proliferative ureteritis in a dog, 2 and a pyogranulomatous mass in a cat. 3 This case report describes an alternative approach, using medical management instead of surgery, to treat presumed segmental ureteritis in a cat.