First Reported Case of Leishmaniasis in a Cat in Trinidad and Tobago

A 3-year-old, female, domestic shorthair cat, was presented to the Veterinary Teaching Hospital at the School of Veterinary Medicine (SVM), Trinidad and Tobago for a swollen nose, and multiple, variably sized small masses on both ears. The initial diagnostic tests included a CBC, serum biochemistry profile, cytological evaluation of masses on the ear and nose, and FeLV/FIV testing. The CBC and biochemistry results were unremarkable except for a hyperproteinaemia and hyperglobulinemia. Cytology of the nose and ear lesions revealed mixed inflam-mation and high numbers of intracellular and extracellular organisms consistent with Leishmania amastigotes. The cat was FeLV/FIV negative. Histopathology and Leishmania IFA and PCR analysis were subsequently per-formed, confirming the Leishmania diagnosis. The PCR, DNA sequencing and phylogenetic tree analyses identi-fied L. amazonensis. This is the first reported case of L. amazonensis infection in a domestic animal in Trinidad with molecular characterization indicating it exists in the region and is likely being transmitted by sandflies.