Short colon syndrome in cats

Audrey P King; Taryn A Donovan; Eli Cohen; Jenny Marin; Alexandre B Le Roux

doi:10.1111/jvim.17103

Short colon syndrome in cats

J Vet Intern Med. 2024 May 17. doi: 10.1111/jvim.17103. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Audrey P King¹, Taryn A Donovan², Eli Cohen^{3

4}, Jenny Marin⁵, Alexandre B Le Roux¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Diagnostic Imaging, The Schwarzman Animal Medical Center, 510 East 62nd Street, New York, New York 10065, USA.
² Department of Anatomic Pathology, The Schwarzman Animal Medical Center, 510 East 62nd Street, New York, New York 10065, USA.
³ Department of Molecular Biomedical Sciences, North Carolina State College of Veterinary Medicine, Raleigh, North Carolina 27607, USA.
⁴ Dragonfly Imaging, PLLC, 1249 Kildaire Farm Road, #216, Cary, North Carolina 27511, USA.
⁵ Department of Small Animal Clinical Sciences, VA-MD College of Veterinary Medicine, Virginia Tech, 205 Duck Pond Drive, Blacksburg, Virginia 24061, USA.

PMID: 38757679
DOI: 10.1111/jvim.17103

Abstract

Background: Shortening of the colon has been described in cats, but its imaging and clinicopathological features remain poorly understood.

Objectives: Description of the signalment, clinical presentation, imaging, endoscopic and histological features of short colon syndrome in cats.

Animals: Ninety-three cats diagnosed with short colon.

Methods: Multi-institutional, descriptive, retrospective case series study. Medical records were searched for a diagnosis of short colon on abdominal ultrasonography, computed tomography, endoscopy, autopsy, or a combination of these modalities.

Results: The median age of included cats was 12 years at the time of diagnosis. Diarrhea was the most common clinical sign (60/92; 65%), followed by vomiting (36/92; 39%), weight loss (36/92; 39%), and inappetence (24/92; 26%). Thirteen percent of cats (12/92) had no signs of gastrointestinal disease at the time of diagnosis. In addition to a shortened colonic length, 79% (66/84) of cats had concomitant colonic thickening on ultrasonographic examination. On colonoscopy, mucosal ulcerations of the colonic wall were seen in 39% (9/23) of cats. Histopathologically, all cats but 1 (diagnosed simultaneously with colonic small cell lymphoma) had lymphoplasmacytic colitis, and when small intestinal biopsies were performed, concurrent lymphoplasmacytic enteritis or small cell lymphoma of the small intestine.

Conclusions and clinical importance: Lymphoplasmacytic colitis is seen commonly in cats with short colon, suggesting a potential link between these entities.

Keywords: colonic shortening; decreased colonic length; lack of colonic flexure; lymphoplasmacytic colitis.