Feline bronchopulmonary disease.

This author is aware that not all cats fit so neatly into these subcategories. It is hoped, however, that through increased awareness of the differences between cats with bronchopulmonary disease, we can begin to focus and refine our diagnostic and therapeutic efforts and more accurately predict the prognosis of individual cats. The pulmonary functional changes in the cats presented here lend credence to the clinical use of these airway disease subtypes. However, relative to human disease syndromes, our current understanding of feline bronchopulmonary disease is in its infancy. One can only speculate as to why these cats developed airway inflammation in the first place. Constant exposure to dust through litter use or upper respiratory tract infections, seem to be likely causes. But, why do only certain cats become clinically ill when all cats are potentially exposed to similar conditions? Owing to the diversity of disease present in these cats, it is likely that multiple etiologies are involved. Alpha 1-antiprotease deficiency, for example, is a known genetic defect associated with the development of panacinar emphysema in homozygous humans. It is conceivable that similar genetic defects could be present in individual cats of the Siamese breed, as this breed is overrepresented in this syndrome and some of these cats appear to follow a progressive disease course.