Toxoplasma gondii spinal granuloma in a cat

A 7-year-old female spayed domestic shorthair cat was presented with a history of progressive pelvic limb ataxia. A CT scan of the thoracic spine identified an extradural, left lateralised and compressive soft tissue mass at the level of T9. A decompressive hemilaminectomy at the level of T8-T10 and tissue sampling of the mass were performed. Histopathological examination revealed a parasite granuloma caused by Toxoplasma gondii infection. Postoperatively, the cat improved consistently, but mild left pelvic limb lameness remained. At 5 weeks, a recheck CT scan showed a small, enhancing soft tissue lesion in the left epidural space at T9, causing a mild left lateral compression of the spinal cord. After 9 months, the cat acutely deteriorated neurologically and was euthanased without postmortem examination.

To our knowledge, this is the first report of a T gondii spinal granuloma in a cat. Such a granuloma should be considered as a differential in cats with evidence of an extradural soft tissue mass.