Ocular infections with dematiaceous fungi in two cats and a dog

Pigmented fungi were identified in ocular tissues from 2 cats and 1 dog. The first cat was euthanatized because of acute anterior uveitis that was unresponsive to treatment. On histologic examination, intraocular structures had been obliterated and replaced by a gray coagulum of inflammatory infiltrates and fungal elements. The second cat was treated for unilateral glaucoma that was unresponsive to treatment. A large retrobulbar mass, discovered and removed during an enucleation procedure, contained plant-origin foreign material. Keratitis, episcleritis, and orbital cellulitis with fungal elements were found on examination of the enucleated globe. The dog, examined because of a presumed corneal scratch of 2 weeks' duration that was unresponsive to treatment, had a corneal lesion subsequently removed by lamellar keratectomy that contained fungi on histologic examination. Infections caused by dematiaceous fungi are not common in domestic animals, and, to our knowledge, such infections in the eye have not been described.