Todayโs path rounds are on ๐๐๐ฅ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ฌ๐๐ซ๐๐จ๐ข๐๐ฌ!
๐๐ก๐๐ญ ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ข๐ญ?
๐๐๐ซ๐๐จ๐ข๐๐ฌ are an area of skin proliferation and thickening, forming a benign tumour. In cats, they tend to be found on the nose, lips and digits.
๐๐ก๐จ ๐ ๐๐ญ๐ฌ ๐ข๐ญ?
Cats get this condition!
๐๐ก๐๐ญ ๐๐๐ฎ๐ฌ๐๐ฌ ๐ข๐ญ?
Similar to equine sarcoids (see our previous post!), these growths are thought to be associated with a ๐๐จ๐ฏ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ฉ๐๐ฉ๐ข๐ฅ๐ฅ๐จ๐ฆ๐๐ฏ๐ข๐ซ๐ฎ๐ฌ. Unlike in horses, these tumours are rare in cats.
๐๐ก๐ฒ ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ญ๐ก๐ข๐ฌ ๐ ๐ฉ๐ซ๐จ๐๐ฅ๐๐ฆ?
Generally these tumours donโt cause many issues, unless they start interfering with the animalโs day to day life. Because they are commonly found on the nose and lips, they can sometimes interfere with the catโs ability to eat or drink. Similarly, masses on the toes can interfere with walking and running.
๐๐จ๐ฐ ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ข๐ญ ๐๐ข๐๐ ๐ง๐จ๐ฌ๐๐?
These lesions are pretty classic, even though they are rare. Most of the time the veterinarian will have a pretty good guess based on the appearance! To confirm, they can remove the tumour and submit it to a pathologist. Under the microscope, sarcoids show lovely long extensions of the ๐๐ฉ๐ข๐๐๐ซ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฌ (surface layer of the skin) into the underlying tissue, called ๐ซ๐๐ญ๐ ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐ฌ.
๐๐จ๐ฐ ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ข๐ญ ๐ญ๐ซ๐๐๐ญ๐๐?
Typically complete removal of the tumour is curative, however sometimes they can reoccur in the same spot.
๐๐ก๐จ๐ญ๐จ๐ฌ
1-4) Cats with sarcoids, including one showing how the sarcoid grew over time! Poor kitty 
5) What sarcoids look like under the microscope! The nice dark purple extensions off the skin surface are the classically seen rete pegs.
๐๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ๐๐๐ฌ
Maxie, G. Jubb, Kennedy and Palmerโs Pathology of Domestic Animals, Volume 1. Sixth Edition.
Munday JS. Papillomaviruses in felids. The Veterinary Journal 2014; 199(3):340-347.
Wood CJ, Selmic LE, Schlag AN, et al. Biological behaviour and clinical outcome in 42 cats with sarcoids (cutaneous fibropapillomas). Veterinary and Comparative Oncology 2020;18(4):699-705.
Kiefer C, Tobler K, Ramsauer AS, Biegel U, Kuehn N, Ruetten M. Feline sarcoid in a 1-year-old domestic short-haired cat caused by bovine papillomavirus type 14 in Switzerland. Schwizer Achiv fur Tierheilkunde 2017; 159(9):487-491.
Photo 1 ยฉ CG Knight.
Photo 2 ยฉ CJ Wood et al.
Photo 3 ยฉ C Kiefer et al.
Photos 4-5 ยฉ Noahโs Arkive contributor Grandi licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
