RVC looking into recent spike in pancytopenia in cats

9 June 2021

The Royal Veterinary College (RVC) is appealing to vets in general practice and referral hospitals across the UK to take part in a survey to investigate a mysterious spike in severe feline pancytopenia cases, a condition which can be fatal in cats.

Led by Dr Barbara Glanemann, Senior Lecturer in Small Animal Medicine and Co-head of the Small Animal Internal Medicine Service and Karen Humm, Associate Professor in Transfusion Medicine and Emergency and Critical Care at the RVC – the study aims to identify common denominators such as toxins or other factors to potentially establish a cause.

They know of over 60 cats that have presented to various practices and referral centres around the country in the past month with severe pancytopenia, with most having severe generalised bone marrow hypo- to aplasia where bone marrow sampling has been performed. Some cats have presented at the same time from the same household. This presentation is very rare, and therefore the clustering of these cases is concerning. Investigations in the cases have not revealed any identifiable underlying cause so far.

If you have seen similar cases, please complete the short survey here.

Alternatively, you can contact Karen Humm at khumm@rvc.ac.uk and Barbara Glanemann at bglanemann@rvc.ac.uk if you have any questions.