CAT

CAT computerized axial tomography.

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CAT

abbr.

computerized axial tomography

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CAT

computerized axial tomography. See computed tomography.

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cat

any member of the family Felidae, including the domestic cat, Felis catus, and many exotic (here taken to mean nondomestic or zoological, rather than extraterritorial) species. See also feline.

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cat-bite abscess

a common sequela to a frequent injury. Particularly during the mating season, but also at other times, cats are likely to inflict or be subjected to bites or scratches during fighting or even vigorous play with each other. These contaminated puncture wounds, which are prone to abscessation, can be located anywhere on the body, but most often occur at the tail base, lower limbs and around the head and neck. Pasteurella spp., Prevotella spp., Porphyromonas spp., fusiform bacilli and ß-hemolytic streptococci are commonly involved.

cat breeds

are generally of two groups, the longhair and shorthair types. Within these, there are numerous specific breeds whose differences may be great, in conformation, color and certain distinctive features, or slight, on the basis of coat and/or eye coloring.

The longhaired breeds, also called Persians, are of short, stocky (cobby) build with broad, short heads, small ears, large round eyes, and short, thick legs. One variety, the peke-faced, has an extremely short nose. There are some specific breed types, but in general, they are divided on the basis of coat color, sometimes qualified by pattern of pigmentation or eye color, and the list is very long. The major groups are: solid colors (black, blue-eyed white, orange-eyed white, odd-eyed white, blue, chocolate, lilac, red, cream), broken colors (tabbies, tortoiseshell, cream, bicolors and harlequin), shaded colors (smoke, chinchilla, silver and cameo), himalayan (1)/colorpoint (various colors). Additional longhaired breeds are the angora, birman, balinese, cymric, javanese, maine coon, oriental longhair, ragdoll and turkish van.

The shorthaired breeds include: abyssinian, american curl, bengal, bombay, british shorthair, burmese, california spangled, exotic shorthair, havana brown, korat, manx (may be longhair or shorthair), oriental (many different color groups), rex, russian blue, siamese (further divided on the basis of color in their points), singapura, somali and tonkinese.

In addition, there is the canadian hairless or Sphinx cat which is hairless.

cat fancy

a term used in reference to breeders, registration bodies, clubs and societies, and any other groups sharing a common interest in cats (cat fanciers).

cat fever

see feline panleukopenia.

cat flu

see feline viral respiratory disease complex, feline calicivirus infection, feline viral rhinotracheitis.

cat foot

in dog conformation describes a round, compact foot with tightly bunched, arched toes.

cat fur mite

see lynxacarusradovsky.

cat leprosy

a granulomatous skin infection associated with Mycobacterium lepraemurium, the rat leprosy bacillus, hence the name. Infection is commonly believed to be the result of a rat bite. Single or multiple, painless, sometimes ulcerated nodular lesions are usually located around the head or on limbs. The organisms can be seen with acid-fast stains on direct smears or in biopsy material. Where possible, surgical excision is usually curative.

cat plague

see feline panleukopenia.

pouting cat

see fat-chin.

cat pox

see cowpox.

scabby cat disease

feline miliary dermatitis.

cat scratch fever

see cat-scratch disease.

swimming cat

see turkish van.

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CAT 1 Catalase 2 Catalyst 3 Catecholamine 4 Chloramphenicol acetyl transferase, a 'reporter' gene 5 Choline acetyl transferase 6 Cholesterol acyl transferase 7 Computerized axial tomography, see there

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cat Felis catus A mammal of medical interest that is a model for some human diseases, eg, dermatosparasix, and a vector for bacteria, fungi, and parasites

Cats, impact on medicine

Model systems

-human diseases, eg dermatosparasix, a defect in converting type I procollagen to collagen; mannosidosis–affects shorthair cats; Niemann-Pick disease, type I–affects Siamese cats

Vectors for disease

• Bacteria Bartonella (Rochalimaea) henselae, Bergeyella (Weeksella) zoohelcum, Brucella suis—anthrax, Campylobacter jejuni, Capnocytophaga canimorsus, CDC group NO-1, Chlamydia psittaci–feline strain, Dipylidium caninum, Francisella tularensis, Neisseria canis, Pasteurella multocida, Q-fever, Rickettsia felis, salmonellosis, Yersinia pestis–plague, Yersinia pseudotuberculosis
• Fungi, eg Microsporum canis–dermatophytosis, Sporothrix schenckii
• Parasites, eg Ancylostoma braziliense, A caninum, Brugia pahangi*, Clonorchis sinensis, Cryptosporidium, cutaneous larva migrans, Dipylidium caninum, Dracunculiasis medinensis*, Echinococcus vogeli, E multilocularis, Gnathostoma spinigerum, Isospora belli, Leptospira spp–leptospirosis, Opistorchis felineus, Sarcoptes scabiei–scabies, Toxoplasma gondii, Trypanosoma cruzi*, Trichinosis, visceral larva migrans, Wuchereria bancrofti See Cat scratch disease
• Viruses Cowpox, poxvirus, rabies medicinebuedu/dshapiro/zoocathtm

Allergies

Some individuals are highly allergic to cats, which is attributed to the Fel dl antigen, see there

*Parasites that have part of their life cycle in humans