Table 1.
Animals used in this study.
Fig 1.
Renal lesions in wild felids A) Kidney, tiger, 19 years, male (animal no. 27).
Chronic interstitial nephritis with an irregular surface of the kidney. B) Kidney, cougar, 18 years, female (animal no. 4). Membranous glomerulonephritis with moderate to severe thickening of Bowman’s capsule. Interstitial infiltrations consisting of lymphocytes, plasma cells and fewer macrophages. H&E-staining. C) Kidney, lion, 6 years, female (animal no. 18). Moderate diffuse interstitial fibrosis. Azan staining. D) Kidney, cougar, 18 years, female (animal no. 4). Membranous glomerulonephritis and a moderate, diffuse thickening of Bowman’s capsule are present. Periodic Acid-Schiff reaction. E) Kidney, tiger, 1 year, female (animal no. 33). Tubular basement membranes displaying severe diffuse depositions of basophilic, plaque-like extracellular material (mineralization). H&E-staining.
Table 2.
Degenerative and inflammatory kidney lesions in 38 non-domestic felids.
Fig 2.
Gastrointestinal lesions in wild felids.
A) Stomach, tiger, 1 year, male (animal no. 36). Severe diffuse mineralization of the gastric mucosa consisting of white, granular, crunchy material (arrows). B) Jejunum, tiger, 3 years, female (animal no. 37). Villus fusion, shortening and loss of epithelial cells with cellular debris and multifocal, moderate, lympho-plasma-histiocytic inflammation (arrows). H&E-staining. C) Jejunum, tiger, 3 years, female (animal no. 37). Higher magnification of Fig 2B, jejunum with crypt dilatation and accumulation of cellular debris in the crypts (asterisk). H&E-staining.
Fig 3.
Endocrine and genital neoplasia in wild felids.
A) Adrenal gland, tiger, 19 years, male (animal no 27). Unilateral pheochromocytoma (asterisk). B) Parathyroid gland, leopard, 9 years, female (animal no. 7). Parathyroid gland adenoma characterized by a solid growth pattern. The parathyroid gland adenoma displayed a capsule and compresses adjacent normal follicles of the thyroid gland (asterisk). H&E-staining. C) Ovary, leopard, 17 years, female (animal no. 13). The left part of the picture shows an encapsulated, well demarcated leiomyoma (L) attached to normal ovary tissue (asterisk). The right part of the picture demonstrates the firm, nodular cut surface of the leiomyoma (L) that is characterized by irregularly arranged interwoven tissue bundles.
Fig 4.
Pathologic features of large felid leukoencephalomyelopathy.
A) Cerebrum, tiger, 22 years, female (animal no 29). Large felid leukoencephalomyelopathy characterized by bilateral dilatation of the lateral ventricles (asterisks) and malacic foci within the white matter (arrows). B) Cerebrum, white matter, tiger, 22 years, female (animal no 29). Gemistocytic astrocyte with prominent cytoplasmic processes and abundant homogenous eosinophilic cytoplasm. C) Cerebrum, white matter, tiger, 22 years (animal no 29), female. Gemistocytic astrocyte with a cytoplasmic positive GFAP (glial fibrillary acidic protein)-reaction. GFAP, immunohistochemistry, ABC, DAB-method.
Fig 5.
Pleural and vascular tumors in wild felids.
A) Pleura costalis, tiger, 19 years, male (animal no 25). Mesothelioma of the diaphragmatic pleura characterized by numerous elevated grayish-red confluent nodules. B) Pleura, cheetah, 10 years, male (animal no 1). Epithelial component of a mesothelioma displaying a papillary growth pattern. H&E-staining. C) Kidney, cougar, 18 years, female (animal no 4). A hemangiosarcoma characterized by a large blood filled cavity (asterisk). H&E-staining.
Fig 6.
Prevalence of different tumors in 38 captive wild felids.