Imprint and spreading techniques for the isolation and identification of subungueal fungi in claws of healthy cats

• Published in: Acta veterinaria Brasílica Vol. 15; no. 1; pp. 30 - 35
• Main Authors: Oliveira, Camilla Freitas, Carvalho, Jamille Bispo de, Castro, Luiza Montenegro Cintra, Guedes, Paula Elisa Brandão, Santos, Katharine Costa dos, Andrioli, João Luciano, Ribeiro, Antônio Roberto Paixão, Carlos, Renata Santiago Alberto
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: 31-03-2021
• ISSN: 1981-5484; 1981-5484
• DOI: 10.21708/avb.2021.15.1.9317

The aim of this study was to compare imprint and spreading techniques for the isolation and identification of colonies of pathogenic and non-pathogenic fungus in the claws of semidomiciliated cats. For that propose, 150 cats were evaluated, subdivided into three groups of 50 animals. In the first and second groups, the cats were submitted to the imprint technique in Petri dishes containing Selective Mycobiotic Agar: In the first group, the cats were subjected underwent antisepsis with 70% ethanol of the claws of the thoracic limbs and in the second group the animals were subjected underwent antisepsis with 70% ethanol of the claws of only one of the thoracic limbs. The third group was submitted to the spreading technique, whose material was collected by rubbing a sterile swab moistened with brain-heart infusion broth, in the claws of the forelimbs, where an aliquot of the material was transferred to Petri dishes containing Selective Mycobiotic Agar. The material was stored at 25°C for 30 days. The readings were performed on days 5, 7, 15, and 30 post incubation. Using the imprinttechnique performed under the conditions of this experiment, we were not able to isolate and identify the colonies because since day 5, they were overlapped. From the spreading technique, Mucor sp. (54,34%), Rhodotorula sp. (28,26%), Fusarium sp. (21,73%), Aspergillus sp. (21,73%), Trichoderma sp. (19,56%), Penicillium sp. (19,56%), Cladosporium sp. (10,86%), Rhizopus sp. (8,68%), Acremonium sp. (6,5%), Exophialia sp. (6,5%), Paecilomyces sp. (4,34%), Trichosporon sp. (4,34%), and Geotrichum sp. (2,17%) were isolated. It was concluded that the spreading technique proved to be useful in isolating fungal colonies from feline claws, and the animals do not present symptoms, which signals the importance of them as possible sources of exposure for tutors. The cats were negative for Sporothrix sp. by the imprint and spreading techniques.