OCULAR INFECTIONS WITH DEMATIACEOUS FUNGI IN 2 CATS AND A DOG

Pigmented fungi were identified in ocular tissues from 2 cats and 1 do g. The first cat was euthanatized because of acute anterior uveitis th at was unresponsive to treatment. On histologic examination, intraocul ar structures had been obliterated and replaced by a gray coagulum of inflammatory infiltrates and fungal elements. The second cat was treat ed for unilateral glaucoma that was unresponsive to treatment. A large retrobulbar mass, discovered and removed during an enucleation proced ure, contained plant-origin foreign material. Keratitis, episcleritis, and orbital cellulitis with fungal elements were found on examination of the enucleated globe. The dog, examined because of a presumed corn eal scratch of 2 weeks' duration that was unresponsive to treatment, h ad a corneal lesion subsequently removed by lamellar keratectomy that contained fungi on histologic examination. Infections caused by demati aceous fungi are not common in domestic animals, and, to our knowledge , such infections in the eye have not been described.