Sessions

Feline chronic rhinitis is a complex disease of often undetermined etiology. This study aimed to determine the molecular detection frequency and co-detection of five respiratory infectious agents and to explore associations between molecular results, clinical signs, and endoscopic findings.

Cats examined at the Small Animal Clinic of the University of Veterinary Medicine Budapest between January 2025 and August 2026 were eligible if upper respiratory signs had persisted for at least four weeks or recurred and endoscopic findings were consistent with chronic rhinitis. Pooled conjunctival, nasal, and oropharyngeal swabs were tested by a qualitative nucleic acid amplification assay for feline herpesvirus-1, feline calicivirus, Bordetella bronchiseptica, Chlamydia felis, and Mycoplasma felis. The final population comprised 45 cats.

At least one target was detected in 31 cats (68.9%; 95% CI, 54.3–80.5%). M. felis was detected in 18/45 (40.0%), FCV in 15/45 (33.3%), B. bronchiseptica in 7/45 (15.6%), and FHV-1 and C. felis in 2/45 each (4.4%). One agent was detected in 21 cats and at least two agents in 10. Nasal turbinate atrophy occurred in 61.3% of test-positive and 78.6% of test-negative cats. After Benjamini–Hochberg correction, none of the evaluated clinical or endoscopic associations was statistically significant.

Molecular detection of the investigated respiratory agents was common, particularly for M. felis and FCV, but test positivity did not identify cats with more severe clinical or endoscopic disease. Because of the lack of a healthy control group and other design limitations, causality cannot be inferred. Molecular findings should be interpreted together with the complete clinical and diagnostic assessment.