In cats, idiopathic inflammatory airway disease (IAD) can be categorized into asthmatic or bronchitic inflammatory airway diseases. They are also known as eosinophilic and neutrophilic airway diseases, respectively. However, confirmed diagnosis of a particular type depends upon the compilation of airway fluid. If a cat suffers from a mixed type of infection, it becomes difficult to diagnose the disease due to the mixed airway fluid. 

To recognize the clinical features that could prove effective for the differentiation of these inflammatory diseases, a retrospective study was performed by taking up the forty-nine different cats suffering from nonspecific airway inflammation from 2011 to 2018. It was identified by bronchoscopic bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL). BAL differential cytology cataloged all of these cats as eosinophilic ( having eosinophils more than twenty percent, neutrophils less than fourteen percent of eosinophils might be greater than fifty percent ), neutrophilic ( with neutrophils more than fourteen percent and eosinophils less than twenty percent ), and mixed inflammation ( with neutrophils >14% and eosinophils in the range of 20 to 50%). In all these groups, radiographic findings, BAL results, CBC results, body condition scores, and respiratory rates were compared.

After comparison, BAL neutrophilic, eosinophilic, and mixed inflammation was diagnosed in 12, 23, and 14 cats, respectively. In all these groups, the cough was a prominent clinical sign without any difference in duration of other clinical signs. Respiratory rates, radiographic findings, and CBC results were also the same in all groups. However, cats having eosinophilic inflammation were younger than those who were suffering from neutrophilic and mixed inflammation.

The conclusion indicates substantial overlap in radiographic and clinical findings of all the cats having different kinds of idiopathic airway inflammation.

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Clinical features and radiographic findings in cats with eosinophilic, neutrophilic, and mixed airway inflammation (2011-2018)