Capnocytophaga sp. isolated from a cat with chronic sinusitis and rhinitis.

A Capnocytophaga sp. was inadvertently isolated from a cat with chronic sinusitis and rhinitis when cytopathic effects were observed in Crandall-Reese feline kidney cells that had been inoculated with oropharyngeal swab samples. Although Capnocytophaga spp. are of considerable zoonotic importance, their clinical relevance for dogs or cats has not been established. However, failure to do so may be attributed to the infrequent use of specialized isolation techniques that are required to grow Capnocytophaga spp. To our knowledge, successful isolation of these organisms from a cat with nasopharyngeal disease has not been reported.