Comparison of three staining techniques for rapid diagnosis of feline dermatophytosis.

Feline dermatophytosis is a commonly encountered fungal skin disease in cats. Skin scrapings from cats with varying degrees of clinical signs were collected and subjected to microscopic and cultural examination. The clinical samples were stained with three different stains, lactophenol cotton blue (LPCB), Chicago sky blue (CSB) and Calcofluor white (CW) and were subjected to microscopic examination for fungal spores. The results of this microscopic examination were analysed and compared with growth of dermatophytes in Dermatophyte test medium (DTM). Based on cultural isolation, dermatophytosis was confirmed in 36 out of 82 cases tested. Comparison of staining techniques revealed that CW staining had better sensitivity (97.22 per cent), specificity (65.22 per cent) and overall agreement with cultures in DTM. Occurrence was found to be higher in kittens less than six months of age and long-haired breeds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]