Acquired skin fragility in a cat with multicentric lymphosarcoma

A sixteen-year-old male castrated domestic shorthair cat presented to Cornell University's Community Practice Service with a chief complaint of lethargy and anorexia. On physical examination his skin was easily torn from his dorsal neck and he was diffusely icteric. He had no prior history of abnormal skin fragility and his skin on physical examination had no evidence of hyperextensibility. His owner elected euthanasia due to the poor prognosis he was given. Histological examination of the skin at necropsy showed the superficial dermis to have sparse collagen bundles. The epidermis consisted of a single layer of basal cells with overlying keratin. Masson's trichrome staining confirmed the presence of aberrant collagen organization and collagen fibers with abnormally staining central cores. The final diagnosis at necropsy was feline acquired skin fragility and multicentric lymphosarcoma