Cutaneous Mycobacterium goodii infection in an immunocompetent cat in Louisiana: clinical presentation, molecular identification, antimicrobial susceptibility and management.

infection in North America. The organism was not visualized on histopathology but was successfully cultured from tissue obtained by skin punch biopsy. A phenotypic switching phenomenon affecting the susceptibility results was suspected, possibly explaining the presence of phenotypically different but genetically identical strains. This case highlights the importance of submitting aseptically obtained tissue, fluid or fine-needle aspirates for culture and species identification, as well as histopathology, when infection with higher bacteria, such as rapidly growing mycobacteria, is suspected.