Infection often involves several bacterial species. Anaerobes and facultative anaerobes most frequently isolated include:

Pasteurella multocida	Nocardia asteroides
Bacteroides spp	Rhodococcus equi
Streptococcus spp	Dermatophilus congolensis
Fusobacterium spp	Mycoplasma spp
Actinomyces spp	Mycobacterium spp
E. coli

Fungi are sometimes found, mainly as secondary invaders in chronic abscesses, for example:

Candida spp	Trichosporon spp
Microsporum spp	Hyphomycetes
Trichophyton spp	Sporothrix schenki

Occasionally viruses may also be isolated from abscesses, for example:

cowpox virus

herpesvirus-1 (FHV-1)

calicivirus (FCV)

Cowpox virus may be part of the cause of cellulitis or a persistent abscess. FHV and FCV can cause skin ulceration, but they are usually regarded as contaminants if isolated from an abscess rather than the cause of the lesion. They are probably transmitted in saliva from the oropharynx by the cat licking at its wound.



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