Feline Toxoplasmosis
Toxoplasmosis is a disease that can infect all species of warm-blooded animals, throughout the world, including man.
It is caused by a small, protozoan (one-celled organism) parasite called Toxoplasma gondii. The parasite is located in the intestinal tract if infected mammals and sheds eggs which may pass in the stools.
The disease may cause congenital deformities in human infants if a woman is infected after conception.
Symptoms Of Toxoplasmosis:
Most infected cats show no sign of disease.
Clinical signs which sometimes occur include
- mucoid or bloody diarrhea,
- fever,
- pneumonia,
- enlarged lymph nodes,
- hepatitis,
- eye lesions,
- anemia,
- muscle inflammation, and
- possible seizures.
Although the disease may be fatal, it usually responds to therapy. Cats then recover and develop a strong immunity against the disease.
Toxoplasmosis is transmitted in several ways:
- by fecal contamination,
- transmitted before birth, or
- by eating uncooked, infected meat, such as by the ingestion of small animals, cockroaches, or birds infected with the disease.
The eggs take two to five days to hatch after being produced by the adult stage of the organism.
Diagnosis Of Toxoplasmosis:
A physical examination and a routine blood screen will be necessary for your cat's veterinarian to assess your cat's situation. Diagnosis is made by fecal examination searching for the causative organism and blood tests specific for toxoplasmosis (antibody titer tests).
Other diagnostic tests may be necessary to rule out diseases causing similar symptoms, depending on the individual symptoms displayed.
Cats with a high blood titer for toxoplasmosis should be retested in three weeks to determine if the disease is still infectious, or if the animal has developed a strong immunity.
Treatment Of Toxoplasmosis:
The drugs pyrimethamine and sulfadiazine are usually used in combination to treat toxoplasmosis.
Clindamycin is sometimes recommended also.
Your cat's veterinarian may advise treating your cat based on initial blood test results instead of waiting for the second antibody titer test, depending on the severity of your cat's symptoms.
Prevention Of Toxoplasmosis:
- Prevent your cat’s access to birds and rodents.
- Feed only cooked or processed meats and other foods.
- Empty the litter box daily. Because the toxoplasmosis eggs take two to five days to hatch and become infectious, cleaning the litter box daily will help reduce the likelihood of disease transmission.
- Pregnant women should not handle cat litter boxes, even through transmission is unlikely as long as the litter box is emptied daily! If you are pregnant and it is necessary for you to clean your cat's litter box, wear gloves when doing so.
- Because cats frequently use the soil in gardens to relieve themselves, pregnant women should also wear gloves when gardening and wash their hands thoroughly with soap and water when finished.
- Wash your hands after handling the litter box.
