Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Adult cat with fatal toxoplasma liver infection shedding oocysts
By Dubey, J P et al.·Published in Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association·1990·Zoonotic Diseases Laboratory·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Acute primary toxoplasmic hepatitis in an adult cat shedding Toxoplasma gondii oocysts.
- Species:
- cat
Plain-English summary
A 3-year-old male domestic shorthair cat developed a fever and breathing problems and sadly passed away within five days. A post-mortem examination revealed severe liver damage and signs of infection from Toxoplasma gondii, a parasite that can affect cats. This case is unusual because adult cats typically do not show symptoms during the phase when they shed the parasite's eggs. Unfortunately, due to the severity of the infection, there was no successful treatment, and the cat did not survive.
People also search for: cat fever and breathing problems · Toxoplasma gondii in cats · cat liver disease symptoms
Abstract
A 3-year-old 4-kg neutered male domestic shorthair cat died within 5 days after onset of fever and respiratory distress. At necropsy, all tissues were icteric, and the liver had a diffuse reticular pattern. Histologically, hepatitis and encephalitis were associated with Toxoplasma gondii tachyzoites. Toxoplasma gondii female gamonts and oocysts were found in epithelial cells of intact villi and in epithelial cells desquamated into the lumen. Finding of acute hepatitis and T gondii oocysts in an adult cat without detectable immunodeficiency is unusual, because adult cats rarely have clinical signs of toxoplasmosis during the oocyst-shedding phase.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/2276958/