Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Fatal systemic toxoplasmosis in a 10-year-old cat confirmed
By Spycher, Andrea et al.·Published in Journal of veterinary diagnostic investigation : official publication of the American Association of Veterinary Laboratory Diagnosticians, Inc·2011·Vetsuisse Faculty·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Isolation and genotyping of Toxoplasma gondii causing fatal systemic toxoplasmosis in an immunocompetent 10-year-old cat.
- Species:
- cat
Plain-English summary
A 10-year-old male domestic shorthair cat was brought to the vet with fever, loss of appetite, vomiting, and diarrhea. Despite negative tests for common feline viruses, the cat's condition worsened, and he sadly passed away after four days in the hospital. A postmortem examination revealed that he had a severe infection caused by Toxoplasma gondii, a parasite that can lead to serious illness. This case is notable because it involved a healthy adult cat, which is unusual for this type of infection. Unfortunately, the cat did not survive, highlighting the potential severity of toxoplasmosis in pets.
People also search for: cat vomiting and diarrhea · Toxoplasma gondii in cats · cat fever and loss of appetite
Abstract
A 10-year-old male, neutered domestic shorthair cat was presented with fever, anorexia, vomiting, and diarrhea. Serologic testing for Feline immunodeficiency virus and Feline leukemia virus were negative. Fine-needle aspirates of mesenteric lymph nodes revealed the presence of banana-shaped apicomplexan parasites. The cat died after 4 days of hospitalization. Postmortem polymerase chain reaction (PCR) analysis confirmed the presence of Toxoplasma gondii in all examined organs. Parasites were ex vivo isolated in outbred mice and subsequently transferred into cell culture. Genotyping, using genetic markers for SAG2, SAG3, BTUB, GRA6, c22-8, c29-2, L358, PK1, and Apico for PCR-restriction fragment length polymorphism, revealed infection with type II T. gondii displaying type II alleles at all loci except Apico, which exhibited a type I allele. This is the most frequently identified genotype among cats acting as definitive hosts in central Europe, but to the authors' knowledge, it has never been associated with systemic toxoplasmosis in an adult, immunocompetent cat.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21217037/