<i>Toxocara cati</i> and Other Parasitic Enteropathogens: More Commonly Found in Owned Cats with Gastrointestinal Signs Than in Clinically Healthy Ones
Aurora L. Ursache,
Adriana Györke,
Viorica Mircean,
Mirabela O. Dumitrache,
Andrei Răzvan Codea,
Vasile Cozma
Affiliations
Aurora L. Ursache
Department of Parasitology and Parasitic Diseases, University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine Cluj-Napoca, 400372 Cluj-Napoca, Romania
Adriana Györke
Department of Parasitology and Parasitic Diseases, University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine Cluj-Napoca, 400372 Cluj-Napoca, Romania
Viorica Mircean
Department of Parasitology and Parasitic Diseases, University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine Cluj-Napoca, 400372 Cluj-Napoca, Romania
Mirabela O. Dumitrache
Department of Parasitology and Parasitic Diseases, University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine Cluj-Napoca, 400372 Cluj-Napoca, Romania
Andrei Răzvan Codea
Department of Internal Medicine, University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine Cluj-Napoca, 400372 Cluj-Napoca, Romania
Vasile Cozma
Department of Parasitology and Parasitic Diseases, University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine Cluj-Napoca, 400372 Cluj-Napoca, Romania
Intestinal parasites are involved in the health and wellbeing of cats and some of them, due to their zoonotic potential, represent a problem for public health. This study aimed to assess the prevalence of parasitic infections in cats with gastrointestinal signs. Fecal samples collected from 137 cats were analyzed by the flotation method using a sodium chloride saturated solution. The overall prevalence of intestinal parasites was 50.4%. Intestinal parasites were significantly (p Toxocara cati (40.2%) was the most frequently identified intestinal parasite, followed by Cystoisospora spp. (10.2%), hookworms (3.7%), Taeniidae (2.2%), Giardia duodenalis (2.2%), and Toxoplasma gondii (0.7%). Toxocara cati (53.3%, p Cystoisospora spp. (15.6%, p T. cati infection by logistic regression analysis. Regardless of age, gastrointestinal signs like vomiting, diarrhea, and inappetence were positively associated with T. cati.
