Prevalence and risk factors for Giardia and coccidia species of pet cats in 2003–2004

Abstract

Prevalence and risk factors for feline coccidia and Giardia species infections were estimated for cats visiting 434 Banfield hospitals in 40 states in 2003-2004. Evaluated were 631,021 cats making 1,456,712 office visits (encounters) and having 211,105 fecal examinations. The overall fecal prevalences of coccidia and Giardia species were 1.4% and 0.58%, respectively. Cats at increased risk of coccidia infection were under 4 years of age, intact, and seen during the summer, fall, and spring months compared to winter. Cats at increased risk of Giardia species infection were under 4 years of age. Those at decreased risk were mixed breed and seen during the summer, fall, and spring. The highest regional risk of coccidia and Giardia species infection was for cats in the East South Central region and Mountain region, respectively, compared to the South Pacific region.

Enteropathogen co-infection in UK cats with diarrhoea

“…and T. foetus observed in these groups and also the higher prevalence of feline coronavirus, feline panleukopenia virus and Cryptosporidium spp. in the youngest cats in this study and in previous reports [2,[7][8][9]18,20]. Consistent with these observations, 69% of cats with no enteropathogens detected were found to be DSH cats > 12 months of age.…”

“…Giardia spp. were detected in 20.6% samples, corresponding to previous prevalence estimates ranging from 0.58-80% depending on the test population and detection method employed [19,20,[27][28][29]. T. foetus was identified in 18.8% of samples, consistent with previous prevalence data of 14.4-82% [8,18,27].…”

“…No one enteropathogenic species dominated these 23 combinationswith 6 of the 8 species occurring with similar frequencies in the 23 combinations: feline coronavirus (14/23), feline panleukopenia virus (10), C. perfringens (12), Giardia spp. (20), T. foetus (13) and Cryptosporidium spp. (11), reflecting the 6 most common enteropathogens observed (Figure 1a).…”

“…Co-infection was investigated via two approachesconsideration of which enteropathogens were co-occurring in samples, and the exact combination of enteropathogens present. In addition, considering that previous reports have documented a higher prevalence of enteropathogens in juvenile cats [2,[7][8][9][18][19][20][21] and pedigree cats [7,8,18], secondary objectives were to evaluate individual enteropathogen prevalence and frequency of co-infection in association with pedigree status and age.…”

Detection of enteric agents into a cats’ shelter with cases of chronic diarrhea in Southern Brazil

“…Infections with Giardia spp. have diarrhea, nutrient absorption deficits, steatorreic stools and consequent weight loss (De Santis-Kerr et al 2006). Infection with Cryptosporidium spp.…”