Clostridium difficile: a survey of fecal carriage in cats in a veterinary medical teaching hospital

Fecal samples collected from 245 cats over a 6-month period were analyzed f or the presence of Clostridium difficile. After culture on selective media, isolates were identified by a latex agglutination test, and the presence o f toxin A and toxin B gene sequences was determined by polymerase chain rea ction. Clostridium difficile was isolated from 23 (9.4%) of the cats, and 3 4.8% of that group were colonized with toxigenic strains. All of the cats c olonized with toxigenic C. difficile had greater than or equal to 1 of the risk factors (antibiotic use, antineoplastic therapy, immunosuppressive vir us infection) associated with C. difficile infection in humans. Clostridium difficile was not found in any of the cats from a clinically healthy outpa tient group of cats examined from the same hospital nor in cats from a spec ific-pathogen-free research colony on the same campus tested during the sam e time period. The data obtained in this study confirm the presence of C. d ifficile in cats at a veterinary teaching hospital. DNA fingerprinting anal ysis of these isolates allowed separation of the strains into 5 groups. Typ e 4 strain found in 7 cats was also recovered from the floor drain in the s ame hospital, suggesting a possible source of infection. Whether the organi sm is of clinical significance in diarrheal diseases of cats remains to be determined.