Objective-To establish clinical features, course of illness, and treatment
outcome of cats with diarrhea and concurrent infection with Trichomonas org
anisms. Prevalence of fecal trichomonads in a geographically comparable pop
ulation of healthy indoor and feral cats also was assessed.
Design-Longitudinal study and a cohort study.
Animals-32 cats with diarrhea and naturally acquired trichomonosis that wer
e native to North Carolina, Virginia, Connecticut, and Tennessee; 20 health
y indoor cats; and 100 feral cats.
Procedure-Trichomonosis was diagnosed in 32 cats by identification of organ
isms in fresh feces or by protozoal culture of feces.
Results-Diarrhea associated with the large intestine and trichomonosis were
diagnosed in 32 cats. Median age of the cats was 9 months; 23 cats were le
ss than or equal to 1 year old at the time of diagnosis; Two cats developed
diarrhea accompanied by infection with Trichomonas organisms after the add
ition of an infected kitten into the home. Duration of diarrhea ranged from
2 days to 3 years. Six cats had a coexisting enteric infection. Treatment
with antimicrobials improved fecal consistency and reduced the number of fl
agellates in the feces, but did not eliminate infection. Diarrhea (with mic
roscopically detectable flagellates) was observed shortly after antibiotics
were discontinued. Trichomonads were not recovered from feces of any healt
hy indoor or feral cats.
Conclusions and Clinical Relevance-Our findings suggest that trichomonosis
may be a cofactor in development of diarrhea in young cats. Trichomonas org
anisms were not identified as part of the indiginous fauna of healthy indoo
r or feral cats.