Coccidia (Protozoa: Sporozoasida) of cats and dogs. I. Identity and prevalence in cats

Abstract

Examination of 508 faecal samples from North Island domes-tic cats revealed that 155 (30.5%) contained coccidia. The majority of infected samples contained a single coccidian but, in total, four valid coccidian parasites of cats were identified. Threefurther coccidians, accidentally “parasitic” in cats, were tentatively identified. The identities and prevalence of the valid coccidian parasites were Isospora felis (17.5%), hospora rivolta (2.2%), Toxoplasma gondii (0.98%) and Sarcocystis spp.(16.9%) and, of the accidental coccidian “parasites”, were Isospora lacazei (0.2%), Eimeria perforans (0.2%) and Klossia sp. (0.2%).