The First Report of Tritrichomonas foetus in Cats from Turkey

Abstract

Tritrichomonas foetus has been identified in the ileum, cecum and colon of cats with large bowel diarrhea. The objective of this study was to identify whether T.foetus was present in cats with chronic diarrhea in Turkey. Fecal samples (n=45) were collected from cats with diarrhea presented to a number of pet clinics in Ankara province, Turkey. Fecal analysis was performed using saline wet mount preparations, cultures and PCR. T.foetus was detected in 4 out of 45 (8.8%) of the cats with chronic diarrhea by PCR analysis.The infection rate was highest (12%) in the age group <= 6 months (p<0.05). There was no significant difference between the frequency of infection in male and female cats (p>0.05). All cats in the study were mixed breed. The frequency of infection was higher in owned cats than in shelter cats (10% versus 6.6%), but this difference was not statistically significant (p>0.05). Giardia spp. and Toxocara leonina were found as co-infections in the cats infected with T. foetus. Two PCR positive results were sequenced and deposited in GenBank (MH400076 and MH490937). Pairwise genetic distance between our isolates and the isolates submitted to GenBank from other geographic areas displayed variation ranging from 0.0% to 1.2%. This is the first report of the presence of T. foetus in cats in Turkey. The results support the significance of T.foetus as a cause of chronic diarrhea in cats.