Description
Feline panleukopenia (FPV), Clostridium perfringens, Giardia spp., Tritrichomonas foetus, and Cryptosporidium spp. are major enteric pathogens in cats, often leading to acute or chronic diarrhoea, particularly in kittens, shelter cats, or stressed adults, with overlapping signs including vomiting, anorexia, dehydration, fever, and leukopenia (especially FPV). FPV produces severe haemorrhagic gastroenteritis with profound neutropenia, while C. perfringens and protozoa like Giardia, Tritrichomonas, and Cryptosporidium cause watery/mucoid large-bowel diarrhoea, flatulence, tenesmus, and weight loss, though many infections are subclinical or self-limiting.
Diagnosis combines faecal flotation (ova/cysts), antigen ELISAs, and cytology, but the UlfaQ Feline diarrhoea qPCR excels by amplifying pathogen DNA/RNA from faeces with high sensitivity, detecting low burdens or prepatent shedding missed by traditional methods.
