How to treat toxoplasmosis in cats

Toxoplasmosis is a disease that affects cats, among other animals, caused by a microscopic parasite called Toxoplasma ( Toxoplasma gondii ). Although it can spread to people and cause abortions in pregnant women, it is not at all common for the cat to be involved in the infection; the most common is that people become infected by eating undercooked meat. In .com we explain how to treat toxoplasmosis in cats .

Steps to follow:

one

Do not consider euthanasia. Many people feel real fear of this disease, since there is a belief that if a woman is pregnant and has a cat with toxoplasmosis, she will suffer problems in pregnancy and even abortions, thereby sacrificing the cat.

Although, as we have said, people may suffer toxoplasmosis, and in the case of pregnant women there may be a risk of miscarriage, it is very unlikely to be contagious from a cat.

This is only possible by ingesting the cat or its feces, which can carry "eggs" (technically they are called oocysts ) of the parasite.

But in addition to not being very common to eat cats or their droppings, so that these feces are able to infect people have to go through a maturation process that lasts between 1 and 5 days . That is, the freshly made feces do not pose any danger, or what is the same, that changing the sand daily cat tray avoid the problem.

It should also be borne in mind that Toxoplasma-only cats usually eliminate oocysts from the parasite from one week to one month after they become infected.

In fact, as has been reported, people usually get infected by eating raw or undercooked meat, since most mammals can be carriers and have cysts in their meat or unwashed vegetables that may have been contaminated with cat feces.

two

Early diagnosis As with most diseases, detecting the problem early is usually very helpful. This article explains the keys to know if your cat has toxoplasmosis.

3

Antibiotics They are responsible for attacking the causative agent (toxoplasma). Although they generally do not manage to destroy it, they are able to prevent it from multiplying.

Clindamycin, which your veterinarian will prescribe at doses of 8 to 15 mg per kilo every 8 hours orally for a month, seems to be the agent of choice.

Clindamycin can be combined with another antibiotic, from the group of sulfonamides (trimetropima-sulfonamide), at a dose of 15 mg per kilo with the previous frequency and duration, in an attempt to increase the effectiveness of the treatment.

We must be very careful with the doses and strictly follow the indications of the doctor since an overdose of clindamycin can cause gastrointestinal problems and overdose of sulfonamides, liver and kidney failure and alterations in the bone marrow, in addition to conjunctivitis and digestive problems.

4

Treat associated symptoms. Toxoplasmosis can affect various organs with very variable consequences: neurological, gastrointestinal, respiratory, uveitis (inflammation of the uvea, a part of the eye), which may require supportive treatment, depending on the case.