• Journal of Veterinary Clinics
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• v.34 no.1
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• pp.34-38
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• 2017

The aims of the present study were to determine the weaning time for adoption of kittens, and to evaluate the fetal growth rate during pregnant in free-roaming cats. This study was conducted on three pregnant free-roaming cats (one feral cat and two stray cats). Radiography and ultrasonography were performed on the feral cat and on one of the stray cats. In the feral cat, fetal head diameter was measured once during pregnancy to determine the cesarean section (C-sec) time. In the stray cat, serial fetal head diameter was measured from capture to parturition. The body weight of the feral cat's kittens was measured from 4 weeks postpartum because of their wildness. That of the stray cats' kittens was measured immediately after birth. In the feral cat, scheduled C-sec was performed at predicted parturition day by measurement of head diameter, and six healthy kittens were delivered. The stray cats had five and six kittens by natural delivery, respectively. In the body weight gain of feral and stray cat's kittens, two female kittens of the feral cat lost weight rapidly after they were separated from their mother, so they were returned to their mother for 1 more week. After that, the female kittens grew up without difficulty. Body weight gain of the ten kittens born to the two stray cats consistently increased, by approximately 14 g every day, until they were adopted. The body weight of kittens born by natural delivery was on average 77.5 g greater than that of kittens born by C-sec. However, the gap decreased with time. During the stray cat's pregnancy, fetal head diameter increased by 0.042 cm every day. Maximum head size before parturition was 2.43 cm. These results indicate that the weaning time for adoption of kittens was 5-week-old postpartum.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.46 no.3
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• pp.199-201
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• 2008

Toxoplasma gondii is an obligate intracellular zoonotic protozoan with a worldwide distribution. It infects humans as well as a broad spectrum of vertebrate hosts. Cats and wild felidae play crucial roles in the epidemiology of toxoplasmosis. This study was performed to survey the prevalence of T. gondii infection among stray cats in the Gyeonggi-do, Republic of Korea. A total of 174 stray cat blood samples were collected from Gwacheon-si (n = 20), Bucheon-si (82), and Yangju-si (72). Positive sera for T. gondii were identified in 14 samples (8.1%) exclusively via the latex agglutination test, 28 (16.1%) via ELISA, and 23 (13.2%) via PCR analysis. The overall infection rate of female stray cats (29.2%) presented as higher than that of male cats (24.0%). This study suggests that T. gondii is widespread in the stray cat population of Gyeonggi-do, Korea. It is urgently needed to control urban stray cat population and to reduce the risk of zoonotic transmission of toxoplasmosis to other animal hosts and humans.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Veterinary Pathology Conference
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• 2001.09a
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• pp.11-12
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• 2001

In Korea, stray cats across the country have been rapidly increasing the number of population. Also, the number of pet cats have been gradually expending. In America and Eastern Europe, cat population has been shown considerable growth compared to dog's one. Also, cat clients in Germany have been going ahead the dog's one. In these reasons, the potential to the transmission of main infections in stray cats has been focusing the one of the interesting topics in veterinary pathology and epidemiology. (omitted)

• Korean Journal of Veterinary Service
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• v.32 no.3
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• pp.275-279
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• 2009

Toxoplasma gondii is one of the most common protozoa parasites of human and other warm-blooded animals. Cats and wild felidae play crucial roles in the epidemiology of toxoplasmosis. This study was performed to survey the prevalence of T. gondii infection among stray cats in the Seoul. A total of 422 stray cat blood samples were collected from Seoul area. Positive sera for T. gondii were identified in 56 samples (13.3%) exclusively via the latex agglutination test and the detection no antigen particles among seropositive samples by PCR. The overall infection rate of male stray cats (14.4%) presented as higher than that of female cats (10.7%). This study suggested that T. gondii is widespread in stray cats of Seoul area. It is needed to control urban stray cat population and to reduced the risk of zoonotic transmission of toxolasmosis to other animals and humans.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.56 no.1
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• pp.87-91
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• 2018

Morphological and molecular characteristics of spirometrid tapeworms, Spirometra decipiens, were studied, which were recovered from a heavily infected stray cat road-killed in Eumseong-gun, Chungcheongbuk-do (Province), the Republic of Korea (=Korea). A total of 134 scolices and many broken immature and mature proglottids of Spirometra tapeworms were collected from the small intestine of the cat. Morphological observations were based on 116 specimens. The scolex was 22.8-32.6 mm (27.4 mm in average) in length and small spoon-shape with 2 distinct bothria. The uterus was coiled 3-4 times, the end of the uterus was ball-shaped, and the vaginal aperture shaped as a crescent moon was closer to the cirrus aperture than to the uterine aperture. PCR amplification and direct sequencing of the cox1 target fragment (377 bp in length and corresponding to positions 769-1,146 bp of the cox1 gene) were performed using total genomic DNA extracted from 134 specimens. The cox1 sequences (377 bp) of the specimens showed 99.0% similarity to the reference sequence of S. decipiens and 89.3% similarity to the reference sequence of S. erinaceieuropaei. In the present study, we report a stray cat heavily infected with S. decipiens identified by mitochondrial cox1 sequence analysis and morphological examinations of the adult worms.

• Journal of Veterinary Clinics
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• v.35 no.5
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• pp.175-177
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• 2018

The objective of this polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based research was to determine the prevalence of vector-borne pathogens in stray cats in Yangju and Gwacheon cities, South Korea. Total 50 stray cats were sampled for this PCR-based survey; 33 samples and 17 samples were collected from Yangju and Gwacheon cities, respectively. Total positive presence rates were 6%, 6% and 24% for hemotropic mycoplasmas, Rickettsia spp. and Babesia spp., respectively in this study. Babesia spp. was the predominant pathogen present in the stray cats of both cities followed by hemotropic mycoplasmas and Rickettsia spp. It is recommended that a large-scale study of the prevalence of infectious agents among stray cats should be undertaken in all regions of South Korea.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.57 no.1
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• pp.17-20
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• 2019

A stray female cat of unknown age, presenting bright red watery diarrhea, was submitted to the Animal and Plant Quarantine Agency for diagnosis. In the small intestines extracted from the necropsied cat, numerous white oval-shaped organisms were firmly embedded in the mucosa and there was thickening of intestinal wall. Histopathological analysis revealed severe necrotizing enteritis, together with atrophied intestinal villi, exfoliated enterocytes, and parasitic worms. Recovered worms were identified as Pharyngostomum cordatum by morphological observation and genetic analysis. Although P. cordatum is known to occur widely in Korea, this is the first clinical description of an infection by P. cordatum causing severe feline enteritis.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.47 no.4
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• pp.413-415
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• 2009

Genotyping of Toxoplasma gondii has been performed in 23 PCR positive blood samples from stray cats in Korea. We used 2 separate PCR-restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) patterns of SAG2 gene, amplifying the 5' and 3' ends of the locus. The results revealed that all samples belonged to the type I clonal lineage. Although T. gondii organisms were not isolated from the samples, the results of the present study represent that stray cats with T. gondii infection should be seriously concerned in our environment. Adequate and continuous control programs of stray cats are needed to reduce the risk of transmission of T. gondii as a zoonotic infection threatening the public health.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.53 no.2
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• pp.209-213
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• 2015

The present study was performed to survey the infection status of zoonotic intestinal trematode (ZIT) in stray cats from 5 major riverside areas in the Republic of Korea. Total 400 stray cats were captured with live-traps in riverside areas of Seomjingang ('gang' means river) (203 cats) from June to October 2010, and of Yeongsangang (41), Nakdonggang (57), Geumgang (38), and Hangang (61 cats) from June to October 2011, respectively. Small intestines resected from cats were opened with a pair of scissors in a beaker with 0.85% saline and examined with naked eyes and under a stereomicroscope. More than 16 ZIT species were detected in 188 (92.6%) cats from Seomjingang areas, and the number of worms recovered was 111 per cat infected. In cats from riverside areas of Yeongsangang, Nakdonggang, Geumgang, and Hangang, more than 9, 8, 3, and 5 ZIT species were recovered, and the worm burdens were 13, 42, 11, and 56 specimens per infected cat, respectively. As the members of family Heterophyidae, more than 10 species, i.e., Metagonimus spp., Pygidiopsis summa, Heterophyes nocens, Stellantchasmus falcatus, Heterophyopsis continua, Acanthotrema felis, Centrocestus armatus, Procerovum varium, Cryptocotyle concava, and Stictodora lari, were recovered. More than 5 species of echinostomes, i.e., Echinostoma hortense, Echinochasmus japonicus, Echinochasmus sp., Echinoparyphium sp., and unidentified larval echinostomes, were collected. Plagiorchis spp. were detected in cats from areas of Seomjingang and Yeongsangang. From the above results, it has been confirmed that stray cats in 5 major riverside areas of Korea are highly infected with various species of ZITs.

• Korean Journal of Veterinary Research
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• v.50 no.4
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• pp.303-310
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• 2010

Demand on specialized feline dentistry has increased over the years, partly due to growing feline population in Korea. Despite the notable increase in the population, not much researches has been conducted on oral disease for stray cats. Thus this research was conducted on 81 adult stray cats from Gwangju in Korea (42 males and 39 females) with average weight of 3.4 kg and also focused on occurrence of periodontal disease (plaque and calculus), feline odontoclastic resorptive lesion (FORL), stomatitis and tooth anomaly. Formation of dental plaque and calculus were abundant on maxilla than mandible, especially distributed much on 4th premolar teeth and 1st molar teeth. After thorough examination of oral cavity, 33 stray cats (40.7%) were found to have oral disease. Eighteen stray cats (22.2%) had tooth fracture which was evident on cuspid and missing teeth were present on 2nd premolar tooth of maxilla and 2nd incisor of mandible amongst 20 stray cats (24.7%). FORL was present on cuspids and 2nd premolar tooth of maxilla among 10 stray cats (12.3%). Stomatitis was involved with FORL, missing tooth, and tooth fracture. Therefore, it was determined that stomatitis, FORL, and periodontal disease were closely associated.