Research overview: domestic cats as a disease reservoir for wild felids

Free-roaming and feral domestic cats, vastly more numerous than their wild relatives, act as a reservoir for pathogens that can spill into endangered felids. This overview surveys the suite of diseases threatening wild cats from domestic sources, including feline leukemia virus, panleukopenia, calicivirus, herpesvirus and Toxoplasma, and the conditions that promote transmission where domestic and wild cat ranges overlap. It examines documented spillover events, the special danger to small, naive populations like the Iberian lynx and European wildcat, and management responses such as cat control, vaccination and habitat buffering. The synthesis frames domestic cats as a pervasive, often underappreciated disease threat. It aims to help readers understand why managing the domestic cat population is integral to protecting wild felids from introduced pathogens.