Research overview: cats and Toxoplasma transmission to wildlife

Cats are the definitive host of the parasite Toxoplasma gondii, shedding environmentally resistant oocysts that can infect other animals, and this overview surveys the resulting impacts on wildlife and ecosystems. It examines evidence that oocysts contaminate soil and water and infect a broad range of warm-blooded animals, with documented disease and mortality in vulnerable species including marine mammals such as sea otters, where land-based cat populations are implicated in transmission to coastal waters. The survey discusses the epidemiology of oocyst shedding, environmental persistence, and the conservation concern for susceptible wildlife, as well as links to behavioural manipulation of intermediate hosts. It frames toxoplasmosis as an indirect but significant pathway by which cats affect wildlife and ecosystem health beyond direct predation.