🧬 The Felid Wiki — 3,000 research summaries

Building on earlier behavioral findings, this study showed with controlled experiments that Toxoplasma gondii infection in rats and mice specifically abolishes innate fear of cat odor while leaving ot…

A. Vyas, S.-K. Kim, N. Giacomini, et al. · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · 2007

This study connected the felid-shed parasite Toxoplasma gondii to deaths of threatened southern sea otters along the California coast. Because cats are the only definitive hosts that shed environmenta…

M. A. Miller, I. A. Gardner, C. Kreuder, et al. · International Journal for Parasitology · 2002

This study described a feline leukemia virus (FeLV) outbreak in the endangered Florida panther, a small, inbred puma population. Through surveillance testing, the authors detected progressive FeLV inf…

M. W. Cunningham, M. A. Brown, D. B. Shindle, et al. · Journal of Wildlife Diseases · 2008

This classic experiment tested whether the felid parasite Toxoplasma gondii manipulates rodent behavior to favor transmission back to its definitive cat host. The authors found that infected rats lost…

M. Berdoy, J. P. Webster, D. W. Macdonald · Proceedings of the Royal Society B · 2000

This study documented a feline leukemia virus (FeLV) outbreak in the critically endangered Iberian lynx population of Donana, Spain. Through field surveillance, molecular diagnostics and pathology, th…

M. L. Meli, V. Cattori, F. Martínez, et al. · PLoS ONE · 2009

Cytauxzoon felis is a tick-transmitted protozoan that causes a frequently fatal disease in domestic cats, with bobcats serving as the natural reservoir host. This overview synthesizes the parasite’s l…

Many of the most important felid diseases, from distemper to leukemia virus to Toxoplasma, originate at the interface of domestic animals, wildlife and people, making them quintessential One Health pr…

Toxocara cati and related ascarid roundworms are among the most common parasites of cats, with wild felids shedding eggs that contribute to environmental contamination and pose a zoonotic risk to peop…

Research into how Toxoplasma alters host behavior has implicated changes in neurotransmitter and hormone systems, particularly dopamine and testosterone. This overview surveys findings that the parasi…

Some Toxoplasma infections in southern sea otters involve unusual atypical genotypes, including a so-called Type X strain rarely seen in domestic cats. This overview surveys research suggesting that w…

Felids are relatively susceptible to Yersinia pestis, and infection can progress to acute, severe and sometimes fatal disease, distinguishing cats from more resistant carnivores. This overview surveys…

Although cats are the definitive host, felids can also suffer clinical toxoplasmosis, particularly when immunocompromised or exposed to virulent strains. This overview surveys reports of disease in ca…

Understanding why some felids tolerate pathogens that sicken others requires comparing immune function across wild and domestic cats. This overview surveys comparative felid immunology, examining diff…

Feline immunodeficiency virus causes an AIDS-like syndrome in domestic cats yet has long been assumed benign in its wild hosts. This overview examines the evidence for and against that assumption, com…

The COVID-19 pandemic revealed a web of animal infections, with cats among the susceptible species alongside mink, ferrets and others. This overview surveys cross-species SARS-CoV-2 dynamics relevant…

The European wildcat’s recovery is complicated by disease and hybridization stemming from contact with abundant domestic cats. This overview surveys the disease threats facing wildcats, including feli…

Small wild felids such as the Pallas cat, sand cat and various others have distinctive disease ecologies that are often poorly studied yet conservation-relevant. This overview surveys disease in small…

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 disease…

The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic underscored that felids are susceptible to emerging coronaviruses, prompting renewed attention to the coronavirus host range in cats. This overview surveys the susceptibility o…

Tick-borne diseases are emerging and shifting in wild felids as tick distributions change and molecular tools reveal new pathogens. This overview surveys the changing landscape of tick-borne disease i…

Beyond the well-known feline immunodeficiency and leukemia viruses, felid genomes carry endogenous retroviruses and other retroelements that record ancient infections. This overview surveys the spectr…

Feline panleukopenia virus is exceptionally hardy, surviving in the environment for long periods, which shapes its epidemiology and spillover potential to wild felids. This overview surveys the virus’…

Cats, both domestic and wild, are the only definitive hosts in which Toxoplasma gondii completes sexual reproduction and sheds environmentally resistant oocysts. This overview surveys the ecology of t…

Feline coronavirus circulates widely and usually harmlessly, but can mutate within a host into the lethal feline infectious peritonitis (FIP) virus, a particular danger in crowded captive felid collec…

Beyond the pathogenic FIV and FeLV, felids carry feline foamy virus, a generally apathogenic retrovirus that nonetheless offers a useful marker of contact and transmission. This overview surveys felin…

Feline herpesvirus and calicivirus, the main agents of cat respiratory disease, circulate in domestic cats and can spill into wild felids, causing upper respiratory and oral disease. This overview sur…

Beyond bovine tuberculosis, felids can be affected by other mycobacteria, including the agents of feline leprosy that cause nodular skin disease. This overview surveys what is known about these atypic…

The detection of feline leukemia virus in the endangered Florida panther triggered one of the few field campaigns to vaccinate free-ranging wild cats. This overview synthesizes the outbreak response:…

Feline leukemia virus is fundamentally a domestic-cat pathogen, yet it has crossed into endangered wild felids with lethal consequences. This overview surveys documented and suspected spillover events…

Feline panleukopenia virus, a parvovirus closely related to canine parvovirus, causes severe, often fatal disease and circulates readily among domestic cats, posing a spillover risk to wild felids. Th…