Clinical investigations and treatment outcome in a European wildcat (Felis silvestris silvestris) infected by cardio-pulmonary nematodes.

Recently, feline cardio-pulmonary nematodes have attracted high scientific interest, as they are increasingly reported from various areas. Most of these parasites have similar transmission patterns and/or host reservoirs, thus they may affect domestic and wild felids living in sympatry. In the present study, a case of multiple cardio-pulmonary parasitism in co-infection with other parasites in a European wildcat is presented. The animal, found exhausted, was hospitalised for recovery and parasitological, haematological, clinical and imaging examinations were performed. The parasitological examinations revealed 4 cardio-pulmonary nematodes, i.e. Aelurostrongylus abstrusus, Troglostrongylus brevior, Eucoleus aerophilus, Angiostrongylus chabaudi, 3 intestinal parasites, i.e. Toxocara cati, ancylostomatids, Cystoisospora felis, 2 haemoparasites, i.e. Hepatozoon felis and elements morphologically compatible with small Babesia/Cytauxzoon spp., and Ixodes ricinus and Haemaphysalis erinacei ticks. Treatment with a spot-on formulation containing imidacloprid 10% and moxidectin 1% (Advocate® spot-on solution for cats, Bayer) was decided and follow-up faecal examinations were performed until the release of the animal. By the end of the hospitalisation, all metazoan endoparasites were no longer detectable in faecal examinations, with the exception of a low number of A. abstrusus larvae. Thus, the animal was released after a second treatment with the same product. This is the first description of an apparently successful treatment of multiple cardio-respiratory parasitosis in a naturally infected wildcat showing compatible clinical signs. The evidence that Advocate® may be effective against A. chabaudi could be useful for treating infected, hospitalised, wildcats and it is promising in the case A. chabaudi infection will spread to domestic cats in a near future.

First evidence of the European wildcat (Felis silvestris silvestris) as definitive host of Angiostrongylus chabaudi.

Angiostrongylus chabaudi (Strongylida, Angiostrongylidae) is a parasitic nematode described for the first time last century from the pulmonary arteries of six European wildcats (Felis silvestris silvestris) in central Italy. Since then, this parasite remained practically unknown until recently, when immature A. chabaudi have been reported from one wildcat in Germany and two domestic cats (Felis silvestris catus) in Italy. The present report describes the first record of A. chabaudi in Greece and, most importantly, the first known case of patent infection by A. chabaudi. The necropsy of a road-killed F. s. silvestris found near the lake Kerkini, in the municipality of Serres (Macedonia, Greece), revealed the presence of nematodes of both sexes in the right ventricle and the pulmonary artery of the heart. All parasites were mature adults and numerous eggs were present in the uteruses of females. The morphological characteristics of the parasites were consistent with those of A. chabaudi. Moreover, Angiostrongylus-like first stage larvae (L1) were present in the faeces of the animal that was negative for any other cardio-pulmonary parasite. Genetic examination of adult parasites and L1 confirmed the morphological identification as A. chabaudi. Histopathological examination of the lungs showed severe, multifocal to coalescing, chronic, interstitial granulomatous pneumonia due to the presence of adult parasites, larvae and eggs. These findings demonstrate for the first unequivocal time that this nematode reproduces in the European wildcat which should be ultimately considered a definitive host of A. chabaudi. Finally, the L1 of A. chabaudi are described here for the first time, opening new prospects for further studies on this neglected parasite.