Survival of a feline isolate of Tritrichomonas foetus in water, cat urine, cat food and cat litter

Feline intestinal tritrichomoniasis caused by Tritrichomonas foetus is associated with large bowel diarrhea in cats from many parts of the world. It has long been recognized as an economically important sexually transmitted disease that causes early abortion in cattle. Isolates of T. foetus from cattle are infectious for the large intestine of cats and isolates of T. foetus from cats are infectious for the reproductive system of cattle. The parasite is maintained by fecal–oral transmission in cats. The present study was conducted to examine the survival of a feline isolate of T. foetus, AUTf-12, under various conditions that are relevant to fecal–oral transmission in cats. Trophozoites were grown in TYM medium and then exposed to water, cat urine, dry cat food, canned cat food, clumping cat litter, or filter paper for various lengths of time and then re-cultured in TYM medium. Trophozoites survived exposure to distilled or tap water for 30 but not 60min, while they survived for at least 180min in urine. Trophozoites survived for 30min on dry cat food but survived for 120–180min in canned cat food. No survival of trophozoites was observed on cat litter but trophozoites survived for 15min when placed on filter paper. Our results indicate that T. foetus can survive and be potentially infectious in water, urine, dry cat food and canned cat food.