Cytauxzoon sp. infection in two free ranging young cats: clinicopathological findings, therapy and follow up.

Two young brother male free-ranging domestic shorthair cats were evaluated for diarrhea. They presented with intraerythrocytic piroplasms on blood smear evaluation. Only the first cat was anemic (mild non-regenerative anemia). A partial segment of the 18S rRNA was amplified and sequenced, revealing a homology of 99% with Cytauxzoon sp. and of 93% with Cytauxzoon felis. The first cat was treated with doxycycline and imidocarb dipropionate and monitored by serial laboratory exams, resulting negative for Cytauxzoon sp. infection after the end of the therapy (follow-up period of 175 days). The second cat received the same therapy, but doxycycline was discontinued by the owner after 1 week. He was monitored for 130 days, remaining erythroparasitemic and asymptomatic. We described cases of Cytauxzoon sp. infection in domestic cats with detailed clinical data, description of two therapeutic protocols, and follow-up after treatment with opposite parasitological responses (parasitological cure versus persistence of infection).