Laboratory and clinical features of experimental feline leptospirosis.

In order to assess the clinical, laboratorial and epidemiological aspects of feline leptospirosis, ten female and male adult cats were experimentally inoculated with pathogenic and autochthonous field isolate of Leptospira interrogans. Five of them were inoculated subcutaneously with serovar icterohaemorrhagiae (R-192) and the others five with serovar canicola. No clinical and laboratorial alterations were found in these animals. Antileptospiral agglutinins were detected in 90% of the infected cats, shortly after the 1st week after inoculation. The leptospiral agglutinins were detected for 8 to 12 weeks and the elimination of leptospires through urine was observed only in animals infected with serovar canicola, beginning 2 to 4 weeks after inoculation and lasting for 2 to 8 weeks. Isolations of leptospires from blood and kidneys were unsuccessful.