Fatal toxoplasmosis in five cats.

Fatal toxoplasmosis was diagnosed in five of 155 cats necropsied in Denmark during a 2 year period, thus representing 3.2% of the necropsied animals. Lesions were dominated by scattered necrotic foci in liver and spleen. Toxoplasma gondii was demonstrated primarily by an immunoperoxidase technique. The clinical signs were rhinitis, conjunctivitis, dyspnoea and neurological malfunction. The relatively high prevalence indicates that clinical and fatal toxoplasmosis, naturally acquired, seems more frequently occurring among cats than is generally assumed.