Studies on the prevalence of endoparasites in cats in Hannover and surroundings

Topical data on the prevalence of endoparasites in cats in relation to sex, age, housing, feeding, hunting behaviour and deworming were collected and the prevalence in the urban area was compared with the prevalence in the rural surroundings of the city. An overall of single faecal samples from 932 cats, 505 from urban area, 427 from the rural area were parasitologically investigated with a flotation technique using saturated sodium chloride solution. Additionally, cat owners were asked to fill in a questionnaire. In all, 106 samples (11.4 %) were positive for parasites (city: 11.3 %, rural area: 11.5 %). in the urban area of Hannover 6, in the rural area 8 genera and species of parasites were found. Polyinfections also occurred more frequently in the rural area (1.4 %) than in the city, (1.0 %). Toxocara mystax was found most frequently and was seen more often in the urban area (7.9 %) than in the rural area (4.7 %). In declining order the following parasites were recorded: 2.0 % Cystoisospora rivolta (city: 1.0 %, rural area: 3.3 %), 1.9 % C. felis(city: 1.8 %, rural area: 2.1 %), 1.0 % Taeniidae (city: 0.8 %, rural area: 1.2 %), 0.8 % Capillaria sp. (city: 0.6 %, rural area: 0.9 %), 0.2 % toxoplasma-like oocysts (city: 0.2 %, rural area: 0.2 %) and one cat each in the rural area excreted Toxoplasma gondii, Sarcocystis sp. or Aelurostrongylus abstrusus(0.1 % of all samples each). While there was no direct correlation between the infection with endoparasites and sex or deworming, the prevalence of infection correlated with age, housing and hunting behaviour. In general, young cats, cats with outdoor access and hunting cats were infected more frequently.