Infecções por Parasitos Gastrintestinais em Gatos Domésticos de Araguaína, Tocantins.

Abstract

The domestic cat is affected by gastrointestinal parasites of importance in the veterinary medical clinic and for public health. In this way the knowledge of the parasitic fauna of these animals in the different regions is relevant, considering that environmental characteristics can favor a greater prevalence of certain parasitoses. As there were no studies on the parasitic fauna of domestic cats in the State of Tocantins, the objectives of this study was to determine the percentage of infection, diversity and intensity of parasitism by gastrointestinal parasites in domestic cats collected by the Araguaína Zoonoses Control Center, Tocantins; to evaluate the use of different techniques in the diagnosis of gastrointestinal parasitoses and to investigate possible factors associated with the infection.The study was performed through the necropsy of 54 cats of different ages, males and females, and the coproparasitological techniques of sedimentation by Hoffman, Pons and Janer and Sheather flotation. In the necropsies were found the nematodes Physaloptera praeputialis parasitizing the stomach and Ancylostoma spp. parasitizing the small intestine. The percentage of infection (PI), mean intensity (MI) and average abundance (AM) observed were 22,2%, 9,7 and 2,1 and 81,5%, 66,3 and 54, respectively, for P. praeputialis and Ancylostoma spp. The Platynosomum fastosum trematode was found parasitizing the bile ducts, with PI 33,3%, IM 151,7 and AM 50,5. In the coproparasitological examinations of 53 animals, eggs of Ancylostoma spp. (77,4%), P. fastosum (30,2%) and Toxocara spp. (7,5%) were identified, ovigerous capsules of Dipylidium caninum (13,2%), and oocysts of Cystoisospora spp. (15,1%). For the diagnosis of cestodes and trematodes, the method of coproparasitological examination that demonstrated greater sensitivity and specificity was the sedimentation of Hoffman, Pons and Janer, 44,4% and 91,43, respectively. In the diagnosis of nematodes, the method of examination that presented the highest sensitivity, 68,18%, was that of Hoffman, Pons and Janer and greater specificity, 66,67%, was Sheather flotation. In this study, no association was found between the individual characteristics of the animals and infection by gastrointestinal helminths. The results show that the domestic cats of the city of Araguaína, Tocantins are infected by gastrointestinal parasites, predominantly of the genus Ancylostoma spp., helminth that causes the syndrome known as cutaneous larva migrans in humans and makes the first report of P. fastosum infection in domestic cats of the northern region of the state of Tocantins.