Toxoplasma gondii infection in cats is often asymptomatic but represents a public health concern, while toxoplasmosis in immunocompromised cats causes significant welfare impacts.
For most healthy cats, toxoplasmosis causes minimal or no welfare impact. However, immunocompromised cats can develop severe, life-threatening toxoplasmosis with neurological disease, breathing difficulty, and ocular inflammation causing significant suffering. Appropriate treatment with clindamycin can reduce severity in clinical cases. The public health dimension of toxoplasmosis has led to unwarranted demonization of cats as disease vectors, and in some cases to unnecessary euthanasia of healthy cats when owners become pregnant. Appropriate hygiene measures and daily litter cleaning virtually eliminate zoonotic risk while allowing cats and humans to coexist safely.