Toxoplasma gondii infection in cats has welfare implications for infected cats, wildlife prey species and the humans they live with.
Toxoplasmosis has complex welfare dimensions. For individual cats, clinical disease is rare but can cause severe multi-system illness in immunocompromised individuals. For prey species, behavioural manipulation by the parasite arguably represents a welfare harm to the intermediate host. For human health, the primary risk is to pregnant women and immunocompromised people from environmental oocyst exposure. Keeping cats indoors or feeding exclusively commercially prepared food substantially reduces infection risk for all parties.