Cat Parasite Threatens Dogs' Eyesight, Study Finds
Five dogs at a Jerusalem teaching hospital developed eye disease tied to Toxoplasma gondii. One lost an eye; two relapsed after treatment seemed to work.
Five dogs in a Hebrew University case series developed serious eye disease linked to the cat parasite Toxoplasma gondii; two relapsed after treatment.
Toxoplasma gondii, a parasite spread mainly by cats, was linked to severe eye disease in five dogs treated at a veterinary teaching hospital. [A parasite linked to cats may also threaten dogs' eyesight, researchers find — Phys.org]
The five dogs, treated in Rehovot between 2023 and 2025, all had eye abnormalities and positive antibody tests for the parasite. Disease ranged from mild inflammation to retinal detachment. One six-year-old dog went irreversibly blind and lost the affected eye. [A parasite linked to cats may also threaten dogs' eyesight, researchers find — Phys.org]
The case series comes from the ophthalmology department of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem's Koret School of Veterinary Medicine: Dr. Yamit Soueid and colleagues, working with Professor Itamar Aroch, reviewed the records of five dogs treated at the university's veterinary teaching hospital. It's published in Veterinary Parasitology: Regional Studies and Reports. Toxoplasmosis is well documented in cats and in people; in dogs it's considered rare, and its eye form rarer, which is why the authors call the condition underrecognized. [A parasite linked to cats may also threaten dogs' eyesight, researchers find — Phys.org]
Treatment helped, then sometimes didn't hold. All five dogs improved at first on systemic clindamycin, the standard toxoplasmosis drug, alongside treatment to control the eye inflammation. Two later relapsed, with ocular inflammation returning and antibody levels staying high despite prolonged treatment. In the most unusual case, an 8-year-old Weimaraner developed severe eyelid inflammation, blepharitis, after its first episode, and its eye inflammation recurred about three months after clindamycin was stopped. [A parasite linked to cats may also threaten dogs' eyesight, researchers find — Phys.org]
The authors are careful about what five cases can prove. Ocular toxoplasmosis is hard to diagnose: its symptoms resemble other eye diseases, and a positive antibody test alone can't establish that the parasite caused the damage. Their recommendation is narrower than the headline — veterinarians should add toxoplasmosis to the list when a dog's eye inflammation has no clear explanation, because the standard treatment is different from what those look-alike conditions get. [A parasite linked to cats may also threaten dogs' eyesight, researchers find — Phys.org]
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