My cat has toxoplasmosis

After 10 long and expensive weeks of recurring infection of an unknown source, my cat was finally diagnosed with toxoplasmosis today. First, I want to say that cats are rarely the source of toxoplasmosis in humans, and I’m not worried he gave it to me, although I know it’s possible.

Has anyone else dealt with this? I find hardly any posts detailing someone’s experience with their cat having it.

For those who are curious, this started out when my 3-yo cat stopped eating, became lethargic, and had diarrhea and nausea. I took him to the emergency vet where they determined he had a fever of about 104, and elevated white blood cell count. He spent two nights there and responded really well to IV antibiotics, fluids, etc. Whatever blood work they ran didn’t point to an obvious cause, and I was told even though he’s an indoor cat, he could have picked up a bacterial infection from countless things. He was sent home with Clavamox for ten days. I admit I was really bad about giving it to him (because who enjoys medicating cats), so when the same symptoms popped up again three weeks later, I blamed it on that. His primary vet did x-rays and found what she described as “a blob in his abdomen that could be something noteworthy, or simply a shadow.” She advised me to get an ultrasound, but didn’t seem too concerned and ultrasounds ain’t cheap, so I declined. After the same course of treatment, this time as outpatient, he felt better again within 48 hours. We got another prescription for Clavamox, which I was extremely diligent about giving him. That’s why when the same thing happened again three weeks after that, I knew something was wrong. By that point, my cat had been tested for all common bacterial infections, FIP, and retested for FIV & FHV, which were all negative. We did the ultrasound and they told me he had thickening of his colon wall showing “a pattern unlike anything they had seen before.” Plus the lymph nodes surrounding his intestines were enlarged. That time he was treated with a shot of Convenia (14-day antibiotic). Next, I took him to an internist who ordered tests for fungal infections, plus a fecal PCR, and a test for toxoplasmosis. She also suggested IBD or a food allergy, which she admitted seemed unlikely, but IBD would explain the changes to his cecum and ileum (parts of the intestines). While waiting for the latest test results, he spiked another fever, 15 days after the Convenia. This is when I nearly lost it due to the stress, costs, and the mystery of it all. Finally a few days later, he tested positive for the toxo exposure antibody (IgG—not uncommon), and negative for the infection antibody, IgM. This triggered them to repeat the tests (which were both $500 btw, NBD). His IgM had increased enough to consider toxoplasmosis a reasonable diagnosis. The parasite spreads throughout the body, settles into a spot, and causes inflammation, which hopefully explains what his ultrasound shows. He stared Clindamycin a few days ago as a precaution, and now has to be on it for four weeks.

I shared that in case anyone has been dealing with fever of unknown origin with their own cat. Mine has to go back and be retested after he finished Clindamycin. I was also told this could possibly happen again, which is disappointing as hell. I’ve spent $8600 at this point, but fortunately $5K was reimbursed by insurance. GET PET INSURANCE. Would love to hear from other toxo cat parents 🙏