More importantly, people are more likely to acquire an infection by handling or eating raw meat, or handling raw vegetables and not washing their hands well. For breeders who feed their cats raw meat this can mean an added concern. Michael Lappin and his associates at Colorado State University felt that a more accurate test for toxoplasmosis needed to be developed. Much of the work funded by the Winn Foundation was concerned with increasing understanding of the disease in cats and in developing such a test. Dr. Lappin's work has shown that cats rarely become clinically ill with toxoplasmosis, usually only if they are themselves immunosupressed by disease or stress.
Clinical cases do occur, however.
Respiratory involvement is common in cats with both primary and secondary forms of the disease. Cats with respiratory toxoplasmosis often have a fever and show signs of malaise, weight loss and lack of appetite. Labored breathing becomes more pronounced as the disease progresses. Gastrointestinal signs are also common among cats with secondary toxoplasmosis. The most frequent signs are fever, weight loss, vomiting, diarrhea, mesenteric lymph node enlargement, and palpable thickening of the abdominal wall.