Outline

1. Why was the experiment done?

1. what is the disease?
2. what is the affect on the organism?
2. Scientific Method?
3. Hypothesis
4. What was done?
1. techniques
2. experiments
5. Results
6. Conclusion

Eryon Dempsey
Biology 1615
Nicole Pearson

Feral Cat Diseases Summary

Three diseases are present within feral felines in the state of Hawaii.
Feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV), Feline leukemia virus (FeLV), and
Toxoplasma gondii are causes for multiple concerns for the surrounding
wildlife. These disease hinder felines ability to produce antibodies to protect
against disease and infection, cause blood disorders, and cause the feline to
carry more deadly diseases such as pneumonia. These viruses can be easily
transmitted by close contact, fluids, and feces.
This study was conducted in an effort to study the exact damage these
specific diseases could have on the islands ecosystem such as native
wildlife, domesticated pets, and humans. Population control by predation
could be drastically reduced due to death of the predators due to disease.
While these diseases have been extensively studied in the more populated
areas of Hawaii, they have not been studied in the more remote regions.
What seemed to be the hypothesis was the idea that FIV and FeLV
should be examined more closely to determine whether if these viruses had
already existed within the remote areas and toxoplasmosis should also be

examined to see if the possibility of the virus was a high risk of being
transmitted to the native wildlife. No scientific method was applied.
106 live traps were scattered across the remote lands of Mauna Kea.
Each trap contained a cloth as bedding, canned cat food or sardines, as well
as a plastic covering to help protect from the weather. These traps were
checked daily. When a cat was captured it was euthanized by a gun shot to
the head. A total of 71 feral cats were captured from the more remote areas.
For each cat the sex was determined as well as the age. Blood samples were
taken by a 21-gauge hypodermic needle to obtain 10 ml of blood. Portable
kits were used to produce results after 10 minutes. The remaining blood
(2ml) was packaged and sent to Colorado State University for examination
to see if any antibodies of the T. gondii virus was present within the blood.
Results show that juvenile cats, male/female, and adult female cats
did not contract the FIV virus but within the adult community only males
carried the virus which concludes that feline immunodeficiency virus
occurred only in adult males. For the FeLV virus, 6 out of 36 adult male cats
showed positive and only 3 out of 23 for females. Only 2 out of 9 contracted
the virus for the juvenile male and female cats. Cats are the definitive host
of T. gondii (Wallace, 1973)
The transmission of T. gondii to offspring can occur when kittens ingest
infected milk given to them by adult females, but cats typically become
infected by eating raw meat. FIV virus is transmitted by biting and the FeLV

virus is passed on via saliva, fluids, and blood. Humans and wildlife primarily
develop toxoplasmosis after ingesting sporulated oocysts shed in cat feces
(Journal of Wildlife Diseases, 2007).