Concomitant feline infectious peritonitis and toxoplasmosis in a cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus)

Three wild caught littermate cheetahs succumbed to feline infectious peritonitis (FIP) after being in captivity for approximately 9 weeks. A necropsy and histopathological examination on one revealed typical signs of FIP as well as histopathological lesions in the liver and brain of concomitant toxoplasmosis. Hypochromic anaemia, neutrophilia, lymphopaenia, eosinopaenia and elevations of alpha 2-globulin and gamma-globulin fractions of the blood were present in the one animal examined. These findings together with some clinical signs are reported.