Fecundity of Pharyngostomum cordatum Parasitic in Domestic Cats

Abstract

Pharyngostomum cordatum [PC] was investigated on the relation in number between the eggs detected by fecal examination and the flukes parasitic in the small intestine of four cats. Stoll's and the MGL methods were examined on the detecting ability of the eggs in the feces. The number of eggs per day per worm (EPDPW) was calculated at about 1, 000. Based on this egg count, the average detectable number of eggs was calculated at 19.1 on average (from 6.5 to 34.4) in cats parasitized by one fluke by MGL method with 0.5g of feces. From the results, the MGL method was confirmed to be highly reliable on diagnosing Pharyngostomum cordatum infections, even with a single worm.