Source
Norsworthy GD, Miller KN, Castro SM, Addie DD. Feline coronavirus prevalence in 493 cats with chronic diarrhea. J Vet Intern Med. 2025;39(3):e70103. doi:10.1111/jvim.70103
Research Note
Chronic feline coronavirus (FCoV) infection can be associated with chronic diarrhea but is often regarded as nonpathogenic because the virus may be incidentally detected in the feces of nondiarrheic cats; presence on a diarrhea panel may thus be disregarded.
This 13.3-year retrospective study evaluated the prevalence of FCoV in cats in North America with chronic diarrhea. In a real-time PCR assay of 10 enteropathogens from 586 fecal samples, FCoV RNA was detected in 64.3% of samples, and the Clostridium perfringens enterotoxin gene was detected in 54.4% of samples; 35.2% were positive for both pathogens. Samples from cats <1 year of age were significantly more likely (74.1%) to be FCoV positive than cats ≥1 year of age (58.3%).
Although several study limitations (eg, absence of a control group without chronic diarrhea) prevented definitive conclusions regarding FCoV-associated pathogenicity, the authors suggested the presence of FCoV in 64.3% of cats in this study population indicates that FCoV infection should be considered in patients with chronic diarrhea. Overlooking the presence of FCoV may result in missing key diagnostic and therapeutic opportunities.
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