Studies on occurrence of fungal dermatitis in cats

Introduction

Skin disorders are among the most common health issues in felines, often causing significant discomfort and concern for owners. Moreover, dermatological cases frequently require longer diagnostic procedures and extended treatment compared to many other clinical conditions (AL-Sultan et al., 2024) [1] . Feline fungal dermatitis is an important dermatological condition caused by dermatophytes yeasts and moulds affecting cats worldwide. It involves infection of the skin, hair and sometimes claws by various pathogenic fungi. Because cats live in close contact with humans and other animals, fungal skin diseases carry both veterinary and public health significance. These infections range from superficial involvement of keratinized tissues to deeper or systemic invasion in rare cases (Alsaad., 2021) [2] . Fungal dermatitis occurs with variable clinical signs, including alopecia, pruritis, hyperpigmentation, scaling and characteristic circular lesions. These ring-shaped lesions, often accompanied by crusting, have led to the common term "ringworm" in cats. Prolonged inflammation in affected may result in permanent hair loss. More over cats acts as significant reservoirs of M. canis, facilitating transmission of infection to humans in close contact (Colombo et al., 2001; Nunez et al., 2025) [3, 4] . The present study was undertaken to study the occurrence and risk factors involved in causing fungal dermatitis in cats.

Materials and Methods

Cats presented to Veterinary Clinical Complex with dermatological problems were screened for fungal etiology. Samples including hair plucks, skin scrapings, and crust materials were collected aseptically. Wood's lamp examination was performed in a dark room to detect applegreen fluorescence suggestive of dermatophytosis. Direct microscopic examination was conducted using 10% potassium hydroxide (KOH) preparation to identify fungal hyphae, arthrospores, or spores under the microscope. For fungal isolation, the collected samples were inoculated onto Sabouraud's Dextrose Agar (SDA) supplemented with chloramphenicol and cycloheximide and incubated at room temperature for up to 2-3 weeks. The fungal isolates obtained were identified based on colony morphology, pigmentation, growth characteristics, and microscopic appearance using lactophenol cotton blue staining.

Results and Discussion

During the period under study (July 2025 to March 2026), a total 1183 feline cases were registered at Veterinary Clinical Complex, Gannavaram. Out of these 83 cats (7.02%) diagnosed with dermatological affections were screened and 44 cats were confirmed as fungal dermatitis which accounted for 3.72 per cent of the total cases. The prevalence of dermatological disorders observed in the present study was 7.02 per cent, which was in close agreement with the findings of Scott et al. (2013) who reported dermatological cases in 6.4 per cent of the total cats examined. However, higher prevalence was recorded by Scott and Paradis (1990) [5] and Hill et al. (2006) [6] . The comparatively lower incidence observed in the present study might be attributed to the grooming behaviour and normal skin microbiota of cats. Among the dermatological disorders, fungal dermatitis was the predominant etiology accounting for 53.01 per cent of cases, followed by parasitic infections (28.91%), bacterial dermatitis (13.25%) and non-infectious causes (4.82%) as show in Table 1. Similar predominance of fungal infections was reported by Shokri and Khosravi (2016) [7] and Alautaish et al. (2024) [8] . In contrast, parasitic skin diseases were reported as the major cause by Silvestre et al. (2024) [9] ; Ashwini and Kumar (2023) [10] and Al-Sultan et al. (2024) [1] The occurrence of fungal dermatitis in the present study was 3.72 per cent of the total feline cases examined, which was in accordance with the findings of Hobi et al. (2011) [10] who reported fungal etiology in 2.1 per cent of cats. Variations in prevalence and etiology among different studies might be due to differences in geographical location, climatic conditions, managemental practices, environmental hygiene and immune status of the animals. Dermatophytes were the predominant fungal isolates recovered from cats with fungal dermatitis in the present study. Among the dermatophytes, Microsporum spp showed the highest occurrence (46.43%), followed by Trichophyton spp (39.29%) and Epidermophyton spp (14.29%). Among the individual isolates, Microsporum canis was the most predominant species (20.45%), followed by Trichophyton mentagrophytes (18.18%), while Microsporum nanum, Trichophyton rubrum and Epidermophyton spp were isolated in fewer cases. Similar findings were reported by Seker and Dogan (2011) [11] , Murmu et al. (2015) [12] and Jarjees and Issa (2022) [13] , who identified M. canis and T. mentagrophytes as the major dermatophytes associated with feline dermatophytosis. The predominance of M. canis observed in the present study may be attributed to its highly contagious nature, persistence of infective spores in the environment and close contact among cats in confined conditions. Malassezia pachydermatis was isolated in 18.18 per cent of cats and produced white to cream coloured colonies on Sabouraud's dextrose agar with characteristic peanut-shaped cells on microscopic examination. Comparable observations were reported by Scott et al. (2013) [14] and Shokri and Khosravi (2016) [7] , who documented the involvement of Malassezia species in feline fungal dermatitis. In addition, saprophytic fungi such as Aspergillus spp, Penicillium spp, Rhizopus spp, Fusarium spp and Alternaria spp were also isolated in a few cases, indicating possible environmental contamination. Similar findings were reported by Zenad et al.

(2015) [15] and Minnat and Khalf (2019) [16] . The relatively higher occurrence of Trichophyton spp in the present study was in agreement with Ridzuan et al. (2021) [17] , who reported higher prevalence of Trichophyton isolates in stray cats.

Variations in fungal isolation rates among studies may be influenced by geographical location, environmental conditions, season and management practices, as reported by Diren Sigirci et al. (2019) [18] and Lopes et al. (2024) [19] . Age-wise occurrence of fungal dermatitis revealed a higher prevalence in kittens below one year of age (43.18%), followed by cats aged between one and two years (34.09%), whereas comparatively lower occurrence was observed in cats aged two to five years (13.64%) and above five years (9.09%) (Table 2). Similar observations were reported by Cafarchia et al. (2004) [20] , Seker and Dogan (2011) [11] and Katiraee et al.

(2021) [21] The increased susceptibility of young cats might be due to their playful behaviour, increased exposure to contaminated environments, immature immune system, irregular grooming habits and frequent close contact with infected animals or littermates. Gender-wise prevalence revealed that female cats (63.64%) were more commonly affected than male cats (36.36%) (Table 3). Among both sexes, intact cats showed higher prevalence compared to neutered or spayed cats. Similar findings were reported by Cafarchia et al. (2004) [20] ; Seker and Dogan (2011) [11] and Mohanraj et al. (2023) [22] . In contrast, higher prevalence in male cats was documented by Falahati et al. (2003) [23] ; Patel et al. (2005) [24] and Alpun and Ozgur (2009) [24] which they attributed to differences in sebum composition. The variations observed among studies might be associated with hormonal influences, reproductive status, environmental exposure, immune status and Breed-wise occurrence depicted in Table 4, that Persian cats were predominantly affected (63.64%), followed by domestic shorthair cats (20.45%) and crossbred cats (15.91%). Similar findings were reported by Sattasathuchana et al. (2020) [25] and Myers et al. (2021) [26] The increased susceptibility of Persian cats could be attributed to breed-specific factors such as long hair coat, grooming difficulties and retention of fungal spores on the hair shaft. Long-haired cats (81.82%) were more commonly affected than short-haired cats (18.18%), which was in accordance with the findings of Nitta et al.

(2016) [27] ; Bajwa (2020) [28] and Zaki et al. (2021) [29] Long hair coats may favour persistence of fungal spores and increased moisture accumulation, thereby predisposing the animals to fungal infections. Among the managemental factors in cats associated with fungal dermatitis, irregular grooming, poor sanitation and multi-cat housing conditions appeared to play an important role. Majority of the affected cats were regularly bathed; however, grooming practices were irregular in most cases. Similar findings were reported by Bajwa (2020) [28] who stated that poor grooming hygiene and contaminated grooming equipment increased the risk of fungal infection. Most affected cats were from sheltered environments (75%) and multi-cat households (65.91%), which supported the findings of Mignon and Losson (1997) [30] , Minnat and Khalf (2019) [16] and Al-Sultan et al. (2024) [1] High population density, stress, closer contact between animals and environmental contamination might have contributed to the increased prevalence in such households. In the present study, 59.09 per cent of affected cats had cohabitation with other pets, further indicating the role of close contact in disease transmission. Urban cats showed higher prevalence (63.64%) than rural cats, possibly due to increased indoor housing, crowding and environmental contamination in urban settings.

Conclusion

Fungal dermatitis was identified as the most common dermatological disorder in cats presented during the study period. Young kittens, female cats, intact animals, Persian breed and long-haired cats were found to be more susceptible to fungal infections. Managemental factors such as multi-cat households, sheltered housing, cohabitation with other pets, irregular grooming and poor sanitation practices appeared to increase the risk of infection. The study highlights the importance of early diagnosis, proper grooming, environmental hygiene and regular health care practices for effective prevention and control of fungal dermatitis in cats.

Conflict of Interest Not available

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References

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