By the nature of their environment and behavior, feral cats have an increased risk of exposure to a wide range of pathogens compared to domestic cats. Consequently, feral cats can act as both a reservoir for possible zoonotic diseases as well as a sentinel species for seroprevalence in other animal populations. We assessed the seroprevalence and risk factors associated with exposure to Leptospira, Toxoplasma and Dirofilaria in a population of feral cats from the American Midwest. Serum samples from a total of 140 cats were available for testing. Twelve cats (8.6%) were seropositive for leptospirosis based on a microscopic agglutination test titer of 1:100 or greater. Bratislava was the most commonly reported serovar, accounting for 6/12 positive titers. Forty-two cats (30%) were seropositive for Toxoplasma based on competitive ELISA testing, and nine cats (5.3%) were seropositive for Dirofilaria antibodies based on a lateral flow immunoassay. All of the cats for which a Dirofilaria antigen test was performed were negative. Body weight and sexual status were not significantly correlated with seropositivity to any of the studied pathogens. Seropositivity to one pathogen was not found to be a risk factor for seropositivity to other pathogens. Seroprevalence for leptospirosis was significantly greater in spring than in fall (p=0.023) and varied significantly between age groups (p=0.014). Similarly, seroprevalence for Toxoplasma varied according to age, with cats between 73 and 120 months of age being significantly overrepresented (p=0.013). Compared to previous seroprevalence reports of feline feral populations from the United States and abroad, this population of cats from the American Midwest had a slightly lower seroprevalence of Toxoplasma but higher seroprevalence of leptospirosis.

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