Babesia cati Mudaliar, Achary, and Alwar, 1950
ETYMOLOGY:Babesia for Dr. Babès and cati (cat).
SYNONYMS: None.
This parasite was described from a domestic cat in India at the Madras Veterinary College (Mudaliar SV, GR Achary, VS Alwar. 1950. On a species of Babesia on an Indian wild cat (Felis catus). Ind Vet J 26;391-395.). Previously, a similar parasite had been noted in blood cells of a domestic cat necropsied in northern India (Mangrulkar MY. 1937. On a piroplasm fo the Indian cat (Felis domesticus). Ind J Vet Sci An Husb 7:243-246.). Babesia cati, like Babesia felis, is a small form of Ba besia. Babesia cati is believed to differ from Babesia felis in that no cross-shaped dividing forms indicative of quaternary division within the red blood cell have been noted.