Right meow, between COVD-19 and Easter, it’s really not the best time for cats.  Let me explain.

When coronavirus panic first hit, there was a flood of general public confusion surrounding felines and their ability to contract and transmit this novel virus.  There is a long-known coronavirus cats can get (FCoV) but are they can innoculated against this if you bring your kitty to the vet for vaccines like the good responsible pet owner I am certain you all are (to my friend Steve, who likes to “see how it goes” and opts out of prophylactic vet care for his pets, this is directed at you buddy).  To be fair, it’s not considered a core vaccine and it’s unclear how effective it is.  The feline coronoavirus itself usually causes some diarrhea but they may not even show symptoms and it’s usually cleared.  And just to be clear, this is NOT the same virus as COVID-19.  Let me repeat, NOT THE SAME.

The problem with this known virus is that it can mutate and cause something quite vile called Feline Infectious Peritonitis (FIP).  This is definitely not a disease you want your cat to get, and usually involves a fever, fluid accumulation in their chest and abdomen (in the wet form of the illness) and they feel just horrid.  It can affect multiple body systems and it’s a serious and severe disease.  It’s challenging to diagnose, and for a long while, there has been no definitive treatment. We as vets supported them as best we could, until most die or are euthanized humanely due to poor quality of life.  Even now, there are only hints at some treatments involving antiviral agents and immune response modifiers.   Suffice it to say, it’s a real humdinger of a disease, but it’s not something that can be transmitted to humans.

Early on in the pandemic, we were fielding calls at our vet hospital from owners in absolute panic that their cats were going to transmit their own cat version of coronavirus to their owners.  One woman was yelling sentence fragments that she must bring her completely healthy/normal cats in for euthanasia because she knew they had been vaccinated for FCoV and was absolutely certain this meant they would give her COVID-19.  In between her frantic screams, we tried to explain the numerous fallacies in her exclamations and conveyed we would definitely not be ok with doing what she wanted.  Sadly, many reactionary pet owners have surrendered their cats and dogs to shelters over unfounded fears that their health is being threatened by their pets’ presence in their households.

On March 30, a preprint of a research article concerned the public with its findings that COVID-19 replicates efficiently in cats (and ferrets) and is transmitted via respiratory droplets.  This was NOT peer-reviewed, involved experimentally (not naturally) infected animals and involved incredibly low sample sizes, the latter being a common lamentable problem in most veterinary studies.   Then, on April 5, to compound the confusion, the USDA National Veterinary Services Lab confirmed SARS-CoV-2 (COVID19) in  a Bronx Zoo tiger, and several other big cats there showed similar respiratory symptoms.  Everyone was suddenly looking at their domestic longhaired cat “Sir Fluffs-A-Lot” as a giant dirty tiger who could annihilate them with one sneeze.  Maybe that bitch Carol Baskin could take care of him for me? was most certainly a fleeting thought for a few cat owners.

“why are you here? did you get fired? why are you acting like a complete freak?” wonders every cat in the whole world right now

So, let’s all take a deep breath behind our cloth masks, bandanas, recycled socks/undies, etc, and look at what we really know so far, as directed by the American Veterinary Medical Association.

THE FACTS:

1. Two dogs (Tokyo) and one cat (Hong Kong) tested positive for COVID-19 but showed no clinical signs. One cat in Belgium tested positive and had respiratory signs but these were not confirmed to have been actually caused by COVID-19.
2. There is ZERO current evidence that animals who test positive for COVID-19 can transmit this to humans.
3. We suspect humans can transmit this virus to susceptible animals, however the risk of this is very low.
4. Animal owners without COVID-19 symptoms should continue to wash their hands before and after any interactions with their pets.  AKA Stop cleaning your litter box whilst making your family’s dinner.  
5. Out of caution, animal owners who are COVID-19 positive should restrict contact with pets and other animals.  We just don’t know enough yet about this new virus, and information and guidelines are constantly evolving. But, as an aside, pet fur is porous and not considered to be a good fomite (object that acts as a surface to allow spread to a host).
6. There is currently no recommendation to test pets for this novel coronavirus.  3500 tests have already been done by IDEXX in the 50 US States and South Korea and none were positive.
7. There is also no reason to remove pets from a home even if an owner has tested positive for COVID-19, unless it is determined this pet will not be properly cared for due to its owner’s illness.

What precautions are my veterinary hospital enacting in the time of uncertainty?  All owners wait in their cars while their pets are brought into the hospital.  Any pets who are owned by a human with possible COVID-19 exposure are brought into a restricted area of the hospital by technicians and assistants wearing full PPE and the pet is cleaned prior to coming in the hospital general population.  We are taking histories over the phone, utilizing telemedicine applications such as AirVet and Cornexa to virtually examine and treat what we can and decrease any unnecessary pet traffic into the hospital and skeletonizing our in-hospital staff.  We’re wearing masks and gloves, washing hands to the point of having small nubbins instead of fingers, and standing 6 feet apart when at all possible.  And we’ve split into teams to operate independently and limit cross-over and mingling of staff.

here for the cats (and their dog frenemies too)

As I’ve said before, it’s a crazy uncertain time.  We as veterinarians and our essential staff are here for the really sick pets and the emergent problems that can’t avoid a visit.  For those of you that have healthy cats, stay home with them, cuddle them and allow them to purr away your stress.  Maybe even a “making muffins” back massage if they are so inclined.  Perhaps, because they are cats after all, they are really cheesed off about not having the house to themselves during the day.  Oh well, “Sir Fluffs-A-Lot,” get over it.  We humans need each other more than ever right now, but we also need our pets and they more than ever need us, even if they don’t realize it.  Let’s all give our poor kitties a break and not make them a scapegoat–er cat for our global pandemic.  🐱

stay tuned for part 2 on why this is not the most wonderful time of year for our feline friends…