here kitty, kitty: you could give covid-19 to your cat

more evidence shows covid-19 may have human-to-cat transmission.in a new study published in the journal emerging infectious diseases, hong kong researchers collected viral rna and fecal samples from 50 cats who lived in close quarters with people who had confirmed covid-19 cases. between february and august, they found six cases of human to feline transmission. all of the cats were healthy and in one case, the virus genome between one cat and its owner were identical.in the first case, a seven-year-old female domestic shorthair cat lived in a home with three covid-positive people. on march 20, 29, and 30, the cat owners experienced symptoms like fever, cough, and shortness of breath. their cat was examined by a veterinarian on march 30 and reported healthy, but sars-cov-2 rna was found present in the nasal, oral, and rectal swabs that day.researchers attempted to grow viruses from the cat’s swabs but were unsuccessful. they continued to find viruses the cat’s nose and mouth, but none of the rectal swabs produced viruses after the first day.it’s not the first time cats have been connected to covid-19.in may, researchers from china published data that found cats and ferrets are susceptible to infection (dogs, chickens, pigs, and ducks, however, were not). in a lab experiment, researchers from the university of wisconsin-madison and the university of tokyo found cats could catch covid-19 from other cats. researchers inoculated three cats with sars-cov-2 and placed three uninfected cats with them, one in each cage with an infected cat. five days later, all three uninfected cats were infected.during the sars outbreak of 2003, there were cases of naturally occurring human-to-animal transmission of the sars coronavirus. viral rna was found in swabs taken from the cats’ noses and rectums from healthy domestic cats in a housing estate in the centre of a large sars cluster in hong kong.the science on whether cats can transmit the virus back to people is still unknown. study authors write, “although feline-to-human transmission is theoretically possible, we did not find any evidence of this transmission.”to keep cats safe, public health canada recommends that cat owners who have covid-19 symptoms keep their cats indoors to restrict its contact with other people and animals. also, restrict contact between the cat and anyone in the house who could be sick. this means not letting them share food, sit on your lap and sleep with you. licking, kissing and snuggling you is also off limits. if possible, let someone else in your household who isn’t sick take over cat caretaking, or wear a face covering until your illness is resolved.if your cat has been exposed to covid-19, it’s recommended that you disinfect surfaces the cat frequently touches, or temporarily move the animal to a hospital, clinic, or shelter. scientists have urged people not to abandon their cats out of concern of covid-19 since there is no evidence that they can spread the virus to humans.dduong@postmedia.com | @dianaduo
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