These are some crazy times that we are living in. Our lives have dramatically changed in the past 2 months, and I know that we are all stressed, and worrying about our pets is an added stress that we certainly don’t need!
We have fielded some calls and concerns from people as the reports emerged in the past few weeks of cats and dogs testing positive for COVID-19. Corona virus is a family of viruses that have some versions that are around in the canine and feline world, and many other species have their own versions too. Most times these are mild viruses, and a few of them we even have vaccines for! Very rarely, do viruses like this cross species, but it can happen – and unfortunately that is what has occurred here with COVID-19 becoming a problem for humans.
The good thing is that it is even more rare for a virus like this to cross back. That’s why out of the hundreds of thousands of people infected world-wide with COVID, we have only had a handful of reports of dogs or cats becoming positive. And every time, there was clear, close contact with a sick person, and the pets all were very mildly infected.
The other important point to make, is that there have not been ANY cases where it appears that the pet spread it back to a human, or to another pet – though there is some concern cat to cat spread may be a possibility! I think for now, the safest thing to do, would be to ensure that our pets are self-isolating and social distancing right along with us (ie let’s avoid dog parks or large play groups!), and if you do become sick with COVID – that you are cautious with your pets and wash your hands before and after contact with them, limit contact when you can! And if you are sick, and you fear your pet is becoming sick – reach out to your veterinarian. There are tests emerging for our pets as well, but their use is currently being guided and overseen by the human testing world, as most of our pets will not need testing! If you would like to read more – check out this article by the CDC: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/daily-life-coping/pets.html.
Keep being smart, staying safe, and hopefully soon this will all be behind us! Happy May!