Don't give your pet swine flu!
Don't give your pet swine flu!
A 13-year-old Iowa cat has been infected with swine flu, and it is believed to be the first case of the H1N1 virus in a cat that was infected by its owner.
The domestic shorthaired cat was treated last week at Iowa State University College of Veterinary Medicine in Ames and has recovered, officials said. The virus also has been confirmed in two ferrets — one in Oregon and the other in Nebraska — but they died.
"This may be the first instance where we have documentation that transmission occurred involving cats or dogs," said Centers for Disease Control and Prevention spokesman Tom Skinner.
The veterinarian who treated the cat said two of the three people in the cat's Iowa home had flu-like symptoms before the cat became ill. Other influenza strains have been known to cross species, but Sponseller cautioned against drawing too many conclusions from the cat including whether other pets could also get the swine flu.
"It's well documented in influenza in general, but this is the first highly suspected case of H1N1 going from humans into a cat," he said.
The indoor cat was lethargic, had a loss of appetite and appeared to have trouble breathing after it became infected, Sponseller said. Its owners declined to comment.
Officials said pet owners should take the same precautions against spreading swine flu to pets as they would with humans.
Getting children vaccinated for swine flu can also help prevent the illness from spreading to pets. There is no swine flu vaccine for pets.
Dr. Ann Garvey, Iowa's state health veterinarian, said it is not yet known how sick cats or other pets could get from swine flu.
"Because we haven't seen that many cases, it's difficult to give a blanket assessment on how sick it can make an animal," she said.
Officials also stressed that there is no evidence that swine flu can be passed from pets to people.
"But it's so early in the game we don't know how it's going to behave. But that doesn't appear to be the concern. There's no sense of them passing it on to people," said Michael San Filippo, spokesman for the American Veterinary Medical Association.
Share on Facebook
- Posted on November 10, 2009
Animals
Art
Your stories
That is really bad for the cat. I hope it gets better. I wander if it got better. I wander how it happened. I don't get how the swine the flu spread to a cat.
That's sad that cat got the swine flu, but at least it got better. Too bad for the ferrets that died from the swine flu.
I knew that humans could get the swine flu, but I never really knew that animals could get it. You never really think that animals can get sick with the same things humans can until it is too late. Since people can cure people of H1N1 I wonder if they can use a very similar vaccine to cure the ill animals. I also wonder if they have made a cure yet for these sick animals. I don’t think I have anything to worry about my cats getting sick, due to the fact that I don’t know anyone who has been infected with this disease including me.
This is truly an interesting topic.I never would have thought that a cat could get H1N1 that really stinks for the cat. I hope he doesn't die like the ferrets.Poor cat!
I believe that people can pass illnesses to animals. If people can pass illnesses to one another, why couldn't they pass it to an animal. When an animal with rabies bites a person, the person gets sick. Why then, if a sick person comes in contact with an animal, can't the animal get sick? If someone said their pet had the flu, I would ask, "Did you have the flu?" I would also ask, did your pet have a cough, a temperature, or act like they had body aches? It would be difficult to know the symptoms, because a pet can't talk.
this article is great if you read this it will inspire you to under stand what the animals felt about this because when i read it i got a little board on it cause when it kept going on and on about stuff it all ready told me but why didn't they add some thing new like why it happend or how many animals died or how many animals lived or even how many humans and animals got that shot after that happened.
I thought this article was very sad and intresting. One example is when the cat was infected by the virus the cat became lathargic and sick. another example is the cat loss it's appetite and had a hard time breathing. Another example is you should get your kids swineflu free so you could keep your pet's safe and your kids too. That is why i thought this article was intresting.
That's very strange. I have never heard of cats being able to get swine flu.... or even thought of it. The cat in the picture looks so sad though....
Oh no! Ferrets are my favorite animals!!! Oh well. I didn't think it was even possible for animals to get the Swine Flu. That's the only part that made me click on it. The rest was actually pretty boring.
I think we should be terrified by this! i agree with the article in saying we have a PANDEMIC going on and we should all run and hide from our animals. we need to avoid pigs at all costs!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!