I find this disturbing. It is a report which has surfaced from under the radar. And it looks genuine. I say that because we have to be cautious as there’s a lot of unknowns and some scaremongering during these strange times.
You may have read about it yourself. A female cat owner in Liege, Belgium infected their cat with Covid-19. This is the only case of this kind – human to companion cat – that has been reported. The cat had breathing difficulties, vomiting and diarrhoea. They say the symptoms were or are transient.
The discovery was made by researchers at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine in Liege. They have described it as an isolated case but say that it can occur when there is close contact between animals and infected humans (source: Dr. Emmanuel Andre, a government agency spokesman on the pandemic).
They say that the coronavirus can be transmitted from humans to animals but….it is believed that *animals* don’t transmit it to people. This must be wrong, surely, as the whole disaster started when a wild animal gave the disease to a human in Wuhan’s live animal market.
The authorities reiterate that:
So far, there is no evidence that a domestic animal can transmit the virus to humans or other pets…
Note the phrase ‘no evidence that domestic animals…’. They are distinguishing between domestic and wild animals. They are saying that domestic animals don’t transmit the disease but wild animals do. I’d like an explanation of the reasons why, please. They don’t know. That’s the truth. And logic stipulates that there is no difference between wild and domestic animals in this regard.
That said we should (1) wait for more information (2) keep calm (3) take common sense precautions and (4) DON’T DO ANYTHING SILLY WITH RESPECT TO DOMESTIC CATS. PLEASE.
They experts say that we should avoid close contact with our ‘pets’ and wash our hands after handling them. Who does that? Anyone?
My source for this post was the Japan Times. I have to report this in the interests of transparency even if it MAY be bad news for cats. I don’t want to be criticised for being open, honest and transparent – good qualities.
