I just got this book from the library 😉. Judging by the response to this tweet, this mockup of a book is very popular (see it below). It’s been done very well. It amused me. Like 90% of people in developed countries, I am one of those who strongly believes in and welcomes the vaccination programme. It is a huge lifesaver. I am strongly against the anti-vaxxer brigade who I believe are:
- Jeopardising the health of the community;
- Selfish in their beliefs;
- Misguided;
- Risk-averse;
- And in many cases plane stupid and ignorant.
Strong criticisms, I realise, but this is a matter of life and death. Of course, we have to respect the rights of others which I do. Novak Djokovic, the No. 1 tennis player at the moment has not been vaccinated. He’s not said it but he refuses to say whether he has or has not been vaccinated which by strong implication means that he has not been vaccinated. This may cost him the opportunity to defend his Australian Open title which is coming up because the authorities in the state of Victoria are threatening to ban any player from the tournament if they’ve not been vaccinated. Update Feb 4, 2022: The world knows what happened at the Australian Open. Novak Djokovic was kicked out of the country before we could get onto the tennis court at the championships. I say, and many others would say, that he fabricated the positive Covid-19 test in December 16 in order to try and get himself into the Australian open without being vaccinated. There are some irregularities with the records of this test with the dates being out of sync. The Serbian government has stated that the record is accurate. They would back him up because Novak is a close friend of the Prime Minister, Ana Brnabić, of Serbia.
I’m surprised that Novak is against vaccination. It sends a bad signal to people who are ambivalent about vaccination. The Covid vaccinations are the most heavily tested and trialled vaccinations that the world has ever seen. They’ve been proved to be highly beneficial to both the individuals who accept them and the community at large. There is a very small risk of strong side effects which people have to accept because overall the vaccination benefits them tremendously.
It is important to state that vaccinated people are less likely to spread Covid based on new research by British scientists who examined how the Pfizer and AstraZeneca vaccines affected the spread of the virus. People who have been vaccinated are less likely to spread the virus even if they become infected after vaccination. This is as per a scientific study. This study adds to the growing body of evidence that vaccines reduce transmission of the Delta variant of the virus. That is why it is so important that people get vaccinated and it is also why I have said that people who are anti-vaxxers our selfish. They are allowing themselves to potentially become spreaders of the disease when this potential would be much reduced after vaccination.
But back to the book cover on this page. I love the expressions of both cat and girl. There is a serious aspect which I think people are entirely disinterested in namely that can owners can give their cat Covid by breathing over them. And it has happened. It has also happened in zoos where big cats have contracted Covid from zookeepers.
RELATED: How do I know if my cat has Covid?
Fortunately, it is believed that domestic cats have very strong immune systems against Covid resulting in fairly mild symptoms and a resolution of the disease quite quickly without human intervention. In terms of the spread of this virus and the pandemic, if humans were all cats, it wouldn’t have happened! Update: Having read the comment below from Tamara Beinlich, I can recall one domestic cat dying of Covid.
Covid is a zoonotic disease which means that it can be transmitted between humans and animals. This means that animals can give it to humans and humans can give it to animals. There aren’t that many zoonotic diseases. A very common and fairly mild one is ringworm which is highly contagious. When a domestic cat gets a cold, they can’t give it to their owner and vice versa.
RELATED: Can domestic cats transmit Covid?
Some experts have suggested that animals like domestic cats might create a reservoir for the disease. This suggestion seems to be incorrect. There is no danger in that happening in my opinion. Mainly because domestic cat cure themselves quite quickly.
Losing so many was heartbreaking. I hadn’t lost so many so quickly. Over the 13 years I’ve been here I’ve only lost one a year or none. But 2020 was horrible. And they went very fast, some in just a day of seeing the symptoms. One took over a month. Vets know but they don’t want to say anything. WE humans give it to the cats…Now I don’t kiss or breath on them. I keep the cat boxes clean at all times and wipe the litter boxes down with bleach and clean food and water bowls every day. That’s how I finally beat it. Lost only one this year.
I’m not so sure. I got very sick in 2019 from Thanksgiving all the way thru Jan 2020. I’m pretty sure it was covid. By March I had lost 6 cats, all had runny noses, coughing, puking etc all signs of covid. The vet had no idea what it was. Not until I read the lions at the Bronx Zoo had caught it. I actually talked to the director who cared for the lions and told him about my cats. I was 100% positive I gave it to my cats. Once all my symptoms were gone I never lost another cat. And yes the vet did all kinds of blood work etc trying to find a cause but he didn’t check for covid19. And since I cremate there was no way to know for sure. But they had the same illness as I had.
Wow, I find your comment shocking actually. So sorry to hear it. You are saying that Covid can kill domestic cats. It is the first time I have heard it. It might be significant. Almost all the reports have been of cats with mild symptoms. Having read your story I can recall one cat dying. I’ll amend the article. Thanks.