Animal Clinic of Kalispell - March 2022

ld Child TRODUCING SWEETGRASS!

COVID-19 IN PETS

Mom, on the other hand, still needs some training. She’s always trying to make me get off the kitchen counter, even though it’s my favorite

place in the whole house. Someday, she’ll learn I belong up there, but who knows when that’ll happen? And can you believe she also tries to stop me from climbing the curtains? If any other cats are reading this, think twice before getting a human — they can be a lot of work.

WHAT ARE THE RISKS? By now, you’ve probably heard of stories about zoo animals contracting COVID-19 (or even being vaccinated against it). During the early stages of the pandemic, many scientists were concerned that coronavirus could be a risk in household pets. Even more than about pets’ health, they worried that humans and their animals might be able to transmit the virus back and forth to each other. “Every species has their own coronaviruses,” Dr. Clark explains. The official clinical name for COVID-19 is SARS-CoV-2, and the SARS portion of the name stands for severe acute respiratory syndrome. “That’s what kills people and animals,” he says, “the body’s response that happens secondary to the infection.” The big cats that have died in the past year suffered from SARS. After their deaths, they tested positive for COVID-19.

But even though Mom has a lot of problems, I love her anyway. I follow her around to make sure she doesn’t get into

trouble, and I supervise her carefully whenever she has a shower. One time Mom’s daughter called me a “peeping Tom,” which shows you just how dumb humans can be. I’m not even a tomcat! But I’m still glad I didn’t stay in the woods or end up at a shelter, so I do my best to keep Mom happy. Every night, I play her favorite game with her. She hides her feet under

the covers, and I grab them. If I do a really good job, she starts screaming! I love watching her have fun. Keeping her entertained and well-behaved is all in a day’s work.

That was worrying, but a recent study on domestic cats provides good news. Scientists have found that dogs are not susceptible to COVID-19, and cats only experience mild susceptibility. In the study, researchers experimentally exposed cats to coronavirus. Though 100% of the cats tested positive after a few days, none of them developed clinical symptoms. “All cats were asymptomatic and recovered,” Dr. Clark reports. Twenty-eight days later, they infected the same cats, and none of them subsequently tested positive for the virus — they developed immunity at least for that period of time. “This is great news,” Dr. Clark says. He admits to being concerned in the early days of the pandemic. “If pets are one of the harboring sources of this thing to people, billions of animals could be euthanized,” he worried. If anything, it’s more likely we are exposing the cats and not the other way around. At the clinic, Dr. Clark explains, “Every single day, I’m sure we’re being exposed to the omicron variant because there are asymptomatic people everywhere.” Our pets pose no risk to us. “There’s no reason to worry that your cat or dog is giving you COVID-19,” he says. And while some people have been concerned that they need to isolate themselves from their pets after testing positive, he doesn’t believe it’s a cause for unease. “If the virus caused any clinical disease in pets, maybe,” he says. “But it doesn’t. I’d be hard-pressed to say that isolating from your pet would make any sense.” For humans and pets alike, it’s the positive coronavirus news we could all use.

Your fluffy feline is about to be addicted to these healthy and savory snacks! They aren’t quite catnip, but they’re close! 4. Place the sardines, egg, and oil in a food processor, and mix until finely puréed. 5. In the bowl, combine the wet ingredients with the dry, stirring to combine. 6. Line a counter or cutting board with flour and roll dough out to 1/4-inch thickness. 7. Using a cookie cutter, cut out small shapes. 8. Bake the treats on the lined baking sheet for 10–12 minutes. 9. Allow to cool. Store in an airtight container.

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