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H1N1 in pets and service animals- fluke or not
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By JeffSCRes1 on PhotoBucket
Iowa just had it's first confirmed H1N1 in a cat. A Time article written today called, "A cat comes down down with H1N1", confirmed a senior cat tested positive for H1N1.
One may wonder how is this possible? Consider this...the H1N1 novel virus consists of swine and avian flu markers. When you think about it, due to such markers, the possibility of transfer to your pets or service animals is really greater than some may think.
The Time's article stated the case may be a possible fluke because of the age of the cat and its immune system being weaker. But really what is the truth in all this? After all, there may be more cases of such transfer from people to pets and service animals than one may think.
In calling the Minnesota Department of health (CDC) on some concerns a few weeks ago when our family fell ill, with our youngest tesing possitive for type A influenza, some interesting facts were found out. You see, usually I have to call MDH to notify of issues due to wildlife concerns to people, such as a few years ago when I sent in the first confirmed West Nile Virus cases on dry ice, that was found in two Blue Jays in our area.
After our family recovered I noticed both of my service dogs were coming down with flu-like illness. Severe sneezing, snorking and slight runny nose, although no fever was present. Confirming with MDH they didn't know of any cases of human to animal transmission of H1N1 then and thought maybe its a good probable case of dog flu. Although I did tell them it just seems extremely odd for this to happen. I also told them to be diligent for any ferret cases due to this species catching flu and colds easily from humans as well. Both dogs recovered with a variety of natural therapies.
As soon as the eldest service dog, Hunter, was recovering better (he was affected more being almost 9 years), my cat started in with symptoms as well as three ferrets. All were treated accordingly with natural therapies, watched for any signs of complications and are fully recovering.
Thus, as a precaution because of such a lack of information on how this new virus is going to truly function and spread, we all need to be diligent to protect all family members. Watch your anxiety levels when dealing with viruses but be alert to any illness signs, including our priceless life saving service animals and furry to feathered pets.
Article on "Dog Flu"
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