H1N1 and our pets

November 6, 6:44 PMChicago Pets ExaminerSusan NC Price

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Water bottle or bowl, keep it clean. Don't let other people cough or
sneeze on your pets .,, and don't nuzzle them if you're sick.

Well, color me embarrassed. Not even a week ago, I wrote that cats and dogs rarely contract human influenza viruses, but H1N1 has proved me overly optimistic. Just this morning, I heard a report on the Weather Channel’s morning newscast that an Iowa cat has been confirmed ill with H1N1. I just confirmed that report at ecoworldly.com. The 13-year-old cat reportedly became ill after exposure to several people in the home who had flu-like symptoms. The cat became lethargic and had trouble breathing. Preliminary testing for H1N1 October 9 was positive; these results were confirmed on November 2, 2009. The cat has now recovered.

The ecoworldly.com article suggested same precautions against spreading H1N1 to pets that I listed in Can your pets catch your cold?  Protect your pets as you would other humans: frequent hand washing, covering your mouth when coughing and sneezing, and minimizing contact with pets while you’re ill.

Currently, no H1N1 vaccinations exist for pets. According to Iowa veterinarian Dr. David Schmitt, "Indoor pets that live in close proximity to someone who has been sick, are at risk and it is wise to monitor their health to ensure they aren’t showing signs of illness.”

The Halifax NS Chronicle Herald also reported the Iowa cat story, with a quote form Tom Skinner, a spokesman for the U.S Centers for Disease Control, indicating that "This may be the first instance where we have documentation that transmission occurred involving cats or dogs."

The Chronicle Herald quotes comments by Scott Weese, an expert in zoonotic diseases at the University of Guelph, Ontario, that the animal cases underscore the need for owners of companion animals to realize that "pets are part of the household microbiologically, not just socially." He noted that pet birds and pet pot-bellied pigs are both known to be susceptible to human influenzas, but that ferrets remain the pets at greatest known risk from influenza, H1N1 or other varieties. And given the confirmed H1N1 infection in the Iowa cat, Weese would not rule out the possibility of dogs developing H1N1 despite the fact that dogs are not known to catch human influenzas.

In other reports, Stormy, one of four pet ferrets owned by a Nebraska family, died last week after all four animals contracted H1N1 influenza from their owners. Influenza is even more dangerous for these little mammals than for humans. And I found a poignant comment posted to a US News health blog, in which a woman from Nevada writes: try being a ferret rescue and getting H1N1-- I have had 43 ferrets on tamiflu for over a week. not fun.

The bottom line is, do your best to keep flu sufferers away from any pets—and watch your pets closely. If any of your pets show signs of respiratory illness, contact your vet for treatment suggestions.