660News Pet Talk
Posted Mar 18, 2014 8:24 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
This week we’re talking about a rare cause of death in cats that is actually preventable.
A Calgary family recently lost two of their cats to a mysterious illness which a necropsy determined to be the H-1-N-1 flu virus.
C.A.R.E. Centre Medical Director Dr. Danny Joffe says, although it’s been found in cats in the U.S., this was the first case documented in Canada.
The virus is becoming increasingly common in people and while he says there’s no evidence we can get it from cats, in rare cases as we’ve just seen, we can give it to them.
“The key thing is, when somebody in the house is sick, they should take the same precautions with their pets as they would with family members: wash their hands after sneezing or wiping their nose, wash their hands frequently throughout the day and as little close contact as possible when they’re sick,” says Joffe.
Unfortunately, there is no vaccine for the virus in cats.
Next week, Dr. Joffe discusses another type of influenza that affects dogs.
