Cat tests positive for coronavirus

Posted by justinelee in Animal Safety, Blog, Pet Health

April 1, 2020

In a previous blog, I wrote about whether your pet could get coronavirus. This was based off information from WSAVA. Well, since then, a second dog in Hong Kong has tested positive along with one cat from Belgium. While the first 2 dogs weren’t showing any symptoms, this cat was showing symptoms.

More recently, some zoo animals living at the Wildlife Conservation Society’s (WCS) Bronx Zoo were also diagnosed with SARS-Coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2), based on duplicate respiratory tract samples sent to the Animal Health Diagnostic Center and New York State Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory at Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine and the University of Illinois College of Veterinary Medicine Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory. These included a Malayn tiger, 2 Amur tigers (Panthera tigris altaica), and 3 African lions (Panthera leo). These big cats also have clinical signs that developed over one week, and included a dry cough, some wheezing, and mild inappetance. The source of infection was thought to be from a zoo keeper, who at that time, was asymptomatic. Thankfully, all the affected cats are currently doing well on supportive care, monitoring, and antibiotics. According to the WCS zoos, enhanced personal protective equipment (PPE) such as masks, face shields, gloves, and coveralls are being used for all non-domestic felids at this time to keep everyone safe.

That said, I don’t want you to freak out too much yet. Keep in mind is there are almost one billion dogs and cats world-wide. And only 3 of our companion, four-legged family members and a handful of zoo/exotic animals have tested positive. Statistically, the likelihood that your cat will get it is pretty low – it’s rare, but possible. (And they are more likely to get it from you, versus you getting it from your cat).

So what about animal testing for COVID-19? First, it’s not that common. But, one of the leading veterinary diagnostic laboratories in the world, IDEXX, tested thousands of dogs and cats for SARS-CoV-2 (the coronavirus strain responsible for COVID-19 in humans) and haven’t seen any positive cases yet in our four-legged family membres. ZERO. IDEXX created a new veterinary test for COVID-19 using PCR testing – this tests for the DNA of the virus. (In fact, this test was developed quickly (faster than the 15-minute Abbott human test), but that’s likely due to the regulation for testing by the government.)

So, please don’t rush off to your veterinarian requesting a test for this. First of all, most veterinary visits are for emergency or essential treatment during the pandemic or #shelterathome. And keep in mind that COVID-19 is primarily transmitted person-to-person, not person-to-pet or pet-to-person. So far, there have been no definitive reported cases of pet-to-human transmission.

That said, if you are COVID-19 positive, have a cat, and are bringing them to your veterinarian, please call ahead and let us know that your cat has close exposure so we can get appropriate PPE and protection for our staff.

You should know that there is a MORE common type of feline coronavirus – one called Feline Infectious Peritonitis. I wrote about this on a 2-part blog in Part 1 and Part 2. However, it’s hard to tell what specific coronavirus this “positive” cat in Belgium was tested for. The current human test for SARS-CoV-2 detects viral genome – it doesn’t mean that the virus is “live” or actively infectious (Which is why it was controversial when COVID-19 was still evident on a cruise ship 17 days later – it could have been DNA, but doesn’t mean it was infectious or contagious). With this positive cat, we don’t know if the viral genome was capable of replicating. Maybe it was from environmental contamination.

That said, there is recent evidence that SARS-CoV-2 can be transmitted efficiently in ferrets and cats, but poorly in dogs, pigs, chickens and ducks. This is based off a recent paper from Shi J, Wen Z, Zhong G, et al. on a paper entitled “Susceptibility of ferrets, cats, dogs and different domestic animals to SARS-coronavirus-2.” However, a few key things you MUST be aware of. First, this paper was released BEFORE peer review, so it wasn’t critically reviewed yet. That means it wasn’t accepted for publication YET! Also, this study was performed in an experimental setting which is totally different from NATURAL infections or current pandemics. So, we really can’t extrapolate this to what’s going on right now with the COVID-19 pandemic. As veterinary scientists, we know that you can infect cats experimentally with lots of different infections, but they rarely get it NORMALLY. So, we really can’t extrapolate this to the current setting. There’s a great review of that study on Worms & Germs blog by board-certified veterinary specialist, Dr. Scott Weese, DACVIM (LA).

To top it off, another recent paper just came out measuring blood antibodies to cats in China and found that cats DID test positive for it with measurable amounts… meaning they were exposed!

So what does this mean to cat owners? Please don’t abandon or give up your cat, but use proper hygiene as previously recommended by WSAVA. In other words, keep your cat(s) indoors, be safe, quarantine and shelter in place. If you have clinical signs consistent with COVID-19, have someone else care for your cat, and make sure to be masked/use proper hygiene. If you don’t have anyone who can care for your cat, make sure to always wash your hands before and after handling your cat, minimize contact with your cat, and wear a mask ideally at all times (or quarantine your cat in a room without you).

Here’s a great infographic to help:

As an emergency critical care veterinary specialist, I see this a lot in the ER. The top 3 causes are due to pleural effusion (abnormal fluid surrounding the lung – not in the lung itself) secondary to congestive heart failure, cancer, or rare other causes; asthma; upper respiratory infections (URI) (Read about it here in Part 1 and Part 2.)

More importantly, realize that there is no definitive (READ ZERO) evidence of pets spreading COVID-19 to their human, 2-legged family members. Being that there are almost 1 million human cases worldwide of COVID-19 right now, if this pandemic did spread to pets, we veterinarians would have seen it by now.

When in doubt, talk to your veterinarian – that’s why we’re here!

Here’s some great information from Dr. Jane Sykes, DACVIM, PhD from UC Davis on it here at DVM360:

https://www.dvm360.com/view/cat-tests-positive-for-covid-19,-but-there-is-no-cause-for-panic?fbclid=IwAR1JzMZdtWiby2momlLFrK-fnKxqCGD3lrU2pQcWItsqIlYuLwcGumoJWgg

Another great resource from Global Veterinary Surgery here:

Cats and COVID-19 an update from WSAVA

Stay safe. Stay inside. Social distance. But go walk your dog.