The 13-year-old indoor cat in Iowa was brought to the Lloyd Veterinary Medical Center at Iowa State University's College of Veterinary Medicine, where it tested positive for the H1N1 virus. ...
"Two of the three members of the family that owns the pet had suffered from influenza-like illness before the cat became ill," said IDPH Public Health Veterinarian, Dr. Ann Garvey. "This is not completely unexpected, as other strains of influenza have been found in cats in the past." Both the cat and its owners have recovered from their illnesses.
Perhaps this is the cue for pet stores across the country to set up displays of tiny paper masks and bottles of paw sanitizer.
Cat catches swine flu [Washington Post] (Thanks, Sarah!)
Protecting Pets from Illness [Iowa Department of Public Health]
(Photo: htby)
]]>@webweazel: I brought home a kitten who came from the shelter with an upper respiritory infection. She sneezed and sneezed and sneezed, and had watery eyes. She gave it to another one of my cats, and he was lethargic and sounded like he was meowing with a sore throat. I'd never seen a kittycold before, but when you see one, you'll know.
]]>@UrIt: That would be SO ADORABLE
]]>Look at you, spelling Halloween the original way. Go girl!
]]>Our 3 year old granddaughter demands to see the baby panda sneezing video every time she comes over. It sends her into giggle-fits!
]]>@bohemian: Seriously, I've had cats around all my life; how exactly does one KNOW when kitty has a cold?
]]>Also, I'm with you. I've been rocking the flu this week (it suuuuuuuuuuucks...body aches and chills were epic, now I have a horrible sore throat and congestion and a barking cough) and my kitties have been looking after me. Okay my husband bought me Mucinex and Gatorade, but the cats lay on me and purr and make with the cute.
]]>(No, I don't know if it's H1N1, and no, I don't really care. It's some sort of flu thing.)
]]>But the cats that live through it live for a long time, unless they're outright killed by something else, like our neighbors. Lost the oldest to a gunshot to the head, and nearly lost MY cat (My Tophie) to a purposely aimed buckshot. Those neighbors are assholes. It was that incident that I found respect for the family dog, which went out of his way to find her and then notify us.
]]>Poor kitteh...
]]>Here kitty kitty!
Poor puddy tat! Glad it recovered.
]]>@speedwell, avatar of snark:So in addition to STDs, pussies can now catch H1N1.
]]>While rare that cats pick up human flu, it happens. Cats have their own flu viruses as do pigs and birds and most other animals. If a cat has both flu viruses in its system at the same time there is the possibility that they swap genes and form a new flu virus. That's where the differently numbered H and N bits come from. It's like mix and match (I simplified a bit). It's pot luck if the newly created hybrid is infectious or not depending on the combination of proteins and the like.
]]>@gStein_has joined the star bandwagon: And you can't spell "catch" without "cat".
It's all a feline mind trick.
]]>@Smashville_now with Monster Energy: And now I'm really depressed. I need to go home and hug my kitty.
]]>@Eyebrows McGee (now with more baby!): I only had Kitt for 2 months his was a little more gradual (he started being really lethargic and seizing)...and took him to the vet and he had some sort of brain degeneration. Then I got Gus...and had him for 8 months...came home one night and he wasn't there to greet me at the door as usual, so I called for him...and he didn't come...and I turned the corner and saw his little tail and then saw him lying on the floor. That was the most horrifying thing I ever experienced...at least with Kitt, I had time to say goodbye and I was with him...walking in and finding your (presumably) healthy one year old cat dead on your kitchen floor is not a feeling I would wish on anyone. He had a heart defect...it just stopped beating...they ran an autopsy, said it was completely instantaneous. One second it was beating...and one it wasn't. I was so scared that I was somehow killing my cats.
]]>This is exactly why elephants never caught avian flu, or hamsters don't get strep throat. Physiologically, it just doesn't work out. Ask a scientist.
]]>paw sanitizer... i love it
]]>"Cuddle with sick hooman, you says. Kitteh can't get swine flu, you says."
]]>@Eyebrows McGee (now with more baby!): I've lost 2 kitties in the last 12 months.
So with Lexie, I get panicked when she does things out of the ordinary. Of course, she's just become old enough for Pounce treats...and now meows at me whenever I walk by the pantry door. I've created a little monster.
]]>We're being hand-washing nazis anyway to protect the baby, so I'm sure my indoor-only cats will be FINE, but I am something of a worry wart and this is a WHOLE NEW WORRY!
]]>@catastrophegirl: YouTube, not surprisingly, has a ton of videos that show this. Also, flopping. Flopping is pretty hilarious too.
]]>@RecordStoreToughGuy_IsBeing(pur)SuedByAMonster: M-O-O-N, that spells swine flu.
]]>I'm glad she is okay, albeit sneezy.
]]>@RecordStoreToughGuy_IsBeing(pur)SuedByAMonster: hahahaha. And the photo is great: [www.time.com]
]]>@ARP: There's the kitteh! It's white, and it looks tired.
]]>@Smashville_now with Monster Energy: When my rabbit sneezes, his whole body shakes a little, and he wiggles his nose extra like he's making sure it's still there.
]]>Clever little shit.
]]>@Eyebrows McGee (now with more baby!): I had the same reaction! I hate it when my little Rasputin gets sick! It's so sad.
]]>once when my former roommate opened a window my cat removed the screen and took off. without ripping it. she pulled the spline out of the frame and made a flap.
]]>@pecan 3.14159265: I find myself "gesundheit"-ing my cat quite often.
Of course, I also explained the meaning of "coniferous" to my cat one night.
]]>don't give them ideas.
]]>@catastrophegirl: Animals sneezing is one of the funniest sounds in the world. I love it.
]]>-I will catch piggy flu if I not has cheezeburgers, you see.
-I caught piggy flu : (
I'm a cat whisperer.
]]>This is the first time in my entire life that I have been sick that wasn't either something like the pox or food poisoning.
]]>Wait, so the one time where a "kitteh" picture is completely apt on Consumerist and you don't have it? Odd.
]]>Cats catch bird flu, also.
]]>