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Companion cats and dogs often catch COVID-19 from their owners, a new study suggests.
Researchers in the study found that among the pets of people who had recovered from COVID-19, about two-thirds of cats and more than 40% of dogs had antibody against the coronavirus that causes COVID-19, which means pets have been infected with the virus in the past. In particular, cats who slept in their owners’ beds were at high risk of contracting the disease.
Although researchers have already documented a few cases of pets catching COVID-19 from their owners, they weren’t quite sure how common this human-animal transmission was.
“If someone has COVID-19, there is a surprisingly high chance that they will pass it on to their pet,” study co-author Dr. Dorothee Bienzle, professor of veterinary pathology at the University from Guelph in Ontario, Canada, said in a press release. The authors recommend that people with COVID-19 keep their distance from their pets and “keep [pets] out of your room, âBienzle said.
Related: 6 secrets to unlock your cat’s personality
The study will be presented this week at this year’s Virtual European Congress of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (ECCMID 2021) and has yet to be published in a peer-reviewed journal.
For the study, the researchers tested 48 cats and 54 dogs, from 77 households, for antibodies to the new coronavirus. (The owners of all 77 households had previously tested positive for COVID-19.) The owners were also asked about their interactions with their pets, including whether they had kissed their pets or allowed the animals. to sleep on their bed.
The researchers also tested 75 dogs and cats housed in animal shelters and 75 stray cats that were seen at a low-cost veterinary clinic, for antibodies to the new coronavirus.
They found that 67% of companion cats (32 of 48 cats) were positive for COVID-19 antibodies, as were 43% of companion dogs (23 of 54 dogs). In contrast, only 9% of cats and dogs in animal shelters, and 3% of stray cats, tested positive for COVID-19 antibodies.
This finding suggests that COVID-19 is most likely spreading from humans to pets, rather than the other way around, given that stray animals and shelter animals likely have less contact with humans than pets.
Fortunately, most of the pets that had antibodies to the coronavirus were asymptomatic or had mild symptoms. About 20% of the 54 companion dogs had symptoms by the time their owners became ill, including reduced energy levels, loss of appetite, and coughing; but those symptoms disappeared quickly, the researchers said. About 27% of 48 pet cats had symptoms, including a runny nose and difficulty breathing. Three of the feline cases, or 6%, were severe.
Dogs who had close contact with their owners or slept on their owners’ beds were no more likely to catch COVID-19 than dogs who did not have this type of contact. However, cats who spent more time with their owners or slept on their owner’s bed were more likely to catch COVID-19, compared to cats who were perhaps more distant.
Cats appear to be more susceptible to COVID-19 than dogs. This may be because the virus binds more easily to receptors on the surface of cat cells compared to dog cells, the authors said. Additionally, cats may be more likely to sleep close to their owners’ faces than dogs, they said.
No data suggests that pets can transmit COVID-19 to humans, and the risk of this happening is low, according to the Centers for Disaster Control and Prevention (CDC).
But since the possibility of animal-to-animal transmission cannot be ruled out, this is all the more reason to isolate animals from people with COVID-19, the authors said. Pets that test positive for COVID-19 should also be kept away from other people and pets, According to the CDC.
Originally posted on Live Science.
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