Cat and dog owners who cuddle with their pets when infected with COVID-19 can eventually become infected with the virus, the study said. Sakchai Lalit / Associated Press
According to a Canadian study, cat and dog owners who cuddle their pets when they are infected with COVID-19 can make the animals sick with the virus.
The study says that while it is already known that animals, including cats, dogs, ferrets and hamsters, appear to be susceptible to COVID-19, transmission may occur more often than previously thought.
The study, published this month in the journal Emerging Infectious Diseases, included 69 cats and 49 dogs, including pets and animals from shelters and neutered clinics.
Pet owners were also asked to complete an online survey about the nature of their interaction with their animals.
“These data show a relatively frequent transmission of SARS-CoV-2 from humans to animals, and that some human-animal contact – such as kissing a pet, a pet sleeping on a bed – appears to increase the risk,” the study said.
“We concluded that infections in dogs and cats reflected human-to-animal transmission, given the pandemic nature of the virus in humans and the limited contact of most pets with other animals.
Dogs and cats that have lived in shelters show lower levels of COVID-19 infection than those that live with humans, said study co-author Professor Scott Weeze of the University of Ontario at Guelph University of Veterinary Medicine.
“It was quite a significant difference, as we would expect,” Wise said.
Lead author Prof. Dorothy Bienzle of the Department of Pathobiology at the University of Guelph said the results showed that cats had a higher rate of COVID-19 infection than dogs.
“This has to do with how well the virus attaches to the receptor in a cat’s or dog’s respiratory system,” Bienzle said.
The high prevalence of COVID-19 antibodies in cats surprised researchers, she said.
“We didn’t expect that much,” she said. “More than half of the cats that live in the household of a person with COVID have had antibodies. That’s very high. “
Animals infected with COVID-19 show symptoms similar to those of the virus, she said.
“They have no appetite, they feel dirty, they sleep more, they can sneeze and cough,” she said.
Weese said that cats are able to transmit the infection to each other and also to humans.
A veterinarian in Thailand was diagnosed with COVID-19 in August 2021 after being sneezed by an infected cat owned by a patient who tested positive for the virus, he said. Genetic analysis showed the virus was passed from the cat’s owner to the pet and to the veterinarian, Weese said.
There is also evidence that human-infected minks can transmit the virus to others, he said.
Transmission from humans to animals can be minimized by keeping owners at a distance, wearing a mask and taking other precautions, just as they would prevent infecting a person, he said.
“Ideally, what we want to do is prevent it from spreading as much as possible so that people can limit the contact they have with animals when they are infected,” he said. “That’s perfect.”
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