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Two pet cats in New York test positive for coronavirus

April 22, 2020, 2:15 PM CDT / By Ali Gostanian

You may or may not have seen the news about two cats who tested positive for COVID-19 in New York.

We want to stress, again, that there will likely be a flood of misinformation and speculation in the wake of this report – be sure you are checking (and double checking) your sources. If you’re unsure if something is right, shoot us a note; we’re happy to chat with our experts about it.

There are so many things we DON’T know right now; we can’t control that. What we CAN control is following the same advice we’ve always shared about pets and COVID-19:

  • If you are ill, avoid interacting with others (humans and pets)
  • Keep cats indoors (this is important for so many reasons outside of COVID-19)
  • Leave cats that are not your pets alone unless they are in an emergency situation
  • Don’t let your pets interact with animals you don’t know (e.g., outside the home)
  • Walk dogs on a leash, maintaining 6-feet distance from other people and animals (this is generally a good rule to follow from a behavior perspective)
  • Avoid dog parks or public places where a large number of people and dogs gather

Source: CDC — Daily Life Coping “Animals”

More information, from legitimate sources

“IDEXX Laboratories, Inc. (NASDAQ: IDXX), a global leader in veterinary diagnostics and software, today announced that the company has seen no positive results in pets to date of SARS-CoV-2, the coronavirus strain responsible for the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) respiratory outbreak in humans.

IDEXX evaluated thousands of canine and feline specimens during validation of a new veterinary test system for the COVID-19 virus. The specimens used for test development and validation were obtained from specimens submitted to IDEXX Reference Laboratories for PCR testing.”

Source: IDEXX — Leading Veterinary Diagnostic Company Sees No COVID-19 Cases in Pets

For the most up-to-date information on the risk of COVID-19 virus transmission to animals and COVID-19 disease, please visit the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the American Veterinary Medical Association, or the World Organisation for Animal Health COVID-19 resource pages.