Accurate advice for cat owners

[Veterinari]

Hopefully this will dispel some of the inaccuracies and hysteria that have been flying about

www.bva.co.uk/news-and-blog/news-article/bva-statement-on-cats-and-covid-19/

I doubt it. Peoples hysteria and knee jerk reactions will kick in over this.
My work are currently bracing themselves for a slew of calls today in amongst the demands for emergency nail clips and wormers.

I thought it was unlikely that the advice would be to keep cats indoors unless maybe you are very vulnerable and even in that case, it's probably better just to avoid handling your cat, and make sure you're on top of handwashing.

I have 4 and 3 of them spend most of their time outside in good weather and they would be unbearable if confined inside, it would be extremely stressful for them and us. They potter around in the garden, on the grass at the side of the house and in the woods and fields behind the house.

I've never seen them make contact with other people, they generally hide in the undergrowth if anyone, including me or DP, approaches them, so I don't think they're a risk for being a line of contact between us and other households.

Glad to see some sense here. My cats do not cope with being kept inside and have been known to break through a locked cat flap in a bid to escape!

The advice is, to keep cats indoors. And no, you don't know what your cat is up to while out and about unsupervised. Unless of course you have a special tracking collar - which is highly unlikely.
So for your own care safety, keep it indoors.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-52204534

@Ylvamoon that contradictory article is one of the reasons the earlier thread on this got deleted I believe.

If you read past the inflammatory headline, the third paragraph actually says this:

"There isn't a single case of a pet dog or cat infecting a human with Covid-19," Dr Angel Almendros, from City University in Hong Kong, told BBC News.

There's no way I'm keeping my cats indoors when there hasn't been one case of a cat infecting a human.

I’m not keeping my cat in either until the government tells me I have to, as per all the other rules that have come out.

Would you be prepared to keep your cat indoors if there is proved to be a link between cats and humans ....

That is the pertinent question.

The BVA have said that the bbc misquoted them: ‘Contrary to some news reports this morning, we're NOT advising that all cats be kept indoors during the #COVID19 pandemic. Only cats from infected or self-isolating households should be kept indoors as a precaution, if possible.’

The BVA have said that the bbc misquoted them

Very disappointing from the BBC. I hope the article is amended/taken down after this.

"There isn't a single case of a pet dog or cat infecting a human with Covid-19," Dr Angel Almendros, from City University in Hong Kong, told BBC News

Precisely.

Veterinari

You are always bloody fab. I am a frequent namechanger but have had large and small animals forever so often frequent the pet threads.

Whenever I see you post I think thank god for a bit of rational, informed, kind, etc. etc. sensible advice!

These things often tend to 🦇 💩.

My elderly mum, hates cats, phoned me to tell me this news.

Just let out our yowling boy (he’s a Bengal and he’s loud!). Think we all would have gone very quickly mad had we tried to contain him much longer.

Thanks Veterinari. That’s helpful and informative.

In a lot of cases it would be akin to animal cruelty to keep a cat shut in when it’s used to going out. It’s not reasonable to expect people to essentially abuse their pets on the basis of public hysteria when there is no proven (or even suggested) risk of transmission from cats to humans.

I agree with Bouncing.
You are bloody fab!!
My pair are still out. I won’t be licking them and will wash my hands after fussing them. (Same as usual)
Yes I could keep them in but then they would likely end up hurting each other. (Sisters who hate each other!)

Thanks for sharing this OP.

I get “Error page not found”

How did the tiger in the zoo catch it? Surely an employee would be that close?

Coronavirus: Tiger at Bronx Zoo tests positive for Covid-19
www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-52177586

I won’t be licking them and will wash my hands after fussing them
I don’t lick her but I do kiss my cat -too much apparently!

Most cats avoid contact with strangers

All my 14 year old cat does is find a patch of sun to lay in in the back garden until he gets bored and transfers himself back inside to the sofa. He’s also shit scared of anyone outside of our family so even if he did venture further than the patio, the chances of him let anyone touch him are miniskirt. I’d bet the majority of cats are the same.

*minuscule not miniskirt!

I’m letting mine out, but have put a “please do not feed me” collar on her. More people than usual are home from work and therefore more people than usual are falling for the cute cat who sounds like she’s starving routine.

She’s going to be massive by the time this ends at this rate.

The BVA website has gone down due to excessive traffic - alternative link to the statement on Twitter here

Statement here
Website down due to traffic!

My cat would be clawing at everything including us if we had to keep him in. He hates being stuck in. None of us have symptoms or need to isolate completely so he will continue to go out.

Another vet person here...

Encouraging that people are actually looking at BVA guidance and not just what Brenda on insertrandomfacebookpage says