Little things, like taking a shortcut through the park on your way to work each day can make a big difference

to your mental health. Find your little big thing

little big thing at every mind matters. This is scientific Americans 60 Second Science. I'm Waite Gibbs.

The COVID-19 pandemic has a lot of people stuck at home with their cats, which raises some obvious questions.

Can cats catch the new coronavirus from their owners?

Can cats spread the disease to each other?

And can people get infected by their cats?

And can people get infected by their cats?

Scientists have been so busy studying human-to-human transmission of the virus that few so

far have looked at how it may be able to spread among cats and the humans they live with.

But a few preliminary reports within the past few days suggest that cats can catch COVID-19, probably from humans,

and then give it to other cats.

On April 5th, the Bronx Zoo announced that four tigers and three lions have developed symptoms

of the disease.

Scientists at Cornell University and the USDA tested San Disease. And researchers at the University of Illinois looked at the samples and found that the virus in the tiger was genetically indistinguishable from strain seen in humans.

So the tiger must have caught this from a zookeeper, which is a little surprising.

I mean, I would think six feet would be a minimum safe distance from a tiger under any circumstance.

But perhaps someone coughed on her food.

COVID-19 doesn't seem to be limited to big cats either.

Two research groups in China recently published studies on house cats in Wuhan and young cats raised in a lab.

These preprints have not yet been peer reviewed, and this is very early science that may well change with further study.

That said, their findings are worrisome. The Wuhan study did

...