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Curious City

Pets And COVID-19: What You Need To Know

Curious City

WBEZ Chicago

Society & Culture, Education, Public, Chicago, Arts, City, Radio, Curious, Investigation

4.8642 Ratings

🗓️ 5 April 2020

⏱️ 18 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Chicagoans have become familiar with how COVID-19 is spread from person to person and what types of safety measures they should be taking during this time.

But WBEZ has gotten several questions from pet owners who are wondering about the risks to their furry friends, things like--are cats and dogs susceptible to the virus and who will care for my pet if I get hospitalized with COVID-19?

Scientists recently confirmed the first cases of COVID-19 in domestic pets- two cats and two dogs. But science journalist David Grimm says researchers, at this stage, believe the risk of transmission is low because the cell biology of animals is so different from humans.

Still, there are precautions people need to take.

In this episode, we explore how to best care for your pets right now, what to do if a pet owner gets sick with the virus and how our furry companions may also be responding to the emotional stress their owners might be experiencing right now.

More about our questioner


Dr. Samuel Farbstein is one of several people who asked WBEZ questions about pets and COVID-19. Samuel was wondering about whether his two dogs, J.C. and Benji, could possibly contract the virus and if they would be contagious if they did.

He’s an internist at DuPage Medical Group and has been reading all the medical literature about the novel coronavirus so he can up with his patients’ questions and concerns. He thinks J.C. and Benji sense he’s under an unusual kind of stress, and says they’ve tried to offer him some comfort.

“I [spent] 8 hours at my computer dictating yesterday and [both dogs] were basically at my side making sure I couldn't walk without stepping on them,” Sam says. “They knew I needed it; they know I'm under stress. They read us well.”

Jesse Dukes is the Curious City audio producer. You can follow him @CuriousDukes.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

I'm Jesse Dukes. Last week, scientists in Belgium tested a cat who'd been exposed to coronavirus and was having trouble breathing.

0:07.7

And sure enough, the cat was COVID-19 positive. This was the first time a cat was known to contract the coronavirus.

0:14.8

Scientists weren't even sure it was possible. Since then, a second cat tested positive in Hong Kong.

0:21.1

Now, with hundreds of millions of dogs and cats living in close proximity to humans, the question of whether pets contract and spread the virus is important.

0:30.3

Yvette Johnson Walker is a professor of veterinary studies at the University of Illinois, and she says pet owners have expressed concerns.

0:37.7

Can their dogs or cats transmit the virus to them? Can they infect their dogs or cats?

0:44.5

And are they susceptible? People have asked Curious City similar questions. And one person also

0:50.3

asked whether somebody would be allowed to care for her cats if she needed to be hospitalized

0:54.6

with COVID-19. Would they languish in the house or end up in a cage somewhere in quarantine?

1:00.4

The answers are complicated, but I think we can put some fears to rest. First of all, scientists

1:05.7

say the risk of transmission between humans and pets is very low. There is very, very little evidence that pets

1:13.6

can either get the new coronavirus or transmit it. This is science journalist David Grimm. He points out

1:19.2

apart from the two cats, two dogs have also tested positive, and that's it. Scientists believe

1:25.7

there could be more cases since they don't test that many animals.

1:29.6

But because their cell biology is different from humans,

1:32.7

scientists suspect that even when cats and dogs get it,

1:36.0

the virus has a harder time invading their cells

1:38.7

and using them to replicate more virus.

1:41.7

So the current scientific thinking suggests cats and dogs with COVID-19 are less

1:46.3

contagious than humans. However, the virus might be able to survive on pets, skin, and fur, where it could

1:52.6

spread to other people. So experts say, be careful if you're sick. Isolate yourself from your pet,

1:57.8

so if you have another caregiver in the house, that's not positive. You allow that caregiver to interact with a pet. And if you must interact with your pet, really limit

...

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