Cats should be kept indoors if you’re self-isolating to limit spread of coronavirus, vets advise owners

CNN — Cat owners who are self-isolating or have Covid-19 symptoms should consider keeping their pets indoors to stop them carrying the virus on their fur, a veterinary body has advised. The British Veterinary Association said animals “can act as fomites” and could hold the virus on their fur if they are petted by someone who has contracted it. “For pet owners who have Covid-19 or who are self-isolating we are recommending that you keep your cat indoors if possible, during that time,” the BVA said in a statement. It stressed that it is not suggesting all cats should be kept indoors, and said owners should do so “only if the cat is happy to be kept indoors,” acknowledging that “some cats cannot stay indoors due to stress-related medical reasons.” There has been a tiny handful of incidents in which animals have themselves tested positive for Covid-19, including a tiger in Bronx Zoo, but even in those cases there is no evidence that animals can pass the virus to humans. “In theory, if a patient with a virus in their nose rubbed their nose and got a bunch of virus on their hand and then petted their dog … and then another family member petted that dog in the exact same place and then rubbed their nose, maybe they could transmit it,” Dr. John Williams, chief of the division of pediatric infectious diseases at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh, told CNN last month.