Iowa cat catches H1N1 from owners

A 13-year-old house cat in Iowa that contracted the H1N1 flu from its owners is recovering.

Ann Garvey, state public health veterinarian with the Iowa Department of Public Health (IDPH), said there's no indication the cat can spread the flu virus to other humans or animals.

"It's very, very rare for cats to get influenza at all. However it has happened with other strains in the past," Garvey said. "With those strains, there's no evidence the cats can spread it to the humans and they didn't spread it from cat to cat."

Although experts don't have a lot to base their knowledge on with this being the first case of H1N1 found in a cat, they are confident of the virus can't be spread except by humans.

"In this case, the owners were sick prior to the the cat becoming sick. They had signs and symptoms very similar to the H1N1," Garvey said. "So it's pretty certain the owners gave the flu to the cat."

The cat was determined to be ill based on its symptoms, which included not eating well and respiratory distress in the form of wheezing, Garvey said.

There is no H1N1 vaccine available for cats. The ill one is being treated with supportive care like making sure it doesn't get dehydrated, Garvey said.

"The same type of things that humans would do," she said.

H1N1 is a widespread disease but, other than the single confirmed case in this Iowa cat, it has not been found in any other cats or other pets like dogs, Garvey said.

But H1N1 has been confirmed in two ferrets, one in Nebraska and the other in Oregon, according to the Associated Press.

Garvey said people can protect their pets from contracting H1N1 by using the same precautions with them they would with other family members.

"Covering coughs, washing hands, limiting exposure to pets when you are ill," she said. "People really need to take the same common sense precautions with their pets as with their other family members to prevent illness in their pets."

Currently concern over a H1N1 outbreak in cats and other household pets is low so officials continue their focus on curtailing the spread of the disease from person to person, Garvey said.

"Based on what we've seen, there's no evidence the pets can pass it back to the humans so we're really focusing on how sick humans are," Garvey said.

Local veterinarians haven't seen any signs of H1N1 in pet cats.

Some like Dr. Paul Prieksat, of Le Mars Veterinary Clinic, and Dr. John Conley, of Town & Country Veterinary Clinic, don't expect to.

"The probability is low," Prieksat said. "I don't think it's a big issue."