The recent confirmation of a case in Germany of the Avian Influenza H5N1 virus, commonly known as “bird ‘flu” in a cat has raised the question among many cat owners “Is my cat at risk of catching bird ‘flu?” “What preventative measures can I take?”.
Firstly, we need to get the risks into perspective. The H5N1 strain is not easily passed between species. Cats that contracted the disease “naturally” as opposed to in labatory tests represent only about a handful of the cases confirmed so far. The real risk, as with Toxoplasmosis, is of an extreme over reaction panicking cat owners into giving up their animals, thus putting shelters under extreme strain.
There are three simple things you can do to help reduce the risk of your cat contracting the virus. They are:-
• If you live in an area where H5N1 has been confirmed in the wild bird population, think seriously about keeping your cat indoors (this is sound advice in any case)
• Make sure you only give your cat cooked meat, never raw poultry (cooking meat at 70c deactivates the virus).
• Be vigilent and keep a close eye on your cat’s condition, be aware of even subtle signs of disease (you should do this anyway)
This also makes us ask if we should vaccinate our cats. It has been argued by scientists that vaccination would seem to be a high priority. The avian-flu anxiety may have a silver lining if it makes us think more carefully about how we look after our animals.
