The bird flu has reached Germany - and cats can catch it, too! :(

[icedtea]

i hope your kitties are all safe. i hope you do all you can to keep peggy nside. she will get over her homesickness for the outside if you play with her etc.

[Kirsten]

Hey, are you sure that cats can get it too? How did you find out? And, HOW can the get it?

Lut, there are lots of articles on the internet regarding cats and the avian flu.

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/n...2_birdflu.html

http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn6352

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5897967/

http://effectmeasure.blogspot.com/20...-bird-flu.html

http://money.cnn.com/2005/10/20/news/midcaps/banfield/

It's very scary, I know!

And yes, they can pick up the virus from eating infected birds.

and this brings me to another question: if someone has the normal flue, can an indoor pet get it from you ?

Farruska, I'm not sure, but I think I read somewhere that they can get the flu from us, but it depends on the type of the virus, I think...

i hope you do all you can to keep peggy nside. she will get over her homesickness for the outside if you play with her etc.

icedtea, Peggy is not my cat, she's my mother's cat and lives in her home. If she would live with me, she wouldn't be allowed to go outside. I had many arguments with my mother in the past because of this, but unfortunately, she won't listen to me.

Kirsten

[kb2yjx]

Our vet said cats cannot catch our colds, none can they give us a cold. Dare I go out on a limb and say they cannot get the flu from us??? Although, at our house, neither Barry nor I have been ill, and the some of the cats act as if they are under the weather, ie, lethargic, not eating, sleeping alot, craving heat, and in the next day or two they are fine and back to their old selves. I have made a strict habit of NEVER EVER coming into the house with the shoes that I wear to the clinic and hospital!!! The shoes are kept in the garage!!! I thought about that once and wonder what kind of germs I was exposing them to by coming in the house with my work shoes!!
This bird flu is sure getting scary! Kirsten, thanks for all those sites to review!!!

[Kirsten]

I just heard the bad news...

It's scary stuff!

I hope that people won't panic now and try to get rid of their cats. But it would definitely be a good idea to keep them inside to protect them.

Kirsten

[kb2yjx]

Barry just got in from work. He said his boss told him that a cat in France had died of the bird flu!!! John(the boss)said he has been tracking this for over a year and said that this would happen!!!! This is getting REALLY scary! I heard on the radio this morning that the bird flu has hit Sweden!!! HAs anyone spoken to a vet about the cats getting infected??!!!

[Kirsten]

HAs anyone spoken to a vet about the cats getting infected??!!!

Not yet, but I will...

Kirsten

[Kirsten]

I will.

If I got it right, people in the affected areas have been told now to keep their cats inside, and have their dogs on a leash.

All the infos I gathered so far can be read here: www.catmom.de , and I will update the page every time I learn something new.

Kirsten