Bird Flu and Cats - What Catlovers Need to Know

There has been a lot of scary reporting about bird flu (also known as avian flu or H5N1) in the news lately. While this virus has proven to be severe and often deadly in cats, there are ways we can protect the cats in our lives from infection. 

​How we can protect house cats:

• Do not feed them raw meat. Raw or undercooked meat from infected animals is a main source of infection among cats.
• Do not give them unpasteurized milk, which is another main source of infection. All milk is dangerous for adult cats in reality because they are usually lactose intolerant, so consuming milk can lead to life-threatening digestive trouble such as diarrhea, vomiting, and debilitating abdominal pain.
• Keep them indoors. Cats can contract H5N1 through contact with infected wildlife and even some contaminated surfaces.
• If you work with farm animals or birds, take off your shoes, wash your hands well, and change clothes when you get home.

How we can protect community cats:

• Keep the cats well fed. This will highly decrease their drive to hunt birds (and that’s best for the birds too!)
  
• Put out winter shelters to help the cats stay dry and warm. Wet and cold can suppress a cat’s immune system.
  
• Combat misinformation that labels cats as major vectors of the disease to humans. According to NPR, “There've been no known cases of cat-to-human transmission during the current outbreak of H5N1. The American Veterinary Medical Association says chances of this occurring are ‘considered extremely low, but not zero.’
  

No matter whether a cat lives indoors or out, if you notice her showing any of these clinical signs of bird flu infection, get her to a veterinarian right away. If you need help trapping a sick community cat, post an urgent request for help on Nextdoor and in a local Facebook TNR/community cat group. You can also look for TNR organizations in your area via saveacat.org/cat-action-teams-tnr-groups-by-state.html.
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It’s not yet known whether the virus can be spread between cats. Be cautious - watch cats who have been near a sick cat carefully for signs of developing infection.
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Signs of possible H5N1 infection in cats:

• Neurologic signs such as poor coordination, blindness, circling, seizures
  
• Heavy discharge from the nose and eyes
  
• Severe lethargy and depression
  
• Respiratory issues including rapid or difficulty breathing, and sneezing or coughing