04/03/2020
So we’ve been getting questions on whether pets can transmit COVID-19. The answer is.... maybe.
Dogs, so far, haven’t been shown to be able to be infected and then infect people. Two dogs have tested positive for SARS CoV-2, but neither got sick and the consensus seems to be that the risk of transmission is negligible.
On the other hand, dogs and pretty much anything else in a home with a COVID-positive person can act as a fomite, or a physical carrier of the virus from place to place. Imagine an infected person sneezing or coughing on the dog, or even kissing it. Virus gets on the coat, and the dog runs over to the someone else in the home for a petting. The family member now has virus on their hands.
We know that the virus won’t survive for long in the dog’s coat - maybe hours. It’s likely that bathing will physically remove or kill the virus. But it should maybe give you pause about handling other people’s pets. Are you *sure* nobody in the home is carrying the virus? And, especially if the dog belongs to someone who is at higher risk, are you sure that *you* aren’t a carrier, and aren’t sending that dog home to infect people there? You can’t really know, so use caution in these situations.
As far as cats go, they are a very interesting and different story. Cats (and ferrets) CAN be infected with SARS-CoV-2, and we don’t know enough about this to be able to say whether they can also transmit it once infected. My best advice on cats is to keep them away from anyone with respiratory signs. No cuddles , kisses, or head bonks until a quarantine period goes by.
In fact, pets should be kept away from anyone who is sick, first so that they don’t act as fomites and additionally, in the case of cats, so they don’t get infected. It will make your “sick isolation” more lonely, but it’s better for your pets and family members.
