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Now, a small but growing number of house cats have gotten sick from H5N1, the bird flu strain driving the current U.S. outbreak, after eating raw food or drinking unpasteurized milk.
MORE: Oregon house cat died after eating pet food that tested positive for bird flu. Cats infected with H5 bird flu can develop severe illness that can include neurologic signs, respiratory signs ...
Avian influenza is a zoonotic agent.The most common way a cat can obtain H5N1 is by consuming an infected bird. This has been studied in the 2006 and 2007 cases in Germany and Austria, where the strains between the cat and the infected birds were not different between the species. [8]
Larger cats, including captive lions, tigers and panthers, have also died as a result of eating meat contaminated with bird flu. So, too, have wild California bobcats and mountain lions.
Despite this, cat rescue groups sometimes release unadoptable feral cats into rat-infested neighborhoods under the pretext of giving the cats "jobs" as rat control, as is being done in Chicago and Brooklyn; the cats will largely ignore the rats and instead will beg for food from people or eat garbage and whatever small wildlife they can catch.
Domestic cats may at times become specialists as bird-killers if other prey is unavailable. Some carnivora, including the red fox and martens, are known for engaging in surplus killing of birds. Kruuk (1972) observed that four red foxes killed 230 black-headed gulls in one night in a single colony at the Cumberland coast while fewer than 3% of ...
Cat parents, even those with strictly indoor cats, need to recognize the signs of avian flu in their pets so they can get them potentially life-saving veterinary care in time.
A cat's eating pattern in a domestic setting is essential for the cat and owner bond to form. This happens because cats form attachments to households that regularly feed them. [26] Some cats ask for food dozens of times a day, including at night, with rubbing, pacing, meowing, or sometimes loud purring.