Outdoor cats risk more than disease

#Middlebury #Cats

DEAR PAW’S CORNER: Your recent answer on whether cats can get COVID-19 is correct: There is very little data, and only a few recorded cases, of house pets testing positive for this coronavirus. So the risk of pets getting ill from it may be low, but I think that a much higher risk for cats is when they’re allowed to roam outside. Not only can they be exposed to feline diseases like FIV, but the critters they catch, like small lizards and songbirds, may also carry diseases. For example, many songbirds carry salmonella, a bacterial infection that can be fatal to cats. – Greg, via email

DEAR GREG: That’s absolutely right, as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention mentions on its website (www.cdc.gov/coronavirus). Thank you for pointing this out.

I’ve written frequently about the risks faced by cats that are allowed to roam outdoors – from being struck by vehicles to being attacked by feral cats or other wildlife, like coyotes.

Outdoor cats also are direct threats to other wildlife. I’m sure most cat owners are familiar with the 2013 study published in Smithsonian Magazine that estimated about 2.4 billion birds and around 12.3 billion small animals are killed by outdoor cats each year.

While feral cats certainly are part of the problem, we can at least keep our housecats from contributing to the massive number of small critters killed each year.

Folks, keep your cats indoors. If you’ve got a cat that insists on being outside, find a compromise: perhaps a screened enclosure in the backyard or a window seat, so your cat can watch the world go by. Bolstering bird populations and reducing the risk of transmitted diseases is worth it.

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