Is Covid a risk for a dog’s heart health?
QI am worried about Covid being transmitted to dogs and causing heart disease. I have a Labrador and would like to know what to look out for if he is infected.
AResearch worldwide about Covid19 in animals has included how it affects dogs, cats, ferrets, mink, big cats, non-human primates and others.
In spite of these studies there is still a lot that isn’t known about the virus in companion animals.
Infection of pets is not unusual, but it appears that clinical signs are minimal and recovery occurs in most cases within 10 days to two weeks.
To date, transmission has been human to animal, not the other way around. Cats appear to be more susceptible than dogs and transmission between cats has been reported in a few studies too.
The number of confirmed cases in animals is, in comparison to people, extremely small, with few deaths reported. Understandably, testing for Covid-19 has been overwhelmingly in people, so the true incidence in animals requires more research.
Research by a team of UK veterinary specialists established inflammation of the heart muscle (myocarditis) as a side effect recently in a small number of dogs. These dogs appeared to have contracted Covid-19 from their owners and were depressed, lethargic and off their food. Some had difficulty with breathing and/or fainting. Fortunately all responded to supportive treatment.
Common-sense hygiene, as advocated for people who are self-isolating, especially good hand hygiene, should minimise any risk to a dog. And the new information about heart complications is very useful to vets on the front line.
My five-year-old cat has developed an ulcerated area on one side of his upper lip, which started a couple of months ago. He seems to be licking it and making it worse. Is there any way I can stop this?
AYou won’t be able to stop your cat making this worse without a consultation with your vet. Your description suggests an indolent ulcer, which is a very common problem.
These lesions used to be called rodent ulcers because they looked a bit like that disease in people. However, rodent ulcers are a form of skin cancer, whereas indolent ulcers are not cancerous. They’re called indolent because the lesions are not painful.
Indolent ulcers are caused by underlying problems, which can be divided into two main types: allergic causes (fleas, food and hayfever types) and infections, which are mainly bacterial.
Without examining your cat I can’t be sure, but top of my list of suspects is flea bite allergy. This is because your cat’s problem started in September, which is a peak months for fleas.
Indolent ulcers are very typical in appearance and there are several possible treatments. Initially your vet would want to break the itch/lick cycle, usually with a course of antiinflammatory drugs. A few cases benefit from antibiotics first.
A very good flea-control programme would prevent recurrence when fleas are responsible. Otherwise, treatment will be long term, aiming for good control of the issue, which is usually quite possible.