Should man with virus stop petting dog?
Dear Joan: I am quarantined at home with COVID-19. Fortunately, I have only the mild symptoms of fatigue and sleep 12 hours a day.
My wife and I have been dog-sitting a Maltese terrier for my son’s family when they went on vacation, and still have him because of the travel restrictions and the need to quarantine.
When I’m lying in bed, the dog often comes to my bedside to be petted. Whenever I leave my bedroom I wear vinyl gloves and a face mask, but don’t wear them when lying in bed.
Is the dog likely to carry my COVID-19 on his fur to other family members when they pet it? I was going to return the dog to my son and his two small children after my 14-day quarantine, but now fear I might be introducing the virus to my grandchildren if I did this.
What are the risks, and what steps can I take to reduce the risk?
Transmission of the virus in this way is on the unlikely side of the scale, but the British Veterinary Association recently urged people sheltering in place to keep their pets indoors, saying that animals can act as fomites — objects that can become contaminated with infectious organisms — and perhaps spread the virus.
The Centers for Disease Control recommend that people with COVID-19 avoid contact with their pets, wash hands thoroughly before and after petting them, and don’t let them lick you.
I’d suggest gloving up and washing the dog, limiting future contact and bathing it again before returning it.
We recently found an opening to our crawlspace that a feral cat was using to live under there. We set up a webcam so we could see when the cat left and then we blocked the opening.
Now I am noticing by webcam that the cat is returning to the blocked-up opening regularly. We will investigate to see if there are kittens left behind and will try to get a close look at the cat, but how can we tell if it’s female? Can we see nipples?
We will also look under the house as much as we can to determine if there are kittens there.
If we decide there are kittens, what the heck can we do? We definitely cannot have cats in our house. If we rescue them, are there places we can take them? Can we somehow induce the mother to move the litter?
You need to check immediately to make sure you haven’t separated mama from her kittens. If you had, the cat would have been frantic to get to them and you’d hear lots of mewling from the kittens.
Telling the sex of a cat isn’t easy from a distance, but there would be signs of pregnancy or nursing. The mere presence of nipples is not an indication of sex. Just like in humans, both males and females have nipples.
If you find kittens, don’t do anything yet. Let the mother raise them until they’ve been weaned, then contact rescue groups and the animal shelter.
Protective mothers often will move their kittens if they feel threatened, so your snooping around might be enough to get her to reconsider.
Your next step down the road should be to contact a Trap-Neuter-Return organization and get the cat, male or female, fixed to prevent unwanted litters.