Cats being isolated at humane society after disease diagnosis
Cat visitation and socialization is on hold for approximately two weeks at the Butler County Humane Society after a kitten was found to have panleukopenia, a contagious viral disease found in cats.
Cari Ciancio, executive director of the humane society, said the kitten, Marta, was identified as patient zero and was isolated quickly. Marta has been treated and is in good condition, but the staff is taking precautions so the disease doesn’t spread to other cats in the shelter, or their cats at home.
The precautions have led to the disposal of several pieces of cat equipment in order to prevent further infection, and the organization is asking for donations to help restock the facility.
One other cat at the shelter is also being treated for the viral disease.
Ciancio said symptoms of panleukopenia include diarrhea, a loss of appetite, lethargy and often dehydration, which comes with the diarrhea. She said the disease is highly contagious and it starts by infecting and killing cells. It can get everywhere in a cat, including into the bone marrow, so “it basically kills cats overnight.”
“You can carry panleukopenia on your clothes, hair. Anything these kittens have come in contact with has been discarded,” Ciancio said. “Currently, we put everything else on hold, and we want to make sure all of our cats are very healthy. We don't want to possibly infect any owned cats.”
Ciancio said a panleukopenia vaccine is common for cats to receive at the vet or from local clinics and urged cat owners to get their pets vaccinated for it as soon as possible.
“It's something that we are always fearful of. I wouldn't say it's running rampant, but it can if it's not contained,” Ciancio said. “Many kittens die from it, but if you can get treatment fast enough, you can get them healthy again.”
While panleukopenia has closed the cat section at the humane society for a few weeks, dogs can still be visited and adopted, even after staff identified a case of parvovirus in a recent arrival.
Ciancio said parvovirus can be harmful to dogs and spreads through fecal matter and urine, but the humane society was able to have the new arrival treated by a specialist before he was introduced into the kennel area of the shelter.
“We're still keeping dogs open because we were able to isolate where this dog was and it wasn't around other dogs,” Ciancio said.
