HN15 Is in the UK now.Do we need to fear it for our cats sake's?

As everyone who watches the news knows, HN15 (Bird Flue), has reached
the UK. So far, we are being reassured that there have only been two
noted cases of it.

The first was a dead swan that was found to be carrying the virus, &
more recently, the second case was found in a well known turkey farm,
where all of the current stock is being culled.
We know that HN15 is transmutable to other species, including humans.
All of the staff working there have been treated with antiviral
vaccine.

My question is this:Is it possible for cats to catch the virus, (If
anyone knows)..?
And, should we fear this virus for our cats that do go outside and &
hunt birds?
Although both Lucy(fur!) & Ringo are fed fully @ home, I notice that
both cats still hunt birds, & leave them as gifts/presents for us
outside the back door.

After Lucy(fur's!!) recent treatment to remove a collar that was
embedded into her neck, I am loathed to fit her with another one, even
to alert birds that she is around..I know that there are some
available that do alert birds to the cats presence. I don't like the
fact that they hunt birds, but can't find an option to stop them,
without the use of a collar.

If there is a risk, However remote , & do we need to be more aware-
what can we do to help our own cats and feral cats too?

on Mon, 05 Feb 2007 23:45:49 GMT, "sheelagh"
wrote:

If there is a risk, However remote , & do we need to be more aware-
what can we do to help our own cats and feral cats too?

Cats can definitely catch avian flu. They don't appear to be able to pass
it along to humans (yet? Influenza viruses do change and evolve). Avian
flu can be and has been fatal to cats. What's really scary is that they
can transmit it directly to other cats.

Would you consider not letting your cats outside anymore? They would
certainly complain for a while, but they would adapt. I would do this and
also fit all the ferals with collars that have bells. Make sure the
collars have safety releases.

--
Lynne

In article . com,
"sheelagh" wrote:

As everyone who watches the news knows, HN15 (Bird Flue), has reached
the UK. So far, we are being reassured that there have only been two
noted cases of it.

The first was a dead swan that was found to be carrying the virus, &
more recently, the second case was found in a well known turkey farm,
where all of the current stock is being culled.
We know that HN15 is transmutable to other species, including humans.
All of the staff working there have been treated with antiviral
vaccine.

My question is this:Is it possible for cats to catch the virus, (If
anyone knows)..?
And, should we fear this virus for our cats that do go outside and &
hunt birds?
Although both Lucy(fur!) & Ringo are fed fully @ home, I notice that
both cats still hunt birds, & leave them as gifts/presents for us
outside the back door.

After Lucy(fur's!!) recent treatment to remove a collar that was
embedded into her neck, I am loathed to fit her with another one, even
to alert birds that she is around..I know that there are some
available that do alert birds to the cats presence. I don't like the
fact that they hunt birds, but can't find an option to stop them,
without the use of a collar.

If there is a risk, However remote , & do we need to be more aware-
what can we do to help our own cats and feral cats too?

That's H5N1, or HPAI for "highly pathogenic avian influenza".

If you Google "cats & h5n1", you will find that practically *all*
studies associating pet cats and dogs with transmitting the flu to
humans have been debunked, although the suspicion remains (not unlike
the reasonless, superstitious fear, loathing and ultimate eradication of
cats just prior to the disastrous bubonic plague outbreaks in Europe,
while it was *rats* who carried and spread the disease).

If any mammal is likely to spread the virus to humans, it is likely to
once again be rodents or swine; they possess the animal kingdom's most
common close approximation of human physiology.

According to the latest WHO studies I could find (dated 2/28/2006):

" There is no present evidence that domestic cats play a role in the
transmission cycle of H5N1 viruses. To date, no human case has been
linked to exposure to a diseased cat. No outbreaks in domestic cats have
been reported. "

Although cats can catch the virus, almost all confirmed feline cases
were caused by the cats eating the raw carcass of infected birds. The
study noted that some cat-to-cat transmission occurred among tigers who
were fed infected birds.

http://www.who.int/csr/don/2006_02_28a/en/index.html

On 6 Feb, 01:16, Lynne wrote:
on Mon, 05 Feb 2007 23:45:49 GMT, "Sheelagh"

wrote:
If there is a risk, However remote , & do we need to be more aware-
what can we do to help our own cats and feral cats too?

Cats can definitely catch avian flu. They don't appear to be able to pass
it along to humans (yet? Influenza viruses do change and evolve). Avian
flu can be and has been fatal to cats. What's really scary is that they
can transmit it directly to other cats.

Would you consider not letting your cats outside anymore? They would
certainly complain for a while, but they would adapt. I would do this and
also fit all the ferals with collars that have bells. Make sure the
collars have safety releases.

--
Lynne

I have already answered this post once, but for some reason it hasn't
come up on screen...So here goes again.!
I had been off line for some time, so didn't read your posts until
after I had fed the community cats this morning.

I will be keeping our cats in for the foreseeable future, or at least
until we get the all clear. Your right, both Ringo & Lucy(fur!!) have
got the hump with me, but as I have explained to them in intricate
detail, it is better to be confined to barracks than it is to get very
ill, then die..
unfortunately, they don't seem to agree with me..

I thought that the best happy medium that we could find, would be to
allow them out in the cat runs, but not loose to bring gifts home.
They are still pretty sulky, but that doesn't matter...she who must be
obeyed, has spoken!!

I just dragged Paul out to the local pet store, to help me in the
haggling process regarding the tinker bell cat collars. Paul went to
school with him, so I thought that if I took him, we might get a bit
of discount in aid of a god cause...it worked too, Hooray!

I wish I could get a bell collar for all of the visitors, but
realistically, that would be impossible, so I settled for 15. That
would cover all of the cats that visit, plus a couple spare in case of
new ones.

OT:Interestingly, we have had a new near- kitten visiting for a couple
of days now. I am wondering if she might be one of Lucy(fur's"")?She
looks just like her!

We are going to start collaring the cats this evening.
Most of them won't mind at all, but about 4 of them are not going to
even entertain the thought- So I am dreading doing them.

If anyone has any good idea's on how I might entice them into allowing
me to pick them up & bring them indoors, so that we can get the
welding gloves out again & Not be scratched silly.
ANY Idea's would be gratefully received on this one!

I thought that it might be transmutable to cats..It is very scary
indeed.
I wonder how I could let people know that their cats are @ danger of
catching it, without either looking a total crack pot, or
scaremongering?

I did think about going to see the local vet & asking her if she
supported the theory of putting a notice in her own window, to
encourage people to buy tinker bells for their cats to a give them a
fighting chance of not catching birds & the avian flu too.
Do you feel that would be effective enough to warrant asking people
to?

(I have noticed that whenever I walk my other cats, they are never
interested in dead birds, only live flying ones. Is there a reason for
this at all?)

Not everyone is like me & would keep their cats in, so it seems the
very least that they can do for their furry best friends doesn't
it ...?

I feel ever so embarrassed asking this question... (but I would rather
embarrass myself than remain ignorant!)
When people tell me to Google something, are you saying, Ask google &
do a search on the subject?
Thanks for the info from both of you too.
S;o)

On 6 Feb, 01:28, wrote:
In article . com,





"Sheelagh" wrote:
As everyone who watches the news knows, HN15 (Bird Flue), has reached
the UK. So far, we are being reassured that there have only been two
noted cases of it.

The first was a dead swan that was found to be carrying the virus, &
more recently, the second case was found in a well known turkey farm,
where all of the current stock is being culled.
We know that HN15 is transmutable to other species, including humans.
All of the staff working there have been treated with antiviral
vaccine.

My question is this:Is it possible for cats to catch the virus, (If
anyone knows)..?
And, should we fear this virus for our cats that do go outside and &
hunt birds?
Although both Lucy(fur!) & Ringo are fed fully @ home, I notice that
both cats still hunt birds, & leave them as gifts/presents for us
outside the back door.

After Lucy(fur's!!) recent treatment to remove a collar that was
embedded into her neck, I am loathed to fit her with another one, even
to alert birds that she is around..I know that there are some
available that do alert birds to the cats presence. I don't like the
fact that they hunt birds, but can't find an option to stop them,
without the use of a collar.

If there is a risk, However remote , & do we need to be more aware-
what can we do to help our own cats and feral cats too?

That's H5N1, or HPAI for "highly pathogenic avian influenza".

If you Google "cats & h5n1", you will find that practically *all*
studies associating pet cats and dogs with transmitting the flu to
humans have been debunked, although the suspicion remains (not unlike
the reasonless, superstitious fear, loathing and ultimate eradication of
cats just prior to the disastrous bubonic plague outbreaks in Europe,
while it was *rats* who carried and spread the disease).

If any mammal is likely to spread the virus to humans, it is likely to
once again be rodents or swine; they possess the animal kingdom's most
common close approximation of human physiology.

According to the latest WHO studies I could find (dated 2/28/2006):

" There is no present evidence that domestic cats play a role in the
transmission cycle of H5N1 viruses. To date, no human case has been
linked to exposure to a diseased cat. No outbreaks in domestic cats have
been reported. "

Although cats can catch the virus, almost all confirmed feline cases
were caused by the cats eating the raw carcass of infected birds. The
study noted that some cat-to-cat transmission occurred among tigers who
were fed infected birds.

http://www.who.int/csr/don/2006_02_28a/en/index.html- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -
Brilliant information & thank you very much for the link. It was
really interesting to read too. I thought that I might print it out &
take it with me to show Lola, our vet. I think that it might swing her
into putting it into her window advertising the fact that it is
transmutable and evolving all the time.
It also might induce a few more people into injecting their cats for
common cat flue as well. When talking to her socially the other day,
she was telling me that less than 38 % of her feline customer's,
choose to inject their cats against anything @ all!!
I found that statement shocking, but as she told me,

"what can you do to make people understand the reality of what some
of these diseases do to their cats, other than give them leaflets to
read regarding them , having refused the injections"?
Shocking really.
I thought it might be a financial thing, but she tells me it is not
the case at all, it is more people simply don't believe that they
will ever be affected.
Increible really isn't it?
S;o)

In article . com,
"sheelagh" wrote:

When people tell me to Google something, are you saying, Ask google &
do a search on the subject?

Yes. The word "Google" has become a legitimate verb meaning exactly
that. Generally, such advice is accompanied by a search term written in
quotations (as I suggested "h5n1". When typing the suggested search term
into Google, omit the quotation marks.

I'm glad you found the information useful.

On 7 Feb, 10:01, wrote:
In article . com,

"sheelagh" wrote:
When people tell me to Google something, are you saying, Ask google &
do a search on the subject?

Yes. The word "Google" has become a legitimate verb meaning exactly
that. Generally, such advice is accompanied by a search term written in
quotations (as I suggested "h5n1". When typing the suggested search term
into Google, omit the quotation marks.

I'm glad you found the information useful.

I did.Thank you very much indeed, also for this post too!
S;o)