I thought I would pass along a bit of information I learned yesterday afternoon. Our 4 month old Tabby Bengal mix kitten Izzy became very ill yesterday. He was running a fever, very limp, not eating, meowing like "I don't feel good". His condition got so bad that we thought we better take him to the vet.
When taking your kids to the doctor one of the first questions to mom is always "Has anyone else in the family been sick?" I was surprised to hear the same question at the vet. Sure enough, my teenage daughter had been very sick with a sore throat, high fever, aches, and pains this week. The vet felt there was a good chance that the cat caught her illness.
My understanding per the vet is that cat's can't catch viruses from people but they can catch bacterial illnesses. Our kitten was given a shot for his fever and antibiotics to cover any bacterial illness he may have. I am happy to report that Izzy has shown some improvement today.
Moral to the tale: If you have sick kids or parents be careful with hand washing and not sharing your food or drink with your pets. Also, don't let the animal share a bed with anyone who is sick. This was an $84.00 lesson for me yesterday!
