Here we are just two days after H1N1 was first reported in a cat, and

[kestrel91316]

I have a suspected case. All the humans in the home had flulike illness over the past 6 weeks or so, and the cat has apparently had nasal congestion for 2-3 weeks, and presented today also with a fever. It doesn't "smell" exactly like our extremely common feline herpesvirus recrudescence, so I got a nasal and pharyngeal swag and am holding the sample in case the county wants to test for H1N1. I did report the case via fax to the county per their instructions that went out with the H1N1 report this week.

:wow:

Remember, you heard it here first, lol.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

1. Will the cat be OK?

[kestrel91316]

2. She's not very ill, has a slight fever, but still eating fine per owner.

I gave her some fluids and and Rxed some antibiotics as a precaution. Her main problem is severe nasal congestion without sneezing, which is atypical for a feline URI, which raised my suspicions.

The case just felt odd.

[kestrel91316]

3. We need to do this reporting and testing so we can determine what

the normal course of this disease is in cats, compared to people. It will probably turn out to be a bit of a yawner, just one more damned cat URI to have to treat, lol.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

4. Does a cat with nasal congestion

say "Beow"?

[kestrel91316]

5. County health department called me this AM. They find my case very interesting,

but because the cat has been ill for two weeks or more, there is no way it would still have detectable H1N1 flu virus even if had caught it, so it's a no-go. But she did say that they have another suspected case that just got sick, so they will be testing that.

They want to find this virus in cats if it's out there, so they can compile data on clinical presentation, so we vets know what to expect from it. Right now they have just enough cases of H5N1 in cats to know it's a major killer. With only a single H1N1, we just don't know enough.

[Warpy]

6. If the pattern is the same in cats as it is in people

the puddy tat will shed virus for about a week after the fever goes down. Your sample is probably a good one.

I hope you've had the shot!

[grasswire]

7. so can a feline pass the virus to a human?

or to a canine?