Now that two cats in New York have tested positive for the coronavirus, the CDC says pet owners should treat them like other human family members.
The best way to apply social distancing to your pet is to stay away from dog parks, keep your cat in the house, and keep your dogs on a leash, maintaining six feet away from other people and animals.
According to experts, there is not enough information available to suggest that pets can pass the virus on to humans. However, the cats who contracted the virus most likely got it from their neighborhoods or the people they live with.
One doctor said, Cats have a particular receptor and we suspected early on that they might be able to be infected. We think it is more difficult to infect dogs and our experimental studies have proven just that. And further suggested that more animals could be infected but are asymptomatic.
A veterinary specialist says, ... there are so many illnesses in pets that aren’t coronavirus that we aren’t advocating for widespread testing.