Cats at an unknown shelter. (Photo 87588408 © Pavel Rusak | Dreamstime.com)

By Jaryn Vecchio

Horrible Situation

North Battleford vet explains why local Humane Society had to put down over 30 cats

Sep 28, 2023 | 3:16 PM

Clarification: The cats that were diagnosed with FIP were considered to most likely have the disease. There’s currently no test that can give a simple yes or no answer.

Over 30 cats have had to be put down at the Battlefords Humane Society due to a deadly disease.

The shelter had been dealing with sick cats over the past three months with many unfortunately passing away.

After weeks of trying to figure out what the illness was, it was determined to be Feline Infectious Peritonitis (FIP), a mutated strain of Feline Enteric Coronavirus, which is almost always fatal.

Dr. Shawn Haas, a veterinarian with Lakeland Veterinary Services, told battlefordsNOW FIP is not contagious, but the original coronavirus is.

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“In the shelter we currently have the cat area is one big open space, so all of the cats are breathing the same air, so if we have one cat in that area that is producing the virus and exhaling it then essentially every other cat has the risk of becoming infected,” he said.

Haas explained that FIP is very hard to diagnose as most symptoms are common with other illnesses. It’s not until a cat starts to develop fluid in their abdomen that they can test for the disease.

“A cat could have been shedding the virus for two to four weeks prior to the point where we can diagnose it,” said Haas.

In this case, two cats were diagnosed, though it’s impossible to be 100 per cent sure, with another eight most likely having it as they had started to develop symptoms. Each was euthanized with Haas and the Humane Society ultimately deciding to put down all the cats who were exposed.

According to Haas, there was an FIP outbreak around four years earlier and at that time they decided to euthanize the cats that had symptoms and isolate the ones that didn’t. After about six weeks, half of the surviving cats developed the disease.

“In that particular instance, we tried to save as many as we could, but it didn’t work,” said Haas.

He also explained that it would have been inhumane to just wait and see if the cats get sick as FIP is not a pleasant experience.

“Putting them through pain, discomfort, and poor quality of life for how many days or weeks that I can prove that they have FIP didn’t make any sense.”

Meanwhile, Chloe Lloyd, the acting manager at the Humane Society, said they have not put down all of their cats.

The ones that were euthanized lived at the shelter.

“In our system, we have 103 (cats) but many are either at the cat cafe or in foster care. All of those are safe, it was only the ones that had been exposed,” she said.

There are a couple more who were exposed to the virus that need to be put down, which will put the overall number closer to 40.

Lloyd added they are currently going through a rigorous disinfecting cleanup of the cat area over the next five days to ensure the disease is completely eradicated at the shelter.

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Jaryn.Vecchio@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @princealbertnow