Can your pet get COVID-19? Can it give you coronavirus? We asked UC Davis experts

If you’ve had COVID-19 and worried about spreading the disease to your pet, you’re not alone. According to UC Davis Chief Veterinary Medical Officer Jane Sykes, pets can get the coronavirus, but they might not become sick from it.

“It’s not clear to what extent animals can really be sick with that virus,” Sykes said. “Very rare numbers of dogs and cats have been reported to be infected.”

According to Sykes, some infection studies have been done that show development of respiratory illness. However, those pets also had preexisting conditions that could have contributed to their illness as well.

“It’s difficult to now just to what extend that virus is causing disease in people’s pets,” Sykes said.

Keeping your pet safe from COVID-19

For a a dog or cat to get COVID-19, they have to come in contact with a human who has been infected with the virus. There has been no evidence showing pets can transmit the virus back to other people or to other pets, so you don’t have to worry about your dog becoming infected from another dog at the dog park.

But if you are infected with the coronavirus, you should take the same precautions around your pet as you would with other people to ensure they don’t become infected.

“You would be trying to minimize close contact with your animals. You wouldn’t want to sleep in the bed with your animals or have them lick you in the face,” Sykes said.

Sykes also suggested taking the same CDC recommended precautions such as wearing a mask and washing your hands regularly.

It’s also unlikely that the virus could live on your pet’s fur, according to Sykes.

“Hair is a very porous material, and it’s thought to be quite similar to cardboard,” Sykes said. “So if any virus does contaminate the hair coat, it’s not likely to survive on the hair coat for a very long period of time.”

How to tell if your pet has the coronavirus

While there is a lot to be learned when it comes to the symptoms pets will show when they are infected with the coronavirus, Jane Sykes said the virus could cause respiratory or gastrointestinal illness in dogs and cats. If you suspect your pet has been infected with COVID-19, look for symptoms such as difficulty breathing, diarrhea, cough or vomiting.

There is also testing available for animals who may have been exposed to the coronavirus, but the testing can’t be done anywhere. COVID-19 testing for animals must be done in conjunction with public health authorities and has to be validated using a recognized laboratory.

“There’s guidance for testing and what situations to actually test animals for [the coronavirus,]” Sykes said. “It’s got guidance from public health authorities and they have to be involved in that process. “

What to do if your pet tests positive for COVID-19

Even if your pet tests positive for the coronavirus, it’s likely they will never show symptoms or have any signs of infection.

“The dog has just been positive for the virus like an asymptomatic carrier in people,” Sykes said. “Right now [there is] no evidence that the virus is capable of causing severe disease.”

Sykes also said there have been suggestions that some species may be more susceptible and therefore be more likely to be infected, however there are too few cases in the world to make concrete conclusions.

Although photos have circulated showing dogs wearing masks, Sykes says they are not effective when put on animals.

“[There’s] no evidence that animals can transmit infection back to people, so [masks are] really not required,” she said.

Other coronaviruses in animals

COVID-19 is the latest coronavirus strain to show up in pets, but according to Neils Pederson of the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine, almost every species of domestic animal has its own coronavirus, some of them more than one.

A common coronavirus in cats called the feline coronavirus is considered an alpha coronavirus. It differs from the COVID-19, SARS, and MERS viruses, which are beta coronaviruses. However, according to Pederson, the viruses have similarities.

“A lot of the coronaviruses, if you trace them back, that we have in our pet species have originated somewhere in bats and then they often jump into some intermediate host,” Pederson said. “So these viruses have a long history of changing species.”

But although a coronavirus can jump from one host to the next, Pederson said they do not jump back and forth, which is why a human can pass COVID-19 to their pet, but the pet cannot re-infect the human.

“What we’re seeing is the emergence of a new species of virus that has jumped ship from one host through an intermediary and into us,” Pederson said. “This is nothing new.”

This story was originally published August 22, 2020 at 5:00 AM.