Cats which Kill Birds Getting the Virus

[Charley]

Keep those cats inside. Evidently they are getting a form of the Bird Flu which can kill cats. Note that the French are having this investigated by the French Food Safety Authority. So, any cats in the French food are supposedly safe. This could well become a route for that virus to start mutating.

French cat lovers panic after bird flu death
By Colin Randall
http://news.telegraph.co.uk/news/mai...2/ixworld.html

France's pet owners reacted with panic yesterday to the confirmation that a cat found dead in Germany was killed by bird flu.

Its animal protection society, the SPA, was bombarded with calls from people worried at their pet catching the disease's lethal H5N1 strain. Some abandoned their cats.

"We are getting calls from cat owners wanting to know if there are risks," said Serge Belais, the society's president. "People are panicking."

He had no numbers of abandoned cats but said: "The risk is that we'll see the deluge in the days or weeks to come."

The German cat was found at the weekend on the island of Ruegen, where more than 100 wild birds have tested positive for H5N1. The cat had probably eaten part of an infected bird.

The French government has already asked the food safety authority to study the level of risk to cats and the prime minister, Dominique de Villepin, appealed to cat owners yesterday to stop pets straying into any area where bird flu is suspected or confirmed.

[m@t]

my heart goes out to the RJCat and its posse

[RJman]

quote:Originally posted by m@t
my heart goes out to the RJ cat and its posse

They're circling the wagons and tightening ranks. Fortunately he has a large stock of American Fancy Feast in his disaster bunker. Not to mention that he lives on the fifth floor and stays indoors.

PS: Good to know de Villepin is good for something.

PPS: Charley, I hear the Clintons gave the cats of France bird flu. President Bush would have, but he was having breakfast with Bin Laden's family again, like his dad did on 9/11. Or maybe he was swooping in to save those poor mining companies from those crushing safety regulations. Or debriefing (so to speak) press plant and hustler Jeff Gannon/Guckert.

PPPS: Oh, FFS: This is crazy. There's a French Op-Ed about the dead feline entitled "The Tomb of the Unknown Cat."
http://www.lemonde.fr/web/article/0,...-746392,0.html

[Fogey]

Chuck Norris refills his own scuba tanks, with his mouth.

[m@t]

quote:Originally posted by RJman

Not to mention that he lives on the fifth floor and stays indoors.

but if he is on the fifth floor he is closer to where the migratory birds are flying...you have to reinforce the windows on your bunker man...

[Rocker]

This is exactly the opportunity that dogs have been waiting for in order to gain the pet hegemony.

[forsbergacct2000]

I think this is all a plot by Jerry to get rid of Tom.

Physical violence has not worked for all these years, so now Jerry is trying biological warfare.

[RJman]

quote:Originally posted by forsbergacct2000
Physical violence has not worked for all these years, so now Jerry is trying biological warfare.

I knew we should have invaded him when we could.[}]

Perhaps now that people are afraid to let their moggies out the pet stroller will take off. www.justpetstrollers.com
I'm crazy but I'm not that crazy.

[Charley]

One of these would probably be easier to store on the fifth floor:

[JLibourel]

Does anyone else here find a certain poetic justice in the cats' getting avian flu from the poor birds they have slain?

While I don't have a problem with true wild cats (bobcats, ocelots, European and African wildcats, etc.) killing and eating birds--that's the way nature is supposed to work, after all--I do find it annoying that cosseted and amply fed housepet cats are allowed to roam free and murder songbirds by the millions for the sheer sadistic fun of it!

[Charley]

Another Update on this - from Austria. May need a bit more info for full verification though.

http://www.itar-tass.com/eng/level2....7302&PageNum=0

VIENNA, March 6 (Itar-Tass) - House cats in Austria have gotten infected with H5N1 bird flu virus, Hans Seitinger, a member of government of Styria province said Monday citing results of laboratory tests done by the national Agency for Health and Food Safety.

Early data indicates the number of cats, whose blood showed the presence of H5N1 in it, did not exceed two or three.

All the infected cats are alive, Seitinger said, adding that the results of laboratory testing were yet to be checked.