A feline virus outbreak has temporarily closed the doors of SHAID Tree Animal Shelter.
On July 5th, after staff noticed a few cats were exhibiting symptoms similar to Feline Distemper, they quickly quarantined about 20 cats and shut down the shelter.
“It is contained at the moment, and is in our quarantine area away from the healthy animals,” said Kristen Whynot, office administrator for the shelter, “Everybody else in the shelter is fine so far, and basically it’s just a lot of cleaning and making sure we keep it contained to where its at.”
Feline Distemper, or Feline Panleukemia Virus as its officially known, can come with symptoms such as nausea, diarrhea, dehydration and sometimes death.
Whynot said not much can be done other than to allow the cats to rest.
“There’s no treatment other than to make them comfortable. They will get subcutaneous fluids if they become hydrated, and we really just want to keep them as comfortable as we can,” she said.
Currently, the shelter is not allowing new people to enter, to keep the virus from spreading, and are not accepting new animals for the time being. They recommend anyone looking for shelter for an animal to either temporarily take care of it, or contact the SPCA.
Whynot said the shelter will remain closed until the all clear is given.
As staff work to keep the shelter and the sick cats clean, they are looking for any donations of bleach, kitty litter, latex gloves and other cleaning supplies that are available. Anyone able to donate can drop off supplies at Shur-Gains Feeds & Needs.
