Pets and the Pandemic

I know many of us have grabbed extra pet supplies in getting ready for possible quarantines or supply line disruption. However, something concerns me a great deal, and I'd appreciate ideas. How will the pets survive if their owner(s) is whisked away to hospital for, perhaps, a month? If you have family or friends, great, but what if you don't? I keep thinking about that poor kid in China who had cerebral palsy or something like that and died because both parents were hospitalized at the same time. How do we keep that from happening to our pets? Give keys and security code to several people? Set up a system, "if I go dark for >2 days, someone needs to check the pets"? And what would that system look like?

Give me a break with, "everything will be okay". Both my husband and I are over 60, with other health issues, and I'm immunosuppressed. We might be okay, but I am trying to think of how not to have my beloved animals die badly even if we get into trouble. Risk mitigation is my friend.

a reply to: drussell41

it depends - hear [ the UK ] - if the sole occupant of a residence is removed by an ambulance crew - they call the police

who have the juristiction to secure the property etc etc

how it would actually work if N19COVID goes tits up well ...............

but last time i was hospitalised - the police put my dog in kennels - as i was unconcious for over 18 hours

the first 5 days was free - once my NOK turned up - they were told - you will get a bill starting in 2 days - will you accept it or do you want to make your own arrangements [ i was not going to be released for over a month ]

thats the theory anyways

a reply to: ignorant_ape

Thanks, IA. I'll start asking around to see if it works like that here too.

Sorry to hear about that hospitalization. I'm glad you came through it.

a reply to: drussell41


Taking a precedent from China if people suspected of having c19 are removed from a premises any animals present are put down . Some people have let animals loose because they can't feed them .
It is a zoonotic disease , and studies ( for example nowcasting and forecasting study based on cruise ship transmission rates) of the r0 reproduction number recognise this but also the lack of clear data regarding the source animal or recent publications regarding zoonotic transmission . On cruise ship it's been factored out via lack of live animals , but any transmission of this sort is likely to simply increase the r0 .

Coronaviruses involve quite a few mammalian species eg mice cats dogs cattle and avians eg chickens . Which ones this can get to or not remains unclear but if contaminated they're likely to be carriers .

Sars 1 came from civet cats but special conditions are probably needed for it to have jumped hosts to become shared to humans and from there to human transmissibility .

The common cold is in fact a coronavirus , there's not really a cure or vaccine for it although they've tried for years . Immunity decreases over time 1 to 2 years and it causes tracheobronchitis but that's as bad it gets, that just means a runny nose etc

So with novel corona it'll be something that even animals will have to gain their own immunity from , it's a positive that the immune system is there for exactly that reason to adapt to emerging threats. Corona evolves but so does immunity .

Isolating animals or put them down might seem cruel but it's probably best initially if they're suffering or likely to but herd immunity living with new 'cold' which circulates is perhaps the expectable long term outcome anyway.

a reply to: DoctorBluechip

I would rather have them euthanized than die slowly from dehydration and/or starvation. Those are terrible ways to go.

a reply to: drussell41

Yes it's hoped that being fairer and more careful with animals will be a lesson coronavirus teaches us all.

There's potential high costs to both under and over reaction here , so unless there's distributed information regarding the zoonotic element (not a word the public know or like the sound of , given ) then probably better to let animals become immune themselves , help them stay clean warm dry and fed well if they look ill. It may even be that being fought in tandem with animal immune systems on the case as well that the zoonosis element naturally contributes it's downfall. Spanish flu died out eventually , somehow , no one seems quite sure how . It's speculation though but both animals and people are overall allied in enmity with some viruses and this is one of them.

originally posted by: drussell41
I know many of us have grabbed extra pet supplies in getting ready for possible quarantines or supply line disruption. However, something concerns me a great deal, and I'd appreciate ideas. How will the pets survive if their owner(s) is whisked away to hospital for, perhaps, a month? If you have family or friends, great, but what if you don't? I keep thinking about that poor kid in China who had cerebral palsy or something like that and died because both parents were hospitalized at the same time. How do we keep that from happening to our pets? Give keys and security code to several people? Set up a system, "if I go dark for >2 days, someone needs to check the pets"? And what would that system look like?

Give me a break with, "everything will be okay". Both my husband and I are over 60, with other health issues, and I'm immunosuppressed. We might be okay, but I am trying to think of how not to have my beloved animals die badly even if we get into trouble. Risk mitigation is my friend.

I hate to think about pets whose humans die or have to leave them for some reason. Pets are family members and loved ones, too, and it’s heartbreaking to imagine them wondering where their caretakers are and why they haven’t been fed or watered.

I wonder if your local animal shelter or humane society could give you some advice? Perhaps there’s a kennel that could care for your pets if necessary. There are wonderful foster pet owners in my area; perhaps you have them in yours and can make emergency arrangements with them. Do you have any neighbors who can be trusted to watch after them? A friend would be ideal, of course, but I take it you don’t have any nearby who can be relied upon. I don’t have a lot of them myself, so I understand your concern. Good luck, and I hope you remain virus-free.

originally posted by: DoctorBluechip
Coronaviruses involve quite a few mammalian species eg mice cats dogs cattle and avians eg chickens . Which ones this can get to or not remains unclear but if contaminated they're likely to be carriers .

I would like to see a source for that. The current advice in the UK (and in the USA, as just checked with the Centre for Disease Control CDC) is that there is NO EVIDENCE that other animals are carriers.

The current theory based on the genome of the virius is that it originated in bats. Given that the Chinese have a sordid and cruel industry in the sale of live animals of all sorts, this cross species jump is not unsurprising. After all, SARS also originated in bats, so not surprising really.

So your view that isolating animals and putting them down seems a bit unfair and ill-informed.

originally posted by: drussell41
I know many of us have grabbed extra pet supplies in getting ready for possible quarantines or supply line disruption. However, something concerns me a great deal, and I'd appreciate ideas. How will the pets survive if their owner(s) is whisked away to hospital for, perhaps, a month? If you have family or friends, great, but what if you don't? I keep thinking about that poor kid in China who had cerebral palsy or something like that and died because both parents were hospitalized at the same time. How do we keep that from happening to our pets? Give keys and security code to several people? Set up a system, "if I go dark for >2 days, someone needs to check the pets"? And what would that system look like?

Give me a break with, "everything will be okay". Both my husband and I are over 60, with other health issues, and I'm immunosuppressed. We might be okay, but I am trying to think of how not to have my beloved animals die badly even if we get into trouble. Risk mitigation is my friend.

At your age, I feel like you should damn well have volunteer plans in place already for care in the event of age-related health issues regarding hospitalization and deserve some light scolding for not having something in place.

My late grandmother had a network of neighbor friends in her retirement complex to take care of her birds and dog in that event, which did come to pass for neck surgery, cataract surgery, and cancer treatments that resulted in not being home because of inpatient stays. Why haven't you hammered this the hell out yourselves yet?? She was in her EIGHTIES and managed that much the last inpatient stay. On her own, no help from us to direct her choosing. You're in your 60's and cannot? What gives here?

I know all of my neighbors. I have one next door and one right across the street I can count on to properly feed the rabbit and refresh his hay and water twice daily, swap out the bird's seed and water daily, feed the fish daily and test the water and change it out tank water weekly if needed, and refresh our new kittens' dry food twice daily and put out wet food at night. If they're unable, my kids' two best friends and/or their parents are capable and willing to do that. Four routes of care here. Four of them, three of them on the same street as us within eyesight. You have none? Why?

a reply to: Nyiah

Way to convince me to listen to you, by attacking me. If you can't say it with kindness and encouragement, I really don't need it. Just consider any and all of your posts ignored from now on.

a reply to: drussell41

My animal's needs always come first on the shopping list.

And I've got a lot of animals.



And yes, I have backups and back-ups to the back-ups if I tip over.

a reply to: silo13

What a great looking group of animals! I've always thought it would be so much fun to have goats.

Are you in touch with your backups daily? Or how do they know if/when to step up?

a reply to: drussell41

I have a feed/turnout sheet on the wall.
It's in plastic.
With the vet's # too.
It explains every animals in every stall.
What they eat.
Where the food bins are (numbered) and where the animals 'go out' in the day with directions for hay and water.
I'm pretty anal about it.
And yes, I talk to the guy at least once a week if anything 'special' is going on like if there is a doe pregnant or if my mare is being a witch...

We need to get another couple bags of Cat food in stock for our cats, the wife is getting a little panicy about the food and cat litter. We are low, the damn pigs are gobbling up that expensive cat food.....at least they don't puke it up and seem to be doing better on that one. But then, more litter needed. We need to buy four jugs of that two to use and two to stock in case.

If something happened to us, we have kids that will take care of the cats....they better or they won't get any inheritance.

originally posted by: silo13
a reply to: drussell41

I have a feed/turnout sheet on the wall.
It's in plastic.
With the vet's # too.
It explains every animals in every stall.
What they eat.
Where the food bins are (numbered) and where the animals 'go out' in the day with directions for hay and water.
I'm pretty anal about it.
And yes, I talk to the guy at least once a week if anything 'special' is going on like if there is a doe pregnant or if my mare is being a witch...

Have you increased the number of animals you guys got over the last couple of years?

I am not giving up my pet , Corona or not.

They better do something about those eating habits in China or enforce some sanitation laws.

Im not giving up a family member for that , never ever period.