Naturalist and “The Soul of an Octopus” author Sy Montgomery was on Boston Public Radio Wednesday for her monthly edition of “The Afternoon Zoo.” This time around, she addressed a question on the minds of many a cat owner: Can my feline catch the coronavirus?
The answer, thankfully, seems to be no.
Fears about house cats and COVID-19 followed closely behind reports of seven big cats at the Bronx Zoo contracting the novel virus.
Montgomery explained how zookeepers noticed 4-year-old Malayan tiger Nadia dry coughing and skipping meals. “They tested with a special animal test … and there it was,” she said, referring to the specific virus that causes COVID-19.
But as far as your own cat, Montgomery said owners needn't worry. “Even though tigers and cats basically look the same except for the size, they’re actually in different genuses,” she explained. “The big cats are like Panthera tigris — that’s the Latin name showing the genus and species of tigers.”
House cats, meanwhile, are the slightly less ferocious Felis catus.
“But boy, have they been testing to see if cats and dogs can get the coronavirus,” she said. "And it is very rare that it ever has [happened].”
Which isn’t to say your pet is immune to all coronaviruses. Montgomery said other strains of the virus are “extremely common” with both dogs and cats, just not this one.
Sy Montgomery is journalist, naturalist and monthly BPR contributor. Her latest book, “The Magnificent Migration,” is available now.
