The Greater Moncton SPCA has stopped cat and kitten adoptions for the next 10 days.
They are experiencing a large number of upper respiratory infections.
Executive Director Dave Rogers says they are asking anyone who has adopted in the last ten days to contact the shelter.
URI’s are very contagious and it takes several days for symptoms to appear.
“It will not transfer over to a dog or a guinea pig or rabbit. If you have a cat at home though, we encourage you to keep them separate until you talk to the shelter or a vet and get treatment for the cat who is infected,” Rogers says.
The cats and kittens in the shelter have been placed into quarantine for the next ten days.
“It does spread quite easily and when you are in an environment like we are here where we have little to no air circulation, and we have 100 cats in the building, we end up with what they call cross-contamination,” Rogers says.
Symptoms include sneezing, runny and mucous filled eyes and nose and they are often lethargic. Cats will also lose interest in eating.
Rogers adds that it’s not uncommon to have a number of upper respiratory infections at this time of year. He says it’s just like when humans get a common cold or the flu.
Rogers says most of them are able to pull through with the right treatment , but sometimes the older cats and really young kittens have a hard time fighting the infection off..
