translated from Spanish: Research concluded that cats can contract Covid-19 from sleeping with their owners

People who have covid-19 frequently transmit it to their pets and cats sleeping in bed with their owners “seem to be at particular risk of infection”,suggests a study presented at the European Congress of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases.Previous research has shown that cats and dogs can catch covid-19 through their owners , but it was not clear to what extent they were susceptible and what, if any, increased the chances of being affected by the virus. To answer these questions, a team from the University of Guelph (Canada) studied dogs and cats that lived in homes and their owners had passed covid-19, as well as animals in shelters and other strays. The team tested 48 cats and 54 dogs from 77 homes for antibodies, which are a sign of previous infection, as well as 75 from shelters and 75 stray cats who had been treated at veterinary clinics. In the case of home animals, their owners answered a questionnaire about how they interacted with pets. How much time they spent with them a day, if they caressed and kissed them, they did let them thoes their faces, sit on their lap or sleep in their bed. The questionnaire also asked if the animals had been sick and what kind of symptoms they had. In the case of animals with an owner, 67% of cats and 43% of dogs tested positive for antibodies, compared to 9% of sheltered animals and 3% of stray cats. Dogs that had passed COVID-19 had mild symptoms that disappeared soon after; as for cats, the situation was similar, although three suffered severe cases. The amount of time an owner spent with his dog and the type of contact he had with him did not affect the possibility of the animal becoming infected. However, cats who spent more time with their owners “appeared to have a higher risk of infection” and those who slept in the same bed “were more likely to have covid-19,” according to a statement from congress. The study authors indicated that cats’ biology, including their viral receptors, makes them more susceptible to covid-19 than dogs, and they are more likely to sleep near their owner’s face, increasing their exposure to any infections. The higher rate of infection in animals with an owner, coupled with results from previous genetic studies, suggest that the “most likely” route of transmission is from humans to pets, and not the other way around.

Original source in Spanish