Cats dying of covid

[Mark]

Report in the Daily Mail suggests 300,000 cats in Cyprus have died of feline covid, I personally am aware of 2 who were bloated and had to be put to sleep.

I also feed stray cats which have depleted in numbers by half, has anyone else noticed this?

[Dominic]

This was in the news a couple of months ago in Cyprus. It was mainly on the east of the Island. If you feed cats in various locations you need to be very careful, as you might help spread it.

[Mark]

Apparently the issue is now Islandwide, including Israel and Turkey, very concerning.

The strays we feed are restricted to one area, my concern is for my two precious domesticated cats

[WHL]

Daily mail, 300, 000 don't think so. My wife has some friends that go out and feed cats, I'm sure they would of said something

[Devil]

never, EVER, feed stray cats. You only propagate prolonged misery that the cats do not deserve.

[Miloman]

Devil, please explain.

[kansas]

Well, we have been feeding a stray for 6 weeks, have now had him neutered. He's a happy little chappy and a welcome addition to the household.

[trevnhil]

Well done Kansas. I have been feeding the same one for years, and I too had her Speyed

[WHL]

never, EVER, feed stray cats. You only propagate prolonged misery that the cats do not deserve.

I agree with you well meaning people are only adding to the serious problem of too many feral cats in Cyprus.

[kansas]

Surely it's the inability to sterilize the cats that's the real issue. Thank goodness there are sufficient well meaning people around who don't want to see animals starving to death......

[WHL]

Surely it's the inability to sterilize the cats that's the real issue. Thank goodness there are sufficient well meaning people around who don't want to see animals starving to death......

No one wants to see any animal stave but there are more cats then people here in Cyprus
Leave cats to how they have survived over thousands of years and they will find food to eat naturally

[Firefly]

We took in three feral cats when we lived in Cyprus, they were beautiful, loving animals. One we sadly had to have put to sleep, but the other two came back to the UK with us.

When we first started visiting Cyprus, I used to wonder why they looked so different to British cats, I then realised that it was because most of them were starving!

[galexinda]

I have certainly noticed a huge reduction in the number of outside cats in my area in the past 4-6 months.
They are fed and have water left for them once a week and are left to fend for themselves but apart from rummaging in the bins have never actually
seen them do any 'hunting' and have never found any 'evidence'.

[Firefly]

Back on topic, how do they know it was covid? and if they were dying in such numbers, surely it would be obvious.

My friend who has four, and lives in Kathikas, messaged me yesterday, she made no mention of this either.

Scare mongering comes to mind, no news, make it up.

[wantoosoon]

never, EVER, feed stray cats. You only propagate prolonged misery that the cats do not deserve.

As opposed to starving to death? What an idiotic comment. Many and perhaps most of the people who feed strays also get them neutered. They are well aware of the problems and are helping to fix them. But I suppose we could all, like you, just ignore the problem and hope that it magically disappears. Any millennium now...

[wantoosoon]

It's not Covid-19 anyway, it's feline infectious peritonitis (FIP), which also happens to be a caused by a coronavirus. Humans can't catch it. Symptoms are usually not obvious. Treatment is expensive and potentially difficult to deliver, so it's unlikely any strays will be saved. The 300,000 number that's been quoted in the press is unsupported by evidence though. The government has no monitoring system in place for strays, so it's anyone's guess how many have died.

[memory man]

Here's the article in the Daily Mail dated 11 July 2023.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/articl ... yprus.html

[Dominic]

Back on topic, how do they know it was covid? and if they were dying in such numbers, surely it would be obvious.

My friend who has four, and lives in Kathikas, messaged me yesterday, she made no mention of this either.

Scare mongering comes to mind, no news, make it up.

She wouldn't. It was mainly in the East of the island. It was in the local news a while back. We just made sure that when we went to Protaras for a week we didn't pet any cats.

[Ams]

Unprecedent feline disease outbreak decimating cat population in Cyprus
In-Cyprus, posted today

"Cats in Cyprus are facing a severe crisis as experts warn of a deadly outbreak of feline infectious peritonitis (FIP).

Since January, thousands of cats, both stray and domestic, have fallen victim to the disease which is a mutation of the feline coronavirus (FCoV)...."

"...Local authorities have taken some measures to address the crisis, establishing an advisory team, launching a media awareness campaign, and working towards amending legislation to allow the use of drugs for cat treatment."

https://in-cyprus.philenews.com/news/lo ... n-cyprus/

[memory man]

‘Extinction of island’s cats’ reports show up lack of policy, says animal party

https://cyprus-mail.com/2023/07/12/exti ... mal-party/