French Cat Survives Coronavirus After Catching It From Her Family

Tigers at the Bronx Zoo, a pug in North Carolina, and now a cat in France have all tested positive for COVID-19, but it is believed they all contracted the virus from humans – which is rare.

Meet Papille, the first known cat in France to become infected with coronavirus. Brian, Papille’s owner, recalled how the nine-year-old feline started to show symptoms and within a couple of days was unresponsive.

“We noticed she stopped eating, a slight cough and vomiting. We didn’t worry in the first few days but on April 11 and 12 the symptoms were still there and on the 13th she was starting to… We started to worry, she wouldn’t stand up, she wouldn’t respond when we called her, her eyes were crazed so knowing her we decided it wasn’t normal so we called the on-duty veterinary and took her there on April 13.”

Screen Shot: YouTube/The Straits Times

Papille tested positive for the virus but has since made a full recovery. The vet believes the feline caught the virus from Brian and his mother who both fell ill in late March. The sweet cat cuddled with them as they recovered but then fell ill herself. “It was us who transmitted the virus,” Brian told Reuters.

Thankfully, everyone is feeling better and back to their normal selves.

Screen Shot: YouTube/The Straits Times

While there are still many uncertainties about COVID-19, it appears that pets are able to contract the virus from humans but not transmit it to them. People around the world have abandoned their pets out of fear, but instead they need to protect them like any other family member.

Screen Shot: YouTube/The Straits Times

Renaud Tissier, from the Alfort National Vet School near Paris, reassured people that they don’t need to be afraid of catching the virus from their pets. “We have a message which is to repeat that there is no scientific evidence that in real life, in the way the disease is transmitted now, pets play a role, so they are not a danger. It’s important to say that it is out of the question to abandon a pet because of a potential danger – we’ve seen some horrendous things happen – and so today we should more think about protecting our pets when we have a suspicion of carrying the disease just as we would to protect our relatives.”

See how well Papille and her family are doing in the video below.