Viral disease at Humane Society of Tacoma means cats can’t be adopted for two weeks
Cat adoptions are temporarily halted at the Humane Society for Tacoma and Pierce County after several felines were found to have a highly contagious viral disease.
Employees discovered on Friday that some of the kitties up for adoption had feline panleukopenia, which affects the cat’s intestinal tract.
Symptoms include bloody diarrhea, dehydration, debilitation and sudden death.
The virus does not affect people.
Somebody surrendered seven older cats Feb. 3 and that’s how the virus found its way into the shelter, CEO Stuart Earley said.
Cat adoptions will be closed up to two weeks, which is incubation time for the virus.
Volunteers have notified everyone who has recently adopted a cat from the shelter and recommend felines possibly exposed to the virus be taken to a veterinarian.
Without treatment, panleukopenia can be fatal.
The shelter is undergoing “a deep clean” of all infected areas and parts of the facility will be under quarantine, according to the shelter.
The Humane Society remains open and dogs, rabbits and other animals are still able to be adopted.
This story was originally published February 19, 2019 at 1:27 PM.
