British and French researchers in their study, Myocarditis in naturally infected pets with the British variant of COVID-19, warn the COVID UK variant, B 1.1.7 could cause a rare heart condition in pets.
Although multiple studies have demonstrated human to pet transmission of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, there has not been much research on what COVID could do to our furry friends.
The veterinarians studied 11 cats and dogs that came down with myocarditis, inflammation of the heart, weeks after their owners exhibited respiratory symptoms of COVID.
Although some studies of animals with COVID cite presentations to include cough, sneezing and conjunctivitis, the pets in this study elicited symptoms of lethargy, loss of appetite, racing heart, difficulty breathing and fainting, most likely due to the heart and lung involvement.
Specifically, the myocarditis causes inflammation and swelling of the heart muscles, leading to poor heart function, fluid buildup in the lungs, poor cardiac output, resulting in congestive heart failure and at times abnormal heart rhythms.
All animals recovered except for one that returned back for care one week later and subsequently was euthanized.
Study authors state: For this purpose, serum samples as well as oro/nasopharyngeal and rectal swabs were collected from seven animals (six cats and one dog) at initial presentation at the at the RVRC between January 22 and February 10, 2021.
During the same period, we collected blood samples from four other pets (two cats and two dogs) during their recovery, 2-6 weeks after they developed signs of myocarditis. None of the 11 animals with myocarditis developed any influenza-like symptoms and they all clinically improved within a few days of intensive care, although one cat (LL) represented one week after discharge with a relapse of her clinical signs, characterized by profound lethargy and uncontrolled ventricular tachycardia, prompting her owners to elect for euthanasia.
The UK variant strain has been the most predominant strain in the UK and is becoming the predominant strain in the US.
Although there have been no cases of pet to human transmission of COVID, infected owners are warned not to snuggle with pets as the latter might possess the ability to transport it to other family members, or as this study highlighted, become sick themselves.
Study authors urge to greatly accelerate and strengthen the investigations and surveillance of animal infections by highly-transmissible variants such as British B.1.1.7, South-African B1.351 and Brazilian P.1 variants as part of the global response to the ongoing multi-species COVID-19 pandemic.
This is a developing story.
Dr. Daliah 
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