Your dog or cat CANNOT catch or spread the Coronavirus.
The current evidence is that your dog, CANNOT be infected with or spread the coronavirus (COVID-19) between people, so there is no reason for owners to be concerned about their pets.
The main way coronavirus spreads is human to human contact and the best way to reduce your risk is effective hand hygiene. This involves washing your hands with soap or applying a hand sanitizer for 20 seconds (This time is very important).
How deadly is the coronavirus?.
About 1.5% of people that contract the virus will die from it but these tend to be the elderly and people who have medical conditions. If you are healthy, the risk is very low and it is estimated that 50% of people don’t even have any symptoms. Once people have recovered from coronavirus, they should be immune to it.
You can reduce the risk of COVID-19 by practising good hygiene, personal distancing, eating healthy food and exercise. Maintain your mental health by loving your pet but wash your hands before and after handling your pet and when preparing their food. Avoid hugging, face to face contact or sleeping with your pet.
What is the COVID-19 coronavirus?
Think of it as a fatty ball with spikes on it. These spikes are proteins around the virus forming a corona, hence the name. These protein spikes are the keys that allow it to lock on to the cells in our lungs and break into them. Once inside your lung cells, it unravels and takes over the cells to make copies of itself. These copies of the virus are then coughed back out into the world to infect other people.
The COVID-19 virus is big, on a virus scale, and this means that it is susceptible to hand washing, where the soap destroys the fatty ball, deactivating the virus. But this takes 20 seconds (This time is very important).
Unable to leave home?
The Whyalla Veterinary Clinic is providing FREE pick up and delivery of pets for medical treatment and grooming if you are unable to leave your home. You must be able to pay over the phone, provide your own pen to sign the authority form and be available for the vet to call you with questions. We will provide the lead or cage. It is available for working people but there is a charge if you ARE able to leave your home.