Some Heart Inflammation Cases in Cats and Dogs are Being Linked to the Coronavirus

Some cases of heart inflammation in cats and dogs are linked to the Coronavirus.

Dr. Luca Ferasin, a veterinary cardiologist at The Ralph Veterinary Referral Centre in Buckinghamshire, England, says he began seeing more and more of his furry patients dealing with myocarditis or heart inflammation symptoms, NBC News reports. He and his colleagues say it’s a rare condition typically seen in men under 30 who have been given one of the mRNA COVID-vaccines. However, people can also get symptoms of myocarditis from the virus alone.

“These were dogs and cats that were depressed, lethargic, they lost appetite,” said Ferasin. “And they had either difficulty breathing because of accumulation of fluid in their lungs due to the heart disease, or they were fainting because of an underlying abnormal heart rhythm.”

The doctors at The Ralph saw a 12.5 percent rise in pets being referred to them with confirmed cases of myocarditis, a major difference from the previous 1.5 percent that they experienced last year in December. The result of these myocarditis cases in pets came from their owners, who Ferasin found to have tested positive for COVID-19 or had symptoms of COVID-19 at within at lease three to six weeks before their pet became sick.

NBC News reports The Ralph is unable to determine whether cats and dogs may develop usual COVID-19 symptoms in other cases, as they only see cardiac patients. So far, there have been two cats and one dog that has tested positive for the alpha variant, and two cats and one dog showed positive COVID-19 antibodies.