"The cat grabbed the headlines"

German cats ordered to be kept indoors? Tiny is not amused.

"Germany orders cats to be kept indoors," runs the headline. Orders cats? Not. Orders owners to keep cats indoors, maybe. Either way, the news isn't good:

Alarm over the spread of bird flu grew on Wednesday after Germany reported a dead cat infected with the virus, while France sought to curb restrictions on its poultry exports.

Germany told pet owners to keep their cats indoors and their dogs on a leash in areas hit by bird flu after the discovery of the dead cat on a northern island where the H5N1 virus has been identified in wild birds.

The cat grabbed the headlines in several countries in pet-loving Europe, but the World Health Organisation (WHO) said it did not increase the threat to human health from the virus.

"There is no present evidence that domestic cats play a role in the transmission cycle of H5N1 viruses. To date, no human case has been linked to exposure to a diseased cat," it said.

There was some talk about the unfortunate cat's having caught and eaten an infected bird, but details were few and far between, just what we expect from our vaunted mainstream media. A quick google search yields little beyond the headlines. What about the feline community's right to know?

Comments

[Teresa]

Well, you know actually finding out details... digging for facts... trying to give out information to the public...

That would be like... work. The MSM has gotten so out of shape, they don't even know how to present little things like facts anymore. Pretty sad really.

Now we're left to wonder about the poor kitties of Germany and what might really be happening - if anything.

[Scott]

Being a total cat geek, my first reaction was sympathy for the poor kitty.

But then I thought - this is one of the few times when birds and mice manage to get back at the large furry ones who love to torment and eat them...

Guess I'm kinda conflicted there.

[jay lassiter]

Ach scheisse!!!
This sucks, and I feel bad for the owner of the kittie. Jeeez, as if having a downed pet isn't excruciating enough, can you imagine being the steward of the first Avianflu + mammal in the free world??

I *pray* that this is the case of the MSM being hypersensitive (as usual) and making way too much out of this whole thing.

Listen, I'm not saying that this isn't a big deal, I'm merely reminded that somewhere in Berlin there is a really really really sad cat owner.

I'd be crushed if it were me.