Schaumburg, IL - A pet cat in Wisconsin has reportedly caught the H1N1 flu virus, commonly known as "swine flu", from its owner, the first case reported in over a year, as announced by Idexx Laboratories on Wednesday. When humans have the flu, we are told to stay home, rest, get better, and definitely don't expose anyone else to contagious germs. But did you ever think that staying home with your pets could be putting them at risk to contract the flu as well? As the Wisconsin family tended to their own symptoms of the flu, it became apparent that their two cats, a 6 year-old domestic short-hair male, and a 10 year-old female domestic short-hair, started exhibiting signs of respiratory distress. Although the family took both cats to a veterinary hospital, the male cat quickly became worse. Despite being put on a ventilator, he had to be euthanized. In order to determine the cause of the illness, fluid ...
