The current strain of bird flu is spreading from wildlife and livestock to house cats. To keep pets healthy, many virologists and veterinarians say, house cats shouldn’t eat raw food and should be kept indoors. Despite no known cases of H5N1 transmission between cats and people, some public health agencies and virologists are warning cat owners to be mindful of the theoretical risks to the health of humans in their households if a pet gets sick.
My cats are indoor only, and I don’t feed them any raw food, but I frequently foster cats that have come from outdoor situations. I always do a 2 week quarantine before allowing them to meet, but I’m getting very worried that I might still be putting my resident cats at risk of bird flu if I continue fostering, since things like URIs seem to spread despite the quarantine.