Fort Wayne Animal Care and Control reopened cat and kitten adoption Tuesday following a disease outbreak last week. WBOI’s Ella Abbott reports after a period of observation, the shelter’s cat population remains healthy.
Last week, Fort Wayne Animal Care and Control announced they would be suspending cat and kitten adoptions and intake due to an outbreak of panleukopenia in the community.
Feline panleukopenia is a preventable disease if cats are vaccinated. It spreads when a cat comes into contact with infected feces, vomit, nasal discharge or other bodily excretions, and can live in the environment for years. It does not affect people or other types of animals.
FWACC spokeswoman Holly Pasquinelli said the shelter was able to keep their cat population under observation until they were cleared by medical staff.
“So, all of those cats have been in an observation period, they’ve all been tested and it’s been staff only going in there cleaning and disinfecting.”
Medical staff determined that if the cats were infected, they would have begun showing symptoms by now.
Pasquinelli said they still have another population that is separated and being watched through the end of the week.
Intake for cats and kittens is still suspended through September 1, but the shelter is vaccinating and microchipping any community cats that are brought in.
Humane Fort Wayne is taking cats in on a case-by-case basis. To surrender a cat to the shelter, you have to fill out a surrender form on their website before they can see the cat.
