Can Cats and Ferrets Catch SARS? What the Research Shows

By Dr Duncan Houston

Yes, cats and ferrets can become infected with SARS-related coronaviruses, but this topic is easily misunderstood.

The original SARS virus, now commonly called SARS-CoV-1, was studied experimentally in cats and ferrets after the 2003 outbreak. Both species became infected and transmitted the virus to other animals housed with them. That finding did not prove that household pets were transmitting SARS to people.

Cats and ferrets can also become infected with SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. In natural household cases, infection has usually travelled from a person to their pet rather than the other way around. Current public-health guidance considers the risk of household pets spreading COVID-19 to people to be low. (PubMed)

Quick Answer

Cats and ferrets are biologically susceptible to both SARS-CoV-1 and SARS-CoV-2.

Experimental studies showed that the original SARS virus could infect both species and spread between co-housed animals. However, pets were not shown to be major drivers of the human SARS outbreak, and there have been no known human SARS-CoV-1 cases since 2004. Cats and ferrets can catch COVID-19 from infected people, but household pet-to-human transmission remains uncommon. (PubMed)

SARS-CoV-1 and SARS-CoV-2 Are Different Viruses

Question	SARS-CoV-1	SARS-CoV-2
Human disease	Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, or SARS	COVID-19
Main human outbreak	2002 to 2004	First detected in 2019
Known current human cases	None reported since 2004	Continues to circulate in people
Can cats become infected?	Yes, experimentally and in limited natural reports	Yes
Can ferrets become infected?	Yes, experimentally	Yes, experimentally and naturally
Can they transmit it to their own species?	Yes, in controlled experiments	Yes, in controlled experiments
Are household pets major sources for people?	No evidence that they drove the SARS outbreak	Current risk from pets to people is considered low

The word “SARS” should therefore not be used casually as a substitute for COVID-19. The viruses are related, but they are not interchangeable. (CDC Archive)

What Did the Original SARS Studies Find?

The 2003 Cat and Ferret Study

In one of the first major experiments, researchers deliberately inoculated six cats and six ferrets with SARS-CoV-1.

The findings were striking:

• All six cats became infected but showed no obvious clinical illness.

• Three of the six ferrets became lethargic.

• One ferret died four days after infection.

• Infected cats and ferrets transmitted the virus to previously uninfected animals housed with them.

This confirmed that both species could support productive infection and animal-to-animal transmission under controlled laboratory conditions. (PubMed Central (PMC))

Lung Damage Could Occur Without Obvious Signs

A later pathological study infected four cats and four ferrets and examined their tissues four days later.

All eight animals developed diffuse alveolar damage associated with viral infection. The cats showed no outward lethargy or breathing difficulty despite having lung lesions. The ferrets became lethargic, and one died. Cats also developed inflammation within glands beneath the tracheal and bronchial lining. (Sage Journals)

This is clinically important because it shows that absence of visible illness does not always mean absence of respiratory pathology.

It is equally important not to overinterpret the findings. These animals were given a large experimental viral dose directly into the respiratory tract under laboratory conditions. That is very different from an ordinary pet living in a household.

Did Cats Spread SARS During the 2003 Human Outbreak?

Domestic cats living at Hong Kong’s Amoy Gardens complex, where a major human outbreak occurred, were reported to have become infected with SARS-CoV-1.

The most plausible explanation was that the cats acquired infection from infected people or from a heavily contaminated environment. The direction and exact route of transmission were never established conclusively, and there was no convincing evidence that domestic cats drove the human outbreak. (CDC)

No comparable evidence established pet ferrets as a meaningful part of the 2003 outbreak.

The practical interpretation is:

• Cats were susceptible.

• Animal-to-animal transmission was biologically possible.

• Pet-to-human transmission remained unproven.

• Human-to-human spread was the dominant force during the outbreak.

WHO declared the major chains of human transmission contained in July 2003. A small number of later cases occurred during 2004, including infections associated with laboratory or limited community exposure, but no known human SARS-CoV-1 cases have been reported since then. (World Health Organization)

Why Are Ferrets Used in Coronavirus Research?

Ferrets are particularly useful for studying respiratory viruses because they can develop productive respiratory infection and transmit several human respiratory viruses efficiently.

In a later controlled experiment, both SARS-CoV-1 and SARS-CoV-2 travelled between ferrets housed more than one metre apart. The study confirmed infectious transmission through the experimental air pathway, although it could not separate small aerosols from larger droplets or contaminated material moving within the system. (PubMed)

Ferrets are therefore useful for studying:

• Respiratory transmission

• Infection-control measures

• Vaccines

• Antiviral medication

• Viral replication in the upper and lower airways

Being a useful laboratory model does not make domestic ferrets a known natural reservoir for SARS-CoV-1.

A laboratory animal may be selected precisely because researchers can reproduce infection under controlled conditions. That does not prove that the same species maintains the virus naturally or represents an important everyday source of human infection.

Do Cats and Ferrets Catch COVID-19?

Yes.

Cats and ferrets are susceptible to SARS-CoV-2, although the way the virus behaves differs between the species.

Cats

Experimental studies have shown that cats can:

• Develop productive infection

• Shed virus from the nose and mouth

• Transmit infection to other cats

• Remain asymptomatic or develop relatively mild illness

• Develop inflammatory respiratory lesions despite limited outward signs

Natural infections in pet cats have most often followed close exposure to owners or household members with COVID-19. (PubMed)

Ferrets

Ferrets can also support SARS-CoV-2 infection and transmission. Experimental infections have caused fever, lethargy, reduced appetite, coughing and respiratory infection, although many ferrets remain mildly affected or outwardly normal. (PubMed)

Natural human-to-ferret transmission has also been documented. One reported pet ferret developed gastroenteritis, pneumonia and dehydration after exposure within a COVID-19 household but recovered with supportive veterinary care. (CDC)

Can Cats or Ferrets Give COVID-19 to People?

The risk is considered low, but saying transmission is completely impossible would be too absolute.

CDC reports that most documented pet infections occurred after close contact with infected people. Pets are not considered to play a substantial role in community transmission. Rare animal-to-human transmission events have been reported from certain mammals, including farmed mink, pet hamsters, deer and at least one cat under unusual close-contact circumstances. (CDC)

For an ordinary household:

• A person with COVID-19 is much more likely to infect another person than to be infected by a pet.

• An infected owner is more likely to pass SARS-CoV-2 to their cat or ferret than the pet is to pass it back.

• A sick or positive pet should still be kept away from other animals and medically vulnerable people until veterinary advice is obtained.

• There is no reason to abandon or euthanise a pet because of SARS-CoV-2 infection.

Current CDC guidance continues to describe the risk of pets spreading COVID-19 to people as low. (CDC)

What Signs Can SARS-Related Coronavirus Cause in Cats and Ferrets?

Many infected pets show no clinical signs.

When illness occurs, possible signs include:

• Fever

• Reduced appetite

• Lethargy

• Sneezing

• Coughing

• Nasal discharge

• Eye discharge

• Increased breathing effort

• Vomiting

• Diarrhoea

These signs are not specific to coronavirus and are more commonly caused by other diseases in everyday veterinary practice. (APHS)

Signs in Cats

Cats may develop:

• Sneezing or nasal congestion

• Eye discharge

• Coughing

• Reduced appetite

• Lethargy

• Fever

• Vomiting or diarrhoea

• Increased respiratory rate

Open-mouth breathing in a cat is an emergency. Cats do not normally pant or breathe continuously through the mouth while resting.

Signs in Ferrets

Ferrets may develop:

• Fever

• Lethargy

• Reduced appetite

• Sneezing

• Nasal or eye discharge

• Coughing

• Increased respiratory effort

• Vomiting or diarrhoea

• Dehydration

Ferrets are also highly susceptible to human influenza A and B viruses. A ferret with sneezing, fever and lethargy is therefore more likely to have influenza or another routine respiratory disease than the original SARS virus. (CDC)

How Worried Should You Be?

Low Risk

Your cat or ferret:

• Is clinically normal

• Has no known contact with an infected person

• Is eating and behaving normally

• Has no respiratory or gastrointestinal signs

What to do: No SARS testing or special treatment is needed. Continue ordinary veterinary care and hygiene.

The current risk of a pet acquiring the original SARS-CoV-1 is effectively negligible because there are no known human cases in circulation. (CDC Archive)

Moderate Concern

Your household has COVID-19 and the pet develops:

• Mild sneezing

• Mild eye or nasal discharge

• Slight appetite reduction

• Mild lethargy

• One episode of vomiting or loose stool

What to do: Limit close contact, keep the pet away from other animals and call your veterinarian. Do not arrive at the clinic without warning.

High Concern

Your pet has:

• Persistent fever

• Complete appetite loss

• Progressive lethargy

• Repeated vomiting or diarrhoea

• Coughing

• Increased respiratory effort

• Dehydration

• Worsening illness over 12 to 24 hours

What to do: Arrange same-day veterinary examination.

Critical

Your cat or ferret has:

• Open-mouth or laboured breathing

• Blue, grey or markedly pale gums

• Collapse

• Minimal responsiveness

• Inability to stand

• Repeated vomiting with profound weakness

• Severe dehydration

• Seizures

• Rapid deterioration over several hours

What to do: Attend an emergency veterinary service immediately. Call ahead so the team can prepare isolation and respiratory support.

What Else Can Look Like Coronavirus Infection?

Coronavirus should not become the default diagnosis for every coughing or lethargic cat or ferret.

Important Differentials in Cats

Possible causes include:

• Feline herpesvirus

• Feline calicivirus

• Bacterial upper respiratory infection

• Feline asthma

• Pneumonia

• Heart failure

• Pleural effusion

• Nasal foreign material

• Cancer

• Influenza exposure

H5N1 avian influenza is a separate and currently important concern in cats with respiratory or neurological disease following exposure to sick birds, raw meat, raw milk or contaminated raw pet food. Recent evidence has also reinforced the need for veterinary protective equipment around suspected feline H5N1 cases. (CDC)

Important Differentials in Ferrets

Possible causes include:

• Human influenza A or B

• Bacterial pneumonia

• Canine distemper

• Heart disease

• Aleutian disease

• Aspiration pneumonia

• Gastrointestinal infection

• Foreign-body obstruction

• Cancer

• Heat stress

What matters most is whether the pet is breathing comfortably, eating and remaining hydrated. The name of the suspected virus comes after stabilisation when the animal is struggling to breathe.

When Is This an Emergency?

Seek immediate veterinary care if your cat or ferret develops:

• Open-mouth breathing

• Pronounced abdominal effort while breathing

• Blue, grey or very pale gums

• Collapse

• Inability to stand

• Severe lethargy or poor responsiveness

• Repeated vomiting with dehydration

• Seizures or marked incoordination

• Rapid deterioration

• Food or fluid coming from the nose during breathing

Do not force-feed a pet that is struggling to breathe, repeatedly vomiting or unable to swallow normally.

What Should You Do if You Have COVID-19?

If you have suspected or confirmed COVID-19, reduce close contact with your cat or ferret until you are recovering.

Where possible, have another household member provide routine care.

Avoid:

• Kissing or cuddling the pet

• Allowing licking around the face

• Sharing food

• Sleeping in the same bed

• Prolonged close face-to-face contact

Wash your hands before and after handling food, bowls, litter trays or enclosure equipment. Keep cats indoors if they are exposed or test positive, and prevent ferrets from interacting with other people or animals. (CDC)

Do not:

• Put a mask on your pet

• Spray the pet with disinfectant

• Wipe fur with alcohol or hydrogen peroxide

• Bathe the pet in household cleaning products

• Give human cold, flu or COVID-19 medication

There is no evidence that routine contamination of fur is a major source of human infection, and chemical disinfectants can burn the skin, eyes and respiratory tract. (CDC)

Should Your Cat or Ferret Be Tested?

Routine testing of healthy pets is not generally recommended.

A veterinarian may consider SARS-CoV-2 testing when:

• The animal has compatible illness

• The pet had close exposure to a confirmed human case

• Other common diagnoses have been considered

• The result would affect isolation or public-health decisions

• Animal and public-health authorities agree that testing is appropriate

Testing is commonly coordinated through veterinary and public-health authorities rather than ordered as an ordinary owner-requested screening test. (CDC Archive)

SARS-CoV-1 testing would only be considered in an extraordinary public-health or laboratory-exposure investigation because the virus is not known to be circulating in people.

How Would a Vet Diagnose the Illness?

The veterinarian will first assess:

• Respiratory rate and effort

• Body temperature

• Hydration

• Appetite and weight

• Lung and heart sounds

• Nasal and eye discharge

• Gastrointestinal signs

• Human illness within the household

• Exposure to other animals, raw food or wildlife

Tests may include:

• Chest radiographs

• Bloodwork

• Oxygen monitoring

• Respiratory PCR panels

• Bacterial culture

• Influenza testing

• SARS-CoV-2 PCR through an approved pathway

• Cardiac ultrasound where heart disease is suspected

A coronavirus test should not replace investigation for more common and treatable diseases.

How Are Affected Pets Treated?

There is no standard pet-specific antiviral treatment for SARS-CoV-1 or uncomplicated SARS-CoV-2 infection.

Veterinary care is based on the animal’s clinical condition and may include:

• Rest and environmental support

• Fluid therapy

• Oxygen

• Anti-nausea medication

• Nutritional support when swallowing is safe

• Treatment of fever or discomfort using veterinary medication

• Antibiotics when secondary bacterial infection is documented or strongly suspected

• Hospitalisation for respiratory compromise

Most naturally infected pets with SARS-CoV-2 have mild or no clinical illness. Serious disease is possible but uncommon. (CDC)

Do not give paracetamol, ibuprofen, human antivirals or leftover antibiotics. Paracetamol is especially dangerous to cats.

What Is the Prognosis?

Original SARS-CoV-1

The available pet information comes predominantly from controlled laboratory studies, not naturally occurring household disease.

Cats often remained clinically normal despite respiratory lesions. Ferrets developed more visible illness, and one died in each of the early experimental groups described. These findings establish susceptibility but do not provide a reliable prognosis for an ordinary household exposure. (PubMed Central (PMC))

SARS-CoV-2

Most naturally infected cats and ferrets are asymptomatic or develop mild, self-limiting illness.

Prognosis becomes more guarded when the pet has:

• Severe respiratory disease

• Significant dehydration

• Major pre-existing heart or lung disease

• Immune suppression

• Another concurrent infection

• Persistent inability to eat

The underlying disease and the animal’s general health often matter more than the positive coronavirus result itself.

Common SARS and Pet Mistakes

Confusing SARS-CoV-1 With COVID-19

The original SARS outbreak and the COVID-19 pandemic were caused by different viruses.

Believing Pets Drove the 2003 Outbreak

Cats were susceptible, but human-to-human transmission dominated the outbreak. Pet ferrets were not shown to be important natural sources.

Treating a Laboratory Result as Everyday Household Risk

Intentional high-dose experimental infection does not reproduce ordinary pet exposure exactly.

Assuming Every Respiratory Sign Is Coronavirus

Routine feline respiratory disease and human influenza in ferrets are much more realistic everyday differentials.

Disinfecting the Pet

Household disinfectants belong on suitable surfaces, not on skin, fur or paws.

Abandoning or Euthanising an Exposed Pet

Public-health authorities do not recommend abandoning or harming pets because of SARS-CoV-2 exposure or infection. (CDC)

Taking a Potentially Exposed Pet Into a Clinic Without Calling

The veterinary team needs warning to arrange safe entry, isolation and protective equipment.

How Can You Reduce the Risk?

Keep Sick People Away From Pets

Limit close contact when a household member has a significant respiratory infection, particularly COVID-19 or influenza.

This is especially important for ferrets because people can transmit human influenza viruses to them. (CDC)

Maintain Good Hygiene

Wash hands after:

• Handling the pet

• Cleaning litter trays or ferret enclosures

• Touching respiratory discharge

• Giving medication

• Handling food bowls

Keep Cats Indoors

Indoor housing reduces contact with infected wildlife and prevents an exposed cat from interacting with other animals.

Avoid Raw Animal Products

Raw meat, unpasteurised milk and raw pet foods can expose cats to pathogens unrelated to SARS, including H5N1 influenza and bacterial disease. (CDC)

Obtain Veterinary Care Early

Respiratory illness becomes more difficult to manage after the animal stops eating, becomes dehydrated or develops significant breathing effort.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can cats catch the original SARS virus?

Yes. Cats were infected experimentally, transmitted the virus to other cats and were reported to have become naturally infected during the 2003 outbreak. There was no convincing evidence that pet cats became an important source of human infection. (PubMed)

Can ferrets catch SARS?

Yes. Ferrets are highly susceptible in experimental studies and can transmit SARS-CoV-1 and SARS-CoV-2 to other ferrets. This is why they are widely used as respiratory-virus research models.

Can my cat or ferret give me COVID-19?

The risk is low. Most pet infections result from human-to-animal transmission. Rare animal-to-human events have been reported, but household pets do not play a substantial role in community spread. (CDC)

Should I test my pet when I have COVID-19?

Not routinely. Limit contact and monitor the pet. Contact your veterinarian if respiratory, gastrointestinal or general illness develops. Testing may be coordinated with animal-health and public-health authorities when clinically justified.

Is the original SARS virus still circulating?

There have been no known human SARS-CoV-1 cases reported anywhere in the world since 2004. Surveillance and laboratory biosecurity remain important because related viruses continue to exist in animal reservoirs. (CDC Archive)

Final Thoughts

Cats and ferrets can become infected with SARS-related coronaviruses, but susceptibility does not automatically make them an important public-health threat.

The key distinctions are:

1. SARS-CoV-1 and SARS-CoV-2 are different viruses.

2. Cats and ferrets were experimentally susceptible to the original SARS virus.

3. Both species transmitted SARS-CoV-1 to co-housed animals in laboratory studies.

4. This did not prove routine pet-to-human transmission.

5. No known human SARS-CoV-1 cases have occurred since 2004.

6. Cats and ferrets can also catch SARS-CoV-2.

7. People are usually the source of infection for their pets.

8. The risk of household pets spreading COVID-19 to people remains low.

9. Respiratory signs are more likely to have another veterinary cause.

10. Breathing difficulty, collapse or severe weakness always requires urgent care.

The practical message for pet owners is not to fear their cat or ferret. It is to reduce close contact when ill, maintain sensible hygiene and seek veterinary care promptly when the pet develops respiratory or systemic signs.

---

ASK A VET™ can help you organise respiratory videos, exposure history, temperature records and test results while you arrange direct veterinary care. A cat or ferret with open-mouth breathing, collapse, severe weakness or rapidly worsening respiratory effort still requires immediate hands-on emergency treatment.