CATS AT L.A. ANIMAL SHELTERS CALLED DISTEMPER-FREE.Byline: From Staff and Wire reports Following an outbreak of feline distemper feline distemper n. See distemper1. at Orange County animal shelters, Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. city and county shelters report no problems and say their cats will not be exposed to the potentially fatal disease. "We have a very stringent protocol for controlling diseases in general," said L.A. City Animal Control Shelter spokeswoman Jackie David. "We're confident we will be able to prevent this." David said caretakers at L.A. city shelters clean cages daily with bleach and separate cats, one to a cage. The public is welcome to adopt kittens from the shelter. Officials with animal shelters in L.A. County also believe their cats will not be infected with the disease. "We have not seen any incidents at our shelters," said Bob Ballenger, executive assistant with the L.A. County Department of Animal Care and Control. "This sounds like an isolated incident." In Orange County, however, animal shelter officials will not offer cats under age 5 for adoption for the next 30 days, in an effort to try to control the distemper distemper, in veterinary medicine, highly contagious, catarrhal, often fatal disease of dogs. It also affects wolves, foxes, mink, raccoons, and ferrets. Distemper is caused by a filtrable virus that is airborne; it is also spread by infected utensils, brushes, and outbreak. The moratorium, effective immediately, follows an influx of cats at Southern California Southern California, also colloquially known as SoCal, is the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Centered on the cities of Los Angeles and San Diego, Southern California is home to nearly 24 million people and is the nation's second most populated region, shelters including the Orange County Animal Care Center that have been found to be infected with feline Panleukopenia, said Tricia James, spokeswoman for the Animal Care Center. "This precautionary step is being taken to prevent the spread of disease through feline adoptions from the Care Center," said Mike Spurgeon, director of Regulatory Services for the Orange County Health Care Agency. "This decision has been made in consultation with two of our Animal Care Services Advisory board members, both of whom are veterinarians Veterinarians and veterinary surgeons (vets) are medical professionals who operate exclusively on animals. Well-known and notable veterinarians include:
"The temporary moratorium on cat adoptions will help reduce the spread of this disease in the county by preventing any further Care Center cats from entering the general feline population," he said. Cat owners should contact their local veterinarian veterinarian /vet·er·i·nar·i·an/ (vet?er-i-nar´e-an) a person trained and authorized to practice veterinary medicine and surgery; a doctor of veterinary medicine. vet·er·i·nar·i·an n. , keep their pets indoors and vaccinate vac·ci·nate v. To inoculate with a vaccine in order to produce immunity to an infectious disease such as diphtheria or typhus. vac the animals against the disease, James said. |
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