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Your questions, answered

We get a ton of questions about pets and the coronavirus, and a new report that two cats in New York tested positive is a good time to tackle some of them.

“I’ve heard conflicting reports as to the safety of simply walking outside, with my dog, when there is no one around (certainly not within 6 feet of us). What do you think?" —Anonymous

If your dog needed to be walked before the outbreak, it still does. But you should treat your dog like any other member of your household when in public, and keep it at least six feet away from other people or animals.

As our Animalia reporter Karin Brulliard wrote in a new science article, dogs are among several animals known to be able to catch the virus from humans. It seems to be a rare occurrence, and there is so far no evidence that an infected animal can spread the virus back to people, but it's not a risk you want to take. Dogs need exercise, but keep them safe.

“Could a dog transmit covid-19 by carrying it on his fur after people have petted him?”  —Joe Carillo in Tucson, Ariz.

Animal fur hasn't been studied to learn how long the virus can survive on it, but the more important point is: You should not be letting people pet your dog right now.

"They should be interacting only with members of your household," Brulliard writes. “When walking, stay at least six feet away from other people and animals. That means no curious butt-sniffing or games of tag between dogs at the park, and no friendly pets from passersby.”

“Should I be concerned that my dog walks over the lobby carpeting to go out to ‘do her duty’?”  —Nancy Davison in Palmer, Alask.

Nah. “The odds of there being viable virus on the ground where your dog steps and that being on its foot when it gets into the house are astronomically low,” J. Scott Weese, the chief of infection control at the University of Guelph’s Ontario Veterinary College, told Brulliard.

“Can my cat get it from someone else? When she goes outside?” —Kathe Schnick in Portland, Oreg.

Yes, and you should keep your cat inside during the outbreak. A laboratory experiment in China found that cats and ferrets were highly susceptible to the novel coronavirus, much more so than dogs. And while we don't know much about how the virus affects animals once it gets into them, at least one house cat and several tigers and lions fell ill after getting infected.

Read Brulliard's article for more advice on safe pet-keeping right now, and the latest on what scientists are learning about the coronavirus's ability to infect animals.