TWiV 963: Feline coronavirus with Gary Whittaker

[@MicrobeTV]

Here is the link to the corrected version of this video, with the audio echo removed: kzbin.info/www/bejne/gpDXgpqqa8aAo68

[@MicrobeTV]

Apologies for the echo, I neglected to remove the audio recorded in camera. I'm exporting a corrected version and will post it separately as 'edited', and I'll put the link here.

[@mbak7801]

Some friends of mine have 4 cats. One cat is a bit brain damaged and is shunned by the others and did not get Covid. The other three lost their 'Miaow' but croaked quietly. Two coughed persistently and all three infected were very lethargic. Lateral flow tests were rolled across the cats noses (outside) and wiped on their anal sphincter. All came up strong positive. It took over 12 weeks for them to recover back to normal. Their vet insisted "Cats cannot catch Covid". I suspect this is said to stop some people abandoning their cats.

[@sueheck1051]

We had a rescued kitten that got sick and eventually had to be euthanized due to coronavirus. First symptom was his nose turning blue, which resolved. Wt loss, imbalance, abdominal distention and ascites. Vet said that it was fairly common in rescued animals but deadly. His littermate was healthy and never got it.

[@_c_y_p_3]

I HATE this virus but I 💚TWIV! Thank you for doing this show.

[@richardgraham1167]

Use of the closed captioning option really helped clarify the guest's interesting commentary.

[@anymoose6685]

Interesting. Does he think sars-cov-2 could be going “persistent” in long Covid, like it does in FIP? Patients describe exercise or stress causing “flares” which sounds a lot like his like the FIP model. We are also seeing infection of macrophages in Covid, no?

[@annihilator22]

Fascinating. What a great guest. Thank you!!

[@nicsxnin6786]

How many vials of remdesivir does it take for a cat? Does one vial get split into multiple doses?

[@berryscott3590]

Why would u give Remdsivir ('Run-death-is-near') to a cat? Isn't there a faster, aka more humane, way to euthanize it?

[@DennisMathias]

Alright, what's with the audio? I hear voices in the background.

[@johaquila]

Regarding the losing battle on naming: Has the "D" for disease even crept even into your pronunciation of "SARS-COV-2", or is that an alternative name rarely found in print?

[@EnvironmentalCoffeehouse]

If I knew you were coming to Ithaca, I would go over and stay at my friends tiny house community and come visit! I’m only less than two hours west on 86 away in the middle of nowhere! 😜 I know you’re busy, but it would sure be great to meet the great Vincent Racaniello!

[@bethmendoza1847]

I have a theory that the stress of trapping, neutering and releasing, is causing FIP to be activated in the cats. I’ve lost two cats in my little feral colony of four. That’s 50%. It’s heartbreaking. But what can you do. We have to stop them from reproducing.

[@nicoled5160]

My kitten seemed healthy until he got his vaccines and then fell quickly ill. The next set the vet refused and said cats fighting viruses at the time or with weaker immunity have a chance to develop FIP

[@PifflePrattle]

Very good episode.

[@jimjohnson3349]

It's kind of amusing to see what happens in the closed captioning when the word "furin" is used verbally: "urine", "fury inhibitor", "fear insight", etc.

[@wendyfrith3407]

Question (by total ignoramus) …Can climate change have any influence on animal migration, e g, drought, flooding or fires forcing non-migratory species outside of their usual ranges? Could, for instance, bats fly further looking for insects, raccoon dogs - which are now invading Europe -wander even further afield, different species be unusually crammed closer together, wild animals in search of food suddenly start to frequent farms or cities, etc.? Thus more interaction between people, rats and feral cats- and (furry, attractive to human beings) wild animals, etc, I remember hummingbirds suddenly coming to florists shops during a drought in California. I also recall reading that SARS 1 and 2 appeared the same time of year…perhaps to do with seasonal animal migration? Seems to me there must be countless uninvestigated possibilities for corona viruses to migrate, mutate, leap, become pandemic. Human beings numbering 8 billion and crisscrossing continents almost at the speed of sound can’t help.

[@peterbrockway5990]

There is a very good (and open) review by Eddie Holmes "The Ecology of Viral Emergence" in Annual Review of Virology Volume 9, 2022 .

[@wendyfrith3407]

Couldn’t have received a better reply. *Thank you* for steering me to the very satisfying Holmes review, and for reading my question!

[@nicoled5160]

My cat got chest colds and lethargy while i was diagnosed with covid with terrible respiratory symptoms. Coincidence perhaps, but not sure. I suspect covid. They definitely had an easier time than me.

[@minRef]

24:35 on animal models today

[@Turtledove2009]

Alarm bells!

[@Turtledove2009]

Encephalitis has happened in people.

[@minRef]

I don’t think it’s typical. Ben Tenoever seems to have a mouse model that resembles long covid, but there’s disagreement about how much CNS persistence plays a role. Also, Ben’s long covid cognitive impairment model was already a bit more severe than human long covid. It’s a confusing time.

[@nottooherbal]

Interesting to watch and listen to but mostly impenetrable to me .

[@questella]

Meow meow kitties 🐈🐈🐈🐈

[@TetonGemWorks]

Dr Racaniello, you are interrupting and talking over Dr Whittaker so much that I just can't listen to this episode... you ask a question and then answer with him. Maybe it's just my neurodivergence but it seems rude. I can't concentrate on what he is saying.

[@skepticalbadger]

This guy has a habit of anticipating the question and talking over the interviewer. Unfortunate.

[@Turtledove2009]

To me, the interviewer is talking over the guest.

[@lismartinez5363]

Didn’t notice it being an issue either way-With interviewer and interviewee.

[@Turtledove2009]

@@lismartinez5363 They often talk at the same time, which makes it difficult to concentrate on the subject, for me at least.

[@anymoose6685]

It sounds like he is trying to prevent the interviewer putting words in his mouth. He clearly has not made a firm conclusion on origins that he is willing to share like Vincent has, and doesn’t want to be mis-understood as having the same conclusion. Everyone has their unique speech patterns. That’s the thing with interviews of real people.

[@illowrenollow423]

Where can I buy the "book wallpaper" which makes me look smart too? PS: Leave the cats alone, take your Eco_Healthalliance albino boa constrictors & pain is incoming

[@skepticalbadger]

They are real bookcases...