A deadly cat virus has forced a shelter in the North Carolina high country into a difficult decision.
The Watauga Humane Society is euthanizing dozens of cats to keep the virus from spreading.
Channel 9 could see some of the cats impacted by the disease Wednesday.
The cats are not showing signs of panleukopenia yet, but because the virus is so contagious they will most likely be euthanized more than 80 cats.
"You have to think about the health of all the other animals that may go through here, and you cannot risk that large population. You can't risk it," said veterinarian Dr. Greg Lowe.
The symptoms include vomiting, diarrhea and fever.
Nine out of 10 cats who catch it will most likely die.
Because of that, the shelter is taking extreme measures, from euthanizing most of the cats to scrubbing every inch of the facility with bleach.
The veterinarian told Channel 9 the cats that have been vaccinated are usually fine.
There were roughly 40 cats adopted from the facility recently that did have shots, but it takes three to seven days for those vaccinations to work.
"We've called all of those adopters and notified them and told them what to watch for -- let them know we are here for them of they need us and we're hoping out of those 30 adopters very few of them were affected," said executive director Laurie Vierheller.
The director has confirmed eight to 10 deaths from the disease.
After the bleach cleaning, they won't be taking any cats for two weeks for a voluntary quarantine.
Volunteers have stepped forward to take the cats that didn't come in contact with the infected animals, but even those cats are being watched closely.
The Watauga Humane Society is euthanizing dozens of cats to keep the virus from spreading.
Channel 9 could see some of the cats impacted by the disease Wednesday.
The cats are not showing signs of panleukopenia yet, but because the virus is so contagious they will most likely be euthanized more than 80 cats.
"You have to think about the health of all the other animals that may go through here, and you cannot risk that large population. You can't risk it," said veterinarian Dr. Greg Lowe.
The symptoms include vomiting, diarrhea and fever.
Nine out of 10 cats who catch it will most likely die.
Because of that, the shelter is taking extreme measures, from euthanizing most of the cats to scrubbing every inch of the facility with bleach.
The veterinarian told Channel 9 the cats that have been vaccinated are usually fine.
There were roughly 40 cats adopted from the facility recently that did have shots, but it takes three to seven days for those vaccinations to work.
"We've called all of those adopters and notified them and told them what to watch for -- let them know we are here for them of they need us and we're hoping out of those 30 adopters very few of them were affected," said executive director Laurie Vierheller.
The director has confirmed eight to 10 deaths from the disease.
After the bleach cleaning, they won't be taking any cats for two weeks for a voluntary quarantine.
Volunteers have stepped forward to take the cats that didn't come in contact with the infected animals, but even those cats are being watched closely.
WSOC
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