Here kitty, kitty. Come get your flu shot

Doctors say vaccinating children against the H1N1 flu — that's swine flu to you and me — could help prevent pets from getting ill.

A brief in the Chicago Sun-Times (third one) can be found here.

The veterinarian who treated the cat, Dr. Brett Sponseller, said two of the three people in the cat's Iowa home had flu-like symptoms before the cat became ill. The cat was lethargic, had a loss of appetite and appeared to have trouble breathing. Getting children vaccinated for swine flu also can help prevent the illness from spreading to pets. There is no swine flu vaccine for pets.

The cat has recovered, the news item states.

More from the Associated Press via the Huffington Post here.

Other influenza strains have been known to cross species, but Sponseller cautioned against drawing too many conclusions from the cat including whether other pets could also get the swine flu.

"It's well documented in influenza in general, but this is the first highly suspected case of H1N1 going from humans into a cat," he said.

Read more at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/11/04/iowa-cat-gets-swine-flu-f_n_346397.html&cp

Officials said there is no evidence that swine flu can pass from pets to people.