MILWAUKEE — The Milwaukee Area Domestic Animal Control Commission has suspended its stray cat intake services for the time being due to an increase in disease within the shelter.
MADACC said they have been seeing unprecedented numbers of stray cats, which has caused the number of cases of feline panleukopenia to rise.
“Cats can become infected by the virus through close contact with infected cats or simply encountering other surfaces or items contaminated by an infected cat,” according to executive director Karen Sparapani.
Sparapani said the disease can be lethal to cats that aren't vaccinated, and even if all the cats are vaccinated upon intake, it takes a few days for full protection to take effect.
To deal with the rising cases, MADACC has paused its intake and is partnering with the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Veterinary Medicine's Shelter Medicine Program. They will help manage the current population and transfer healthy animals to other shelters to create more space at MADACC.
"This is not totally unexpected. Every shelter deals with infectious disease cases every year. Like parvovirus in puppies, panleukopenia is present in the environment and not easily eliminated," said Dr. Allie Stevens, MADACC Medical Director. "Vaccination is our strongest defense against this disease."
MADACC said the pause in stray cat intake will not effect animal adoptions or normal dog stray services.
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