{"id":870882,"date":"2026-08-28T01:22:11","date_gmt":"2026-08-28T01:22:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/870882\/"},"modified":"2026-08-28T01:22:11","modified_gmt":"2026-08-28T01:22:11","slug":"bird-flu-australia-the-pets-most-at-risk-and-how-to-keep-them-safe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/870882\/","title":{"rendered":"Bird flu Australia: The pets most at risk and how to keep them safe"},"content":{"rendered":"

Bird flu<\/a> has well and truly arrived in Australia, with more than 300 positive events in wildlife across several states, and pet owners are being urged to do what they can<\/a> to stop the spread and keep their animals safe.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith the spread of bird flu around Australia … the risk to your pets is quite low. But there are definitely still some risks, with cats<\/a> being more susceptible to the disease than dogs<\/a> are,\u201d Dr Suzie Fowler, RSPCA chief science officer, told nine.com.au.<\/p>\n

\"Cute<\/p>\n

Cats are more at risk of bird flu, so if you\u2019re not already containing them inside, now is the time to start.\u00a0iStock<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s certainly a greater risk from their exposure [to birds], because cats are obviously hunters and also scavengers, so sick and injured birds and dead birds tend to be preyed upon by cats. But also they\u2019ve got different receptors, so they\u2019re more prone to picking up the virus than dogs are, and they can replicate the virus, which is why they get sicker as well.\u201d<\/p>\n

The best way to keep cats safe is to contain them inside if you\u2019re not already doing so.<\/p>\n

While dogs have a lower risk of bird flu, it\u2019s still important to keep them on a leash to prevent them interacting with sick or dead wildlife. This is particularly important on the beach, even in off-leash areas, given the number of seabirds that have contracted bird flu.<\/p>\n

\"Dachschund<\/p>\n

Keeping dogs on leash while out and about is a useful step in preventing the spread of bird flu.\u00a0iStock<\/p>\n

It also helps to move their water bowls inside or undercover where native animals have less access to it.<\/p>\n

\u201cDogs can shed the virus, but there\u2019s not a huge amount of evidence out there about how much they spread it to other dogs or to people. But they could perhaps spread it through other mechanisms if they\u2019re left to roam around, they could pick up a dead bird and move it to another spot, and things like that,\u201d Dr Fowler said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cUnfortunately, they don\u2019t show as many signs of illness, which is a good thing, but it means that you don\u2019t necessarily know that they\u2019re carrying the virus. Whereas cats will get much more significant clinical signs and, unfortunately, can die from the virus as well, which is why it\u2019s so important for dogs and cats that we keep them away from our wildlife. Not just now, but obviously that\u2019s the best advice at all times to protect our native wildlife.\u201d<\/p>\n

There is more concern for pet birds and backyard poultry<\/a>, with Dr Fowler advising they are \u201cvery much at risk\u201d. Moving their food and water undercover and the birds inside their coops is also important, where possible.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s really important to still look after the welfare, because they\u2019re often used to scratching around your backyard and having more space to move. There are other things you can do, like making sure they\u2019ve got really good perching in their enclosures and also somewhere to bathe and scratch around still.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut that\u2019s the best way to keep them protected so that they have less exposure to wildlife, and in particular wild birds, which would be the biggest risk for your backyard chickens and other poultry species.\u201d<\/p>\n

If you happen to see a sick or injured animal in the backyard, the advice is to avoid touching it and report it to the Emergency Animal Disease hotline on 1800 675 888.<\/p>\n

Dr Fowler warned we\u2019re likely to live with bird flu in Australia for a long time to come and there will be more mortalities of native wildlife, so the little things we can do with our own pets is vital.<\/p>\n

\u201cMaking sure that you minimise your interaction between your pets and wildlife is always good advice anyway because it\u2019s not just bird flu, there are other diseases. But also it\u2019s best for protecting our native wildlife so that they\u2019re not spooked and impacted by our pets,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Bird flu has well and truly arrived in Australia, with more than 300 positive events in wildlife across…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":870883,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[64,63,137],"class_list":["post-870882","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-health","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-health"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/870882","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=870882"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/870882\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/870883"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=870882"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=870882"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=870882"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}