And then there were none. New Westminster's animal services branch was forced to put down the remaining 16 cats in the city's animal shelter on Thursday because of an outbreak of calicivirus, an infectious feline viral disease.
"Our staff are devastated," said Dave Cole, supervisor of animal services. "They are passionate about the job they do. They are there because they love animals."
The strain of calicivirus found at the shelter has a more than 70 per cent mortality rate. All of the shelter's 26 cats tested positive for the virus. One died of the virus, and the rest were put down.
"The decision to euthanize the cats at the shelter was not taken lightly," said Cole. "We took this action on the advice of our veterinarians to prevent spread of the virus to other cats in the community."
Calcivirus is not uncommon in cats, and it's not clear why this outbreak was so lethal.
"For whatever reason this strain has mutated into something much more deadly," Cole said. "Once the cats have it, it's a lifetime disease, similar to herpes. They will carry it, but they won't show signs or symptoms."
Cole said the has been contained within the shelter. The virus can live on an unhosted surface for 28 days, so staff are wearing biohazard suits to prevent spreading it outside.
"It's been contained to the shelter. The only way to catch it is through direct contact," Cole said, adding it's not harmful to humans or dogs.
According to the City of New Westminster, shelter staff first saw evidence of calicivirus on Nov. 6. When it was confirmed by a veterinarian, staff took steps to contain the outbreak, which included isolating the cat population onsite at the Queensborough shelter and redirecting any new cat intakes to other animal shelters in the region.
On Nov. 9, staff closed the shelter to the public after the virus was detected in all of the cats. The shelter will remain closed for up to three more weeks while staff decontaminate the facility.
"We won't reopen the shelter until we are certain it is safe to do so," said Cole. "While it's been a very tough couple of weeks for our staff and volunteers, we look forward to getting back to normal and providing animal services to the community."
In an earlier interview with The Record, Cole described the symptoms of the virus.
"It starts with upper respiratory. They end up with what's like a cat cold," he said about sniffles and runny noses. "The biggest symptom they have is the ulcers. They are in their eyes, noses and mouths."
Because cats' sense of smell encourages them to eat, the ulcers are deterring the cats from eating. Some have to be force-fed water and food.
According to Cole, the virus eventually progresses to the point where some of the cats' organs begin to shut down. At that point they appear lethargic and weak.
