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Feline Adoptions Back Open at Marshall County Animal Shelter

The Marshall County Animal Shelter has lifted a quarantine on cats at the shelter after a recent outbreak of a contagious disease.

Shelter officials reported the facility was again at capacity by the weekend after accumulating a backlog of prospective new arrivals.

In late September, the shelter was forced to close the facility to cats for the second time in four months due to an outbreak of feline panleukopenia, a disease affecting unvaccinated cats. The shelter believes the disease was brought in by a litter that arrived at the shelter earlier that month.

The shelter’s cat room and adjacent cat shelter were placed on a two-week quarantine, during which time no cats could be accepted or adopted.

However, Director Lauren Cook said the shelter had taken names of about a dozen people during the closure, some with multiple cats to surrender.

“We had a list of people we had to call, after we lifted the quarantine, and of course, now we’re full,” Cook said. “Literally we lifted the ban on Wednesday, and by Saturday, every cage was full again. That’s just how quickly they come in. People don’t really have any other option.”

Cook added the shelter had not been affected by the disease in the 12 years she had worked there prior to this year, which has seen two outbreaks of panleukopenia.

Although Cook said the shelter has a new cleaner in use to help fight future outbreaks, owners bringing cats in to be put up for adoption should also take steps to prevent the spread of the disease, which may potentially prove fatal to unvaccinated cats.

“People can get their cats vaccinated at the (Tiffany Dlesk) Spay/Neuter Clinic. It’s low cost, and if they don’t have a lot of money they can get it done there. At the shelter, we vaccinate everything … it’s just spaying and neutering. A lot of these feral cats have kittens that aren’t going to get vaccinated, and they’re the ones who carry it.”

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