COVID-19 masks for pets spiked 500% during the COVID-19 pandemic. Top vets tell us why animals shouldn't wear one.
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A company selling face masks for pets has reported booming sales for 2020 - but top vets told Insider you shouldn't put a mask on your pet.
Sales for New York-based company Pet Masks increased roughly sixfold during the pandemic, the Southwest News Service (SWNS) reported.
People had previously bought the $25 masks as a novelty or to protect their cats and dogs from pollution, the company's founder, Salitia Henwick, told the news agency.Pet Masks isn't the only store selling face masks for cats and dogs.
"We can't 100% guarantee that it will protect your pet, all we can say is the filters were designed using the exact recommendation the CDC suggests for humans to wear to protect against bacteria," Kirby Holmes, founder of k9 Mask, told Fox Business at the time.
Read more: What's coming next for COVID-19 vaccines? Here's the latest on 9 leading programs, after Pfizer and Moderna It isn't just in the US that people have been scrambling to buy masks for their pets. Some of k9's orders came from overseas customers in China, Japan, and Australia, and a Beijing-based seller told MailOnline demand for specialityBut animals shouldn't be wearing face masks, the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) told Insider.
Pets can catch COVID-19, but most only experience mild illness and fully recover, it explained.
In one instance, PDSA had to perform emergency surgery on a cocker spaniel after he ate a face mask which blocked his intestines. The dog hadn't been wearing the mask, and had likely stolen it from his owner's bag.
The risk of dogs and cats spreading COVID-19 to people is considered to be "low," but the virus has been known to spread from humans to animals.
CDC guidance tells people to "treat pets as you would other human family members - do not let pets interact with people outside the household."Pets should also social distance from each other, the Food and Drug Administration said in May. Its guidelines said cats should be kept indoors during the pandemic and dogs should stay at least six feet from other humans and animals.
"There is no evidence that the virus can spread to people from the skin, fur, or hair of pets," the CDC said in its guidance.
Alongside masks, people shouldn't use products including chemical disinfectants, alcohol, hand sanitizer, and counter-cleaning wipes on their pets, it added.Copyright © 2021. Times Internet Limited. All rights reserved.For reprint rights. Times Syndication Service.
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