As human beings fight the COVID-19 pandemic with vaccines, cats and dogs face another danger from the deadly outbreak. The pandemic, which globally slowed down the supply chain and sometimes stopped it altogether, resulted in a shortage of supplies vital for dogs and cats. Cats in particular are at risk of panleukopenia, a viral disease which affects both species. Vets say the disruption in the supplies of vaccines for cats and dogs gave rise to the disease, which can be easily prevented with proper inoculation.

Ahmet Baydın, who chairs a chamber of vets based in the capital Ankara, told Anadolu Agency (AA) on Monday that the shortage was visible particularly in vaccines for cats while they also saw a drop in imports of vaccines for dogs as well. "We had a brief shortage of combination vaccines for dogs and for feline leukemia and a combination vaccine for cats only recently started being shipped into Turkey," he noted.

The lack of local production of the vaccines meant for animals has forced pet owners and vets to turn to imports, which have been impeded by the pandemic-related restrictions. Baydın said another factor was the vaccine producers scaling down their animal-oriented production to focus on the development of the COVID-19 vaccines for humans.

Human beings, as a matter of fact, harmed the supplies, according to Baydın, who pointed out to more people confined to their homes due to the coronavirus pandemic and adopting cats and dogs more. Eventually, supplies were not sufficient for pet dogs and cats whose number multiplied. "Still, the focus on the COVID-19 vaccines is the main reason. Production was reduced especially for combination vaccines for cats. The shortage still exists. Panleukopenia has been fatal for cats in particular," he lamented.

He said shipments were being resumed gradually but they were only "one-tenth or one-fifteenth of the supplies we originally received in the past years. You could order any amount of vaccines in the past but now, companies give us only a limited number."