Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the etiological agent of COVID-19, is considered a zoonotic pathogen mainly transmitted human to human. Few reports indicate that pets may be exposed to the virus. The present report describes a cat suffering from severe respiratory distress and thrombocytopenia living with a family with several members affected by COVID-19. Clinical signs of the cat prompted humanitarian euthanasia and a detailed postmortem investigation to assess whether a COVID-19−like disease was causing the condition. Necropsy results showed the animal suffered from feline hypertrophic cardiomyopathy and severe pulmonary edema and thrombosis. SARS-CoV-2 RNA was only detected in nasal swab, nasal turbinates, and mesenteric lymph node, but no evidence of histopathological lesions compatible with a viral infection were detected. The cat seroconverted against SARS-CoV-2, further evidencing a productive infection in this animal. We conclude that the animal had a subclinical SARS-CoV-2 infection concomitant to an unrelated cardiomyopathy that led to euthanasia.

严重急性呼吸系统综合症冠状病毒2（SARS-CoV-2）是COVID-19的病原体，被认为是一种主要在人与人之间传播的人畜共患病原体。很少有报道表明宠物可能会感染该病毒。本报告描述了一只患有严重呼吸窘迫和血小板减少症的猫，居住在一个有几名受COVID-19影响的家庭中。猫的临床体征促使人道安乐死，并进行了详细的验尸调查以评估是否是COVID-19样疾病引起的。尸检结果表明该动物患有猫肥大性心肌病以及严重的肺水肿和血栓形成。仅在鼻拭子，鼻甲和肠系膜淋巴结中检测到SARS-CoV-2 RNA，但没有发现与病毒感染相容的组织病理学损害的证据。猫对SARS-CoV-2进行了血清转化，进一步证明了该动物的生产性感染。我们得出的结论是，该动物患有亚临床SARS-CoV-2感染，并伴有导致安乐死的无关的心肌病。