Should Pet Owners Worry About H1N1?

A cat in Iowa is diagnosed with the dreaded disease, how may more pets will follow?

The news that an Iowa cat contracted H1N1 from his human family tugged on many a blogger's heartstrings (especially since the Internet has a well known feline fetish). Although the cat is reportedly doing well, the possibility of the virus infecting household pets raises a host of questions. Namely: Can pets transmit the virus to humans? (A: No, thankfully) Which animals are most susceptible? (A: Cats, ferrets and pigs,  obviously) Can pets be vaccinated? (A: No) And finally, how worried should owners be for their pets this flu season? Which of course is a matter for serious debate. As PopFi's Ron Hogan puts it:

While swine flu hasn’t jumped to dogs, the fact that it’s jumped to cats and ferrets is kind of disturbing.  Is there no creature that the flu doesn’t touch?  Do we need to start worrying about horse flu or mule flu or goat flu or ant flu…?