People aren’t the only ones affected by COVID-19; animals were also directly or indirectly affected. A handful was actually infected but many others were forced to live by themselves for a long time because their humans had to be hospitalized. Worse, some humans never made it back home.
In Wuhan, China, the epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic, a British Shorthair cat named Le Le surprised everyone with her resilience as she managed to survive on her own in a 40-day lockdown inside her owner’s apartment. The entire family had been hospitalized due to COVID-19 and the heavily pregnant cat was all by herself the whole time.
Le Le’s family was hospitalized before the Chinese New Year, January 25, after contracting the virus. Knowing that Le Le is pregnant and might give birth soon, the family worried about her safety. But they didn’t hire a pet sitter because they were afraid that their house is already contaminated and could infect the pet sitter.
“I had to find a solution myself,” said Le Le’s human dad, named Chen.
So, he built a soft birth pod for Le Le, opened a 20-pound bag of cat food, and opened the doors to the bathroom and balcony.
“I keep turtles and flowers on the balcony, and there is filtered water there safe for her to drink. She also knew how to use the cat toilet in our bathroom,” he added.
Cat Survives 40-Day Lockdown
It would be a good 40 days before the family would all be safely discharged from the hospital and allowed to go home. They were so excited yet also apprehensive about going home, fearing the worst. When they arrived, Le Le was there – with her four tiny kittens! Awwww.
The poor thing lost a lot of weight but still looked perfectly healthy despite what she had been through. Her kittens also appear healthy. Chen decided to name the kittens as “Xiaowu”, “Hanhan”, “Xiaojia”, and “Youyou”. Their names collective meant, “Wuhan, fighting” in Chinese.
Chen is happy that Le Le survived the ordeal. However, the family’s pet fishes didn’t. Somehow, the hungry mama cat had them for lunch…
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