The volunteer branch made the announcement via its Facebook page on Friday after it discovered two of the kittens in its care had tested positive for the virus.

FP is a highly contagious viral disease in cats and kittens. Initial symptoms include lethargy, diarrhoea and loss of appetite.

“The mortality rate for kittens is 90 per cent,” RSPCA member Maddison Lawback said.

Ms Lawback said the virus is transferred through contact with bodily fluids including blood, saliva and faeces. It can live in soil for many years and comes to the surface when it rains.

On Wednesday, the RSPCA euthanised two kittens with feline parvovirus and six puppies with canine parvovirus.

“It was just devastating,” Ms Lawback said.

The six puppies were surrendered to the RSPCA just weeks ago to be rehomed but last week they started to show signs of carrying canine parvovirus.

When the foster carer went out to feed the puppies in the morning, she noticed one was lethargic and had diarrhoea with blood in it. The other five puppies soon began to show the same signs as they were transported to Gunnedah Saleyards Veterinary Clinic.

“Parvo has a smell,” Ms Lawback said.

“Once you’ve smelt it, you’ll never forget it. It’s like death.”

The branch is pushing for pet owners in the Gunnedah shire to prioritise vaccinations to kerb the spread of the virus.

“Getting the word out that this could be a potential outbreak in Gunnedah,” she said.

“I’m trying to turn something really negative into something positive and get this message out so people don’t have to deal with this heartbreak we’ve had to deal with.”

Ms Lawback said she was deeply concerned about unprotected animals.

“Kittens are more at risk obviously but people need to realise that kittens should have two to three vaccinations depending on age and cats need a yearly booster,” she said.

Saleyards clinic veterinarian Tina Clifton said cats were often viewed as “mouse chasers” with only about 10 per cent regularly vaccinated in Gunnedah which contributed to the spread of viruses.

She said Gunnedah was the first confirmed case of FP she was aware of outside the Sydney and Melbourne metropolitan areas.​

“It’s very rare to have these outbreaks,” Ms Clifton said.

 “We don’t see a lot of them because we vaccinate them for it. It’s a disease we didn’t really think we had… and it basically stresses the importance of vaccination.

“We’ve got to get to a point where people start viewing pet owner as a privilege not a right… and part of that is to make sure they’re vaccinated and make sure they stay at home.”

The veterinarian said cases of FP could go unseen because the virus kills animals so quickly.

“In this heat, they sometimes go from being sick to dead in 24 hours,” she said.

Ms Clifton said there was no treatment for parvovirus, only support treatments to help get the infected animal through.

“It’s one of those scary, tip of the iceberg [situations],” she said. 

“It’s a good wake-up call that these diseases are still around.

“As the population of unvaccinated animals grows larger… these diseases can potentially make a comeback. It’s a good reminder that they’re not gone, they’re just dormant. There is the risk that they will come back, and it puts everyone’s animals at risk.”

It will be about six weeks until the RSPCA branch will know how long it must close its doors to cats and kittens.

“As far as the community is concerned, it’s going to be a pretty big issues because it puts more animals out on the street,” Ms Clifton said.

Gunnedah Shire Council’s Blake O’Mullane said measures were in place in Gunnedah’s Animal Control Facility to prevent the spread of parvovirus and employees would be “even more vigilant” in the case of an outbreak by closely inspecting all animals entering the facility and continuing to disinfect the facility regularly.

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