SAN ANTONIO – Two bobcat kittens who were taken from their mother earlier this month have died, wildlife sanctuary officials said.
Wildlife Rescue & Rehabilitation veterinary staff said the kittens died from the feline version of the parvo virus.
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The bobcats were approximately three weeks old when they were orphaned and rescued by Wildlife Rescue earlier this month after a man took them from a shack on his property in McCoy and gave them to his sister, who took them in.
But after the bobcats bit and scratched the woman and her daughter, the woman called Animal Care Services, which eventually took the kittens to the wildlife sanctuary.
The amount of time that passed was a factor in the kittens' death, officials said.
"The incubation period for the virus is around 14 days, so the bobcat kittens likely contracted the virus in the two weeks before their death," said Mason Payne, a WRR veterinarian. "Because of their history and how they came to WRR, it is impossible to know whether the bobcats received proper immunity from their mother’s colostrum -- the first milk produced by the mother -- which would have transferred antibodies to the two kittens."
The recommended age for vaccinations to be given to felines is six to eight weeks.