Henry Daily Herald

McDONOUGH — Officials continue to search for kittens they believe have been infected with rabies.

Henry County Rabies Control Officer Vince Farah said he is in the process of speaking with the owner of one kitten from the litter of four.

The litter was first believed to be six kittens, when officials discovered one of them was infected.

Farah said a man who accepted one of the kittens Aug. 25 took it home to his family and noticed it was acting sickly after about a week. He took the kitten to a 24-hour clinic in Fayetteville, where vets determined it should be euthanized. A necropsy of the remains tested positive for rabies.

A woman and her mother had been giving the kittens away in the parking lot of Wal-Mart in McDonough, said Farah, noting the kitten would have been infected through its mother.

The woman said the mother cat was a stray on her property in McDonough and surrendered the cat to animal care and control officials Wednesday.

“She was terrified,” said Farah.

Farah said the surrendered cat was euthanized and its body was sent to the Georgia Public Health Laboratory in Atlanta to be tested for rabies. He expects results of that test late Thursday evening.

He said a kitten brought in to be quarantined Tuesday was not part of the “infected” litter.

While he is in the process of speaking with someone who may own one of the other kittens, there are two others have not been accounted for.

Farah said the kittens are gray, female and about 10 weeks old. They were given away Sunday, Sept. 9, in the same Wal-Mart parking lot as the others. Their names at the time were Maggie and Sweat Pea.

People with information or concerns about the kittens in McDonough are asked to call Henry County Animal Care and Control at 770-288-7387 or visit www.hcacc.org. The shelter is at 527 Hampton St. in McDonough.