A pet dog could be the first in Britain to have contracted coronavirus - after it chewed its owner's discarded tissues.
Mandy Hayes, 60, had all the Covid-19 symptoms and was laid up in bed for weeks with a sore throat, dry hacking cough and reduced sense of smell.
She caught her Alaskan malamute Mushka chewing on a used tissue left on her bedside table, but was assured by online advice the disease could not pass to pets.
But two weeks later, 10-year-old Mushka developed the exact same symptoms as his owner - a continuous, dry 'covid' cough and extreme breathlessness.
Terrified Mandy, from Gravesend, Kent, got a friend to take the dog to the vets - who dismissed the symptoms as kennel cough, then lung worm, she said.
But the pooch got worse, and he was rushed in for a CT scan which revealed excess fluid in his lungs - another classic sign of advanced coronavirus.
Retired store manager Mandy rejected advice to put Mushka down - and instead pressured vets into giving him steroids, a treatment proven to reduce deaths in Covid-19 patients.
And after six weeks of illness, both Mandy and Mushka are finally on the mend.
She said: "I know he had it. We nearly lost him. When the CT scan revealed lungs full of fluid I asked can he have caught it from me, but the vet said 'no'. More pet owners need to be made aware of the fact that it is being proven cats and dogs can contract coronavirus from humans."
Mandy, who has two children and six grandchildren, added: "Throughout the whole pandemic this was waved off by experts as pet owners just being pedantic and overly worried about their pets.
"I know many families who went with the advice of veterinary experts and had their beloved pets put down when there were other options."
A statement on the Kennel Club website said there is 'no evidence that dogs’ health is impacted by Covid-19'.
It added: "If your dog is unwell then it is very unlikely that Covid-19 is the cause of their illness, but it is still important that you contact your vet to find out what is causing their illness."
