October 2025

Walk your cat; Cancer drug helps cats and people?; Darwin's again, UK better; Bird Flu news/solution; Progress on declawing bans and changing minds!; Product spotlight: Functional Feline

First, an apology.

I totally spaced writing the September newsletter! I made a long list of things to talk about, and then thought I had already done it! So that was an accidental month off (which I evidently needed!).

So here’s what I wanted to tell you in September—plus a couple new things that popped up.

(BTW, I love when people comment, so if you have questions, go ahead and ask!)

Make walking your cat a thing!

Here’s a great article, “I want them to live their best lives:” A qualitative exploration of owner experiences with walking their cats.

It’s a scientific paper, but the findings are fascinating and practical. It explores which cat personalities enjoy walking most, how cats and guardians feel about the experience, potential risks and solutions, and more. The short quotes from participants really bring the topic to life and show why cat-walking can be such a great idea!

My cat Perry Christmas was great on a leash—even though we started when he was older. He was such an amenable fellow. I’ve known other people whose cats also enjoy leash adventures.

Perry Christmas investigating an interesting news bulletin in the juniper bushes!

It’s easiest to train a kitten to a harness and leash, but older cats can learn. If you have the right cat and the right environment, I think this is a great idea to both prevent and solve a myriad of behavior and health problems for our kitties!

Could cancer drug help cats and people?

Squamous cell carcinoma is a sun-induced cancer that’s locally invasive. Till now there’s been no medical therapy that can stop it. It usually affects cats with white around their faces and heads, and often starts around the eyes, nose, and ears where there is less fur to protect them from the sun. But UC Davis has found a drug that could help: here’s the skinny.

That said, of course there are holistic modalities that can and do help these cats. First among them is homeopathy, but Chinese herbs and acupuncture are also effective with cancer. Of course, a very low-carb, whole food, meat-based diet is best for all sorts of cancer because one thing cancer loves is sugar. Kibble and foods containing grains or starchy veggies just feed those malignant cells. Find a holistic practitioner at www.ahvma.org.

Darwin’s again, but the UK is doing well!

Darwin’s once again tested positive for both Listeria and Salmonella. I don’t understand why this company seems not to give a darn, but they certainly are not willing to lift a finger to protect their customers.

Meanwhile, across the pond in the UK, Salmonella is going down, both in livestock and in raw pet food. Good for them!

Bird Flu news — and a solution!

Fpr all of our sakes, I’ve synthesized everything I know about bird flu into one article on the Little Big Cat website. I will keep this page updated as new information becomes available (which seems to still be often!): https://littlebigcat.com/cats-and-bird-flu/

Meanwhile, the bad news is that two lots of RAWR raw chicken cat food were just found to be contaminated with bird flu H5N1.

FDA’s account provides an unusual amount of detail in its announcement. But RAWR appears to be dodging responsibility, mainly by criticizing FDA’s process. Now, FDA is a big bureaucracy, and things do take a circuitous, time-consuming route before a conclusion is reached, but that process has been the same all along. It was not, as RAWR seems to imply in its statement, extra-obfuscated or delayed in this case.

RAWR even brought up the completely untenable “it came from the air” theory. I covered this in previous posts: the molecular fingerprinting processes used in these tests provide a highly accurate smoking gun. In this case, a cat became gravely ill and had to be euthanized after eating the food. The flu strain in the food (both the one fed and a separate unopened sample) contained the exact same strain. Third party testing verified the FDA’s findings.

RAWR also suggests that investigations only occur when cats were eating a raw diet (false). They state that there have been 70 infections in domestic cats; no, there have been 144. They blame it all on USDA because the meat was inspected and passed.

The obviously silly part of that last statement is that meat passed by USDA is intended to be cooked, not eaten raw. It’s no secret that there are massive contamination problems in the U.S. meat supply chain, including dangerous bacteria like Salmonella, Listeria, and Campylobacter. That’s why there are “safe handling” instructions on all packaged raw meat, and recommended cooking temperatures. Bacteria and viruses,are inactivated by cooking. But when a company makes a product that will be used raw, it takes on an additional, moral responsibility to make sure it’s safe.

I find it especially concerning that FDA only tested two lots, and both contained H5N1. That particular strain was active in late 2024, and is no longer circulating in poultry, but it is possible that other lots of this food, or other raw foods, produced from the same poultry supplier around that time could also be contaminated. FDA is continuing its investigation (though at its usual ponderous pace). It will be interesting to see if that batch of poultry can be further traced and tested.

If you’re feeding a raw poultry-based cat food (several turkey flocks also recently tested positive) that has not undergone HPP (high pressure processing), I still recommend lightly cooking it.

Please check production dates on any packages you may have in the freezer, and definitely cook it (or toss it) if it dates to late 2024.

Progress on declaw bans and changing minds!

California just became the sixth state to ban declawing! I’ve worked with the Paw Project since 2009, and countless others have contributed to this massive effort. Thank you, Paw Project, for your valiant and persistent advocacy!

pawproject.org

Two other big wins come thanks to City the Kitty, a small but mighty anti-declawing non-profit (I’m proud to serve on their board). They’ve been pestering the ASPCA (American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals) and AAHA (American Animal Hospital Association) for years about their weak position statements on declawing. Those outdated statements gave vets cover to keep amputating cats’ toes—and were even used to block state bans.

citythekitty.org..

ASPCA, while sadly not outright saying “just stop it” to the veterinary community, strengthened their position statement by explicitly countering all the arguments veterinarians usually make to keep on declawing.

AAHA is less public but carries more weight in the veterinary profession. It provides “certification” to veterinary clinics and hospitals that meet its “strict standards that cover all aspects of veterinary medicine, including patient care, facilities, staff training, and emergency services.” However, despite its commitment to animal care and welfare, it never had a problem allowing its certified hospitals to declaw cats. But the AAHA’s new standards now discourage medically unnecessary declawing, ear cropping, and tail docking. These standards are currently voluntary, but could be made mandatory in the future.

If you can support either these very worthy non-profits, Paw Project or City the Kitty, with a donation, please please do! They really need the help!

Product Spotlight: Functional Feline from Real Mushrooms

I just had lunch with my old friend Dr. Rob Silver, who is working with a fabulous company, Real Mushrooms, to formulate incredibly high quality mushroom supplements. I’m a big fan of mushroom products for cats, but the too mant are grown on inferior materials (corn and other grains) and contain mostly mycelium (the fungi’s “roots”) and not the fruiting bodies (the mushroom caps we see in the grocery store). It’s the fruiting bodies that contain the glucans and other beneficial compounds for which mushrooms are famous.

Rob designed wonderful product just for cats called “Functional Feline.” It’s a powder made with powerful mushrooms, adaptogens, omega-3s, and taurine. I’m really impressed! You only need ¼ teaspoon mixed with food daily (start with a tiny pinch and work up). Check it out!

Dr. Rob Silver with Real Mushrooms’ Functional Feline powder.

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18-year old Teddy is enjoying a sunbeam while supervising me editing this newsletter!