This is VERY worrisome! Thanks for sharing, Jean. I've looked up some more articles and will share with my folks. PS I just subscribed, hope to encourage more subsciptions!! xo
Yes, it's a real problem and we shall see how it plays out. I am worried for our kitties (dogs and ferrets too, canids and mustelids can also be affected). Thanks for the subscription!
Oh great. I thought dogs were in the clear. Didn't think about ferrets. Oh no. I just shared your article with my mailing list of 1600. Hope we;ll save some lives, and you get queries.
The University of Wisconsin vet school has a “living” document on the go. I heard about it in a recent vet medicine Webinar about H5N1 in cats. So, they are keeping this up to date as the virus progresses.
The likelihood that only one cat was infected via raw food consumption, if eating contaminated raw food is a vector, it's very low, especially considering how much food was recalled.
More evidence that it most likely wasn't the food is mounting and no further evidence that it was is forthcoming. The cat was not strictly indoors and the food that was tested was open in the environment that had an active infection.. there is no way to prove that the contaminated food wasn't contaminated after the cat became sick. There is no evidence that any other package of food from that batch tested positive for the contamination.
This virus is a serious problem, but stating something is fact when it isn't is only going to muddy the waters and make this worse
Hi Connie, I'm not going to waste time trying to convince you, but I'm responding to you so that my other readers understand the science, and to prevent inaccurate theories from gaining a foothold here.
Some of your statements are incorrect, and others are scientifically unsupportable. However, I want to keep an open mind. If you have links to the "mounting evidence" you mentioned, I'd appreciate you providing them. I have not personally seen any contradictory evidence so far.
The cat WAS strictly indoors.
NWN did not provide Oregon with an unopened sample of for testing. The source of contamination is thought to be the turkey meat, which was used solely in that one recalled batch of cat food. NWN is still investigating. They have a FAQ here: https://www.nw-naturals.net/recall-faqs/
The virus does not just float around in the air and land on pet food, nor was there an "active infection" in the home (other than the cat, of course). Other mammals have become sick within a few days of consuming contaminated meat or milk.
I agree that the likelihood of infection IS low, particularly by means of eating or drinking a contaminated product. No humans are known to have become infected that way but other mammals have, as noted in my post. Cats appear to be especially susceptible as a species, compared to canids and mustelids.
DNA confirmed that the cat had the exact same virus as the product. Because there are many, many strains of avian flu, and it readily mutates, that match is very strong evidence for the food as the source. NWN itself is not disputing that evidence.
Anyone who ever attended school with other children knows that colds and flu go around like crazy, but not everyone gets sick. Individual susceptibility plays a HUGE role. We do not know what other health problems that cat (or any of the others that have died) may have had that made her particularly vulnerable.
The food was manufactured many months ago (I think saw a 2023 date but I can't verify that). It is entirely possible that MANY cats have been affected, but their symptoms were mild and self-limiting--which is how this virus has gone in most mammals, including humans. It's a respiratory virus, and one of its symptoms is conjunctivitis. This symptom is extremely common in cats, and also caused by many other viruses. There's no reason any vet would have remotely thought to attribute a case of feline conjunctivitis to avian flu. Nor would it even be possible for an ordinary vet to test for it. So we really have no idea about that. I have seen speculation that 67% of infected cats die, and that 100% of cats that proceed to neurological symptoms die, and all sorts of other ideas. It's still very early in the evidence-gathering process and nobody knows anything for sure.
As new information becomes available, or if after further research and study I change my mind about what I recommend, I'll let folks know!
This is VERY worrisome! Thanks for sharing, Jean. I've looked up some more articles and will share with my folks. PS I just subscribed, hope to encourage more subsciptions!! xo
Yes, it's a real problem and we shall see how it plays out. I am worried for our kitties (dogs and ferrets too, canids and mustelids can also be affected). Thanks for the subscription!
Oh great. I thought dogs were in the clear. Didn't think about ferrets. Oh no. I just shared your article with my mailing list of 1600. Hope we;ll save some lives, and you get queries.
I'm wondering how they determine cause of death and source.
The University of Wisconsin vet school has a “living” document on the go. I heard about it in a recent vet medicine Webinar about H5N1 in cats. So, they are keeping this up to date as the virus progresses.
Thanks again for your always timely and sage advice, Dr. Jean.
Necropsy and extensive tissue testing are quite good at that. The virus type and strain in the meat and that found in the cat were an exact match.
The likelihood that only one cat was infected via raw food consumption, if eating contaminated raw food is a vector, it's very low, especially considering how much food was recalled.
More evidence that it most likely wasn't the food is mounting and no further evidence that it was is forthcoming. The cat was not strictly indoors and the food that was tested was open in the environment that had an active infection.. there is no way to prove that the contaminated food wasn't contaminated after the cat became sick. There is no evidence that any other package of food from that batch tested positive for the contamination.
This virus is a serious problem, but stating something is fact when it isn't is only going to muddy the waters and make this worse
Hi Connie, I'm not going to waste time trying to convince you, but I'm responding to you so that my other readers understand the science, and to prevent inaccurate theories from gaining a foothold here.
Some of your statements are incorrect, and others are scientifically unsupportable. However, I want to keep an open mind. If you have links to the "mounting evidence" you mentioned, I'd appreciate you providing them. I have not personally seen any contradictory evidence so far.
The cat WAS strictly indoors.
NWN did not provide Oregon with an unopened sample of for testing. The source of contamination is thought to be the turkey meat, which was used solely in that one recalled batch of cat food. NWN is still investigating. They have a FAQ here: https://www.nw-naturals.net/recall-faqs/
The virus does not just float around in the air and land on pet food, nor was there an "active infection" in the home (other than the cat, of course). Other mammals have become sick within a few days of consuming contaminated meat or milk.
I agree that the likelihood of infection IS low, particularly by means of eating or drinking a contaminated product. No humans are known to have become infected that way but other mammals have, as noted in my post. Cats appear to be especially susceptible as a species, compared to canids and mustelids.
DNA confirmed that the cat had the exact same virus as the product. Because there are many, many strains of avian flu, and it readily mutates, that match is very strong evidence for the food as the source. NWN itself is not disputing that evidence.
Anyone who ever attended school with other children knows that colds and flu go around like crazy, but not everyone gets sick. Individual susceptibility plays a HUGE role. We do not know what other health problems that cat (or any of the others that have died) may have had that made her particularly vulnerable.
The food was manufactured many months ago (I think saw a 2023 date but I can't verify that). It is entirely possible that MANY cats have been affected, but their symptoms were mild and self-limiting--which is how this virus has gone in most mammals, including humans. It's a respiratory virus, and one of its symptoms is conjunctivitis. This symptom is extremely common in cats, and also caused by many other viruses. There's no reason any vet would have remotely thought to attribute a case of feline conjunctivitis to avian flu. Nor would it even be possible for an ordinary vet to test for it. So we really have no idea about that. I have seen speculation that 67% of infected cats die, and that 100% of cats that proceed to neurological symptoms die, and all sorts of other ideas. It's still very early in the evidence-gathering process and nobody knows anything for sure.
As new information becomes available, or if after further research and study I change my mind about what I recommend, I'll let folks know!
Curious about raw rabbit which I have been feeding my cat his whole life. I'm assuming because it's raw it may be susceptible like other meat.
I haven't seen any evidence of transmission to or through rabbits. So I think you're fine there! Good choice, apparently! :)
Oh, Good to know! Thanks so much!!