Experts and some public officials are warning against raw pet foods after a cat in Oregon was found to have died from a product contaminated by bird flu. The maker of that cat food, Northwest Naturals, has since recalled of the turkey-based food.
Felines have been at , either getting sick or dying, for years. There were no cases in the United States until 2022, experts say.
“By late 2024, there had been over 25 cases reported,” said Dr. Jane Sykes, a professor of small animal internal medicine at the University of California-Davis School of Veterinary Medicine. “They were mostly cats on dairy farms in states such as Texas and Colorado. There have also been some indoor cats with no known exposure. They may have been fed raw diets or unpasteurized milk.”
The Oregon report represents the first documented case of an indoor cat with no exposure to poultry or dairy cows dying from the virus through consumption of a raw food, she said.
Only about 2% of pet owners feed their dogs or cats a commercial raw food diet, according to a 2024 American Pet Products survey.
The problem with feeding raw milk and meat is that these foods can be contaminated with bacteria and viruses, Sykes said.
“Commercial pet foods are heat treated,” she said, adding that there have been cases of pets infected with and dying from salmonella and other bacteria lurking in raw foods.
“The processing that traditional pet foods go through makes it almost impossible for that to happen,” said Dr. Stephen Cole, an assistant professor of microbiology and director of the clinical infectious disease laboratory at the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine.
That’s because cooking and pasteurization kill viruses and bacteria.
Some owners may believe it’s safer to feed their pets raw food or treats that are freeze dried — a process that involves freezing a substance and then vacuuming out water crystals.
But “freezing is just a good way to preserve viruses,” said Dr. J. Scott Weese, a professor at the Ontario Veterinary College and director of the Center for Public Health and Zoonoses at the University of Guelph, Ontario, Canada. “So you can’t say stick it in the freezer and that will get rid of the virus.”
In fact, he said, researchers wanting to preserve viruses for later study will freeze dry them.
NBC News reached out for comment to three makers of freeze dried raw cat foods including Instinct, Stella & Chewy’s and Vital Essentials. They didn’t respond.
Cats, whether small-sized domesticated ones or larger species such as tigers and cougars, seem to be especially susceptible to the bird flu virus. One sanctuary in Washington state reported losing last week.
The Food and Drug Administration is currently investigating cases of cats infected with bird flu in several Western states.
“The FDA is tracking cases of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza in domestic and wild cats in California, Colorado, Oregon and Washington State that appear to be linked to eating contaminated food products,” spokesperson Janell Goodwin said in a statement. “No human illness has been reported from handling these foods or through contact between people and the animals. The FDA is working with state and federal counterparts to gather more specific information about what animals ate — which foods and when — and to coordinate test results of the animals and the suspect foods.”
In the meantime, the FDA warns against feeding raw foods that might have come from farms with infected animals, Goodwin said. “If you’re not sure of the origin of your products, it’s safest to thoroughly cook or pasteurize it to inactivate the virus.”
More cases of bird flu infection in cats likely
On Dec. 20, Los Angeles County issued an advisory confirming bird flu had been detected in four domestic cats that had consumed recalled raw milk and in one that had consumed Northwest Naturals. This followed a report of eight domestic cats that drank raw milk. Seven got sick and five died.
The connection between raw pet food and bird flu first came to light because the Oregon cat’s owner wanted to know what had happened. Samples from the cat were sent to the Oregon Agriculture Department and turned up positive for bird flu.
“We followed up with the owner who volunteered that the cat ate raw food,” said Dr. Ryan Scholz, state veterinarian for the department. “We were able to get the food tested.”
Lab results confirmed the frozen raw food made by Northwest Naturals was contaminated with the same strain of bird flu that sickened the cat, which led to a recall of certain lots of the cat food.
It’s likely that there have been more cats sickened by contaminated raw food, Scholz said. “This owner was very interested in knowing what had happened,” he said. “Not everyone does that. I expect we will probably find more cases either looking backward or looking forward.”
Weese suspects there have been more cat deaths due to bird flu.
“I’m fairly confident this is the tip of the iceberg,” he said. “There aren’t a lot of people who are going to pay $100 to $200 to get their dead cat tested.”
What are symptoms of bird flu in cats?
Cats appear to be especially susceptible to certain respiratory viruses, though it’s not known exactly why, Sykes said. In the case of bird flu, cats can become fatally ill very quickly and progression to death can be rapid — just 24 hours after the first symptoms are observed.
Currently, it’s estimated that 67% of cats infected with bird flu die.
Cats may initially show mild respiratory symptoms, Cole said. Then some start to show neurologic symptoms.
“The neurological presentation seems to be fatal,” he said. “Certainly, it should raise red flags if you start seeing signs such as stumbling, ataxia, seizures or blindness.”
Dr. Michael Bailey, president-elect of the American Veterinary Medical Association, said symptoms can include coughing or sneezing, as well as:
- Loss of appetite.
- Lethargy.
- Fever.
- Severe depression.
- Runny nose.
- Gunk in the eyes.
Because of potential neurological signs, Bailey said, owners should make sure their cats are vaccinated for rabies. “If they’re vaccinated, you can actually take that off the diagnostic list,” he said.
One problem with catching the illness early in cats is that they will often hide their symptoms until they are very sick, Sykes said.
If the feline might have been exposed to the virus, owners should get their cats to the vet quickly so that they can be diagnosed and treated, experts say.
In many cases, treatment will just be hydration and getting the animal to eat as soon as possible, Bailey said.
Vets don’t know yet whether cats can become infected and develop only mild symptoms or none at all. So it’s not clear how often it will be fatal. That information will come only after large studies are performed in which cats are tested for antibodies to the virus.
It’s not surprising that cats are susceptible to the bird flu virus. They were also very . However, with that virus, many cats were infected and showed no signs, Sykes said.
How can owners keep their cats safe?
Assuming they are not fed raw food, “it’s pretty easy to drop the risk down in the average cat,” Weese said.
“Indoor cats are at virtually no risk,” he added. “If the cat is indoor/outdoor, the more time you can keep them inside, the lower the risk.”
Since wild birds can also carry the virus, you want to keep your cat from hunting them.
“If you have a bird feeder, you want to get rid of it so you’re not encouraging interactions with wild birds,” Weese said.
