A number of cats have gotten sick from fowl flu from consuming uncooked pet meals or ingesting uncooked milk.
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Your orange tabby is likely to be a vicious mouser. However home cats will not be wild animals, and most veterinarians advise towards feeding companion animals uncooked meals due to pathogens like salmonella and listeria.
The dangers of uncooked diets have change into much more pronounced in current months as a result of ongoing unfold of the H5N1 fowl flu.
A number of home cats fell ailing, and a few died from H5N1 after consuming raw meat or unpasteurized milk. This has prompted remembers and warnings by public well being companies towards giving uncooked meals to pets.
So how critical is the danger to Kitty? This is what cat-owners ought to know.
Can my cat actually get sick or die from fowl flu after consuming uncooked meat or milk?
Sure, although it is uncommon, says Dr. Jane Sykes, who makes a speciality of infectious ailments in cats and canines on the College of California-Davis College of Veterinary Drugs.
Since 2022, greater than 70 cats have contracted H5N1. Sykes notes that many have been barn cats and drank milk from contaminated cattle: A research printed final summer time discovered that about half of the contaminated cats on a dairy farm in north Texas died from the virus.
Final month the Oregon Division of Agriculture says {that a} home cat contracted the virus after which died after consuming a frozen turkey product made by uncooked pet meals model Northwest Naturals. It acknowledged that “exams confirmed a genetic match between the virus within the uncooked and frozen pet meals and the contaminated cat.”
Northwest Naturals voluntarily recalled this batch of its frozen turkey-based product.
Additionally final month, Los Angeles County’s public well being division confirmed two cats examined optimistic for fowl flu after ingesting uncooked milk from the Uncooked Farm dairy in California’s central valley. Uncooked Farm voluntarily recalled its milk and cream after retail merchandise examined optimistic for H5N1, but it surely denies any meals issues of safety, calling the priority “a political problem.”
After these and different situations of illness amongst home cats, the U.S. Meals and Drug Administration introduced final week it’s now requiring cat and pet food firms to replace their security plans to guard towards fowl flu.
Vets say the most secure guess is standard pet meals. Dr. Bruce Kornreich, the director of Cornell College’s Feline Well being Middle, says he is not apprehensive about the opportunity of H5N1 in these since warmth utilized in cooking, canning and pasteurization appears to neutralize the virus.
Sykes agrees, which is why she feeds her indoor cat, Freckles, common kibble.
How else can cats get fowl flu – and what are the signs?
Any cat that spends unsupervised time outdoor is prone to catching fowl flu, warns Dr. Michael Q. Bailey, the president-elect of the American Veterinary Medical Affiliation.
The primary concern is when kitties hunt, they’re going to prey on contaminated songbirds or rodents, particularly mice.
Bailey recommends that folks be careful for indicators of lethargy, runny nostril, or discharge across the eyes.
If a cat does appear sick, Sykes says individuals should not assume it is fowl flu — even when their animals spend time outdoor or eat a uncooked weight loss program. Higher respiratory diseases are frequent in cats, whereas H5N1 is “nonetheless fairly uncommon.”
Chook flu may cause neurological signs corresponding to dizziness and seizures, that are signs of rabies, too. Rabies is sort of at all times deadly, and it poses a menace to human well being, so any animal suspected of getting this virus have to be euthanized.
Bailey says it is a good suggestion to ensure your pets are up-to-date on their rabies and different vaccines.
Can my cat make me sick?
Chook flu in home cats is pretty uncommon, and these pets seem like dead-end hosts for this virus, that means they cannot cross it to different animals or individuals.
There’ve been no identified instances of cat-to-human transmission in the course of the present outbreak of H5N1. The American Veterinary Medical Affiliation says possibilities of this occurring are “thought of extraordinarily low, however not zero.”
Most individuals who get H5N1 have been farm staff in direct contact with contaminated poultry or cattle. Of the 67 confirmed human instances of H5N1 within the U.S., there’s been only one fatality.
The pressure of fowl flu at the moment circulating has not tailored to simply infect people or unfold amongst us.
Nonetheless, fowl flu viruses mutate over time, cautions Sykes.
So when home cats get sick with H5N1 after which cuddle as much as their individuals, this creates extra alternatives for fowl flu to probably adapt to a human host.
The extra cats that eat uncooked meals, the extra possibilities for an an infection and a species crossover occasion to happen, says Ian Gill Bemis, a PhD scholar who research avian influenza in cats on the College of Maryland Division of Veterinary Drugs and the College of Public Well being.
“I feel there’s a considerably excessive threat to public well being that people may change into contaminated if giant numbers of persons are feeding their cats uncooked meals at this explicit time limit,” he says.
There may be no less than one occasion of a cat infecting a human with one other form of fowl flu, known as H7N1. As NPR reported in 2016, a veterinarian in New York Metropolis caught the virus after having shut contact with contaminated cats. She skilled gentle signs and rapidly recovered.
Sykes says that this 2016 fowl flu virus could be very totally different from H5N1. Nevertheless it’s an instance that cat-to-human transmission is feasible with avian influenza.
Regardless of the danger to public well being, Kornreich argues pet homeowners should not be demonized for feeding their animals uncooked meals. “These individuals actually need to do what’s proper for his or her cat,” he says.
What about canines and different animals?
The FDA says canines may also get fowl flu infections, although they’re normally milder than in cats. Some canines exterior the U.S. have fallen ailing and died from fowl flu. It is unclear why cats have been a lot extra affected, since individuals additionally feed canines uncooked meals.
“It is likely to be, maybe canines are getting contaminated and we simply do not know it,” says Kornreich.
Along with wild birds, poultry and cattle, giant cats are additionally susceptible to H5N1. As are many different mammals, together with foxes, opossums, a number of species of bears, even bottlenose dolphins.
Sarah Boden is a contract well being and science author.
This story comes from NPR’s well being reporting partnership with KFF Well being Information.