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 certain batches of the turkey-based food.
Felines have been at risk from bird flu, 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.
