Dogs Food

New Case of H5N1 Avian Flu in Cat Food? – Truth about Pet Food

October 14, 2025

On 9/3/25, the FDA published a public notice titled “FDA Notifies Pet Owners That Tests Show H5N1 Contamination in Certain Lots of RAWR Raw Cat Food Chicken Eats.” But…

FDA stated: “Following up on a case of H5N1 Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza in a cat, testing performed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, state and local public health and agriculture partners, and federal partners suggests a link between the strain of H5N1 virus detected in the cat and in certain lots of RAWR Raw Cat Food Chicken Eats, a product the cat consumed before falling ill. FDA is sharing information about the testing for public awareness. The agency continues to investigate and will update this notice should new information become available.”

The FDA used the language “suggests” – “suggests a link between the strain of H5N1 virus detected in the cat and in certain lots of RAWR Raw Cat Food…” Why did the agency use this language? Stating ‘suggests a link’ appears to say we do not have absolute proof. Why doesn’t the agency have absolute proof?

FDA does not disclose where the sick cat is located, and when this occurred. One clue we have to location is FDA’s mention of “San Francisco Department of Public Health”. We searched the USDA Avian Influenza database and found information of a cat diagnosed in California, San Francisco County, on 7/13/25.

With no details from FDA, we assume the 7/13/25 incident is the sick cat FDA is linking with RAWR Cat Food. But…this means the FDA waited more than seven weeks to perform testing and notify the public.

Why did the FDA choose to not disclose to the public this incident occurred more than seven weeks ago? Why did it take more than seven weeks to notify the public of a potential (“suggests a link”) H5N1 link to a pet food? If FDA was concerned about pet health, why wasn’t this same ‘suggests a link’ message sent out weeks ago?

Was this cat’s illness linked to the pet food? We don’t know. We do however believe the USDA database would show more sick cats around the same mid-July time frame if it was the pet food…but again, that is ONLY a guess.

Did the FDA trace the source of the ‘suggests a link’ poultry to a supplier? Was testing performed at the supplier level (as is typically done in other investigations)? We don’t know, FDA did not disclose this information. How can this virus be prevented unless it is traced all the way back to the supplier and the supplier is held as accountable as the pet food manufacturer? It cannot.

In January 2025, FDA issued a notice alerting pet food manufacturers they will be required to “consider H5N1 in Food Safety Plans.” However to date (eight months later), the FDA has NOT provided pet food manufacturers with any directives on how to prevent H5N1 in raw materials, and the agency has NOT provided manufacturers with a laboratory to test pet foods or raw materials for the virus. The FDA itself has prohibited labs from Avian Flu virus isolation testing of pet foods for manufacturers and the public.

One thing is certain…this most recent notice is confirmation the FDA Center for Veterinary Medicine is a long way from being prepared for a potential avian flu outbreak. Very concerning.

Susan Thixton
Pet Food Safety Advocate
Author Buyer Beware, Co-Author Dinner PAWsible
TruthaboutPetFood.com
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