Two cats in two separate New York City households have tested positive for bird flu, the city health department says.
“Bird flu in cats has been confirmed elsewhere in the United States. Pet owners are reminded not to feed their pets raw food or raw milk. Additionally, pet owners should prevent cats from roaming outdoors where they may come in contact with wild birds or other animals,” acting health commissioner Dr. Michelle Morse said in part in a statement.
So far, there have been no confirmed cases of bird flu spreading to dogs, but experts caution influenza virus has the potential to mutate.
The health department says the current risk to New Yorkers remains low.
Kitten put down due to bird flu complications
At Brilliant Veterinary Care on the Upper West Side, Dr. Deborah Bayazit says she was just forced to put down a client's cat after it suffered complications from bird flu.
“Kind of vague symptoms. It just was not really wanting to eat. It was lethargic at home. When it came to us, it had a really high fever,” Bayazit said.
The veterinarian says in this case, the kitten was fed a diet of canned raw chicken.
The kitten's owner is devastated, Bayazit says.
“Oh, she's devastated. She's distraught, but she didn't know,” Bayazit said. “And now we do know, so that's, I think, the most important thing, is that pet owners need to know it's just not safe right now to feed raw, in particular chicken, diets to cats.”
Savage Cat Food investigating NYC cat death
The raw chicken the kitten ate was sold by a company called Savage Cat Food, one of a number of manufacturers selling raw meat for cats.
The company told CBS News New York they were alerted of a potential problem after a cat in Colorado got sick in February. A PCR test of the product was inconclusive before later testing negative. Still, they issued a voluntary recall.
The company said Friday they're working with the FDA to gather information on the cat in New York that died.
In a statement, they said, “Savage Pet has always been dedicated to the health of its feline consumers. All of our poultry ingredients are USDA inspected and passed for human consumption.”
