Bird flu in cats: Signs, causes and treatment

Bird flu has been in the news a lot in recent weeks with cats in the Pacific Northwest falling ill and in some cases sadly being euthanized.

The outbreak began back in March 2024 in dairy cattle, but this year the US Food and Drug Administration has had to recall raw cat food products following the deaths of cats in Oregon and Washington who had bird flu. Indeed, feeding cats raw meat and milk can increase the risk of bird flu, as can contact with sick or dead birds and wildlife.

With bird flu being quite rare – dozens of cats have been diagnosed since March 2024 out of millions kept as pets in the US – we don’t always know as much as we’d like to about it. If you’re hoping to find out more about bird flu, you’re not alone.

We’ve put together this guide to the symptoms, causes, risks, and treatment options, with some all-valuable advice from our in-house vet, Dr. Rebecca MacMillan. Together, we can help keep ourselves and our beloved felines as safe and healthy as possible

How do cats get bird flu?

First of all, what is bird flu? Also known as avian influenza, it’s a disease caused by the influenza A virus. It primarily affects birds but can affect other animals, including humans, cats, and cattle, depending on the strain. One strain of the virus, H5N1, can affect mammals, and this is the strain that’s the subject of the current outbreak.

“The risk of most cats getting bird flu is small, as common garden birds have a lower risk of being infected than wildfowl like ducks, gulls, swans or geese,” explains Dr. MacMillan, which goes some way to explain why it’s so rare.

The risk of getting bird flu increases if your cat eats raw meat or unpasteurized milk, or has exposure to farm animals who are infected. Exposure to people who work on farms with infected animals, and their clothing, can also increase the risk – we don’t know whether human-to-cat transmission definitely happens, but two cats in Michigan who lived in homes with dairy farm workers caught the infection last year, per the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) suggesting that it could be a possibility.

To reduce the risk, avoid feeding raw cat food and unpasteurized dairy products, and make sure you thoroughly cook any meat before you give it to your cat. As much as you can, keep your cat away from livestock and poultry, particularly if you live in an area with a bird flu outbreak – if your cat is currently an outdoor cat, you might consider keeping them inside.

Do your best to avoid contact with sick or dead birds or wild animals yourself, and wash your hands thoroughly after any contact with poultry, livestock, or wild animals. Change your clothes and shoes and wash any exposed skin after interacting with sick or dead animals, and before you interact with your cat.

There are currently no commercial vaccines against bird flu for cats, but it’s hoped that there may be one in the future.

Signs of bird flu in cats

Dr. MacMillan outlines some common signs, as follows:

• Loss of appetite/not eating
• Lethargy
• Fever
• Circling
• Twitching
• Blindness
• Seizures
• Breathing issues
• Discharge from eyes and nose

However, she explains, “These signs are not specific to bird flu and are not in themselves diagnostic. Your vet may be suspicious but would need to perform some tests to work out what is going on.”

If you are concerned that your cat may have bird flu, contact your vet for advice and limit your cat’s exposure to you, your family, and other pets. This is particularly important if you have any immunocompromised loved ones.

According to the American Veterinary Medical Association, the risk of cat-to-human transmission is low, but could increase with more prolonged exposure to infected cats, so it’s best to be cautious. If anyone does become ill, it’s important to report it to your local public health official.

How is bird flu diagnosed?

Diagnosing bird flu in cats can be tricky, and you can expect your vet to explore your cat’s history to work out if they could have been in contact with sick birds or raw milk or meat before performing a physical exam to look for common signs of bird flu.

Your vet may collect samples to send to a laboratory to confirm that your cat has bird flu or to rule out other potential causes. Sadly, bird flu is often only diagnosed after a cat has died from the virus.

Can bird flu in cats be treated?

There’s no specific cure for bird flu in cats, but your cat may require a stay at the vet to receive intravenous fluids if dehydrated, as well as antibiotics to prevent secondary infections. If seizures are a symptom your cat presents with, anti-seizure medication may be given, too.

Your cat will need to be kept in isolation and staff will wear protective equipment when handling them, to both reduce the risk to them and minimize the chance of the virus spreading to other patients. Your vet will need to report the case of bird flu to a state animal health official, too.

Unfortunately, bird flu can be life-threatening, and almost seven out of 10 (67%) affected cats die, per the University of Maryland’s School of Public Health. While we can’t totally eliminate the risk of bird flu – particularly with no commercial vaccines available – it’s important that we try our best to keep our cats from becoming infected in the first place.

Above all, if you have any concerns about bird flu, it’s best to contact your vet straight away.

If you’d like to find out more about feline health, take a look at our list of the most common illnesses in cats. And, here are five diseases you could catch from your cat or dog.

Edited by Georgia Guerin.