With bird flu cases rising, certain kinds of pet food may be risky for animals – and people

The US Food and Drug Administration said it is tracking multiple cases of H5N1 bird flu in domestic and wild cats, including cases linked to contaminated pet food.

When Jamila Acfalle decided to get her first cat, she had one requirement: It had to be brave. Acfalle is a dog trainer in a suburb of Portland, Oregon. She works with dogs that have behavior problems that put them at risk of rehoming or euthanasia. She needed a cat who wouldn’t be intimidated by the large, bouncy canines she brings home. When she met a litter of long-haired Maine Coons in 2021, the smoke gray kitten who walked straight up to her and sat at her feet was the one. “I knew at that moment that she was my cat,” Acfalle told CNN. Because her dog’s name is Hero, she named the cat Villain. The cat was friendly and silly but quickly learned to put the dogs in their place. Perhaps because she was already so used to working with dogs, Acfalle trained her to walk on a leash so she could take walks with her fur brothers. She also wanted to be sure that Villain ate a high quality diet. Like a growing number of pet owners in the US, she liked the idea of giving her pets raw food, which she believes is healthier since it was less processed than dry kibble and perhaps more similar to what animals eat in the wild.