From the Savage Cat Food website:
In February, Savage Pet was made aware of one cat in Colorado who contracted H5N1, got sick and recovered. Colorado State University Laboratory tested sealed packets of Savage Cat Food using PCR testing for H5N1. The PCR test results were “non-negative” for lot number 11152026 (chicken packets). The product with “non-negative” PCR results was sent to the National Veterinary Services Laboratory in Ames, Iowa for virus isolation testing.
As a precautionary measure for our consumers, we initiated a market withdrawal while awaiting final test results. On 02/17/25 every retailer who may have received the lot code in question was contacted and informed to return it for proper destruction.
On 03/06/25 the virus isolation testing results from the NVSL confirmed the virus to be negative.
On 3/13/2025 Savage Pet was made aware of an additional case in New York of a kitten that was feeding lot 11152026 who contracted avian flu. Further testing is ongoing.
To ensure maximum safety we are modifying our market withdrawal to a recall.
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. Our suppliers follow the National Poultry Improvement Plan which monitors for H5/H7 and work under daily USDA inspection. Savage Pet has adhered to Good Manufacturing Practices and sanitation standard operating procedures for 10 years.
All retailers who may have received the product with lot code/best buy date of 11152026 which was sold in Large and Small Chicken Boxes in November 2024 have been contacted. Any consumers who may still have the affected lot code are urged return it to their retailer for a full refund.
Bethany
March 14, 2025 at 8:53 pm
This is all so confusing! Two cats got sick from avian flu on opposite ends of the country (one died) and they both consumed the same batch of Savage Cat raw food and yet it ultimately tested negative for avian flu. What am I missing here? Can someone please explain how this is possible? And why aren’t we hearing about more cases from this batch?
Y. W.
March 17, 2025 at 10:37 am
It is confusing because the entire story is not honest. Hundreds of cats would have eaten contaminated food from the these two cat food producers. Those batches fed 100 or more cats. By the time one cat was sick, at least half of the batches had been consumed. No other cats became ill.
Avian Influenza is not a bloodborne pathogen. If these batches were contaminated, it’s because somehow fecal matter got into the batch during production. You don’t catch bird flu by consuming the meat of a sick chicken. The meat itself is harmless. The virus is transmitted in saliva, mucus + feces.
If these batches really had bird flu in them and it’s so deadly, there should have been dozens of cats affected. But there haven’t been. Of course, I’m beyond grateful for that. But it also makes me wonder what is really going on?
I have a cat with a very sensitive stomach who can no longer eat the only food He’s been successfully eating. It’s not Savage cat. It’s wild Coast raw raw. That company is working as hard as they can to create a raw product that has been pressurized to kill any other viruses and bacteria. Even though their product is very unlikely to have caused any of this illness. If it had, there would have been dozens of cats affected. There was only one household affected.
Also, these companies use human grade chicken. Yet there have been no warnings to people about the danger. Why not? The real danger would be in handling the raw product because you might touch your eye or your nose or your mouth before you wash. Yet there are no warnings to people.
We know our government and our agencies can lie to us. Question is, are they lying to us right now? I suspect they are.
According to the University of California veterinary medicine website, you do not catch avian flu from consuming meat. But cats do? Really? Even though cats’ acidic stomachs kill a lot more bacteria than our stomachs do?
Jenny
April 4, 2025 at 8:38 am
Amen to Your response! You must know the pet food industry is just like allopathic medicine and veterinarian sciences… Treat the symptom not the cause and vilify any entity trying to do different. Raw meat is what the cat species needs to eat. They are obligate carnivores. We are not getting all of the information. My cat is going back to eating Savage Cat.
Mary O'Toole
March 14, 2025 at 11:20 pm
I bought some Savage Cat about a week before the first reported cases were announced from Northwest Naturals. I contacted Savage Cat and the store I purchased it from and asked if I could return it later if I wasn’t comfortable. I didn’t want a mom and pop shop to get stuck with the cost. Savage Cat told me it would the distributors decision to take it back. That did not settle well with me, as they should have backed up the product and guaranteed the distributor also would be reimbursed. I am now sitting with product from the fall (about $100 in product I cannot afford) that I will NEVER feed my cat, regardless the outcome. I hate that this is happening and a lot of times these are smears on these small producers, but we must be careful.
Yana Way
March 17, 2025 at 10:39 am
Did you read the part where all of the test results have now come back negative for avian flu? Something else made the cat sick. Not the cat food. If it’s negative for avian flu, it can’t give a cat Avian flu.
MC
March 16, 2025 at 7:33 pm
I do not feed raw food to my pets because of the potential issues that could come up that affect pet & human health alike. Testing does not seem to be a reliable indicator in all situations. There are too many unknowns in individual cases that could have resulted in contracting the virus.
In my opinion best all food is cooked for safety in general.
MM
March 17, 2025 at 2:41 pm
I’ve been very confused by these cases. The lot number in question was claimed to make a cat sick in Colorado over a month ago… Unopened containers of that lot were sent for PCR testing and came back negative already. Now they’re blaming the same lot again with cats in NYC? It was already tested and came back negative, that makes no sense.
Wild Coast Raw has also been handled poorly, because every document I’ve read says they tested an OPEN container and it came back positive. I haven’t been able to find anything that shows that they tested an UNOPENED container and it came back positive.
This leads me to believe that either: 1- Avian Flu is not being spread through raw meat because the testing is showing negative results or is being done on open containers which doesn’t give an accurate picture, or 2- our PCR testing isn’t accurate and they are getting false negatives.
I’m not in denial about Avian Flu, but I am frustrated that we aren’t getting clear information regarding the testing. Labs are typically about clear documentation, so what’s going on with this?
Christy
March 19, 2025 at 6:04 pm
My cat in San Jose, CA ate Savage Cat Raw Food lot#11152026, got sick 2/8 took him to his vet because of throwing up, no longer wanting to eat, drink water was given fluids. On 2/17, pet store called to notify me of recall on lot# my lil boy had eaten. Same afternoon, my cat went into seizure, rushed him to pet emergency hospital, had another seizure in lobby and was admitted placed on IVs. The following day, I contacted Savage Cat to let them know what had happened with their recalled food that I so trusted. On the eve of 2/19 my cat was released from hospital, placed on medication, no longer himself, he was very paranoid, wound up with neurological like signs, stumbling, like he couldn’t see, and kept looking behind him like he was afraid of something. On 2/22, my lil boy had gran seizure, rushed back to emergency hospital and died on route. I have been totally devastated, that I had trusted Savage Cat Food to my little boy 1.5 yo who was everything to me. It may have tested “not negative” 1st time, which means some type of virus strain could have been present before testing. On 3/6 results, website showed results came back negative. And AGAIN, Savage Cat Food has been recalled as of 3/14/2025, may view directly on their site or Google bc another cat in NY got sick/died. Yet, Audrey Savage Cat never stated my cat got sick/died in SJCA. Our precious animals have died from eating this food.
Bethany
March 20, 2025 at 4:36 pm
I’m so very sorry, Christy, for everything your beloved cat companion and you went through. It sounds like a nightmare! These are truly terrifying circumstances! We feed our cats biologically appropriate raw food like Savage Cat and other raw foods because we are trying to do what’s in their best interests. This terrible virus (and lack of adequate testing) is making it challenging and frightening to do the right thing. I’m left with two options, sticking with foods I’ve thoroughly researched and felt very comfortable with, or switching to inferior options. It’s hard to unlearn what I already know and have been taught. You did the very best you could for your little guy. I know you loved him very much. And I’m sure he knew it, too.
Michaelle
April 17, 2025 at 5:01 pm
I’ve decided not to feed raw food. For now, I’m with Smalls, which describes its food as “gently cooked.” I’m honestly scared, esp for the one who has IBD. One company said uses raw goats milk. I know that they are obligate carnivores, but this what I feel safe with for now.