Two days ago, on Tuesday, December 24th, Northwest Naturals announced they were recalling one of their cat foods due to a cat who sadly passed away from bird flu after eating it.
Northwest Naturals is a family owned and operated company owned by Morasch Meats and based in Portland, Oregon.
The company is dedicated to manufacturing raw frozen foods for dogs and cats and has been doing so for the last two decades.
“Northwest Naturals is voluntarily recalling one batch of Northwest Naturals brand 2lb Feline Turkey Recipe raw frozen pet food after it was tested positive for highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) virus,” they explained in a press release on their website.
“Consumption of raw or uncooked pet food contaminated with HPAI can cause illness in animals. To date, one case of illness in a domestic cat has been reported in connection with this issue.”
The food that’s likely contaminated with bird flu was sold in plastic 2-pound bags across Arizona, California, Colorado, Rhode Island, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Pennsylvania, and Washington. The food in question was also sold in British Columbia, Canada.
If you have any of this food that’s marked with “best if used by” dates that are between May 21st of 2026 and June 23rd of 2026, Northwest Naturals is saying you should throw it out immediately and not feed it to your cat. You can then contact the business where you bought the food to get a refund.
The Oregon Department of Agriculture stated in their own press release that they found a “genetic match” to the cat who passed away and the virus discovered in the Northwest Naturals brand 2lb Feline Turkey Recipe raw frozen pet food.
“We are confident that this cat contracted H5N1 by eating the Northwest Naturals raw and frozen pet food,” ODA State Veterinarian Dr. Ryan Scholz added.
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“This cat was strictly an indoor cat; it was not exposed to the virus in its environment, and results from the genome sequencing confirmed that the virus recovered from the raw pet food and infected cat were exact matches to each other.”
The Oregon Health Authority is currently monitoring the people who came into contact with the cat who passed away to ensure none of them come down with bird flu.
The Oregon Department of Agriculture recommends that you and your pets take the following steps to prevent the spread of bird flu in general:
- Do not eat undercooked meat, raw meat, or dairy
- Do not come into contact with deceased or sick animals
- Wash your hands if you do come into contact with deceased/sick animals or raw animal products
- Be sure to prevent your pets or chickens from coming into contact with wild waterfowl
- If you see a dead bird or one that appears sick, please call the Oregon Department of Agriculture at 503-986-4711
If you have any further questions or need more help regarding the recall, you can reach out to Northwest Naturals via their phone number 866-637-1872 (someone is available to help you Monday through Friday from 7 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. PST) or email them at info@nw-naturals.net.