By Ingrid R Niesman MS PhD
An opinion piece in Thursday’s Washington Post by Leana S. Wen, a physician and columnist for the paper, titled How to protect your cat from bird flu, subtitled “Don’t feed it raw milk or meat, and watch for symptoms,” contains some good information, but also contains misleading information about pet food safety in light of H5N1.
In my past series of articles, I have provided fact-based information about H5N1 transmission, symptoms, and feeding recommendations. I am always striving to have the most relevant science possible to back up my stories, based on my knowledge of infectious diseases, cell biology and especially the use of common sense.
Wen quoted University of Maryland professor Dr. Kristen K. Coleman, an airborne infectious disease researcher. According to the Washington Post, Coleman told Wen that she has decided to feed her cats dry food only. “That’s largely because the pet food industry is not as closely regulated as the human food industry.” She told Wen that she has not been giving her cats canned food, as it might contain unpasteurized milk. Kibble, on the other hand, is heated at very high temperatures, which, like pasteurization, would kill H5N1.
This is false. Canned food is heated to temperatures well beyond the 165° Fahrenheit required to inactivate H5N1.
If it doesn’t make sense, question the information
Media interviews can take many winding paths. Even seasoned journalists can misinterpret or take words out of context. I reached out to Dr. Coleman for clarification. In an emailed statement to me, she explained “…I most likely misspoke when I shared with her [Leana Wen] what I personally feed my cats and why — and the nuance of different types of pet food, hence why I just stick to kibble for now. She [Wen] unfortunately picked that part of my statement to include.” Dr. Coleman said she is saddened by the misleading information and will try to provide proper advice moving forward.
The importance of finding trusted sources
From my perspective, inclusion of such a misleading quote in an article from a previously trustworthy newspaper is a big disappointment. Leana Wen, as a contributing columnist and physician, should have enough common sense to know that the canning process itself requires extremely high temperature and high pressure to seal cans. The fact that she chose to ignore these basic sterilization facts is upsetting. Canned cat food and even wet food in shelf-stable cartons must be heated high enough to sterilize meats and milk. Canned food is safe.
The decision on what to feed your cats will depend on your individual risk tolerance. I personally chose to not feed my cats raw food or gently heated meals at this time. I feed canned meals twice a day and serve mixes of dry kibble favorites for free feeding throughout the day.
The remainder of the Washington Post article is mainly a rehash of information I have previously written about, although Wen omits high fevers as an initial indicator of H5N1 symptoms in cats and is not clear about keeping your cats indoors and away from potential bird prey.
Getting the word about H5N1 out to as many cat parents as possible is commendable but including misleading and incorrect information is not excusable when our cats’ lives are at stake.
Ingrid R. Niesman MS PhD is the Director of the SDSU Electron Microscope Imaging Facility at San Diego State University. She graduated from Utah State University and received her MS from the University of Illinois-Urbana-Champaign. After 30 years of technical electron microscopy, cell biology, neuroscience and infectious disease research, Dr. Niesman completed her PhD in the UK at the University of Sunderland. Her work experience includes time at LSU Medical School, Washington University, UAMS in Little Rock, UCSD, TSRI and a postdoctoral year at CALIBR in La Jolla, CA. She has worked for at least two National Academy of Science members and is credited with over 50 publications. She can be reached at [email protected]
Photo by Alex Suslyakov on Unsplash
Thank you. Can you tell me what the treats are called? I use Feline Natural, Ziwi Peak and one type from Nature’s Logic (Rabbit–that our Sunny loves) canned foods I’m able to get at a local smaller Pet food store. He has never eaten any kibble other than the freeze dried occasional treats.
I bought Feline Naturals several months ago directly from NZ. Only sourced from NZ & manufactured on site. I’m pretty risk adverse so I am forgoing any poultry not cooked at this time. You can decide your own choices. Last I checked a few weeks ago NZ was still bird flu free but I’d check again if you plan to order as a reasonable precaution. Any canned food is safe however. Just freeze dried raw or raw food that is questionable & risky.
Feline Naturals has lamb freeze dried treats, but I dunno, think I will shy away from the treats (of any animal) that are freeze dried for now.
I use these Feline Naturals treats: https://amzn.to/3DPSzsb According to the company, they are heated above 165 degrees during processing.
I decided to throw away our Vital Essentials freeze dried cat treats. Supposedly, they are safe per the company–but since freeze drying raw food doesn’t kill the virus, not taking any chances. I’ll even throw away the Rabbit bites cuz who’s to know if the rabbit couldn’t be contaminated somehow by this virus. Soooooo, can anyone tell me what type of safe treat to buy? We’ve been spoiling our Sunny with a treat after we clip his nails, brush his teeth. Thanks.
New Zealand still hasn’t had a reported case of H5N1. There are a few vendors from NZ. Aus too. But from US – kibble type treats are safe for sure. I know my kids liked dried ones too. I have a few bags I bought well before this & am rationing them for emergencies.
I recommend using the Churu treats or any other brand creamy type treat. They’re processed the same way as canned food and are safe to feed.
Thanks. You are always a reliable resource. I’m feeding my cat her regular wet and dry foods (no raw, but I didn’t use this before). I have made these changes : I use disposable/rubber gloves when I touch the bird feeders and bird baths; if the gloves are reusable, I spray them with Lysol after each use and store them in the storage room (accessible from outside) where we keep the birdseed and pool salt; and I wash my hands thoroughly immediately afterwards in the utility room sink (not the kitchen or bathroom sinks). The birds are backyard birds, but migrating birds visit sometimes, so these simple changes seem prudent.
Hello Marie,
I just looked up Lysol if safe for pets. NO Lysol is not safe around animals. It may even kill the birds. How about using plain vinegar to clean the feeders and bird bath?
Your precautions sound good to me, Marie. Just be aware that Lysol is toxic to cats. I assume your cats don’t have access to that storage room.
I research everything. I try to go to a veterinarian resource. Everytime something like this comes up, there are so many confusing statements made just like the DCM controversy with the grain cs grain free food for dogs. Even today there are still studies on this topic. I went to a veterinary site. I have it written down. I spoke to my vet about it and we both decided I needed to change my dog food because my dogs’ breed. I have seen notices many times m, by the FDA not to feed certain cats foods at this time. I worry about the feral cat that I feed. (I have tried to trap him, but he is too smart. He runs when I open the door and waits for me to leave. I worry he may attack a bird or eat a dead bird. What makes it worse is that humans can get it. A few cases have happened. I would rather hear about from a veterinarian resource than a journalist.
I am not a journalist but a scientist. Writing about cats is my hobby and passion. And yes, you are correct to worry about your feral but if you are feeding him then he is much less likely to try and eat dead birds. So keep it up!
Thanks for this information. I always know I can trust your advice when it comes to our cats.
I research everything, and checked with the two companies I buy food from located in New Zealand–Ziwi Peak & Feline Natural. Only feed our Sunny their canned food. Oh & only the Rabbit canned from Nature’s Logic. Checked with the New Zealand companies as I buy their Chicken/Venison & Chicken/Lamb mixtures. They also reassured me the canning process is heated enough to kill any of this virus. They have not had this issue at all. I’m happy you put this out because dry food (even when I fed what I thought was high quality dry food as a main meal(s)) is not a healthy choice. Our previous cat Toby had CFD. I believe it was due to the lack of moisture in his diet. Our Casa who passedat 1 week & 3 months shy of his 21st birthday started getting canned food as his main meals. We left some (not much)kibble out overnight. He started to get CFD probably the last 2 months of his life, and the month before he died & was losing some weight–his creatinine level showed 3.6 which is stage 3 of kidney disease. We had to have a Vet come to the home cuz Casa hated with a passion leaving the home. My husband had to hold him while the Vet tried to take blood. He didn’t get a full panel cuz our kitty was so strong & got away from my husband. Enough to know his kidneys were failing. I believe the kidney stuff was just attributed to old age.
Let’s be smart about taking care of our pets. What happened to common sense? Use your own gut feelings and keep yourself informed.
The Dr says they wouldn’t feed gently cooked food now. I’ve been feeding my cats Smalls which is gently cooked and Smalls says it is safe because they cook it to an internal temperature of 165 which kills the pathogens. Is it? Should I avoid feeding them it for the time being?
If it’s cooked to an internal temperature of 165, it’s safe based on what we know about the virus at this time.
FYI, I chose not to feed gently cooked for reasons not necessarily associated with bird flu. I concur with Ingrid K. The website states cooked to internal temperature of 165oF so safe. As we all should, you might want to watch website for any recalls but that is the case for all pet foods.
Do you know if this applies to freeze dried or air dried foods? I am the type of person who reads every ingredient in things. I prefer the least amount of ingredients. I know the first ingredients are the best, but the you may see corn, meat by products and fillers.
Air & especially freeze dried ARE raw. In fact the best way to preserve virus is what we call lyophilizing – basically freeze dried. So , for me, any raw is not on my kids menus. I seriously don’t recommend feeding raw right now but the choice is yours. Note- do not trying microwaving freeze dried – microwave requires water molecules to heat. You will explode the nuggets instead. If you have some, rehydrate & slowly heat to 165oF, cool & serve with the liquid to be safe. Same for freeze dried treats particularly poultry.
It probably depends on how each manufacturer processes their freeze dried or air dried foods and treats. In general, freeze drying does not kill H5N1. However, the freeze dried treats from New Zealand that I use as a meal topper for Allegra (Feline Naturals) are heated to above 165 degrees as part of their processing (according to Feline Naturals,) so between them being made in New Zealand, which hasn’t had a case of H5N1 yet, and being heated during processing, I’m comfortable using those. I recommend checking with each manufacturer to be safe.