All of us here at Healthy Pets Northwest want to share our condolences to the cat owners who have recently lost their pets to Avian Bird Flu (H5N1 virus). Losing a loved one is always hard and our hearts go out to the pet families.
We also want to take time to share with you what steps HPNW has taken and what we have learned about the reported outbreaks. At this time, the Oregon Department of Agriculture (ODA) has implicated two raw foods as potential transmission points, but has failed to provide sufficient evidence to back up its public statements. Let’s review the information starting with Wild Coast Pet Foods.
Wild Coast Pet Foods
On February 17, Wild Coast Pet Foods issued a “Stop Sale” notice on lot numbers #22660 and #22664 with Best Buy dates of 12/2025 of 24oz Chicken Feline Formula raw pet food. (See the notice here: https://wildcoastpets.com/wild-coast-safety-steps-for-h5n1/) In response, HPNW has contacted all of our customers who purchased Wild Coast Chicken Formula, in 16oz or 24oz sizes, and offered to replace or refund any of the affected products. Customers have responded and we have since replaced their product. If for some reason you did not receive our notification, please return any affected product for replacement or refund to either HPNW store.
Was the raw food the source of the H5N1 infection?
While the ODA has made public statements to the effect: “Tests conducted by the Oregon Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory (ODVL) at Oregon State University and the National Veterinary Services Laboratories (NVSL) at the U.S. Department of Agriculture confirmed the presence of HPAI in both cats and the food samples.” (1) We have not seen the actual results of the food sample tests at the time of this writing.
Tests were also conducted by the Washington State Department of Agriculture (WSDA). While their public statements blamed the raw pet food, their test results so far do not back them up.(1)
According to a statement released by Wild Coast Pet Foods with information from WSDA, “Open containers from the household were tested and came back as non-negative and negative, none of the results came back positive.” In addition to the open container, 12 sealed containers purchased at retail stores were tested. The results showed one non-negative from a different batch (Lot #22664) with the rest being negative.(1)
So what does non-negative mean?
Truth About Pet Food provides this definition from Google: “A ‘non-negative’ lab result means that a test did not come back completely negative, it is not a definitive positive result and requires further analysis in a laboratory setting.”
In her blog on Northpoint Pets & Company, Nicole R. Cammack points out a flaw in current testing methods. “Moreover, the extreme sensitivity of genomic testing – capable of detecting as few as 10 copies of genetic material – raises questions about the clinical significance of positive results. Are we finding concerning levels of active virus, or merely traces of degraded viral material?” (2)
Likewise, in our estimation, the extreme sensitivity may be even more pronounced with non-negative results. We can’t help but feel that the non-negative terminology biases us (whether intentional or not) to believe the results are positive, when that is not the case. Imagine what you would think if your oncologist said your cancer biopsy result was non-negative.
Manufacturer actions and suggestions
Moving forward, Wild Coast Pet Foods, and other quality raw food manufacturers, have instituted testing procedures to confirm the absence of H5N1 virus in their foods. In a statement dated February 14, Wild Coast emphasized that all poultry it sources is “USDA-inspected, passed, and human-grade.” Wild Coast also reports that food safety professionals feel the USDA has HPAI (avian bird flu) under control within the human food chain.(1)
If you want to feed a whole-food diet to your cat, but are concerned about raw, we have several suggestions. Switching to a lightly cooked formula is always a great option. If you want to stay with Wild Coast, the company suggests that their Boneless Free Range Chicken, Ranch Raised Turkey, and Pasture Raised Beef can be cooked to a temperature of 165 degrees to kill any potential pathogens. We do not recommend cooking raw formulas containing bone as bone fragments can become brittle and sharp, which can cause injury in the digestive tract.
Northwest Naturals
While we do not carry Northwest Naturals Raw Diets in our freezers at HPNW, we do provide them to customers on a “special order” basis. The first thing we want to do on behalf of Northwest Naturals is notify you that the ODA’s recall has been recalled. According to a letter on the Northwest Naturals Web Site:
“The FDA’s audit did not contain any findings related to H5N1 or Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI), and the FDA did not identify the source of the alleged contamination found in the opened bag of our product. Additionally, our product was never included in the FDA’s list of Recalls & Withdrawals, which can be found at https://www.fda.gov/animal-veterinary/safety-health/recalls-withdrawals. Upon the completion of FDA’s audit, we updated the status of our voluntary recall with ODA to ‘closed’ and the recall has since been terminated.”
See the Company’s full statement here: https://www.nw-naturals.net/recall-faqs/
Before leaving this topic, we do want to reiterate several points about how poorly the ODA handled the situation.
First, while the ODA forced a recall on the product, they also admitted to Truth About Pet Food that only the open package of Northwest Naturals 2lb Feline Turkey Recipe from the customer’s home tested positive. Additional testing on other unopened packages all tested negative.(3)
Second, while the ODA contended publicly that the affected cat was strictly an indoor cat, that was not the case. A public records request published in Truth About Pet Food shows clearly that ODA knew the cat went outdoors on a leash and had possible exposure to waterfowl. Waterfowl are reported to be one of the leading sources of bird flu infection.(3)
Finally, Northwest Naturals poultry formulas undergo High-Pressure Processing (HPP), a step designed to eliminate pathogens. Research has shown that “HPAI titers as detected in chicken meat and laid eggs are efficiently inactivated by nonthermal high-pressure treatment.”(4)
Where We Stand
At HPNW, we do not overreact to sensational headlines and rumors. We look instead for facts and evidence, and use our 25 years of experience to make informed decisions. When conditions warrant, we are not afraid to make tough decisions, such as removing Natura products from our stores when the company was sold to Proctor & Gamble.
What we are reporting here is what we know so far. We are continuing to monitor the situation around bird flu (H5N1) and will adjust our recommendations if necessary as more evidence becomes available. In the meantime we recommend that you stay informed and look for facts and evidence to help you make decisions that affect your pet’s health.
References
(1) Truth About Pet Food: https://truthaboutpetfood.com/non-negative-avian-flu-lab-result-prompts-regulatory-warning/
(2) Northpoint Pets & Company: https://www.northpointpets.com/h5n1-in-cats-a-closer-look-at-what-we-know-and-dont-know/
(3) Truth About Pet Food: https://truthaboutpetfood.com/public-record-proves-dept-of-ags-deception-to-risk-of-raw-pet-food-and-avian-flu/
(4) Buckow, R., Bingham, J., Daglas, S., Lowther, S., Amos-Ritchie, R., & Middleton, D. (2017). High pressure inactivation of selected avian viral pathogens in chicken meat homogenate. Food Control, 73, 215-222. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodcont.2016.08.003.