H5N1 Bird Flu in Raw Cat Food: 2024–2025 Recalls and FDA Alerts
Four raw cat foods were recalled or flagged for H5N1 bird flu from December 2024 to September 2025. Lots, best-by dates, warning signs and what to do now.
Between December 2024 and September 2025, four raw cat foods sold in the US were recalled or flagged by regulators because of H5N1 bird flu. The first was announced on December 26, 2024, by the Oregon Department of Agriculture, and the most recent FDA notice is dated September 3, 2025 (FDA). If any of the lots below is still in your freezer, don’t feed it. If your cat ate raw food and now has a fever, eye discharge, trouble breathing or neurologic signs, call your vet today.
Status as of October 14, 2026: the FDA’s CVM Updates list shows no new H5N1 pet food notice after September 2025, and its Outbreaks and Advisories page has no H5N1 entry. The Savage Pet recall page states that recall is complete and terminated.
Timeline of H5N1 alerts in raw cat food
| Date | Product or action | Lots and dates to check |
|---|---|---|
| Dec 26, 2024 | Northwest Naturals 2 lb Feline Turkey Recipe, raw frozen. An indoor cat in Washington County, Oregon, died after eating it (ODA) | “Best if used by” 05/21/26 B10 and 06/23/2026 B1 |
| Jan 17, 2025 | FDA requires covered cat and dog food makers that use uncooked or unpasteurized poultry or cattle materials to add H5N1 to their food safety plans; reissued September 30, 2025 (FDA) | Not a product recall |
| Mar 1, 2025 | Wild Coast Raw Boneless Free Range Chicken Formula for cats, 16 oz and 24 oz, sold in Washington and Oregon (FDA) | Lots 22660, 22653, 22641, 22639, 22672, 22664; best buy 12/25 |
| Mar 15, 2025 | Savage Cat Food Chicken, large (84 oz) and small (21 oz) boxes, sold in 15 states and DC (FDA) | Lot/best by 11152026, on the box bottom and each packet |
| Sep 3, 2025 | RAWR Raw Cat Food Chicken Eats sliders, 2.5 lb bags, sold nationwide and online. A cat that ate lot CCS 25 093 was euthanized (FDA) | Lot CCS 25 077 (sell by 09/18/26) and CCS 25 093 (sell by 10/03/26) |
The RAWR notice was an FDA warning to owners based on test results. The other three were voluntary company recalls.
If you have one of these products
Most of these dates have passed, but frozen food can sit in a freezer for months. The Savage Cat Food lot is the one to look for first, because its best-by date of November 15, 2026, has not arrived yet.
- Match the lot code and date on the bag or box against the table. For RAWR, the lot code is printed in the center of the back of the bag (FDA).
- Stop feeding it, even if your cat seems fine. Don’t give it away or feed it to other animals.
- Get rid of it where pets and wildlife can’t reach it, or take it back to the store. Savage Pet and Northwest Naturals both offered refunds through the retailer (Savage Pet notice, ODA).
- Wash your hands and sanitize bowls and counters that touched the food. The FDA said in September 2025 that it was not aware of any human H5N1 case caught from contaminated pet food (FDA).
- Report a sick pet or a suspect product through the FDA’s pet food complaint page.
When to call a vet now
The FDA, citing the AVMA, lists these signs of H5N1 in cats and dogs (FDA):
- Fever, lethargy or low appetite
- Red or inflamed eyes, or discharge from the eyes or nose
- Difficulty breathing
- Neurologic signs: tremors, seizures, poor coordination or blindness
Treat trouble breathing, seizures, tremors or sudden blindness as an emergency and go to a clinic now. For the milder signs, call your vet the same day; the Savage Pet notice tells owners to contact a veterinarian immediately if any of them appear after feeding the product (FDA). Say on the phone that your cat eats raw food. Oregon’s state veterinarian notes that bird flu signs can look like other illnesses, so the exposure history matters (ODA). Low appetite has many other causes too; our guide on why a cat stops eating covers them.
Should you keep feeding raw?
The FDA says heat treatment inactivates H5N1 in meat, milk and egg products, and asks owners to weigh this risk before feeding uncooked meat (FDA). The same page advises keeping cats from hunting and eating wild birds. Oregon goes further and tells owners to avoid raw and freeze-dried meat diets and treats, raw cow’s milk and colostrum (ODA).
If you move your cat to a cooked commercial diet, compare the options in our guide to wet vs. dry food for cats and set portions with the cat food calculator. Pet food made with raw meat is also more likely than processed food to test positive for Salmonella (FDA), a risk our guide to foods that are unsafe for cats also covers. More alerts are collected under Recalls & Safety Alerts.
Sources
- Oregon Department of Agriculture: Northwest Naturals voluntary recall, December 26, 2024
- Oregon Department of Agriculture: HPAI in pets
- FDA: Cat and Dog Food Manufacturers Required to Consider H5N1 in Food Safety Plans
- FDA: Wild Coast Raw voluntary recall, March 1, 2025
- FDA: Savage Pet recall, March 15, 2025
- FDA: H5N1 in certain lots of RAWR Raw Cat Food Chicken Eats, September 3, 2025
- FDA: Ways to Reduce Risk of HPAI in Cats
- FDA: Get the Facts about Salmonella
- FDA: CVM Updates
- FDA: Outbreaks and Advisories
- FDA: How to Report a Pet Food Complaint
