Cat owners are being asked to check whether the food they are feeding their pets is on the recall list following a spate of deaths liked to a rare illness.
Pancytopenia, which vets say can be linked to a cat’s diet, has been sweeping the country. ITV News reports that hundreds of cats have died from the illness and cases are continuing to rise.
The Royal Veterinary College first raised concerns in May after seeing a spike in cases of pancytopenia over a four-week period.
“The cats are severely unwell, have spontaneous bleeding and require often multiple transfusion for stabilisation prior to any investigation being possible,” said Dr Barbara Glanemann, Senior Lecturer in Small Animal Medicine and Co-head of the Small Animal Internal Medicine Service.
Statistics released on Thursday 1 July state that 443 cats have been diagnosed with the illness and 284 have died. The Royal Veterinary College states that only one case per year is usually typical.
A number of cat foods are being recalled as a precaution while investigations take place. Speaking to ITV News, the Food Standards Agency says that it is looking at possible causes, including cat food contamination.
Cat Food Recall List
The full list of cat food recalled is as follows:
Applaws Cat Dry chicken – 400g, 2kg and 7.5kg packsBatch Code: GB218E5009All BBE dates
Applaws Cat Dry Chicken & Salmon – 400g, 2kg and 7.5kg packsBatch code: GB218E5009All BBE dates
Applaws Kitten Dry Chicken – 400g, 2kg and 7.5kgBatch code: GB218E5009All BBE dates
Applaws Cat Dry Chicken & Lamb – 400g, 2kg and 7.5kgBatch code: GB218E5009All BBE dates
Applaws Cat Dry Chicken & Duck – 400g, 2kg and 7.5kgBatch code: GB218E5009All BBE dates
Applaws Cat Dry Ocean Fish – 350g, 1.8kg and 6kgBatch code: GB218E5009All BBE dates
Applaws Cat Dry Senior Chicken – 400g, 2kg and 7.5kgBatch code: GB218E5009All BBE dates
AVA Adult Mature Chicken 7+ – 2kg and 4kg packsAll batch codesAll BBE dates
AVA Adult Chicken – 300g, 2kg and 4kg packsAll batch codesAll BBE dates
AVA Adult Fish – 2kg packsAll batch codesAll BBE dates
AVA Kitten Chicken – 300g and 2kg packsAll batch codesAll BBE dates
AVA Senior Chicken 12+ – 2kg packsAll batch codesAll BBE dates
AVA Sensitive Skin & Stomach – 1.5kg packsAll batch codesAll BBE dates
AVA Weight Management – 1.5kg packsAll batch codesAll BBE dates
AVA Hairball – 1.5kg packsAll batch codesAll BBE dates
AVA Oral Care – 1.5kg packsAll batch codesAll BBE dates
AVA British Shorthair – 1.5kg packsAll batch codesAll BBE dates
AVA Persian – 1.5kg packsAll batch codesAll BBE dates
AVA Maine Coon – 1.5kg packsAll batch codesAll BBE dates
by Sainsbury’s Hypoallergenic Recipe complete dry cat food with Salmon 1+ Years – 800g packsAll batch codesAll BBE dates
by Sainsbury’s Hypoallergenic Recipe complete dry cat food with Chicken 1+ Years – 800g packsAll batch codesAll BBE dates