Pancytopenia in Cats

[nezumi]

https://www.food.gov.uk/news-alerts/new ... ncytopenia

There is currently a big outbreak going on of pancytopenia (sudden loss of blood cells) in cats that appears to be caused by specific types of cat food. It has been traced back to cat foods produced by Fold Hill, seems to be mostly hypoallergenic foods and includes brands such as Applaws and Sainsburys.

Please check any cat food and if it has the factory code GB218E5009 do not feed it to your cat.

This has been a public service announcement on behalf of not wanting your shouty furry gremlins to die.

[Martin Y]

Gosh. Thanks for the warning, nezumi.

[JQH]

Seconded.

Was a bit alarmed as one of TAFKATH's cats has been suffering from unexplained mouth ulcers. Doesn't seem to be feline pancytopenia though.

Cat is recovering, though my wallet may take somewhat longer to recover.

[nezumi]

Seconded.

Was a bit alarmed as one of TAFKATH's cats has been suffering from unexplained mouth ulcers. Doesn't seem to be feline pancytopenia though.

Cat is recovering, though my wallet may take somewhat longer to recover.

I can imagine you're very relieved that it isn't pancytopenia, cos it's got something like a 70% death rate. I hope it is just ulcers (perhaps an infected tooth?) rather than anything at all more serious.

I'm lucky myself that I feed mine on a combo of wet and dry food - Purina and Whiskas which apparently have their own factories so aren't affected. I haven't been able to find any updates on the science, although it is pretty early for any conclusions I for one would love to know whether it's a poison in the food or it's carrying some sort of bacterial/viral disease, there's nothing yet to even say that it's definitely the food.

https://www.vettimes.co.uk/news/pancyto ... -175-cats/

This one is a really good explanation and has all the important info. I strongly suspect the figures are at least an order of magnitude higher than reported though, apparently not that many vets report to the RVC and there are anecdotally quite a few vets not taking it seriously at all.

From what I can gather, so far AVA and Applaws foods are under recall, as is Sainsburys and Wilko have voluntarily pulled the food they had manufactured there. Lidl's still keeping schtum. From the statements I've seen, Fold Hill seem to be about as devastated as everyone else about it but they're not legally allowed to publish the names of the companies they sell to.

[JQH]

From the statements I've seen, Fold Hill seem to be about as devastated as everyone else about it but they're not legally allowed to publish the names of the companies they sell to.

I wonder why that is?