Salmonella Infected Foods and Your Cat

Is Your Pet at Risk from the Latest Outbreak?

The recent outbreak of Salmonella infected tomatoes and other produce has once again raised fears about quality control and contamination in imported food. (The source is believed to be Mexican produce, but this remains unproven and Mexico insists its own inspections have turned up no salmonella contamination there.)

For cat owners, the scare raises unpleasant memories of the cat food poisonings that resulted from melamine contamination in imported Chinese wheat gluten. Given that, cat owners can be forgiven for wondering if the current rash of salmonella outbreaks could also affect the pet food supply and once again put their pets at risk.

To be clear, so far at least, there's no evidence that the latest salmonella outbreaks have anything to do with pet foods or that cats are in any danger. However it is possible for cats to become infected with salmonella. It's also possible - though apparently very hard - for them to pass the virus to humans.

The good news is that cats appear to be pretty good at fighting off salmonella. There's research to suggest that they have a degree of natural immunity, at least to the types of salmonella they're most commonly exposed to. There are many different types of salmonella virus, though, and cats may be more susceptible to some than others. When outdoor cats hunt and eat various prey animals, like mice or small birds, they consume the types of virus found in those species. Salmonella that gets into a cat's system this way is one of the major causes of "Song Bird Fever," in cats - a sudden-onset illness including vomiting and diarrhea that can occasionally be fatal.