California man says two of his cats died after drinking raw milk

two men cat Drink it alive and die milk remembered for bird flu Risk says she was trying to keep her beloved pet healthy, but her efforts tragically backfired.

“It's scary to think that I was the one who gave them the milk that actually killed them,” said Joseph Jarnell, 56, of San Bernardino.

Jarnell lost her 14-year-old tabby cat, Alexander, and her 4-year-old tuxedo cat, Tuxie, in late November.

The third cat, 4-year-old Big Boy, was hospitalized for a week until tests showed he had the H5N1 avian influenza virus.

The cats drank unpasteurized milk from a recalled lot by Law Farms in Fresno. California It started appearing on store shelves in December after health officials discovered the virus in milk for sale, he said. The animal's death was confirmed by state and county health officials. The cats were kept indoors to avoid access to potentially infected birds and were being fed conventional pet food rather than raw food, the owners said.

Jarnell said she had been drinking raw farm milk herself for several months because she had heard it was “better for immunity and healing” than pasteurized milk. He thought it might help Alexander, who was losing weight.

“I was trying to make him healthier and live longer,” Jarnell said.

Instead, Alexander died on Thanksgiving Day. A taxi followed two days later.

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Journell said Big Boy was hospitalized and treated with antiviral drugs. The veterinarian team collected a urine sample from the cat, which was tested positive for H5N1 by a laboratory run by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and Cornell University, records show.

Big Boy returned home blind and unable to use his hind legs, but is on the road to recovery, Journell said. The fourth cat, Cleo, did not drink milk and remained healthy.

Jarnell is seeking restitution from Law Farm owner Mark McAfee for more than $12,000 he spent treating the cat, said Seattle food safety attorney Ilana Corchia, who represents Jarnell. That's what it means.

In an interview, McAfee countered that the virus could make animals sick days after it is bottled and sold, citing preliminary research.

But influenza virus survival rates likely vary widely from milk lot to milk lot, said Richard Webby, an influenza expert at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. Experts at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention previously confirmed that cats developed neurological disease and died after drinking raw milk from infected cows.

“I think the poor cat is the best indicator!” Webby wrote in an email.

More than a dozen cats have died in California since early December after ingesting raw milk or raw pet food contaminated with bird flu, health officials said.

The outbreak follows a large outbreak of avian influenza virus in dairy cattle, affecting more than 900 dairy herds in 16 US states. About 80% of those herds are in California.

Federal and state health officials are warning people not to drink raw milk because it can transmit avian influenza and many other germs. Officials are also warning pet owners not to feed their animals unpasteurized milk or raw meat.

The FDA warned last month that “cats should not be fed farm-made products that have not been fully cooked or pasteurized to kill the virus.”

Jarnell said that after the cats became ill, she also became ill and sought treatment at Kaiser Permanente Hospital in Fontana, California. He said he was not tested for bird flu because medical staff did not test him despite known exposure to the virus. Tests are available to detect it.

Although Jarnell has recovered physically, she said she still suffers from the “emotional pain” of losing her pet. Despite the ordeal, he said he still believes raw milk has health benefits.

Nevertheless, he will not drink it immediately.

“That's not the case now,” he said. “And that won't be the case in the foreseeable future.”