HIGHLANDS RANCH, Colo. — According to the Colorado Department of Agriculture (CDA), bird flu has been detected in 11 domestic cats. Only one survived.
His name is Leonardo DiCaprio, a 5-year-old Sphynx cat who lives in Highlands Ranch. He goes by Leo for short.
Camille, JJ, and Steve Werfelmann adopted Leo near the end of 2020. The family said he acts more like a dog than a cat.
"He still does cat stuff, like, he'll knock things off the counter and everything, but he's just always wanting to be around people," Steve said.
Leo is considered somewhat of a star in the household, with a social media account dedicated to the hairless cat. The family noticed quickly when something didn't seem quite right near the end of January.
"I had come home from college just for a little bit, and I put him in a new sweater, and he was acting really weird about the new sweater," Camille said. "I was like, 'Mom, I don't know, like, something seems a little off. I don't know why he's acting like this. He usually doesn't act like this for sweaters.'"
"I just noticed that he was really lethargic, really hot. He had a fever. When I was at work, I had my parents come over and check on him throughout the day because I was really worried about him," JJ said. "Finally decided that we need to take him to the vet, and then we took him to the vet, and they ran a bunch of tests."
Leo was sent home from his first visit to the veterinarian after receiving subcutaneous fluids. The Werfelmanns said his health did not improve once back at home, so they brought him to the veterinarian a second time.
"He was hardly responsive when we took him in the second time. He stayed there for two nights," JJ said.
"They put him on put him on IV hydration, which I think is one thing that saved him," said Steve.
The family believes the answer truly came when they were asked about what Leo had been eating.
"He ate the raw chicken Savage Pet food. And they ran a test, immediately sent it off to CSU, and that's how we found out that he had bird flu," JJ told Denver7. "Cats were dying, so we were worried that he was going to die."
"At first, I didn't really know much about bird bird flu, and so I kind of only thought it was in birds or in eggs. I had no idea could spread to house cats," Camille said.
Highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI H5N1) has impacted both indoor and outdoor cats in Colorado, according to CDA. The state reports cats are "highly susceptible" to bird flu, and most cases result in death.
According to CDA, domestic animals can be infected with bird flu if they "eat or are exposed to sick or dead birds infected with avian flu viruses, or an environment contaminated with feces of infected birds." CDA reports that cases of bird flu in Colorado cats are connected to both raw pet food and raw poultry consumption.
The Werfelmann family provided Denver7 with copies of the preliminary and final report related to Leo from Colorado State University (CSU) Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratories.
The preliminary report states that the influenza A virus — a subtype of H5N1 — was detected in all food samples tested by the National Veterinary Service Laboratory from seven different bags.
The final report from CSU states that samples from Leo are positive for H5 influenza A. The case information continues to state that "this is an emerging virus and there have been detections of this virus across the US in birds and mammals, including recent detections in domestic cats."
Denver7 reached out to Savage Pet, also known as Savage Cat Food, for a statement on Leo's case. In a text message response, a spokesperson directed us to an online statement, which said the company learned of one cat in Colorado who contracted H5N1 and recovered. That sparked the testing of Savage Cat Food by CSU, which sent off the "non-negative" results to the National Veterinary Services Laboratory in Iowa for "virus isolation testing."
The product was removed from the market while the final test results were pending. Retailers were informed on Feb. 17 about the issue.
The statement continues to state that on March 6, testing results confirmed the virus to be negative. Just a few days later on March 13, Savage Pet learned of another case in New York of a kitten who contracted bird flu, and more testing is ongoing.
"To ensure maximum safety we are modifying our market withdrawal to a recall," the online update reads.
Savage Pet claims all of their poultry ingredients are inspected by the USDA and passed for human consumption. The company states that it is the responsibility of the USDA to keep "H5N1 out of the supply chain by testing flocks and culling any flock with a bird that tests positive."
According to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Savage Pet recalled their Savage Cat Food Chicken from a certain batch on March 15 because of "possible bird flu health risk." The boxes in question were distributed to retailers in Arizona, California, Colorado, Washington, D.C., Delaware, Kansas, Maryland, Nebraska, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Ohio, Pennslyvania, Utah, West Virginia, and Wyoming.
"I felt some anger when I found out that it was from the food," Camille said.
Leo survived his case of bird flu, which the Werfelmann family attributes to his quick care.
"I would say, take your animal to the vet as early as possible if you think something's wrong, and if there's a possibility it could be bird flu because survival is not easy for these guys," said Steve.
Leo is now off his raw food diet.
"He's eating cooked food," Camille said. "He loves it almost more than he loved his raw food. Like, he's so excited."
The Werfelmanns did not contract bird flu as a result of Leo's case.
The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) does not recommend feeding raw poultry products to cats. Those with CDPHE do recommend "extra precautions" when handling raw pet food or raw poultry, like "thoroughly washing hands and disinfecting surfaces."
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