Over 300 cat owners whose pets mysteriously died have now been told no link has been found between that and the recent food recall.
The Food Standards Agency, Food Standards Scotland and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) previously warned owners not to give their pets dry food made by manufacturer Fold Hill Foods, as a precaution whilst an investigation was ongoing.
Now in a recent update, the FSA said that it had not established a "causative link" between the outbreak of the deadly disease, named Feline Pancytopenia and products made by the company.
As a result, they will now be able to restart production again.
Feline Pancytopenia is a very rare blood condition where the number of blood cells (red, white and platelets) rapidly decrease, causing serious illness which may lead to death.
The company supplied Applaws, AVA and Sainsbury’s hypoallergenic cat food which were recalled after safety concerns that mould, known as mycotoxins, were in their food and as a result it was thought that at the time they may have been responsible for deaths of thousands of pets.
The FSA added that during the investigation it had found “higher levels of mycotoxins” in certain samples of the recalled cat food, including varieties known as T2 and HT2 which are toxic to humans and animals.
However, they noted that the mould had also been found in some types of food and animal feed and are not necessarily a risk to cats.
The Royal Veterinary College alongside the agency will continue looking into possible causes of the outbreak including reasons unrelated to food though it has not ruled out the possibility that the cat food could still be responsible.
A spokesperson for Fold Hill Foods said: “Following extensive testing and independent expert analysis, the Food Standards Agency has not identified a causative link between pancytopenia and the cat food products recalled on a precautionary basis by Fold Hill Foods.
“We understand the investigation will continue to investigate other potential causes of the pancytopenia cases, including non-feed related causes, with a multi-agency approach. As no causative link has been identified, Fold Hill Foods is working with its local authority to resume production of the three recalled brands.
“As cat owners ourselves, we fully understand how upsetting and stressful this ongoing situation is and that an urgent need remains to establish why there has been an increase in cases of pancytopenia in the UK.”
For information on Feline Pancytopenia, visit here.
