Cats and raw milk: Just don't. Not right now.

Bird flu is spreading through dairies. Cat owners are finding out in a way none of us would ever want to.

[As you read this, remember cats are mammals…like humans. In one terrible way, these cats are a laboratory experiment showing us what can go wrong right now with humans in relationship to raw (unpasteurized) milk.]

See my other extensive post about why there can (and probably should) be a rational debate about potential advantages of raw milk. We do indeed need to look at European research in particular that shows advantages in preventing asthma and milk allergies. But those studies were from very different, much smaller dairies than ours, that are well-regulated and extensively tested.

Now is not that time, as bird flu spreads rapidly through dairy cattle. As of January 2025, bird flu has been found now in over 700 herds in 16 states—and only 28 states test for it, despite urging to do so. Meaning bird flu is in dairy herds in almost 60% of the states where we’ve tested. Those cows will be shedding bird flu virus in their milk.

Even this early, and with so little testing being done, over a dozen cats are known to have died from bird flu in raw milk in the past couple months. The problem is clear enough that product liability lawyers are on it already. If that’s not enough to convince you, this story should be: Joseph Journell lost his 14-year-old tabby, Alexander, and Tuxsie, a 4-year-old tuxedo cat, in late November. A third cat, 4-year-old Big Boy, was hospitalized for a week with the bird flu virus, and then returned home blind and without the use of his back legs, though he is recovering, Journell said.

Journell’s fourth cat, Cleo, didn’t drink the milk and remained healthy.

As long-time cat owners ourselves, this is what really hit us: “It’s horrible when you realize that you’re the one that actually gave them the milk that killed them,” said Journell.

We haven’t been able to find any cases yet of dogs dying or sickened from bird flu in raw milk, although raw food from infected cattle has been implicated in deaths of at least a dozen cats, and vets are warning both cat and dog owners about feeding raw food right now. Keep in mind most raw food is frozen, a hint that freezing along may not kill the virus.