Woman left ‘devastated’ after family pet died from fatal illness linked to urgently recalled cat food

PET owner Sarah Lawrence has been left "heartbroken" after her beloved cat died from an illness linked to batches of recalled pet food.

Three-year-old Sterling, a Main Coon crossbreed, suddenly fell ill from pancytopenia and died on Sunday (June 13) despite the efforts of top vets to save him.

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Pancytopenia is a very rare condition affecting blood cells which can make a cat seriously ill and in the worst case, it can be fatal.

There are fears the illness may be linked to a range of cat food causing an urgent precautionary recall of more than 20 products under the Applaws, AVA and Sainsbury's brands.

Sarah, 36, and her partner Rob, 37, from West Sussex, fed their beloved mog and his brother Shadow on AVA dry food from Pets at Home for years on the recommendation of vets.

Currently, there is no confirmed connection between the illness and the food, but vets have identified "an epidemiological link between a small number of specific cat foods and the cats affected".

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The Royal Veterinary College (RVC) says it's aware of 209 cases of the illness from those it has treated at its own hospitals and reports from other vets, but warns there could be more.

The authorities and pet food industry are investigating the potential link.

Now Sarah, an human resources director and town councillor, is warning other cat owners to look out for signs that their pets may be ill.

She told The Sun it was "beyond heartbreaking that we could have unknowingly been poisoning our babies with a food product that we trusted".

"Our boys were what's called bonded cats, they slept together groomed each other, they were so close and Shadow is just really suffering without his brother," she said.

The couple often called the feline pair their children as they struggled with fertility issues.

Sterling first displayed symptoms on June 9, becoming listless and lethargic, and the couple from Burgess Hill in West Sussex took him to their vet to get checked out immediately.

They were sent home with painkillers, antibiotics and other medication and the pet also underwent tests.

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But Sterling's health deteriorated and other symptoms appeared, including blood in faeces and urine. Further vet visits revealed more serious signs of the illness.

After being diagnosed with severe anaemia by their usual vet, the Lawrences rushed him to a specialist RVC hospital two hours away where he was given a blood transfusion.

But Sterling was too weak to recover and devastatingly they made the decision to say goodbye, just days after first falling ill.

Heartbroken, she posted a warning on Facebook to other cat owners about the potential link between the pet food and pancytopenia.

She has also shared an emotional video describing what happened, including the symptoms to watch out for in the hope it can save other pets.

Since then, she has received messages from scores of pet owners who also believe their cats have been affected.

Sarah told The Sun: "I think firstly my motivation was to just stop anyone having to go through this and now finally the information is out there, but now it's helping with the awareness of symptoms and getting treatment early."

"There's obviously a lot of grieving families contacting me wanting to share their stories. It's people losing two, three animals in some cases as well," she added.

The FSA pointed out that to date, no link has been established between the food and causing cats to be ill.

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But it is urging pet owners to stop using the feed until further tests have been carried out.

Sterling's brother Shadow was also fed the same food but has so far showed no signs of illness, although Sarah is taking him for regular blood tests.

The RVC says that anyone concerned about a pet that's eaten the food should get them checked out by their vet.

A spokesperson for the RVC said: "Based on the evidence to date, the one aspect of these cases that formed a consistent pattern was the diet of the affected individuals."

It added: :"While we have not definitively established diet as the cause of pancytopenia in these cats, we are continuing to liaise with the pet food industry and regulatory bodies to investigate the matter and identify the possible underlying causes of this extremely serious condition."

A Pets at Home spokesperson said the retailer immediately pulled the food from shelves after the FSA issued the recall notice.

They said: "We are deeply saddened to hear of the passing of Sarah’s cat Sterling.

"We have been working closely with the Food Standards Agency, Royal Veterinary College and wider industry to understand the rise in feline pancytopenia cases and possible causes.

"With many cat lovers and owners among our colleagues, our thoughts are with everyone affected."

The FSA said it "is taking this situation extremely seriously".

"No unsafe cat food has been identified to date, but investigations so far have shown an epidemiological link between a small number of specific cat foods and the cats affected, " a spokesperson said.

"Analytical testing of cat food remains ongoing to determine the source of the illness," they added.

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Fold Hill Foods, the company which makes the recalled cat foods, said it felt the voluntary recall was the safest course of action ";until an exact cause of the issue has been found”.

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Ben Mankertz, general manager, said: “As cat owners ourselves, we fully understand how upsetting and stressful this situation is for families and although diet has not been confirmed as the cause, we would prefer to act now to ensure the absolute safety of cats.

"As one of the leading pet food manufacturers in the UK, ensuring your pet’s safety is our priority and therefore we have chosen to recall the ranges of cat food that we manufacture for the brands who have been identified."