Does anyone know if cats can be infected with BSE?

[Kirsten]

Maybe you've heard that we're having the first cases of BSE (Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy, Mad Cow Disease) in Germany now.
Being vegetarian, I'm not so worried about myself, but about Luna. You'll never know what's in the cat food, and I'm sure that beef is in all of them. I've tried to contact Whiskas but their German email server seems to down, probably flooded by thousand of requests about this subject.
Anyone ever heard of cats getting BSE?

Kirsten

[carrie]

As you probably know, how can you of missed it, the UK has had the most terrible time with the BSE problem. Not least our Government!
In answer to your question I'm afraid the news is not good. Although largely overlooked in companion animals BSE is no respector of species.By August 1990 10 cases had been confirmed of Feline Spongiform Encaphalopathy in domestic cats. By 1996 Feline Spongiform Encaphalopathy had been described in 25 cases.One zoo in Scotland, possibly Edinburgh, has had one confirmed FSE case in a male lion.
Any pet food manufactured in the UK is allowed to contain "low risk material". Very little research has been done to see just how many cats are really affected but a warning to everyone - if neurological disease is suspected in your cat or dog insist the vet takes spongiform encaphalopathy into consideration.

[This message has been edited by carrie (edited December 05, 2000).]

[carrie]

O.K. I have spent a little time updating my knowledge on this subject and here is the latest.

So far in the UK there have been 87 confirmed cases of feline spongiform encephalopathy (sorry for the earlier mis-spelling) in domestic cats.
There has been one case in Norway and one in Liechtenstein.
The number of new cases has been falling since 1994.

[4 feline house]

Carrie (or anyone else in the know)-did all your research yield answers to these questions:

If our particular brand of food contains no beef, are our cats still at risk? Are American cats at risk at all?

[Kirsten]

Thank you for your research, Carrie, but you're right: These are really bad news!
Yes, I've heard a lot about the problems the UK had with BSE, and now many people over here see the same coming to Germany.
OMG, 87 FSE cases in domestic cats seems to be a lot to me!
What I'd really like to know is if there is any beef in the cat food - even when the can is labelled with fish or chicken. I remember I once read that the food isn't made 100% percent of the kind of meat that's on the label, so I think I can never be sure if there isn't beef in it.

Kirsten

[This message has been edited by Kirsten (edited December 05, 2000).]

[carrie]

The most likely source of infection was, indeed, commercially manufactured pet foods. In 1989 the pet food industry in the UK removed the dangerous tissues from cows voluntarily from pet food and in 1990 a statutory ban was put in place. Only one cat,an adopted stray, apparently born after the ban has developed the condition.
Most pet foods are labelled as chicken flavour or beef flavour. This has little to do with what sort of meat is in the food.
I would suggest that anyone worried should find out the regulations concerning pet food manufacturing in their own country. Or find a food that states the contents fully or a company that garuntees the quality.

[Troy]

It sounds as if the risks are low. Carrie said that there had been 87 cases in the UK over the past 10 years. I imagine that the feline population in the UK is in excess of 10million cats so the risks would literally be "1 in a million" chance, if that. I would suspect that the risks of other fatal illnesses oor conditions would be far greater? Certainly where it is common to let your cat outdoors, the risks of FELV/FIV would be MUCH higher (even if innoculated).