Dear RAWR Community,
We know many of you have seen the FDA’s recent notice about RAWR Chicken Eats, and we want to speak to you candidly. First, we want to say how deeply saddened we are by the illness and loss of any cat in our wider community. We do not want this piece to go unnoticed.
If you know us you know that transparency and integrity are paramount to who we are. We pride ourselves on producing the best complete raw food for your felines. We handled outreach from the FDA in the same manner. Unfortunately, FDA waited weeks before providing us with any real information that would help guide us to understanding their investigations. When we finally did receive test results, those results were not tied to specific lot codes. Our reasonable questions regarding the cat, the lot codes, testing methods, and chain of custody have gone unanswered. Instead, FDA declined to provide the information directly and advised us that the only way to obtain these vital records was through FOIA (Freedom of Information Act requests)—a slow process that can take weeks, months or even years.
FDA states that their notice was issued for the safety of the public. But if protecting the public were truly the priority, why was critical information delayed for weeks, provided in fragments, and not shared with us until after FDA had already posted a public warning? This approach undermines the very goal of public safety by creating confusion and blame instead of clarity.
Because of this, we did not bring this to your attention sooner; we ourselves have only been receiving snippets of information in an extremely slow and piecemeal fashion. In fact, as I was preparing this alert to you, FDA notified us that they had already posted their public notice - despite us still waiting for our requested information to be provided.
Redirecting blame onto a single small manufacturer does not bring us closer to understanding avian flu, nor does it help prevent future issues in the food supply chain. This is an ongoing battle that raw food companies face. Investigations into the death of cats from Avain Flu seems to only occur when that cat is on a raw food diet.
To date FDA has only two requirements regarding H5N1 in raw pet food: 1. Use only USDA- inspected and passed meat and 2. Include H5N1 in the company’s Food Safety Plan. We are in full compliance with both requirements. RAWR has not adulterated any food. H5N1 is a naturally occurring virus found in wild and domestic birds. If it is present, it exists in the entire poultry supply chain, as we use only USDA human-grade, inspected, and passed ingredients. If FDA finds this to be an issue then it should be addressed at the USDA level, and not made to be a problem created by raw food companies.
Despite the ongoing struggle we are facing to find clarity in this murky situation we want to make sure to share the full context so you can make the best decisions for your cats. The FDA’s notice mentions two lots of our food (Lot CCS 25 077, Sell By 9/18/26, and Lot CCS 25 093, Sell By 10/03/26). Sample Lot CCS 25 093, Sell By 10/03/26 was the lot code in question and the only test done on this was from an open household bag that had been opened prior to July 13th. Testing a product 6 weeks after it has been opened makes it impossible to know whether those results reflect the product as made, or contamination from the home environment. Other testing was performed on a different lot Lot CCS 25 077, Sell By 9/18/26 produced a month earlier with entirely separate poultry sources, which does not prove a direct connection to the complaint nor have any other customer complaints been filed. At no time was RAWR made aware of any issue with either lot code by any customers, stores or distributors.
Another piece that is concerning and worth noting is that the initial test results we received, despite not being linked to any specific lot code showed non-H5N1 Influenza A. Only later, after retesting one of those samples did FDA report H5N1. This inconsistency underscores the need for full transparency about testing methods, chain of custody, and laboratory practices.
In regards to the cat in question no necropsy was performed. There is still no definitive medical determination of the cat’s cause of death. This is extremely upsetting and again if public safety is the goal don’t we want to be assured as to what the responsible cause was?
Out of an abundance of caution, we proactively removed the lots in question (CCS 25 077 and CCS 25 093) from circulation weeks ago. This decision was made early on, long before FDA’s public posting, because your trust and your cats’ wellbeing are our priority.
We understand that some of you may feel uneasy after seeing FDA’s notice. If you have a bag from Lot CCS 25 077 or Lot CCS 25 093 and would prefer not to feed it raw, please know that simply cooking the food to an internal temperature of 165°F will neutralize any potential virus. If you’d rather not use the product at all, you are welcome to return it for a full refund or exchange.
We know this situation may be concerning, and we are committed to keeping you informed every step of the way. We will continue working with independent experts to review FDA’s data, and we’ll share updates as soon as new information becomes available.
Our mission has always been to provide cats with safe, biologically appropriate, USDA- inspected food. That has not changed. Thank you for your trust and for being part of the RAWR community.
Respectfully,
Sabrina Simmons
Founder, RAWR