Owner’s alert over cat food

A PET owner has told how his cat died after eating food that was subject to an urgent product recall over a possible link to an outbreak of a rare and fatal condition.

Andy Robinson, 55, regularly fed his pet Sainsbury’s Hypoallergenic dry cat food with salmon.

But a month ago the cat, named Electra, began to suffer blood in her urine and went rapidly downhill. The five-year-old feline was diagnosed with feline pancytopenia and died.

Sainsbury’s, Pets At Home and Applaws have recalled a number of pet food products amid fears it is linked to a “concerning” surge in pancytopenia. It is a rare bone marrow condition where the number of blood cells decrease, causing serious illness with symptoms such as fever.

Cat owners have been advised by the Food Standards Agency not to feed their pets the products manufactured by Fold Hill after 130 cases since April.

Retired musician Mr Robinson, of Leicestershire, said: “She was my best friend and I would have done anything to protect her. I want to make sure all cat owners are aware of the risks, so more don’t go through what I have.”

Sainsbury’s said: “We are not willing to take any risks where the safety of our products is concerned, so we are voluntarily recalling these products.”