UPDATE: Bird Flu and Raw Dairy Milk . . . Weekly Pet Roundup

0:00 How are you guys? Hello, everybody. Yeah, it's really dark outside. We're actually getting snow right now. There's snowing right outside my door, my window. Yes, it's not sticking. It's definitely more than flurries, but it's not sticking. But yeah, in El Paso, TX, we're getting snow today. The Northeast El Paso area, I'm in the on the West side. The Northeast El Paso has a lot, actually. We live right by the mountains, so the mountains kind of block us a little bit from anywhere really. We we, we really don't get a lot of weather here other than sunshine, which is why my office is set up for some sunny days. Yeah, Oh my God, today. It's like I have an overhead light on. I have my.

0:45 Spring Light. My ring light. On Yeah. And it's just so dark outside. Yeah, it's we're getting a storm coming through as well and it's just barely started to rain. But the barometric pressure has already gotten. Kim is just. I can't with her already. My husband's supposed to be walking the dogs right now because I didn't get to walk them this morning. I usually walk them in the afternoon in the winter because it's chillier and I like the warmer part of the day to walk. But yeah, I mean, there's some. You're going to get snow then. I don't. Where you are, I think we are. I don't think we.

1:27 Dallas is supposed to get right. Dallas is supposed to get. No, I don't know. Yeah, Dallas is supposed to get snow. I know Atlanta's supposed to get snow. It's, I mean, a lot of places are supposed to be getting. I've seen snow in like Pennsylvania, Virginia, like that area. Yeah. I. LLPJ, OK. I'm excited. Yeah. Actually, I would like to get this over with because I've had so much anxiety over this because I gave you incorrect information on Monday. And I hate, I hate. I beat myself up more than anybody else ever could. Who was that?

2:12 That said, oh, Whispering Hills Homestead says it's been snowing for four days in Vermont. I've seen that too with magical nuts, Michelle. But OK, so here's here's what happened. I was wrong. I was wrong. And I, I, as much as I hate being wrong, the point is to get you the correct information. And so I always want to do that. And what happened, what had happened was I went down so many, so many rabbit holes for this bird flu thing that I actually, I, I went to the CD CS website and it says, and I quote.

2:53 Based on the limited research and information available, we do not know at this time if AB and influenza A viruses can be transmitted to people through consumption of raw milk and products such as cheese made from raw milk and infected cows. I ran with it and I was like, OK, Nope, it's not, it's not happening. Well, a friend reached out to me and said, Are you sure? Because I found the opposite. And so I had to go down the rabbit hole again. And here's the thing. Now, currently, even though that is still up on the CD CS website and I'm linking to it in a new blog post that I'm writing, that is still up on the website for the CDC. On other pages of the website for the CDC, it does say that they have one confirmed human infection with a person with exposure to dairy cows.

3:58 That's still a little. Like dairy cows or raw dairy? Milk, right? That's where I'm like, I don't know. However, there were roughly 30 cats on a Texas farm in the Panhandle that got sick that tested positive for H5 N one after drinking raw milk from cows that tested positive for H5 N 1. So the conclusion was I think 16 of those 30 cats did end up passing away and they passed away.

4:49 It took them apparently it took 60 days for veterinarians to conclude that they died from H5 N one from the raw milk from the cows. However, again and I won't be on the rabbit hole because the farm itself in Texas, the dairy farm, they are not. They have not released what farm. This is because I wanted to go and look and see what other animals were being raised on that farm. But what I did find is that many local Texas news outlets, I didn't find any national news outlets, but Texas news outlets were confirming that they found many wild dead birds on the prop same property that were tested positive for H5 N 1. So even though they are saying that these cats died from drinking infected raw milk from cows, I'm not personally. I just want to bring you the information. Personally I'm not convinced because they also had access to and possibly even haunted birds that were found dead on the property that worked that tested positive for the same virus. So that's where I'm at with it.

6:21 I'm just going to say that I was wrong because it does appear that cows infected with H5 N one do pass on the virus and the raw milk. However, the research in because right now it is actually spreading from cow to cow. So the this subtype of the influenza A virus seems to have mutated a little bit to be able to spread from cow to cow. And my question that I have not found anybody answering yet is we know that the the subtype that birds have is highly, highly, highly pathogenic for cats and mostly fatal for cats.

7:10 Is the subtype that now is being spread between cattle as infectious for cats? I don't know. Does that make sense? Am I making sense with my train of thought here? So according to a VMACDC, the media, like according to all of them, they are saying, yes, raw milk infected with H5 N 1 is contagious like you can, cats are cats and possibly humans are able to be infected. I just haven't found any conclusive evidence that that is true. I'm just saying that this is what they're telling us. So I think it's still like we're still going to have to stay on top of this and figure it out for ourselves, in my opinion. But those are the facts as I thought. OK, so you took a stand the other day where you are not going to change anything.

8:10 So does this information inspire you to change anything? No, I'm not convinced. Now my cats don't drink Dairy Milk, right? If my cats drank raw Dairy Milk, I might. Yes, I probably would be a little bit more concerned because of the fatality rate in cats. I would still be comfortable drinking the raw cow's milk. I don't think that I would give it to cats, though. That's where I'm, yeah, that's where I would. I'm not changing anything because I they don't get it and I think most cats don't. But on a farm, cats mind. So yeah, I probably would try to keep the cats away if unless you're confident.

8:54 I mean, again, we talked about sourcing on Monday and being confident in your sourcing. And if you own or run a farm or if you're purchasing directly from a local farmer and you're confident in their sourcing and you've talked to them about, you know, the steps they're taking, the testing that they're doing and you feel confident, by all means continue with what you're doing. If you don't feel confident with it, you don't even know where your milk is coming from, then no, I I don't think I would be confident in it. OK. As she said, chips raw milk. Yes, so I, yes, as I drink my raw milk, I'm, I'm still drinking raw milk. So on Monday we talked about most of what we talked about was with food was with poultry, was with raw poultry and with cats specifically.

9:56 I am still, I'm concerned like I, I don't believe with, I don't think there's a whole lot of conclusive evidence that commercial raw foods have caused any problems, even though there have been two recalls. The second recall, the first recall with Northwest Naturals, the Oregon Department of Agriculture did not do what they were supposed to you. I don't trust. That one, yeah, The second one being that it was like a mom and pop. It kind of, I mean probably a little bit bigger than that, but being sold in farmers markets in California. It's not a national brand. I don't know anything about that company. I don't know their packaging, their processing, their sourcing.

10:40 That may be, may be I don't know. And I bring that up because there was, there is a second report saying why do I have balloons on this? There's a second report out of LA County's that that is saying that raw milk is a contributing factor to four house cats in LA County who worked who tested positive for bird flu. Everything that I am finding so far, these are the same 4 cats in the household with the cat that got sick from the Monarch pet food recall. So I'm not sure how they're saying that it was from in one. In one area they're saying it was from the raw poultry and in the, and then the other report they're saying it's from the raw milk.

11:34 And from everything I can find, I, I believe they're talking about the same for cats. If I'm wrong about that, somebody please tell me that I have, I have searched and searched and searched and I think these are the same for cats. So I'm not sure how they're saying it's from both of these things. I don't know. So I'm just, I just want to give you the, the information that I actually have found and tell you that, you know, I, I very, I was wrong in what the experts are telling us. The experts are telling us that it is pathogenic in raw milk. I'm just and it's not sure.

12:17 It's going to change like all of this is going to change. This is this is not a new outbreak. But no. It's just what? Well, it's because there's more. Happened so I, I did not find this when I was going down the rabbit hole the past couple of weeks on this. But then I saw Doctor Judy Morgan this morning posted that a lab in Georgia performed gain of function research on H5 N one to make it more infectious and mallards. So I went and I found and that is there is a study that they were like, did this actually happen? And it appears to be true.

13:06 So the study came out in 2024. I don't, I don't know exactly when the gain of function research was happening, but there is a possibility that that that is why it is so much more infectious at this point. So yeah, there there is. And I put that in, I, I put that in a blog. So I'm doing two different blogs. I'm doing one just on raw poultry, raw pet food, and then I'm doing another one just on raw dairy because I feel like there's enough information to give them their own and resources to give them their own blogs.

13:48 So the one on raw pet food includes that link and I posted that one today and I am currently working on the one for the raw dairy drink milk to get you all of the sources on that one. So I was just beside myself and full of anxiety for having provided incorrect information and I needed to get the the correct information out. Oh. My God, I did not know that you were so flipped out or else we would have done this like Tuesday. I needed some time to really go through everything and make sure that I was giving the correct, what I feel is the correct information. Well, that's the problem with these situations is that there's a lot of panic surrounding them and people are forcing the CDC and this and that and the Department of Agriculture to come up with answers. And so they give hypotheses and then tomorrow it could be a different hypotheses.

14:42 So we have to stay informed. And obviously, we'll be following you, Jessica and Doctor Judy Morgan and just kind of keeping an eye. I think like we talked about Monday, the people who have to be really extra careful or anybody who's feeding raw anything to cats, that's really the like the the highest risk factor is for cats. We talked about the way that the virus works and how it affects cats more than it does dogs, and it proves fatal. And what did you say? Like 99%. It's I don't have a percentage on the cats everywhere I. Like 100 somewhere. But then you just mentioned that 16 out of the 20 died. So maybe, yeah, yeah.

15:26 So maybe not. It doesn't. But still pretty. High, it's very high. It's very like everywhere I look is just like mostly fatal, like high incidence of fatality, like they're not getting percentages. But I think that is also because it's so new and we don't have a lot of data to actually get saw a. 100% somewhere because I wrote a blog for one of my clients about this topic and I do believe it's was like up there toward 100% for cats, so that is. And that really is the reason why. Like if it weren't so highly fatal, I wouldn't have such crazy concerns for cats.

16:10 I don't. And and obviously, you know, we talked about, yes, it is possible for dogs to get it. It's just so much more rare that I'm just not at this moment in time. Like my anxiety level for cats is up here and my anxiety level for dogs is down here. So I'm just like, I'm sorry, I can't. And I mean. I this is also I said raw anything but also remember that outdoor cats are eating raw. Yes. Birds and stuff. So it's not just your fancy cats at home eating raw food. It's also your indoor outdoor cats, your outdoor cats. Well, if you have like an outdoor cat that mingles with your inside cats, that's. Yeah, I know there's all kinds of changes that are constantly happening.

16:58 And on Monday I did direct you guys to a all right, I told you about a video that Doctor Connor Brady did about where he went in a deep dive of the statistics from the last, well, 2020 to 2024 basically. Hey, BC how are you doing? I hope you're doing OK. I've been thinking about you lately. So with this actual statistics and showing that like the intervention that we did was all wrong, it it makes no sense for viral infections why we did it is up for you to decide. I have my own, my own personal beliefs that I don't necessarily need to share with you, but it's up for you to decide as to why we did it.

17:51 And hopefully we hopefully we won't let that happen again. So yeah, I, I would highly recommend and I did link Dr. Connor Brady's video in the blog post that I just published on the raw pet food portion of bird flu. So I just put that in my stories and there's a ton of links, ton of links in there for you to check out everything that I found. And I'm like I said, working on the raw dairy blog right now to get you all of it. I'm not a big blog writer anymore, but I feel like there were so many links to provide or sources for resources on all of this that I wanted to aggregate it all and that seemed to be the best. Seemed to be the best way.

18:41 That makes sense. Absolutely keep your cat safe. No raw dairy. For anybody who's worried that the raw dairy may not be super safe, be extra cautious. Just be extra cautious if you have a cat. It doesn't hurt to be extra cautious for a little while until we learn more. Yeah. And I think the IT is primarily for outdoor cats, cats hunting wild birds, especially migratory birds in environments with migratory birds and chicken and then. Chicken, if you have chickens and your chickens, you know, are in an outdoor coop, they can be infected just by the feces of the wild bird, the infected wild birds.

19:26 So cover those coops. Yeah. Keep your cats away from the coops. All that good stuff. Yeah, and if you find out that in your area, there's like, a lot happening as far as cases are increasing, then even if you have a cat that only goes outside every once in a while, maybe bring them inside, like, keep them inside for the week and see how that plays out. Because, you know, we don't want our beautiful household kitties exposed to something just like in a 20 minute romp outside. I mean, the weather is not good for cats right now. It's still snowing in El Paso. It is so. Gross. I'm not going to be taking him out anytime soon. He doesn't even want to be in the patio so. Aw, poor guy, it's too.

20:07 Cold for him. Like curled up, cuddled up, all safe and warm and cozy. That's where I want to be. That's where I want to be too. That's where I want to be. So guys, thank you for joining us. It was just a quick update. Just obviously Jessica needed to get this off her chest. She was so wrong, so wrong, so wrong. And we say in in Catholic Church, in Catholic Mass, we say by my doing, my doing, my doing, that's what you're reminding me of. You're reminding me of like a confessional in here. It is like, I'm so sorry. I have, dear Father, I have saved. I'm Catholic. So this is all bringing me back to like my Catholic education. But you are fine, Jessica. Thank you for deep diving for us. Thank you for taking this so seriously and for, you know, just making sure that you keep us all updated. I know this is your passion and you're so knowledgeable, so we never hold it against you if you report something that is incorrect.

21:04 Well, and technically you were not incorrect. One of your sources was so. Yeah, yeah, well, like, I mean, the CDC needs to get their act together and like on one web page it says one thing, on one one web page it says something totally different. But the hey, you know what? I just, I should have, I should have dug deep. 0 surprises there that the. Government would. Not have it's all its ducks in a row. I guess pudding intended. Yeah. So yeah, well, thank you guys and if you're around in an hour and a half, I'm going live for my episode of my podcast covered in pet hair. I'm transitioning to an all live. Yes, Jessica is awesome and full of knowledge. Yes, she is.

21:53 I'm going to transition to a live format for my show. It's a boozy show for pet lovers. I'm interviewing 2 PR experts in the pet industry. We're going to talk about pet trends in 2025. What's hot, what's not that kind of stuff. So I'm going to go get a drink soon because not only do I want to be cuddled up, I want to have some like a hot toddy today. So join me at 3:00 Mountain Standard Time for my show with Mary Tan and Alexander Ricard from Whisker Media, the Whisker Report and Saving lives. They're they're involved in those three organizations. Awesome, that's so sweet of you BC by the way, thank you so much.

22:35 I appreciate you and I hope you're doing well you and Kat. And I'm just so appreciative that you guys didn't kill me After Monday's episode. I'll repost. I took down, I'm going to repost my graphics. I'm still trying to figure out. I want to word it because I just don't believe it, but it is what it is. Like I want to get you the best information about my bias, and I have so much bias. And you could say what they say, what I say, yeah. And you can let your reader choose what they want to do. Yes, yes, All right, y'all have a great weekend coming up. Thank.

23:17 You guys, we'll see you on Monday and if you have any topics you want us to cover Monday, let us know. Hopefully it won't be the same topic. Hopefully there won't be much going on to update you. I know that all. Right. Bye, guys.