Milton Keynes pet owner wants to raise awareness of food recalls after both his kittens died within a month

Matthew Jackson from Milton Keynes, had to go through the 'traumatic' event of putting down his two kittens in just one month.

Both were less than a year old when their condition dipped dramatically and they unfortunately passed.

Before dying the two kitten's Matthew looks after with his partner Daniel, were diagnosed with feline pancytopenia. The disease is considered very rare and causes the number of blood cells to rapidly decrease, in both cases the kitten's condition worsened severely and they both passed quickly.

Matthew described what the kitten's went through to the MK Citizen: "It was quite traumatic, within a day the kitten went from being full of life to being put down.

"There was severe bruising which we could see, a lot of bleeding. Bleeding from the ears. With the second cat we went through the same process. The kitten was fine the night before and then that next day we put her down. You couldn't even blink.They were both under a year old."

The Food Standards Agency (FSA) released a recall on several cat food products on June 17 due to safety concerns. The latest update from the Royal Veterinary College (RVC) confirms 394 have been treated for pancytopenia, their findings have the current mortality rate at 67%.

The FSA had the following update on its site: "Fold Hill Foods is taking the precautionary action of recalling several hypoallergenic cat food products because of safety concerns.

"This product recall information notice has been updated to include all best before dates for Applaws products with the site code GB218E5009. This is not due to the identification of further safety concerns, but is a voluntary action by the manufacturer to make things easier for consumers to understand which products have been affected."

Matthew says the only food he gave to his two kittens, Willow and Wrinkle, was Applaws cat food, he was advised that the disease couldn't be passed on. As you will see from the full list of foods on the Food Standards Agency recall, published at the bottom of the article a series of Applaws products have been recalled.

An Applaws spokesperson said: "It's an understatement to say we’re heartbroken that there’s even a suggestion that some of our dry cat food may be involved in this problem.

"This is the first time in 15 years bringing pet food to consumers that we’ve ever had to recall a product in the UK. We pride ourselves on the quality of ingredients in our pet food, the care we take to find the best manufacturers and the auditing and monitoring of every aspect of production.

"We’re working flat out with the FSA and RVC to find out precisely what happened and we’re really sorry for the distress cat owners are feeling.

We’re committed to getting to the bottom of this as quickly as we can."

At the time of writing no conclusions have been made in the FSA's investigation. An FSA spokesperson said: "There is no definitive evidence to confirm a link at this stage", between Applaws and the outbreak.

Another concern Matthew raised was that he wasn't sure enough people were aware of this recall. He advised that people like his Nan who aren't on social media might have missed Applaws statement's and updates regarding already sold products.

Matthew's worries regarded how much of the company's updates have been on Twitter, and many older pet owners might have missed the news. The Applaws spokesperson did counter stating as well as local media coverage, the outbreak was covered on ITV News and This Morning. The spokesperson also said that contact has been made with a number of owners who may be affected by the recall.

The following food was recalled following the rise in cat deaths:

-Applaws cat dry chicken - 400g, 2kg and 7.5kg - GB218E5009 - all date codes

-Applaws cat dry chicken and salmon - 400g, 2kg and 7.5kg - GB218E5009 - all date codes

-AVA adult mature chicken - 7+ 2kg and 4kg - all batch codes - all date codes

-AVA senior chicken 12+ - 2kg - All batch codes - all date codes

-AVA sensitive skin and stomach - 1.5kg - all batch codes - all date codes

-AVA weight management - 1.5kg - all batch codes - all date codes

-AVA hairball - 1.5kg - all batch codes - all date codes

-AVA oral care - 1.5kg - all batch codes - all date codes

-AVA British shorthair - 1.5kg - all batch codes - all date codes

-AVA Persian - 1.5kg - all batch codes - all date codes

-AVA maine coon - 1.5kg - all batch codes - all date codes

-by Sainsbury’s hypoallergenic recipe complete dry cat food with Salmon 1+ Years - 800g - all batch codes - all date codes

-Applaws kitten dry chicken - 400g + 2kg + 7.5kg - GB218E5009 - all date codes

-by Sainsbury’s hypoallergenic recipe complete dry cat food with chicken 1+ Years - 800g - all batch codes - all date codes

-Applaws cat dry chicken and lamb - 400g + 2kg + 7.5kg - GB218E5009 - all date codes

-Applaws cat dry chicken and duck - 400g + 2kg + 7.5kg - GB218E5009 - all date codes

-Applaws cat dry ocean fish - 350g + 1.8kg + 6kg - GB218E5009 - all date codes

-Applaws cat dry senior chicken - 400g + 2kg + 7.5kg - GB218E5009 - all date codes

-AVA kitten chicken - 300g + 2kg - all batch codes - all date codes

-AVA adult chicken - 300g + 2kg + 4kg - all batch codes - all date codes

-AVA adult fish - 2kg - all batch codes - all date codes

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