Household Bills
Are you due a cat food refund?
Cat owners have been warned to stop feeding their pets certain Applaws, Pets at Home, and Sainsbury’s branded cat food made by Fold Hill Foods over fears it could be linked to a fatal disease.
According to the Food Standards Agency, since April 2021 there have been more than 130 cases of feline pancytopenia, an illness that can often be fatal in cats. Pancytopenia is a very rare condition where the number of blood cells (red, white and platelets) rapidly decrease, causing serious illness.
The product recall is due to a potential link to an increased incidence of feline pancytopenia. There’s no definitive evidence to confirm a link between the cat food and illness, but a recall has been issued as a precaution while an investigation takes place. Pet owners affected by the precautionary recall can get a full refund from retailers.
The full list of recalled products is on Fold Hill Foods’ website. For Applaws products only any packs with a best before date of December 2022 to best before date of June 2023 and a site reference code of GB218E5009 are affected.
How to get a refund
If you have bought any of the affected products you should stop feeding them to your cat. You can return the food to the retailer you purchased it from for a full refund.
If you have bought an AVA product contact www.petsathome.com and fill out the contact form on the help page or live chat.
If you have bought an Applaws product contact www.applaws.com/uk/contact-us.
If you have bought a Sainsbury’s product contact www.sainsburys.co.uk/help or their customer careline on 0800 636262.
Ben Mankertz, general manager for Fold Hill Foods, said: “We are alarmed and deeply saddened to learn of reports from the Food & Veterinary Authorities of some health issues in cats. As cat owners ourselves, we fully understand how upsetting and stressful this situation is for families and although diet has not been confirmed as the cause, we would prefer to act now to ensure the absolute safety of cats.
“As one of the leading pet food manufacturers in the UK, ensuring your pet’s safety is our priority and therefore we have chosen to recall the ranges of cat food that we manufacture for the brands who have been identified. We feel this is the safest course of action until an exact cause of the issue has been found.”
