The U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued an announcement this week that Rad Cat’s Raw Cat Food was recalled from pet stores across the country due to Listeria contamination.

Listeria is a serious bacterial infection that cats can track into and around a home through their coats that have been in contact with their feces. It can affect humans as well as other animals that may be in the same dwelling.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that nearly 1,600 people become infected with listeria each year and about 260 die because of it.

Listeria is especially harmful to women who are pregnant or may become pregnant. When a pregnant woman contracts listeriosis (the name for ingesting listeria illness), it can lead to complications with a baby such as premature labor, stillbirth, miscarriage and more.

The side effects of listeriosis for pregnant women include flu-like symptoms such as fever and muscle aches.

For those that are not pregnant, the side effects include fever, muscle aches, stiff neck, confusion, headaches, loss of balance and even convulsions.

Animals that have contracted listeria will experience similar symptoms. Be on the lookout for diarrhea, vomiting, fever, muscular or respiratory signs and anorexia.

The recalled Red Cat’s food are listed below. The recall includes products with lot numbers between 62763 and 63101 and Best-By dates from Oct. 19, 2018 through Dec. 3, 2019. All sizes of the above cat food products are affected by the recall.

The recalled cat food was shipped to distributors in the U.S. and Canada from May 10, 2017, to Aug. 9, 2018.

• Rad Cat’s Natural Pork Recipe
• Rad Cat’s Pasture-Raised Lamb Recipe
• Rad Cat’s Grass-Fed Beef Recipe
• Rad Cat’s Free-Range Turkey Recipe
• Rad Cat’s Free-Range Chicken Recipe
• Rad Cat’s Pasture-Raised Venison

Rad Cat’s Raw Cat food comes in a variety of packaging color. Please see the FDA recall notice for a visual diagram of each affected product.

In the recall notice the Red Cat’s stated, “The company has identified a source of potential contamination in its facility. The company has taken proactive measures to eradicate the source and it is confident that its corrective actions have eliminated the source of potential contamination related to this recall. This expanded recall will capture any additional lots that may have been affected.”