Most pet food recalls are about bacteria. This one is the opposite problem. In 2026 the FDA warned that testing found eight lots of one cat food with extremely low or no thiamine, and thiamine is a vitamin cats cannot go without for long.
The reason it matters is the speed. A cat eating a thiamine deficient diet can go from slightly off its food to neurological signs in a matter of weeks, and most owners have never been told what those signs look like.
The Short Answer
Thiamine, or vitamin B1, is essential for cats and they cannot make enough of it themselves. Early deficiency looks like a poor appetite, drooling and vomiting. Later it becomes neurological: a head that droops toward the floor, wobbling, circling and seizures. Caught early it is usually reversible.
Why Cats Are Especially Vulnerable
Thiamine is water soluble, which means the body stores very little of it. Cats have to take it in from food every day, and they need more of it per kilogram than dogs do. There is no reserve to fall back on.
That is normally fine, because complete cat foods are formulated to include it. The vitamin is fragile though. It degrades with heat during processing, and it can be destroyed by certain preservatives or by thiaminase, an enzyme found in some raw fish. So deficiency turns up in three situations: a food that was made wrong, a home prepared diet that was never balanced properly, or a cat eating a lot of raw fish.
It is also worth saying what does not cause it. A cat on a reputable complete food, wet or dry, is not at risk. This is a manufacturing and formulation problem, not something you cause by choosing the wrong flavour.
What the 2026 Recalls Actually Said
Go Raw LLC began with a voluntary recall of a single lot of Quest Cat Food Chicken Recipe Freeze Dried Nuggets, a 10 oz bag with lot code C25288 and a best by date of 15 October 2027, because it may have contained low levels of thiamine.
It did not stop there. The company later expanded the recall across Quest products and enacted a stop sale on all of them, and expanded again to include a lot of Steve’s Real Food Freeze Dried Chicken Recipe. The FDA then issued its own advisory saying agency testing showed eight lots of Quest cat food contained extremely low or no thiamine, and that continued feeding could cause serious harm including death.
If any of that is in your cupboard, stop feeding it and check the current lot numbers on the FDA advisory rather than on any article, because recalls get expanded.
The Early Signs, Which Are Easy to Dismiss
This is the stage where it is still simple to fix, and also the stage most owners sail past because the signs look like a hundred ordinary things.
- A drop in appetite, or going off food entirely.
- Drooling or excess salivation.
- Vomiting.
- Weight loss over days or weeks.
Any one of those alone is unremarkable. A cat that has gone quiet and stopped eating is worth attention regardless of the cause, and the same goes for changes in how much it vocalises or where it chooses to sit. We have written about the signs a cat is stressed and what changes in meowing can mean, because behaviour shifts are often the first thing an owner notices about anything.
What makes this different is the combination, and the context. Poor appetite plus drooling plus a food that has been recalled is not a coincidence to wait out.
The Sign That Means Go Now
If deficiency continues, it moves to the nervous system, and one posture in particular is close to diagnostic.
Cervical ventroflexion is the term. In plain language, the cat’s neck bends downward and it cannot lift its head properly. The chin tucks toward the chest or the floor and stays there. A cat crouching low to the ground is normal. A cat that cannot raise its head to look at you is not.
Alongside it you may see:
- A wobbly, unsteady walk
- Circling
- Falling over
- Dilated pupils
- Seizures
Those are emergency signs. Not tomorrow, not the weekend clinic if it gets worse. That day.
The Good News About Treatment
Here is the part worth holding on to: treated promptly, thiamine deficiency is typically reversible. Vets give thiamine, usually by injection at first, alongside a corrected diet, and cats caught at the early stage often improve strikingly fast.
The qualifier is that word promptly. The longer the neurological signs go on, the more likely some damage sticks. That is the whole reason for learning the head droop: it is the difference between a cat that bounces back and one that does not.
What to Do Right Now
- Check what you are feeding. Look at the brand, the product and the lot code on the bag or tin, then compare with the FDA advisory and the recall notices.
- Stop feeding anything recalled immediately. Do not use up the bag.
- Keep the packaging. If your cat does become unwell, the lot code is what your vet and the FDA need.
- Call your vet if your cat is off its food, drooling or vomiting, and say which food it has been eating. That context changes how they prioritise you.
- Go straight in for any neurological sign, above all a head that will not lift.
- Report it. Owners can report pet food problems to the FDA through its Safety Reporting Portal, which is how patterns get spotted.
If you are switching foods as a result, do it gradually where you can, and keep an eye on litter tray habits during the change. A sudden diet swap is a common trigger for litter tray problems, and portion sizes often need adjusting too, which we cover in how much to feed a cat.
Common Questions
Can dry food cause thiamine deficiency? Any food can if it was made or stored badly, because heat degrades thiamine. Complete foods from established manufacturers are formulated with that loss allowed for.
Is raw feeding riskier? It can be, for two reasons. Some raw fish contains thiaminase, which destroys thiamine, and home prepared raw diets are easy to get wrong nutritionally. Both recalled products here were freeze dried raw style foods.
How quickly does deficiency develop? Faster than most owners expect. Because cats store so little, signs can appear within weeks of starting a deficient diet rather than months.
Can I just buy a B1 supplement? Do not treat this at home. If you suspect deficiency your cat needs a vet, because dosing and the route matter and the neurological signs need assessing properly.
Are dogs at risk too? Dogs can develop thiamine deficiency, but they need less of it relative to body weight and have a little more margin. These particular recalls were cat foods.
The Bottom Line
Thiamine deficiency is rare, entirely preventable and genuinely dangerous when it happens. The practical action is small: know what is in your cupboard, check the lot codes against the FDA notices, and learn one posture. A cat that cannot lift its head needs a vet today.
For the underlying science, the review on the role of thiamine and effects of deficiency in dogs and cats is a clear read.
This article is general information for cat owners, not veterinary advice. If you think your cat may be affected, contact your veterinarian straight away.