Pet Food Recall - check the list it's serious

[eSDee]

In case people have not heard, there is a recall on a lot of cat and dog food. There are a lot of popular foods on the list, which could cause your animal problems. My sisters cat is experiencing kidney failure which the recall advises is the prime result of the tainted food. If you have pets see if yours in on the list:

BAD CAT FOOD
http://www.sdlocals.com/blogs/images/pets/recall/recall1.jpg

BAD DOG FOOD
http://www.sdlocals.com/blogs/images/pets/recall/recall2.jpg

This in the phone number they list to call:

http://www.sdlocals.com/blogs/images/pets/recall/phone.gif

My sisters cat has been eating IAMS. More information can be found here:http://www.menufoods.com/recall/

[Jenny]

Thanks for the info. Our cat food isn't on the list, thank goodness. Will contact my mom and check with her about her puppies. :(

[TofuNinja]

I hate this list. I have been dealing with crap from this list since I got word of recall from corp on sat. Atleast for now the calls have died down.

Don't get me wrong, this sucks and Menu Food will most likely face a huge lawsuit. But man, sooooo many calls fielded this past week.

And just so you know, this recall ONLY affects WET food, Mainly pouches and cans. Dry food and perscription food is not affected.

And no I don't work for menu foods ;)

[Sirrich3]

Thanks for the info...

[eSDee]

I hate this list. I have been dealing with crap from this list since I got word of recall from corp on sat. Atleast for now the calls have died down.

Don't get me wrong, this sucks and Menu Food will most likely face a huge lawsuit. But man, sooooo many calls fielded this past week.

And just so you know, this recall ONLY affects WET food, Mainly pouches and cans. Dry food and perscription food is not affected.

And no I don't work for menu foods ;)

Tofuninja you work for the company that is fielding these calls? Do you happen to have an email address that works as well? My sisters cat hasn't eaten in 3 days and we're not sure she's gonna make it.

[TofuNinja]

I work in the front office of a vet, we have been taking calls like crazy about these foods. The saddest thing is that when I heard about some of the symptoms of the food, mainly renal failure (kidneys) there was a patient that we had seen that our doctor couldn't figure out why the cat was having renal failure, and an interelist couldn't figure out why either. She had been feeding him Iams pouches. then everything clicked. he might not make it either

This sucks. The best thing to do is get that cat to a vet. They will most likely run CBC chem and Urinalysis. Too many pets eat these foods.

I wish menu foods and the FDA will work faster and find a way to help all these pets and pet parents.

[eSDee]

That's interesting Tofu thanks for sharing. Yeah my sister has had her cat in the vet the last 3 or 4 days. She's gotten IV's each day otherwise she'd have no nourishment. My sister has to fax the Iams pouches to the company tomorrow, as well as fax a copy of the serial number. The company already verified that the pouches she had were part of the tainted batch.

Hopefully she makes it and hopefully your friends cat makes it also.

[Markel]

This tainted pet food fiasco is a real mess - sad that so many people (and pets) are being affected. I'm thankful that we only buy dry food for our dog.

[seqiro]

Thankfully my dog eats a raw food diet and my cat gets human-grade Wellness canned cat food.

[zippyjuan]

They say it is due to rat poision found in the food.
http://my.earthlink.net/article/nat?guid=20070323/46035ed0_3421_1334520070323-138958440

Rat Poison Found in Tainted Pet Food
By MARK JOHNSON (Associated Press Writer)
From Associated Press
March 23, 2007 1:24 PM EDT
ALBANY, N.Y. - Tests turned up rat poison in the pet food suspected of causing kidney failure in dogs and cats across the country and killing at least 16, state officials and scientists announced Friday.

The toxin was identified as aminopterin, which is used to kill rats in some countries, state Agriculture Commissioner Patrick Hooker said. Aminopterin is not registered for killing rodents in the United States, though it is used as a cancer drug, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.

State officials did not say how they believe Aminopterin got into the now-recalled pet food, though they said no criminal investigations had been launched.

[eSDee]

My sisters cat had renal failure, and today she had to be put to sleep. First case in San Diego. Really sad.

[johnnymk]

Thank God my cat eats only dry food.

If you really examine what's in wet food for dogs and cats, it's like giving them a daily dose of scrapple and hot dogs. It's a wonder they live as long as they do.

[johnnymk]

http://www.pennlive.com/printer/printer.ssf?/base/news/1174785906145370.xml&coll=1&thispage=2


Local veterinarians who see cats and dogs suffering kidney failure from eating now-recalled pet food are also seeing families forced to make agonizing decisions.

"I think the saddest thing about this situation is some of these pets' families have financial limitations. ... There are instances where people have to draw a line," said Dr. Lesley Hlatky of Willow Mill Veterinary Hospital in Silver Spring Twp. "It makes people feel terrible.

"Hopefully, the pet food companies are going to reimburse these families for the expenses they have had," she said Friday. "It's just tragic."

Menu Foods of Ontario, Canada, has recalled "cuts and gravy" style dog and cat food in 60 million cans and pouches sold under more than 50 brand names.

The source of the rat poison in the food has not been determined.

Menu Foods confirmed the death of 15 cats and two dogs, and the toll could rise considering that pet owners report at least 5 pet deaths in central Pennsylvania.

Hlatky's voice broke with emotion after she met with the family of a cat that ate recalled food and is getting intravenous treatment for severe renal failure. "I was hoping she'd bounce back faster," Hlatky said.

The blood test and exam to determine the state of an animal's kidney function costs about $150, and one night of hospitalization and treatment can cost $500, Hlatky said.

Denis Dumm of Carlisle estimated he and his wife, Ann, spent nearly $2,000 in vet bills before euthanizing their two dogs, a 5-year-old Bichon Frise named Benny and a 12-year-old Shih Tzu named Abby.

They fed them wet food packets of Ol' Roy dog food from Wal-Mart.

"Every morning, they would each get a pack of it. And then we would walk around the block. That was how we started our day," Denis Dumm said.

About a month ago, Benny stopped eating. A few days later, a test at the vet's office revealed he was in kidney failure. "The doctor was at a loss as to why did this little guy's kidneys fail," Dumm said.

Benny went to the vet's office every day for a week for intravenous fluids while Dumm continued to try to get him to eat his Ol' Roy food. Then, Abby started showing symptoms and both dogs were on intravenous fluids, he said.

When both dogs had lost about half their weight and were clearly suffering, the Dumms made the decision to have them euthanized on March 11.

"We did what was in their best interest," Denis Dumm said. "They were literally starving. They would have never come back."

Five days later, the recall was announced. The Dumms have called Menu Foods three times and were promised a call back within a few days. As of Friday, they were still waiting.

Dumm said he is looking for a class-action lawsuit to join. "If there's one to be had, I'll be jumping on the bandwagon," he said last week. "I can't do anything but blame Menu Foods. My wife is devastated. ... They were just beautiful."

The Dumms' veterinarian, Dr. Eugene Hoefert of Northside Veterinary Clinic in Carlisle, called it suspicious "for two dogs to come in with acute renal failure from the same household. ... and they were feeding one of the foods on the recall list."

Hoefert said complaints about commercial pet food are rare in his practice.

But Dr. Patricia Whittaker, of New Life Holistic Veterinary Care in Cumberland County, said she has fed her cats and dogs home-prepared food since 1995, and she encourages her clients to do the same.

"Real food -- meat, vegetables, fat, organ meats" -- gives animals "so much more vitality," she said.

Whittaker gives her clients recipes to use so the animals get the proper nutrition, and she recommends vitamin and mineral supplements.

Hlatky said people have had a certain comfort level with pet food processing standards but the recall is "a red flag for everybody."

Hlatky said she still sees cases where pet owners haven't examined their animal's food supply. "I hope that people do start checking and take the extra minute," she said.

Meanwhile, Mudgie, the cat in Halifax whose kidney failure after eating one of the recalled foods was detailed in The Patriot-News on Wednesday, appears to be responding to daily injections.

"She seems to be improving over the condition she was in last week," even showing some interest in resuming her mousing activities, owner Tom Coughlin said Friday

[Cheesypuff]

so how does so many kinds of pet food have this rat poison in it? do they all use the same formula? i would think only one brand would have it. why so many brands?!?!

[Napoleon54]

so how does so many kinds of pet food have this rat poison in it? do they all use the same formula? i would think only one brand would have it. why so many brands?!?!

They're all made at the same plant, just have a different label slapped on the can. A lot of industries work that way: a lot of companies pay one company to make stuff for them and put their name on it. Same thing with most store brand foods, etc. Grocery chains don't have their own factories, they contract that stuff out to generic "private label" companies. A lot of the name brands also contracting out to private label companies.

I used to work for a private label company that makes a lot of different wet food products (jam and jelly, mayo, salad dressings, peanut butter, tomato sauces and salsa, etc). They make something like 90% of the non-name brand table syrup (fake maple syrup) used in the US, and also make stuff for Mrs. Butterworth. The recipes may be bit different but the ingredients usually come from the same sources. That's the problem with this pet food recall- multiple names/ brands are affected because they all were made in one plant and included the same ingredient from the same supplier.