Pet Food Recall

Mar 17, 2007 There has been a huge pet food recall and I have received many calls today from concerned pet owners. Here is the information that i have heard.

1. 60 million containers of wet pet food have been recalled.
2. These were purchased from Walmart, Kroger, Safeway and Petsmart December 3-March 6th.
3. All were made by "Menu Foods" and include brands such as Iams, Eukanuba, Science Diet, Nutro in addition to many off brand names.
4. 48 brands of dog food and 40 brands of cat food are being recalled due to concerns over causing Kidney Disease.
5. There have been 10 reported deaths to date.
6. Apparently, all these food are canned and the cuts/gravy style only.
7. It may be related to a "Wheat Gluten" from a new supplier for the company "Menu Foods".
8. For more information call 866-463-6738 or goto menufoods.com/recall
9. More information is also available at Todayshow.com and Msnbc.com
10. If your pet has been on any of the recalled foods or is showing any signs of kidney disease (vomiting/increased water intake or output/decreased appetite/weight loss, etc) please call for an appointment immediately.

Pet Food Recall Update 4-8-2007 More food recalled ...

Well, it is Easter today and I am just back from vacation. I have been attempting to follow all the pet food recall news this week and wanted to update my clients on recent news. Unfortunately, there have been more recalls and the cause of the wheat gluten-renal disease is still unknown. Melamine has been found but little is known about its effects. Melamine is used as a fertilizer and in the production plastics. It also has been reported that Aminopterin does not appear to be the cause of any renal (kidney) problems.

In Michigan, there have been approximately 190 reported cases of suspected affected pets as of 3/27/07. There have been over 90 brands affected as previously noted and the recall dates have been extended from 11/8/06 to 3/15/07.

Additional recalls have been added this week including 1. Del Monte jerky treats, gravy train beef sticks and pounce meaty morsels. 2. Eight In One Inc. Dingo chicken jerky treats-cat, dog and ferret but this is due to potential Salmonella concerns and this was apparently sold at target, Petsmart and others. 3. Hills Science Diet m/d feline dry. This is reported to be the only Hills product affected. 4. Nestle-Purina Alpo prime cuts canned and Mighty Dog pouch products. They report no dry products are affected. 5. Sunshine Mills dog biscuits.

I know that this pet food recall has been very concerning, confusing and upsetting to many pet owners, including myself. I have even heard of someone feeding their dog only McDonalds hamburgers! That is not healthy for humans, let alone pets! Please do note that although this is very frightening, only about 1% of all the commercially available pet food has been affected and it is extremely important to provide your pet with a balanced good (and safe) food. Human food is not good for pets and there have been many more human food recalls than pet food recalls. If you opt not to feed a commercial pet food there are some good home cooked diets although these are very time consuming to do correctly.

If your pet is showing any signs of renal (kidney) disease such as loss of appetite, depression, vomiting, diarrhea, change in water consumption, change in frequency of urination, etc. please call immediately for an appointment to schedule a full physical exam and blood work so that appropriate treatment can be started if renal disease is diagnosed. We can reverse many instances of renal disease with appropriate and early treatment.

For more information, I have attempted to compile a list of good websites for you:
http://avma.org/aa/menufoodsrecall/faq.asp

http://www.petfoodinstitute.org/wheatgluten_melamine _info. htm

http://www.menufoods.com/recall/

http://www.michvma.org (tips on cooking home-cooked diets)

Please forgive any clerical errors as it has been a very long but fun week at Disney! Sincerely- Seely Rotigel D.V.M.

 

the Visiting Vet Dr. Seely Rotigel email: contact@visitingvet.info phone: 269-731-7387

 

the Visiting Vet Dr. Seely Rotigel email: contact@visitingvet.info phone: 269-731-7387