WARNING TO PET OWNERS - 60 Mil Cont's of Pet Food Recalled

[msmarple]

Chemical suspected in pet deaths

Published on: 04/10/07
 
Washington — Pet food contaminated with an industrial chemical may have sickened or killed 39,000 cats and dogs nationwide, based on an extrapolation from data released Monday by one of the nation's largest chains of veterinary hospitals.

Banfield, The Pet Hospital, said an analysis of records collected by its more than 615 veterinary hospitals, suggests that three out of every 10,000 cats and dogs that ate the pet food contaminated with melamine developed kidney failure. There are about 60 million dogs and 70 million cats in the United States, according to the American Veterinary Medical Association.

The hospital chain saw

1 million dogs and cats during the three months when the more than 100 brands of now-recalled contaminated pet food were sold. It saw 284 extra cases of kidney failure among cats, or a roughly 30 percent increase, when compared with background rates.

"It has meaning, when you see a peak like that. We see so many pets here, and it coincided with the recall period," said Banfield veterinarian Hugh Lewis.

Banfield officials calculated an incidence rate of .03 percent for pets, although there was no discernible uptick among dogs. That suggests the contamination was overwhelmingly toxic to cats, Lewis said.

— Associated Press

Common suggests that smaller pets were more likely to be affected by this than larger ones.

[Anna]

I tend to think that dogs and cats with insurance may not be the most representative of those nationwide.  And if the owners bother to have insurance, they might well be feeding a more expensive brand of food that does not contain glutin or gravy as well.

We may never know the actual number effected by this.  FDA or USDA should already have in place a data base for collecting this information.  Makes me wonder what we really pay them for considering they have not conducted adequate meat inspections for the last thirty years, by their own admission.  

I don't have health insurance on my dogs.  One of my sons does on his but I tend to think from talking to owners and breeders all the time that only a rather small portion of people have this, would not want to guess the percentage but would think  less than fifty.

And the count is this high among the insured?  Massive I would think among the total pet population.

Thanks for posting this info and total from this source.  Hard to even imagine that many lost pets!  

.

[memphis]

Corn and wheat are not good for humans and animals. Google it.

yup!
you don't want to feed a dog or cat, who are both carnivores, any food that has corn or wheat listed as a top ingredient. The less grain, the better. Protein, protein, protein - and be sure that the protein source is stated, as in chicken and not chicken by-product.

[memphis]

...  I could raise some cattle just for feeding the dogs but know I would get too attached to them and the cows would end up dying of old age some day.  I just can't eat anything I am personally acquainted with. ....

     me too!

[memphis]

Corn is linked to lots of food allergies for dogs and cats is why it is not considered good.  While some grains and veggies are OK, they should not comprise the majority of the food for them.

Think what they would eat if in the wild.  Maybe a mousie with bellie full of veggies and grain, rest meat and bones for the most part thinking in terms of a cat.  For a dog, maybe a rabbit with greens in stomach contents, etc.   But neither dogs or cats would just eat grain.

Well, I had a cat who liked corn on the cob but that's another story.

Basically, they eat meat mostly with other things in smaller percentages.

.

yeah. What she said

[memphis]

Anna ~ Banfield, The Pet Hospital is the veterinary clinics inside of PetSmart.

[memphis]

What I've been hearing from reputable people is to not feed any pet food (dry, canned or treats) that contains wheat gluten at this time.

Here is a great site with lots of information on feeding, etc.
http://www.dogaware.com

[Anna]

I commented in the Natalee Holloway forum that I had received a new shipment of dog good which probably meant it would soon be recalled and today it was but only after I have fed it to my nursing mothers for a week!

----------

FDA Statement
Statement
April 16, 2007
 Media Inquiries:
301-827-6242
Consumer Inquiries:
888-INFO-FDA
 


Information on Natural Balance
The U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) was informed today, April 16, 2007, that Natural Balance Pet Foods has received consumer complaints regarding the Venison & Brown Rice Dry Dog Food, and Venison & Green Pea Dry Cat Foods. The company does not know the cause of the problems, but has received reports of animals vomiting and experiencing kidney problems. Although the company is stating that the problems seem to be focused on one particular lot, as a precautionary measure, the company is pulling all dates of Venison & Brown Rice Dry Dog Food and Venison & Green Pea Dry Cat Food from the shelves.

The company is advising consumers to discontinue feeding all Venison and Brown Rice Dry Dog Food, and Venison and Green Pea Dry Cat Food.

The FDA is working closely with Natural Balance and is actively investigating this problem. There is no indication at this time whether this is related to the ongoing pet food recalls. For more information, please see: http://www.naturalbalanceinc.com/

####

There is no wheat gluten listed in this product and I thought with the venison being a novelty meat, it might be safer!

I am really upset as this is the second time this has happened to me and shipping alone on dog food is NOT cheap!

.

[Anna]

Here are updated photos of two of the four litters.  They are big solid healthy pups by breed.  Having four litters with diarrhea is not a very pleasant thing to even think about much less try to deal with!

I have never had even one litter have it before this but have come to believe that this is system wide--in other words it may be in ALL commercial dog food right now.

DID ANYONE ELSE HEAR THE REPORT THAT THE CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER OF MENU FOODS SOLD HALF HIS STOCK RIGHT BEFORE THE RECALL????


No connection to it, of course!  As Robots would say LOAD ALERT!

.

[sharon]

Anna! So cute


For anyone interested;

http://www.fda.gov/oc/opacom/hottopics/petfood.html

That's the link to the FDA site. It is updated frequently.

There is a link to an Excel spreadsheet that lists all of the recalled products.

You can set your filters on top if necessary (I only have cats, so I filter by that).

[robots]

LOAD ALERT

is right

more spin masters, liars running around everyehere

coincidence...........???????????

HOGWASH


                 

[Marlee]

I saw that Iams wet cat food is on the list.  I give my cat's the dry Hairball Iams.  Do you think I should stop feeding them this even tho the dry isnt' on the list?  They have no symptoms of anything but the bag I have is almost out and not sure if I should get more.

And if so what should I give them?  That is the only dry food they have ever had.  I also split a pouch of wet Whiska's between the two every morning.  

Thanks!!

(I feel like I just wrote a question to Ask the Vet...lol.  But I do trust your opinions as you guys are more experienced in the pet world than I am.)

[robots]

does anyone have a list of WHAT is NOT POISONED ??

[msmarple]

Anna - I just read your post on LCD about your puppies ...    I am so sorry. I know this has been a very personal nightmare for you.

[Artcolley]

Anna

I am so sorry for what you are going through with your precious little ones.  

You are so right, your breed is one of the hardiest of breeds and this should not be happening to them.

BTW, have you tried a little yoghurt with them? I have used that in the past for pups..of course, their problems were NOT anywhere near as serious as what you are going through right now, but a little yoghurt with a bit of gatorade has saved many a pup from dehydration whilst fighting the main culprit causing the intestinal problems.

[msmarple]

does anyone have a list of WHAT is NOT POISONED ??

robots - At this point, I don't think any brand has the nerve to do that.

[sharon]

I saw that Iams wet cat food is on the list.  I give my cat's the dry Hairball Iams.  Do you think I should stop feeding them this even tho the dry isnt' on the list?  They have no symptoms of anything but the bag I have is almost out and not sure if I should get more.

And if so what should I give them?  That is the only dry food they have ever had.  I also split a pouch of wet Whiska's between the two every morning.  

Thanks!!

(I feel like I just wrote a question to Ask the Vet...lol.  But I do trust your opinions as you guys are more experienced in the pet world than I am.)

Marlee --

I have a case (actually only half of the case is left) of an Iams canned cat food that is NOT on the Iams list. But I have STOPPED feeding it to my cats anyway.

Even though they already went through half the case (before the recall) without any incidents.

I'm just paranoid for awhile -- and wanted to wait to see what gets 'added' to the list.

I have still been using the Iams 'original' dry food (orange bag).

[sharon]

does anyone have a list of WHAT is NOT POISONED ??

robots - At this point, I don't think any brand has the nerve to do that.

Over the past few years, I began to use a lot of "ProPlan" cans for my cats. And they have indicated that they do not use Menu Foods and their products are NOT involved in the recall. (I think they may be part of Purina?).

They have voluntarily recalled some Alpo (for dogs) -- but they still say that it is not related to the Menu Foods situation.

But I still check the FDA site several times a week to see if anything 'new' has been reported

[justinsmama]

Anna~ I'm sorry that the pups are ill. And you've already lost some of them, correct?


Marlee~ Check the ingredients of the dry food that you normally buy. If it has wheat GLUTEN, then do not buy or use it.

[yapperz1]

I am feeding Royal Canin to my dogs (they are on a special diet). I believe they also manufacture regular dog food too.
My cats eat Whiskas Dry. No problems & not recalled as of today.