Major Pet Food recall in USA for cat & dog food

[swampmaxmum]

When I rang Royal Canin a week or so ago, they claimed not to be affected as did not get ingredients from the same Chinese supplier as in America.  But my brother in South Africa sent me this
http://www.int.iol.co.za/index.php?art_id=vn20070420000555152C497934&set_id=1&click_id=13&sf=

At least 30 dogs have died. No cats reported.

Thank you for the USFDA link and please post any updates.

So far Hills seem to be ok with just one m/d dry removed (they say precautionary); however be aware that their i/d pouches contain wheat gluten - again, no-one seems 100% sure that it's wheat or corn gluten mixed with melamine!  The rep who serves my vet says that Hills' grain/gluten in i/d pouches comes from Australia so is safe.  It didn't say anything about Oz on a few pouches I had, so have got rid of them.
The problem seems to be with the Chinese suppliers. How do we know what's safe then?! All companies must use cheaper, Chinese suppliers of ingredients.
Mine won't eat home made food and have special needs (prescription diet).  I do feel that ironically we are more likely to hear from the multinational corporate US companies than European or smaller ones. I am already nervous with the lack of QC at Hills with the l/d where each can/tray is different! (that doesn't mean dangerous, but how carefully are they producing it??!!)

[Sam (Fussy_Furball)]

just wanted to update you on this story:

Pet foods are still be recalled Natural Balance Venison and Pea was recallled today;

Hills prescription diet is also on the list.

Check here for the latest list:    http://www.fda.gov/oc/opacom/hottopics/petfood.html

[LeighK]

Thank you for posting the information, I had forwarded this to my friends in CP branch and C.A.S where I got Frankie and Alfie from. AFAIK from what I've read my puds should be okay as I don't feed them Iams. I feed them Felix wet food pounches, tins and foil trays, Hills Oral biscuits and Go-CAT biscuits but this is most worrying news.

Thanks again to everyone for  posting this info.

Best regards

Leigh

[Tan]

Email i recieved from Peta!


Let me help you ensure the safety of the animals in your own home in light of the Menu Foods dog and cat food recall and tell you what PETA is doing to hold the dog and cat food industry accountable.

You must know that dog and cat food manufacturer Menu Foods is recalling some 90 name brands of canned wet food, including Iams and Eukanuba, that have been linked to renal failure and more than a dozen animal deaths.

How to Keep Your Animals Safe

Make sure you are not feeding your animal companion any of the recalled foods. You can find the full list of products that are being recalled by Menu Foods here.

If you believe that your animal companion has fallen ill from eating a product manufactured by Menu Foods, immediately take the animal to your veterinarian. Symptoms of kidney failure include lack of appetite, listlessness, increased thirst, increased urination, vomiting, and diarrhea.

Please also report any animal illness or death to Menu Foods at 866-895-2708 and to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration at 888-463-6332.

What PETA Is Doing

The fact that animals are dying from tainted Menu Foods products is horrific. To make matters worse, the company's response is stupefying and infuriating.

It's our understanding that Menu Foods learned of animal deaths as early as February 20 but didn't issue a recall for almost a month.

PETA is urging government authorities in Canada and the U.S. to investigate Menu Foods and file criminal charges if the company is found to have violated laws by waiting nearly a month before recalling contaminated food and intentionally feeding it to healthy dogs and cats in laboratories, killing several of them.

We know from experience that Menu Foods has never put the interests of animals ahead of its profits. Do you remember when a PETA investigator went undercover at a contract testing laboratory in Missouri that conducted cruel experiments on animals for Menu Foods and Iams? What PETA's investigator uncovered there was shocking; some dogs had huge chunks of muscle removed from their legs and were left to suffer for days.  We took action then and changes were made, but now ... this!

What You Can Do to Keep Animals Safe in the Future

Each of us, as loving companions to the cats and dogs in our care, must stand up to corporations like Menu Foods and Iams and hold them accountable for the food they are selling. Please take immediate action:
Buy pet food only from companies that test their foods in modern ways, not by experimenting on animals. The list of cruelty-free companies includes PetGuard, Evolution, and V-dog. One of the surest ways to stop corporations like Iams and Menu Foods is by not purchasing their products until they are proved to be safe and cruelty-free.
For a list of manufacturers that do not test on animals, http://www.iamscruelty.com/notTested.asp

Demand that Menu Foods take full responsibility for these animal deaths from tainted food and the company's slow response in letting people know. Insist that the company take measures to ensure that this will never happen again, and ask Menu Foods to end its cruel and old-fashioned experiments on dogs and cats.

Demand that Iams (Menu Foods manufactured the recalled Iams food) immediately end all laboratory tests on animals.
PETA is the leading national animal advocacy organization working to hold pet food manufacturers accountable for their cruelty and callousness. PETA is actively calling for a thorough investigation of the tainted food scandal, and we need your help today.

Thank you for everything you do for animals,

Sincerely,
 
Ingrid E. Newkirk
President

P.S. PETA's demand for accountability from Menu Foods is already making international headlines. By taking the three steps listed above, you can speak out against this rapidly growing scandal.

[Desley (booktigger)]

Mark - it isn't normal for CRF cats not to eat a lot, and could be due to something like excess tummy acid making them feel bad etc, so worth checking out with your vet.
I do agree that this could really damage Iams, I just hope that enough 'average' people over here know about this and that it could affect the stock in the UK

[Susanne (urbantigers)]

Although it's for the wrong reasons, I think this will tarnish the brand and will do more  damage to it than PETA etc could have dreamed of.

I agree that it will damage Iams.  If people change temporarily and find an alternative their cat likes they may not go back to Iams even if they're satisfied the food is safe.  But as we all know, we have to buy what the cat will eat and not what we would like to buy!  Tbh I don't consider much (anything?) on the list of brands as a premium food.  Iams wet is about 14% meat - better than the likes of whiskas and felix but not terribly high.  I consider Nutro a mid range food rather than a premium one and I don't really know anything about the other brands as I've not heard of most of them. 

A lot of people have questioned all these foods being made at the same place but that doesn't mean they're made to the same recipe.  I think it's more that the style of these foods in gravy requires specialist equipment (that's what I read - don't know about that kind of thing myself) and so are outsourced to plants such as the Menu food one where this problem seems to have originated.  Those style foods are off the menu at my place right now!

someone on another forum says that zooplus are refunding returns of nutro pouches bought from them (stated on their german site apparently) but there's nothing at all on their uk site and I've had no response to the email I sent.

[Mark]

I read something about the bubble bursting for "premium" brands like Iams, now people know  that it's made in the same factory as Walmart own brand etc. I see Iams are trying to say that although it is made in the same factory as budget food, it is made to a special recipe ( including dangerous gluten  )

Although it's for the wrong reasons, I think this will tarnish the brand and will do more  damage to it than PETA etc could have dreamed of.

[Susanne (urbantigers)]

felinecrf.org have added something to their site about this now

http://www.felinecrf.org/food_recall.htm

This, in particular, caught my attention

If a food is not mentioned in the links above, it should in theory be safe to feed. However, I spoke  to Menu Foods on Monday 19 March 2007 and they told me they were still checking; they said it is possible that more foods may be added to the recall list, and in fact additional foods were added later that day. They hope that all the affected foods are now on their list but this cannot be guaranteed.

I have heard from people who were feeding foods with different batch numbers to those in the recall notice whose cats have died of kidney failure.

Just to clarify - the recall relates to what is referred to as "cuts and gravy" food.  Other types of food and dry food is not affected.  The exact cause is not known but is believed to be something to do with the wheat gluten that was used in the affected foods.  Given the above on felineorg anyone who feeds that kind of food would be advised to err on the side of caution and not feed those foods even if the batch numbers and best before dates don't match those listed.

[Mark]

Thanks Gill,

I have looked at it a few times but there is so much to take in 

He is due for his 6 monthly soon so I will ask the vet - I guess as long as he's eating enough, it doesn't matter what time of day (He sleeps most of the time anyway)

[Gill (sneakiefeline)]

Mark I am afraid I do not know much about this subject despite Kocka having CRF but I hadnt found CC before she died.

If you havent allready , please take a lookat Tanyas site in the links cos its brilliant and very helpful and covers most questions you will ever think of 

[Mark]

It's worrying that I have been tring to get Clapton to eat Hills R/D - I could have made him worse! - Luckily he knew better than me and won't touch the stuff 

While we're talking about catfood. Is it normal for a CRF kitty to not eat all day? - Clapton at about 1/4 of a pouch this morning and 1/4 just now. As the evening goes on, he will eat more. This is how he has been for a while. He isn't losing weight it's just that when he was healthy, he used to be the 1st cat to cry for a feed in the morning. 

[Gill (sneakiefeline)]

Thanks very much for posting that Gillian 

I am adding it to our links section

[Gillian Harvey]

Theres some more info here on the feline crf site - it appears it may be something to do with the wheat gluten in the affected brands.

http://felinecrf.org/food_recall.htm

[Gill (sneakiefeline)]

My goodness this is scary and hope it really does only affect american made products.

For cat owners this is particularily terrible cos often cats will only eat certain food, whereas with dogs they probalbly will eat most things.

I hope everyones cats are well, but if anyone has problems that maybe food related pleasae post and let us know.

I would like to know how the two americans that I know of in Purrs are fairing with these food recalls.

[Tan]

Forwarded from an email send to CC towers  re Iams product recall:-

WARNING   -    Your cat may be at risk.
 
At the moment the issue is allegedly only affecting Iams and Eukanuba in the US. However my own cat (Marie's), fed on Iams, is in hospital right now with kideny problems. 

 http://us.iams.com/iams/global/Product_Recall.htm 

[Maximina (Mike's Mom)]

Here is the link to the website with the list of recalled products specifically for cats:
http://www.menufoods.com/recall/product_cat.html
Here is the list for dogs:
http://www.menufoods.com/recall/product_dog.html

Here is the FDA (Food & Drug Administration) site in the USA mentioning the recall:
http://www.fda.gov/bbs/topics/NEWS/2007/NEW01590.html

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Here is an article from ABCnews.com from today regarding the recall

PET FOOD PANIC

Pet owners were worried Sunday that their pet food may be deadly after millions of containers of dog and cat food sold at major retailers were recalled. Menu Foods for dogs and cats recalled food sold under four dozen brands including Iams, Nutro and Eukanuba. At least 10 pets have died from kidney failure. Two more companies, Nestle Purina PetCare Co. and Hill's Pet Nutrition Inc., announced they were voluntarily recalling some products made by Menu Foods
 
http://abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=2961402&page=1

ABC News
Pet Food Recall Grows Along with Owner Worry
More Brand Names Added to Already Long List

By PATRICIA MARTELL, MAGGIE HOPF and LINDSAY HAMILTON

March 18, 2007 — - Additional brand names have been added to the list of possibly tainted pet food brands that are the subject of a recall.

On Friday, Menu Foods, whose products are sold throughout North America, issued a recall for 60 million cans and pouches of certain "cuts and gravy"-style dog and cat food products. Seven more brands have been added to the original list.

Because Menu Foods co-manufactures so many products, veterinarians are urging pet owners to keep tabs on the latest developments. "It's very possible other companies will have to add to this recall," said Dr. Louise Murray, director of medicine for the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. "People need to keep updating themselves."

(For a list of recalled pet food brands visit http://www.menufoods.com/recall/)

Pet Owners React

At least 10 pet deaths have been linked to the recall, and the affected food may have contributed to kidney failure in many other cats and dogs.

"It makes me feel terrible," said Jackie as she walked her poodle Muffin in Manhattan. "It's just like with a child." John, owner of Wrigley the beagle, said he logged on to check the food list as soon as he heard about the recall. "There are like 40 brands on there," John said, "but she's good."

Dr. Ed Loebach, a medical advisor and veterinarian with Banfield Animal Hospitals, said kidney failure can come on quickly, or take a long period of time. He said pet owners should look out for symptoms such as "an increased water intake, increased volumes of urination, unwillingness to eat, vomiting and lethargy. If they see any of those signs, they should take their pet to the veterinarian as soon as they can."

Some pet owners' efforts to learn about the recall proved futile. Menu Foods set up two hotline numbers for customers to call, but repeated calls from ABC News only resulted in a busy signal. A company spokeswoman said they added more lines, but that traffic remained high.

Retailers' Empty Shelves

Since Friday, pet food retailers have been stripping their shelves of the recalled food. PETCO spokesman Kevin Whalen said PETCO stores removed foods that weren't on the list, to be "extra careful." "If it was even possible that certain pet food would be involved, we wanted to be safe," he said Sunday. "Hopefully, with new information on the recall, we can start putting the pet food back on the shelves tomorrow."

Waiting for Answers

A Menu Foods spokeswoman said the company is "diligently testing" its products, but as of yet cannot point to the source of the problem. Veterinarians note that kidney failure is a common ailment of pets, especially cats. It's among the top killers of older cats, so the full scope of the pet food problem might be difficult to pinpoint. "Most older cats are living with some degree of compromised kidney function," Dr. Murray of the ASPCA said. "I think there's going to be a lot of confusion and a little bit of panic because there might be kidney failure that their owners are unaware of."

For now, pet owners need to check the list, check their food, and keep an eye on their pets.

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