Pet-food recall: Veterinarians step up
By Gina Spadafori
April 6, 2007
- If you have a sick pet or a question on your pet’s health, call your veterinarian.
- If you’re new to the site, please check out our general information page (includes links to recalled foods).
- If you’d like suggestions on what to feed, click here.
- If you want to report a sick or deceased pet, click here.
- If you want to know what you can do, please read our call to action
- If you want to read all our recall-related blog posts, click here.
Our Pet Connection team hears from a lot of veterinarians, all the time. And they’re the reason why we first realized, within 24 hours of the first recall notice, that the story was about more than 12, 14 or 16 dead pets. We knew we had that many — and many more — anecdotal reports from veterinarians just in the first day or so. Something was up, we didn’t know what, and we hustled our database reporting system online (thanks, Black Dog!) in an effort to get a handle on the scope of the problem.
That was three weeks ago, and we still don’t know the scope of the problem. Nobody does.
But we do know that without veterinarians, we wouldn’t have a national news story, and we also wouldn’t have a lot of pets alive who ate the tainted food. The contributions of veterinarians at all levels has been nothing short of heroic.
The American Veterinary Medical Association this morning posted a piece about some of those contributions. It’s an interesting read.
Update: Dr. Patty Khuly discusses the fallout to veterinarians on her Dolittler blog.
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Hear, hear! I second that Gina! Even though our kitty didnt make it, I dont know what we would have done without our vet. She was not only our kitty’s Dr during this awful time, she was our support system. She did everything she possibly could and more, including special appointments, off-hour check-in phone calls, tons of research etc. She was very upset when our kitty passed away. Thank goodness we had her, we consider ourselves very lucky in that regard.
Comment by Sandi K — April 6, 2007 @ 9:42 am
The veterinarians who have stepped up in this sad situation are to be commended. These folks are doctors and believe it or not they take their oath very seriously. For almost all of them, our pets will truly be the number one priority. They are appreciated and I hope that soon they will discover the answer. Thank you to all the veterinarians who are taking the time to research and are putting in that extra effort, even when they are tired and weary at the end of a long day.
Comment by jm — April 6, 2007 @ 10:10 am
I do wish the veterinary response to people wanting to home prepare foods wasn’t “Don’t do it.” Every vet should have a couple of recipes for dogs and cats available. The caveat being that they should not have any medical conditions which might require special diets. Sorry, it’s not enough to say, don’t do it and don’t go to the web. Wrong response. Time for the veterinary community to step up to this particular plate and put something in it.
And as far as the AVMA notifying members, they should be notifying each state veterinary board. There are vets who are not AVMA members.
Comment by CathyA — April 6, 2007 @ 10:12 am
Comment by CathyA — April 6, 2007 @ 10:12 am
Agreed! Maybe “Don’t do it badly” would be more appropriate. That could apply to all pet diet plans.
Comment by slt — April 6, 2007 @ 10:16 am
Comment by CathyA — April 6, 2007 @ 10:12 am
I agree. I have great respect for the field of Veterinary Medicine and we have a great Vet as well. If I wasn’t so squeamish I very well may have entered the field when I was of age.
However their are circumstances when thinking outside the box a little bit is appropriate.
Keep an open mind to the extreme levels of stress and uncertainty pet owners are dealing with in this crisis. They are going to be very protective about their pets right now and thats
not going to change for a while obviously.
Comment by Steve — April 6, 2007 @ 10:21 am
Comment by CathyA
I’m with you. I’ve stated that many times. I know the processed pet food would definitely need supplements because any good stuff would be processed right out of it. I’d like to see a list of foods that cats and dogs would require in their diets and of course things they should never be fed. Also the ratio of Carbs and proteins and amounts of food to be fed. I also think the diets should be based on size and breeds since some breeds have special requirements to avoid certain proneness to various diseases. I think what we really need is a veterinary dietician to lead the way for us.
Comment by Kathi — April 6, 2007 @ 10:28 am
We would be lost without out veterinarians.
The PFI claims to be in business to help the pet owner/consumer with their “healthy” food choices.
We, the pet owners have been somewhat made aware of the poison food for 3 weeks. Yet the pet food poisoning has gone on much longer. Early February with Menu Foods.
We are not a hysterical bunch, but rather we are only trying to provide the best we can for our pets who give us unconditional love and don’t ask for too much in return.
Regardless of what is in the food, a substance that causes acute renal failure is POISON. The real sad part is that the poor cats and dogs whose kidneys have been damaged are not going to recover. The damage has been done. Those dogs and cats who died or were humanely euthanized were also poisoned.
The almighty dollar drives the barbaric Chinese. We all have seen what they are capable of doing to any animal. China is a toxic nation. Toxins are poisons. The PFI should be able to figure this out.
My prayers are with all of you whose pets are being treated. My heart is broken for all of you who have lost your 4 legged family members.
Comment by Peg — April 6, 2007 @ 10:31 am
I’m not knocking vets, especially all those who have put in long hours trying to help their clients - but I don’t think AVMA is telling the whole story either.
From the article:
“Dr. Joseph W. Bartges, nutritionist and internist at the University of Tennessee College of Veterinary Medicine, said pet foods are still very safe and have been subject to relatively few recalls—particularly in light of global trade. The recent recall is for foods of one style from one manufacturer.”
Umm, wait a minute - it’s more than one style (wet, dry, treats) and more than one manufacturer (Hill’s, Sunshine, Purina, Menu).
Maybe he was talking only about the “involuntary recall” as opposed to all the “voluntary” ones…?
Also from the article:
“AVMA became the pre-eminent resource for the media, public, and veterinarians for credible, noninflammatory information…”
See above.
Comment by Laura — April 6, 2007 @ 10:33 am
I agree with Laura. One of the associates in my vet’s office relies heavily on the VIN. Veterinary Information Network. They are so out of it with regard to this it’s sad.
Comment by Peg — April 6, 2007 @ 10:39 am
What I really want to see happen is for the pet food industry to create safe healthy food. It should not contain those nasty obnoxious body parts that are so offense to we humans. Those chicken beaks bug me I guess because I’m a birdlover, too. All I want is good quality wholesome food for my babies. They NEED to listen to us and then DO it.
Comment by Kathi — April 6, 2007 @ 10:40 am
I would really like to take the opportunity to thank all of the vets that have responded to this crisis. I know the vet that I use is absolutely wonderful and I seriously doubt that without her, my PooPoo wouldn’t have survived. I would also like to encourage all of the other vets to please report the information about the pets that they have seen to their appropriate boards. This information is crucial and it carries so much more weight coming from someone who is licensed.
Again, thanks to all of you on this board as well. I feel so fortunate that I found this board because of all of this information that has been provided here.
Thanks from the bottom of my heart.
Comment by Adrienne — April 6, 2007 @ 10:45 am
In the last few days I have seen a lot of recalled products still on shelves. Brooks pharmacy in holbrook, mass. for one. also the dollar stores in the boston area,are still selling this poison.I notified the sales clerks and I hope they will do their jobs. One clerk has just lost her beloved dog from this. She told me that she is marking the petfood down per order of the owner.She wants it off of the shelves, but was told to keep it there.
Comment by ann gates — April 6, 2007 @ 10:47 am
Are the vitamins stated on the petfood labels actually in the pet foods in necessary quantities? many times I wonder because vitamins cost money and saving money is their prime concern.
Comment by Gary — April 6, 2007 @ 10:51 am
http://www.cattlenetwork.com/c.....tid=119729
I guess they noticed how we feel? Don’t know if they’ll change anything.
Comment by Kathi — April 6, 2007 @ 11:03 am
Comment by Gary — April 6, 2007 @ 10:51 am
Labeling is going to be a critical survival issue for Brands. That and transparency. You know that Americans are going to begin searching in earnest for honest reputable brands from here on out. Producing with safe DOMESTICALLY GROWN AND PRODUCED ingredients is going to be a real winner.
The brands will have to adapt or perish. Especially if they want a premium fee. I predict a fairly large shakeout for the next several years in the Pet Food Industry. It isn’t going to be pretty either.
Comment by Steve — April 6, 2007 @ 11:13 am
Welcome to Stress City
We just got a call from our Vet and our feline companion just woke up from having had oral surgery this morning to remove some bad teeth. She got through fine so as you can imagine my stress levels have been unbelievable this week. We are going to pick up her up about 3:00. Tender loving care and careful follow through and nursing for the next couple days is on our agenda.
Comment by Steve — April 6, 2007 @ 11:22 am
Comment by Laura — April 6, 2007 @ 10:33 am
I noticed this fairly glaring error in the JAVMA article, too, Laura. There’s no excuse for that kind of inaccuracy in an article published by an org self-styled as a “pre-eminent resource.”
This resource didn’t have anything on their site about the DelMonte recall until about 48 hours after it was announced. So DelMonte’s press release came out Saturday night - that’s no excuse. Someone from AVMA - a volunteer, even - should have been on duty over the weekend to report this kind of thing.
And what’s up with the date on the article - April FIFTEENTH? Today’s the 6th. If that’s the date of the journal’s publication, it shouldn’t be out there yet.
Then there’s this little revealing statement:
Commenting on the AVMA’s first all-members e-mail alert, AVMA Executive Vice President Bruce W. Little said, “I’m pleased with the overall results of this first-ever attempt to reach out to all of our members simultaneously. The Association had valuable and timely information on the pet food recall that we felt was of great importance.
“But this experience also underscores the necessity of members keeping their contact information up-to-date. Keep in mind that we have only 54 percent of e-mail addresses for our members, and of those, 20 percent were returned to us as ‘undeliverable.’ Should we need to alert our members in the case of a national disaster or other emergency, those figures would be unacceptable.”
Huh? If this recall isn’t a “disaster” or “emergency,” what is? And there’s no excuse for this huge lapse in communication. There needs to be a reliable, mandatory network for communicating in a crisis. If all the vets in the country were noticing aberrations like unusually high rates of ARF and reporting them to a centralized database, this situation might have been exposed much earlier.
Comment by cerridwen — April 6, 2007 @ 11:49 am
Comment by Steve
Aww…poor baby. I hope she recovers nicely. It’s always very stressful for me when anesthesia is used on my dogs. I travel a very long way to get my dogs hips x-rayed for OFA. In part, due to finding a Vet that will take the x-rays without using anesthesia.
Comment by Jackie — April 6, 2007 @ 11:50 am
Comment by Jackie — April 6, 2007 @ 11:50 am
Thanks. It was a really tough decision but we respected the call by our Vet. We adopted her and it turns out she has some dental problems. She had a tough past. With this problem it was beginning develop into an eating problem issue and we didn’t want to risk that since she is basically healthy overall and if she couldn’t eat it would be all downhill. Vet believes this would solve 90% of the problem and the teeth were decayed and starting to cause some gingivitis. She’ll be on some antibiotic therapy. She’s been on Clindamycin for a while and prednisolone which is an anti inflammatory.
She’s done great on the Clindamycin with no side effects. It’s very effective for oral disease. It’s best to catch gingivitis early so it’s easily treatable.
Comment by Steve — April 6, 2007 @ 12:38 pm
Let’s hear it for our vets who are working hard at giving our furballs the very best care! Thank you!!! My vet is very thorough and doesn’t want to take any chances with my furball, even though he didn’t eat any recalled (yet?) foods, so he’s being monitored over time. Thank you, vets, for being there for us and for working tirelessly to save our pets.
Comment by petlover — April 6, 2007 @ 1:19 pm
“Labeling is going to be a critical survival issue for Brands….” I agree wholeheartedly with Steve on this one. The label is really all we have in regards to our pet food AND our own food. If that label can’t be trusted then what good is it? And full disclosure is a must. I don’t know that all domestically grown and produced ingredients are safe but I would choose them more often than not. Imagine my surprise recently when - after purchasing and eating half of it - I read the label of my ” USDA ORGANIC ” broccoli. It came from CHINA. And it’s USDA ORGANIC???? HOW?
Comment by Christi — April 6, 2007 @ 1:44 pm
Steve - A hug and a pat-pat to your furkid. She is in good hands. Our Mrs. Murphy sends her get well wishes too.
Comment by Nadine Long — April 6, 2007 @ 1:51 pm
I wonder - does anyone know if vet schools are teaching vets more about nutrition. A few years ago my holistic vet (very knowledgeable in nutrition and everything else!) told me the average vet has one 3-hour class in nutrition and they are taught that Science Diet Pet food is the best food for most pets. My conventional vet still recommends Science Diet. They have to be taught more about nutrition!
Comment by Jeanine — April 6, 2007 @ 1:52 pm
I didn’t want to believe the truth of all this. I looked at the feed grade protein powder yesterday, I read all the info and I tried to imagine how educated smart people, and these are no dummies, could add that to Wheat Gluten and I said NO! The risks are too great. I still hope I’m right because if I’m not, this is a very nasty affair!
So you can all tell me I’m wrong here, but I like the idea of GM Wheat Gluten better because the alternative just rocks my sense of morality and integrity - how could or would science minded educated PHD’s do this?
I thought it was Dr. Stranglove but I guess it is Dr. WHO?
Comment by Linda — April 6, 2007 @ 1:59 pm
Do you guys think that the Wheat Gluten may have been altered here in the U.S.?
Comment by Linda — April 6, 2007 @ 2:06 pm
Comment by Steve — April 6, 2007 @ 11:22 am
Steve, Best of luck with your kitty today. My oldest had mouth surgery twice. The second time my vet did two extractions. After a night of major pampering at home, she awoke feeling almost back to her normal self. Her mouth was a bit sore for only a couple days. I was actually quite surprised how well she did. She’s a tiny, darling shelter dog and was ten years old at the time. I hope and pray she doesn’t need any more dental surgery. She’s getting up there in age now.
Comment by Mary — April 6, 2007 @ 2:15 pm
That’s a really good question Linda. I’m just getting back on here and looks like I’ve got a ton of catching up to do.
Comment by Mary — April 6, 2007 @ 2:17 pm
This is interesting: ” One pet food company in particular, the Iams Company, was responsible for discovering the link to melamine and thereby helping expedite the overall response.” Check out the entire article http://www.grainnet.com/articl.....43218.html
Comment by Christi — April 6, 2007 @ 2:37 pm
I just shook my head at SO much of that article, and this:
“Unless a clinical nutritionist has been involved in developing a home-cooked food plan for a pet, Dr. Kirk believes the possible harm of not providing a balanced diet outweighs the potential for encountering further contamination.”
Excuse me, do parents involve a clinical nutritionist in developing a plan for what they feed their kids? Maybe some should, but that’s beside the point. I don’t like the way veterinarians back up the commercial pet food industry (that paid for some of their education, perks, and profits on sold pet food) to convince us we’ll do more harm feeding our pets normal food ourselves than allowing them to be poisoned. What a disconnect.
Comment by Sharon — April 6, 2007 @ 2:44 pm
It’s easy to account for the slant of the story.
AFIA = American Feed Industry Association
Pat, pat, pat on the back…
http://www.grainnet.com/articl.....43218.html
Comment by Christi — April 6, 2007 @ 2:37 pm
*****************
OK. Everyone breathe a sigh of relief, sit back, and let the pet food industry get back to business as usual. Yeah, right! I don’t think that’s going to happen as evidenced by the coverage the issue has been getting! And the story is only gaining more momentum!
Comment by petlover — April 6, 2007 @ 3:14 pm
Gee, the death of my pets, from the highly touted commercial pet food, that is better than me cooking for them?
I am thrilled that this bozo thinks DEATH, as in being deceased, is better for my pets. We will have to disagree on this point, honeybunch, I much prefer my pets to be moving around, not on IV fluids, you know, alive, I am picky that way.
The clinical nutritionists missed that teeny little problem. Except for being dead, I am sure my pets were very healthy.
If any of my remaining animals survives, and that issue is in doubt, I will be cooking for them.
I will take wagers, at long odds, that the average life span for my pets goes right back up to where it was BEFORE I started poisoning them with commercial pet food.
Many vets were astonished at how long, and how long healthy and feisty my pets lived.
As for me and mine, none of my pets died from my cooking in the years before I used commercial food and they damned sure DID DIE from the commercial food, so, guess who is back to the kitchen?
Comment by E. Hamilton — April 6, 2007 @ 3:27 pm
I’ve been disappointed at the veterinary association’s response. The Chicago Veterinary Medical Association has practically NOTHING on their website. No mention of Senator Durbin’s conference yesterday - one small blurb that says you should see the Menu Foods recall list - which doesn’t include the additional recalls by Trader Joe’s, Purina, Del Monte, or Hills.
http://www.chicagovma.org/
One thousand vets belong - and apparently they feel no need to tell them anything.
Comment by Lynette — April 6, 2007 @ 3:52 pm
TO JEANNINE: I accessed the Cornell Veterinary College site and if you have the patience to navigate thru, you’ll eventually find all the courses given on or related to animal nutrition. I did not count them, but there appeared to be quite a few(including those for equine, cattle,etc.) Rather interesting, actually…
On another note: Anyone having a real tough time switching their cats to different food? I’m still not having much success. I was previously feeding ProPlan Weight Maintenance and Purina ONE Chichen to them. If anyone has switched from these to another food successfully, I’D LOVE TO HEAR FROM YOU! Pls. hurry, my babies are not happy!!!! Thanks…
Comment by laura S — April 6, 2007 @ 5:06 pm
Comment by Christi — April 6, 2007 @ 2:37 pm
That article is just flat out disturbing. “The system has worked well”?!
Okay, it’s the feed association (as in livestock, as opposed to pets) - but I don’t know a single farmer who’d be pleased with a month-long dribble of reluctant recalls as his stock was dropping dead in his barns.
Wonder why the feed association is weighing in on this, anyway? Where DID the rest of that gluten end up?
Un-freaking-real.
Comment by Laura — April 6, 2007 @ 5:22 pm
for laura S
I have switched my five over to California Natural. I switched slowly by mixing a few pieces of the new in with the old and then gradually increasing the new foods.
I have heard that you can mix the foods in a closed container ~ sealed plastic bag ~ so the scents intermingle and then try to feed the cats. You might also try sprinling a little parmesan cheese on the new food.
Actually mine like the California Natural way better than the Eukanuba. Must be they know it’s healthier for them . . .
Comment by dottie — April 6, 2007 @ 5:24 pm
To Laura S
Thanks for the input on the vet school nutrition classes.
btw - I just put my cat on innova brand - at first he loves it, now he hates it - he was on it for about 4 days, now he won’t touch it. I am feeding him Tuna until we see the vet on Thursday.. This is the ONLY thing he will eat - he won’t even eat boiled beef now…
Comment by Jeanine — April 6, 2007 @ 6:28 pm
To Laura with the discriminating cats: my cat likes his new Innova/EVO, and eats it moderately, but still “works” me for more tasty food. (He loved Wellness’ canned chicken, but I won’t feed him their canned food as it is made at Menu Foods, though not recalled.) I’ve found that he loves a small serving of fried (no added oil) good quality ground beef that I have freshly ground by the butcher at the time I buy it. He won’t eat it if I put it in with his dry food, but likes it warm in a separate bowl with the juices. He just eats a small amount, but it seems to do the trick and he doesn’t lay down on top of my computer keyboard and stare at me any longer.
Good luck trying to find the food that works…The good thing with Tigger is that he was overweight, but now has a “waist” and seems content with the food situation. (He doesn’t like tuna either, or other fresh fishes that I’ve tried. I’m just too nervous to try him on uncooked meat or fish as I live in a city and am squeamish about the freshness even though I go to a “good” butcher shop.)
Comment by Maureen — April 6, 2007 @ 6:42 pm
You might want to double check but I quit feeding the Innova Evo canned because it was my understanding it was manufactureed at Menu Foods………….
Thanks all for the wonderful info during these trying times!
Comment by Dana — April 6, 2007 @ 8:52 pm
Comment by Laura — April 6, 2007 @ 5:22 pm
I guess the reason I thought it was interesting is that this is the first time I’ve heard that Iams was “responsible for discovering the link to melamine”. Did they really know all along? Hm…..
Comment by Christi — April 6, 2007 @ 10:57 pm
It’s nice to read about the vets who are “stepping up” during this crisis. It’s unfortunate that there are other veterinarians who don’t seem to understand the seriousness of the problem, or the concerns that the owners of pets who have eaten recalled foods are having. One of my cats was eating Hill’s Prescription Diet m/d. When we found out that it had been recalled, we took her for blood testing. Five days later and we still do not have the results of the tests, although they’ve been available for at least three days. Promises to return phone calls go unfulfilled. Meanwhile we wait, and worry…
Comment by John T. — April 7, 2007 @ 1:02 pm
Comment by Christi — April 6, 2007 @ 10:57 pm
You know, that IS interesting. I hadn’t heard about IAMS research on melamine either. The sad thing is that I’m not sure whether to commend them or suspect them of complicity. Sigh.
Comment by Laura — April 7, 2007 @ 1:22 pm
Laura S,
I switched my kitties from Iams Dry to Kumpi Kat. They are eating it fine now. What you can try doing is adding a little water to the dry food and putting it in the microwave for 20 seconds. Let it sit for a few minutes to cool. http://www.kumpikat.com
The reason why I chose this company is that the CEO has replied back several times with questions, which were really pointed. Her name is Evy feel free to call or email her she will respond to any questions. Check out her website under the recall section she is foloowing it as much as we are. She was also the only pet food company to respond to Itchmo. http://www.itchmo.com/read/a-p.....p_20070329
That is what first got me interested in her products for Cats.
I just got a follow up from her yesterday asking me how my kitties were doing and if I had any questions. Her company is based in Denver which is where I live. Unfortunately if you don’t live in Denver Colorado you will have to order it.
I did this for a few days and they are now eating the dry as usual.
If you are feeding them a more nutrient rich food you may notice they eat less and poop less. This just means they are getting the nutrients without having to eat more. There are many more foods out there, that is just the one I chose.
Good luck!
Comment by MonkeyKitty — April 7, 2007 @ 1:28 pm