Pet-food recall: FDA issues an overview, Wal-Mart blocks tainted food at the registers
By Gina Spadafori
April 7, 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.
Thanks, Therese, for pointing out this situation overview from the FDA.
The Raleigh News and Observer is reporting that Wal-Mart has put in place a scanner block on recalled foods. If it’s accidentally left on the shelf, it’ll be caught at check-out. I hope other retailers are paying attention:
[...] Johnnie Walker, 51, a Wal-Mart merchandise supervisor, appeared and began removing pouches of dog biscuits from the shelves.
Walker said he had removed the products earlier in the week, but clerks restocked the shelves overnight, unaware that the pet food had been recalled. “At night they didn’t know better,” Walker said. “It’s just confusing.”
Wal-Mart did not respond to a request for comment, but a corporate spokesman, Kory Lundberg, said the retailer has placed a nationwide block on all recall products at their checkout scanners as an extra precaution.
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Just now on CNN:
Since 2003 FDA has cut food inspections coming into the U.S. by 75% so said the rep. from Consumer Report.org (I believe it’s org) just now on CNN.
She said this Congress was more pro-food protection and I sure hope that works in our favor.
Linda MS
Comment by Linda — April 7, 2007 @ 11:40 am
“They didn’t know any better”? Sigh.
Walmart was supposed to be doing this from Day one, that’s what they announced anyway.
Comment by Kim — April 7, 2007 @ 11:46 am
This is a great idea, and an easy system for wal-mart to spot unspotted itemes which maybe located anywhere in their BIG stores. I was at Pet Co. last week for a hamster derby, while my son was racing I walked the dog food isle (or let’s say “whole back wall”), and when I got near the end (not many blank spaces I noticed) I heard en employee ask if he could help. I said I was just looking since i assumed there would only be slim pickings. boy was I wrong- totally stocked with iams and every other brand they carried. then I heard one employee say to the other “You need to clear out all this section since it is contaminated”.
This was April 1, 2007! How could Pet Co. keep items on it’s shelf they knew was contaminated? It was like they just heard of the recall or some thing! How many possible customers were buying food that should have already been removed a long time ago?
I was sick when I heard this.
bless you wal-Mart for a better tracking system.
Comment by Linda — April 7, 2007 @ 11:51 am
One thing is certain your not going to find many pet food reps and associates out in the stores at point of sale in their khakis, company polo shirts and name tags educating customers about the possible risks of their pet food.
Comment by Steve — April 7, 2007 @ 12:08 pm
Albertsons also has a scanner system in place to block any recalled item from being sold. It’s my understanding that most large grocery chains have this feature now. Though, only Walmart seems to be propounding it.
Comment by Jessica — April 7, 2007 @ 12:18 pm
You said it! I totally agree!
I was trying to find Skippy brand made by Del Monte. My local grocery store only carries Alpo, Hill Country Fare, and Pedigree wet in large cans. Not much of a selection. 2 out of 3 on the recall list. And Pedigree is owned by Mars inc. who bought Doane Pet Care co. the one who started private store label pet foods in 1969 and later sold it’s wet food line to Menu Foods Limited. Too close for comfort for me. Pedigree is guilty in by eyes by mere association with Doane.
I’ll keep looking else ware for Skippy. Not Pet Co. for sure!
Comment by Linda — April 7, 2007 @ 12:22 pm
I still wouldn’t trust it. Take responsibility yourself and read labels and don’t buy anything with wheat gluten in it or any products by companies whose names are already on the recall list for other items. Think about it - how many times has your state weights and measures authority nailed these stores for inaccurate pricing provided by these same computer systems? How many times has the sale item rang up for the regular price? Garbage in - garbage out - it never changes. I called my local Walmart the day the Sunshine recall happened and they were clueless all the way up to the assistant manager of the store.
Comment by Cheryl — April 7, 2007 @ 12:26 pm
hey steve
sorry about the hang up glitch earlier today. I think it was my blog that did it. It won’t happen again promise!
thanks for all your comments and information
Keep it up!
Comment by Linda — April 7, 2007 @ 12:28 pm
steve, at petsmart they always have the nutro people in the store telling customers what food they have in their cart is no good and nutro is better. i love to see them telling their lies. i’m so depress over this not 1 pet should of died. oh at 4 pm ON CNN A VET will be on to answer questions and the questions can be e mailed to weekend@cnn,com
Comment by Mary Ann — April 7, 2007 @ 12:29 pm
Citizens want something that says we have a brighter future here. The Pet Food Industry is still failing miserably right to this very moment as they continue to maintain a bunker mentality-wall of silence, only to flip flop around the issues when some citizen reporter breaks another story that jolts them awake and leads to another recall.
Comment by Steve — April 7, 2007 @ 12:30 pm
That block that WalMart does blocked a St. John’s Wort purchase at the pharmacy checkout about a month ago.
I searched & searched for recall info on it, but found nothing. They eneded up saying that they didn’t know why the block happened.
It’s a good system, but flawed….
kat
Comment by Kat — April 7, 2007 @ 12:34 pm
Comment by Mary Ann — April 7, 2007 @ 12:29 pm
No doubt. And saying “it’s pretty safe” isn’t going to cut it.
Comment by Steve — April 7, 2007 @ 12:39 pm
I don’t have cable, but just found CNN TV & CNN Radio. They were talking about the recall when I first tuned in:
http://www.cnn.com/audio/radio/cnntv.html
http://www.cnn.com/audio/radio/winmedia.html
Comment by Kat — April 7, 2007 @ 12:52 pm
The Wal-Mart system works only if EACH can of food is scanned. There was a story in my local newspaper that someone bought recalled food and the register only caught a couple cans because not every can was scanned. That person’s dog ended up sick and at the vet’s. This is not a good system! The food needs to be removed. It is poor management that the manager of Wal-Mart did not mark the food as recalled and that he did not inform his employees.
Comment by Cindy — April 7, 2007 @ 1:36 pm
Like I said on an earlier post, it isn’t perfect for all the reasons described here. But I still give them credit for using IT instead of counting on bleary-eyed stockers at 2am to know all the newest lot numbers. Much as we’d like them not to, mistakes happen.
Of course, if the recall had been done right, we might not have had to worry about the latest lot numbers.
Comment by Laura — April 7, 2007 @ 1:55 pm
seems to me a system could be developed where retailers could go onto the FDA site and dowload the lot numbers that would automatically block recalled items. you could probably program computers to auto scan. i know my mac auto scans for system updates and alerts me. just a thought . . .
Comment by straybaby — April 7, 2007 @ 1:59 pm
cnn at 4 pm will have a vet on
Comment by Mary Ann — April 7, 2007 @ 2:00 pm
If your vet sells Hills products (Science Diet), do not take any nutrition advice from them. Contrary to what I thought at first, there are few veterinarians who are dog nutrionists. Many veterinarians are offered incentives when they sell Science Diet or other commercial pet foods in their clinics. There are only a handful of vets, that are willing to give up these incentives and tell you the truth about the dog food industry. Science Diet, and any other commercial pet food (Iams, Eukanuba, Purina, etc..) are lower quality foods. Question the objectivity of any vet in the news or other that tell you otherwise.
Do not buy any commercial pet foods,’premium’ foods are almost as bad as any grocery brand dog food. The commercial dog food industry has made gazillions of money turning their production waste into dog food, and selling this at a ‘premium’ price. Advertising and the media, controlled by the corporate giants such as Proctor and Gamble (Iams), Colgate-Palmolive (Hills Pet Nutrition), and Heinz (9 lives, Kibbles –n-bits) are key players, and cover up that the dog food industry is really an extension of the human food and agriculture industries. Anything that the pet food distributor does not add to the food themselves, does not have to be put on the label.
Do not trust dog food labels. They tell you to look at the first five ingredients, and if the first one is a meat such as ‘chicken’ or ‘lamb’ then it is supposed to be good. It is not. There are many contrived rules to pet food labeling, ingredients are listed in order of their weight. It takes hours to understand how to properly read a label. For example, According to US Coast Guard regulations Fish Meal not destined for human consumption has to be preserved with ethoxyquin, but since this comes from the distributor, you won’t find it on the final label.
The safest thing you can do for your pet, is to switch to an organic food that guarantees they only use human-grade ingredients. Then supplement that with home-cooked ingredients and meats. Contact a dog nutritionist to get a consultation for your dog- you can get this done for under $50. You will save on vet bills in the end.
Comment by Elizabeth — April 7, 2007 @ 2:20 pm
I saw the vet one this a.m. and the vet suggested that we avoid pet foods with wheat gluten in them.
Linda MS
Comment by Linda — April 7, 2007 @ 2:38 pm
Comment by Elizabeth — April 7, 2007 @ 2:20 pm
I’m starting to wonder if the labeling isn’t part of the problem. All these dogs who’ve been sickened or worse by foods that allegedly don’t contain wheat gluten - what if some did? I heard something on another string about the FDA allowing manufacturers to “switch out” grain products without changing their labeling.
We’ve all heard about how much more expensive corn has gotten, thanks to the ethanol market. Is there any chance Iams or other dry producers used wheat gluten as opposed to the corn listed on the label? Because otherwise, what we’re hearing from the FDA and what we’re seeing here just don’t jibe.
Does anyone remember the info about switching grains? Please post if you do.
Comment by Laura — April 7, 2007 @ 2:54 pm
Elizabeth, I think you are on to soemthing. The practice of substituting grains has become a fine art in the livestock feed industry. Most of the big producers have computer programs which will come up with the cheapest mix of components on a given date that will meet the nutritional analysis of a given feed. I’ve been feeding my horses Blue Seal feeds for years because they sell a consistent feed regardless of the price fluctuations on particular grains - but the price I pay for the feed varies week to week. I did pick up some of their organic dog food today - they at least SEEM to be a fairly reliable source.
Comment by Susanne — April 7, 2007 @ 4:18 pm
The Baltimore Sun
April 7, 2007
More oversight of pet food urged
Scare spurs advocates to seek safeguards as concerns over safety of food supply deepen.
WASHINGTON // Galvanized by an unprecedented pet food scare that has killed at least 16 dogs and cats, pet owners and their advocates have begun campaigns nationwide urging members to demand that government and industry take steps to prevent such dangerous episodes.
On its Web site, the Pet Connection has posted an advocacy guide under the heading, “Turn emotion into action.” The first order of business, it says, should be a congressional investigation that produces a full report. It also demands labels providing phone numbers for consumers to call and the country of origin for ingredients.
more. . . .
http://tinyurl.com/22h6cd
Comment by Steve — April 7, 2007 @ 4:33 pm
New Jersey On-Line
Bill puts pet food industry on hook
Friday, April 06, 2007
By Trish G. Graber
TRENTON In reaction to recent pet food recalls prompted by the poisoning deaths of pets across the country, a state lawmaker Thursday announced plans to craft legislation that would hold responsible companies that distribute tainted foods.
Under the proposal, pet food manufacturers would be required to certify with the state that their products are safe and free of contaminants.
“Having pet food producers officially declare pet food safe for consumption’ sets a legally binding standard,” said Assemblyman Reed Gusciora, D-Mercer County, who is proposing the legislation. “If producers fail to live up to their declarations, then the state has a clear course of legal action to hold them accountable.”
The measure, to be called “The Pet Food Safety Act,” comes after Ontario-based Menu Foods Inc. pulled 42 brands of cat food and 53 brands of dog food late last month following reports that 13 cats and one dog died after eating their products nine of those cats during routine taste trials conducted by the company, according to the Food and Drug Administration.
more. . .
http://tinyurl.com/2cfqys
Comment by Steve — April 7, 2007 @ 4:37 pm
This comment posted by Russell is one thing that might explain why foods that arent on the recall list maybe affected. I have “talked” with him via e:mail & he and his vet are notifying FDA amongst others:
Hi all. Distressed to be here at all, but glad for the opportunity to share. I kept abreast of all the recall lists and continued to feed both my two-and-a-half year-old feline brothers the canned products from Nutro Max Cat Gourmet Classics (which were not, and are still not, on the list). My precious boys are now both in the vet hospital getting three days of IV fluids to try and flush out toxins and stave off any additional kidney damage after tests revealed higher than normal levels of all indicators. My boys have been poisoned.
THE LIST IS NOT COMPLETE. THE LIST IS MISLEADING. DO NOT TRUST THE LIST.
I believe that we are still at the tip of the iceberg with this crisis. Now that we have gone through a period of catastrophic reactions to direct poisonings in high doses, I feel sure that we will begin to see many, many more lower-level toxicity cases as a result of “associated tainting” of foods and food products which may have been processed on shared machines or production resources (like the peanut warnings for human products which contain no peanuts but were made on shared equipment). This would mean, perhaps, that the poison is not being delivered to the animal from one particular batch in total, but by possibly many batches over time in very small - even infinitesimal - amounts. Perhaps the toxicity builds up in the animals’ system until it reaches a critical point where functional debilitation ensues. Of course, I could be utterly mistaken about this, but if it is a possibility, it will make the identification of - and responsibility for - specific foods and products nearly impossible.
The fact that Nutro has failed to include ALL of their products on the list is nothing short of criminal. I am interested in anyone else who is interested in or has knowledge of a class action suit against Nutro.
THE LIST IS NOT COMPLETE. THE LIST IS MISLEADING. DO NOT TRUST THE LIST.
Comment by Russell — April 6, 2007 @ 9:16 pm
Comment by Sandi K — April 7, 2007 @ 4:45 pm
Earlier there was a mixup with more than one Linda posting under the name “Linda” Now there seems to be a new Elizabeth who has joined us. I have been posting on the site for several weeks with the name elizabeth—small “e”. So as not to confuse readers or to be either credited for or dinged with something I did not actually write I will henceforth use the submission signoff elizabeth R.
Comment by elizabeth — April 7, 2007 @ 5:06 pm
Wal-Mart Sources,Inc. 4/5/2007
Wal-Mart is teaming with Vetinary Nutritionist Dr Sean Delaney from Univ Calif Davis to provide consumers with food solutions.
Scott McCall Senior VP of Wal-Mart.
it goes on to state: many pet owners are dealing with irritable animals of late as they search for alternative solutions for their pets that are accustomed to a specific variety of foods.
Katie
Comment by Katie — April 7, 2007 @ 5:59 pm
elizabeth, Laura:
If the label says wheat gluten, it’s wheat gluten. If the label says wheat middlings, it’s wheat middlings. If the label says corn gluten, it’s corn gluten. If the label says wheat (nonspecific) they can add any form of wheat. At least this is how I understand it - truth in labeling act applies to all products. For example, they can’t sell previously frozen meat without stating that it was previously frozen without breaking the law.
The caveat on all of this is that any pet food company can change the formulation and don’t have to change the label for 6 months.
Comment by CathyA — April 7, 2007 @ 6:17 pm
When I was in Petsmart a week ago their registers were stopping recalled products. How do I know? Because a couple of their Authority brand cat food cans were stopped. I still bought the others cans that weren’t on the list. After getting home I got so uneasy I returned them all.
Now any soft food will be what I make. No more canned anything.
For dry I’ve switched the cats to Felidae. They’re not real happy about this but they are eating and none are ill.
Comment by Shannon — April 7, 2007 @ 6:39 pm
“FDA Update and Synopsis on the Pet Food [b]Outbreak[/b]”
Ahem. “Outbreaks” occur with contagious diseases… but this is a food contamination event :rolleyes:
Great Job, Sunnie, keep it up….
Comment by David — April 7, 2007 @ 7:25 pm
Oh great. This is all we need.
Check out this ad.
http://tinyurl.com/2b8pv7
Comment by Steve — April 7, 2007 @ 8:40 pm
What about those “frequent buyer cards”? I was in Petsmart this weekend and they asked me if I wanted to join their program. I asked them if they called everyone on their program list that purchased recalled food. Their response? They found out when they came in to buy more. How comforting. Perhaps, rather than using it to track purchases for marketing purposes, they could also use it to alert their good customers of potential problems. Or, maybe they didn’t want to alert their customers that they actually sold most of the recalled products….
Comment by Deb — April 7, 2007 @ 8:41 pm
Melamine
Here are some other Names for this chemical http://tinyurl.com/27te6q listed below.
02284 (CA DPR Chem Code) , 1,3,5-Triazine-2,4,6-triamine , 108-78-1 (CAS Number) , 108781 (CAS Number) , 2,4,6-triamino-1,3,5-triazine , 2,4,6-triamino-s-triazine , 2284 (CA DPR Chem Code) , 777201 (US EPA PC Code) , Cyanuramide , Cymel , Cyromazine breakdown product , Melamine , S-triaminotriazine , Tiaminotriazine
I picked 1,3,5-Triazine-2,4,6-triamine for further research, and came across this http://tinyurl.com/2czdlz) a study done at Cornell using Cyromazine on a Dog-feeding study for 6 months with no NOEL no-observable-effects-level…daily exposure estimates to a Reference Dose (RfD) of 0.0075 mg/kg body weight/day.
Will somebody who has the background for this please take a look and see if it is relevant for us.
Comment by DeeAnn — April 7, 2007 @ 8:45 pm
IS it just in whaet gluten can you say 100 percent??? or in any other pet food ingredient?? Our pets SAFTEY is #1!
Comment by kelly B — April 7, 2007 @ 8:53 pm
Elizabeth, I don’t agree with completely avoiding pet commercial foods. Premium are not almost as bad as the grocery store brands. You have to know what you are looking for and you need to look at all the ingredients listed. I for one am very happy with my dogs food and I notice that she is thriving on it. I don’t trust any industry, I can only feel comfortable about certain brands of dog food and human food. Nobody truly knows what they are eating unless they grow it or farm their own products. Buying meat from a grocery stores doesn’t guarantee there’s nothing else in it.
Comment by Eskie Lover — April 7, 2007 @ 11:54 pm
The study is showing at what concentrations do the doses have any affect on the animal using and at what dosages does the harm occur so they can regulate the safest amount to use that won’t cause harmful side affects.
Comment by Eskie Lover — April 7, 2007 @ 11:59 pm
From what I gathered from it, if it’s below a certain dosage it’s unlikely to do harm to humans that are exposed to it one way or another. So in low doses it’s not harmful. As far as me figuring out what type of dosage was safe, I couldn’t really tell.
“The maternal toxicity NOEL was determined to remain at
100 mg/kg/day with a LOEL of 300 mg/kg/day based on increased incidence of clinical observations and decreased body weight gain. However, reevaluation of the data determined that the developmental toxicity NOEL was 300 mg/kg/day with a LOEL of 600 mg/kg/day due to the observations of increased incidence
of minor skeletal variations.”
That tells you the dosages that can be harmful to humans. It also says that humans don’t consume that much in a day so it won’t cause a problem.
“A chronic dietary exposure/risk assessment for the proposed use on mushrooms based on tolerance residue levels of 10 ppm was performed. This chronic analysis compared daily exposure estimates to a Reference Dose (RfD) of 0.0075 mg/kg body weight/day based on a no-observable-effects-level (NOEL) of 0.75 mg/kg body weight /day and an uncertainty factor of 100. The NOEL is based on a 6-month dog-feeding study which demonstrated decreased
hematocrit and hemoglobin levels.”
What I got from it was that .75mg showed no affects in dogs.
Can someone clarify better though. I could only understand a little bit of it. What I got from it was that it was basically to determine the human amount that can be allowed before it becomes toxic.
Comment by Eskie Lover — April 8, 2007 @ 12:19 am
I found this study at
http://www.emea.eu.int/pdfs/vet/mrls/060699en.pdf
It mentions specific results in dogs n both a 6 month and a 12 month study - Number 5 and number 6 in the article.
Comment by Margaret Bridge — April 8, 2007 @ 1:17 am
CYROMAZINE TOXICITY
http://www.emea.eu.int/pdfs/vet/mrls/060699en.pdf
I just “love” how certain sections claim this is non-teratogenic and non-toxic in those instances.
Comment by Lynn — April 8, 2007 @ 2:08 am
If you go to this website
http://www.pesticideinfo.org/Search_Chemicals.jsp
and type in Melamine,
———————————————————————-
Scroll down to the very bottom of the Melamine page where it says:
Related Chemicals Heading——for Melamine—-and it shows Cyromazine as a Parent chemical and Melamine is a breakdown product of the parent chemical. Cyromazine metabolizes to Melamine.
———————————————————————-
Here is a study showing Cyromazine/Melamine not being fatal/toxic to dogs.
http://www.epa.gov/EPA-PEST/19.....p24047.htm
In a 6-month feeding study in dogs the NOAEL was 30 ppm (0.75 mg/ kg). The LOAEL was 300.0 ppm (7.5 mg/kg) based upon decreased hematocrit and decreased hemoglobin. Groups of male and female beagle dogs (4/sex/dose) were fed diets containing cyromazine at 0, 30, 300, or 3,000 ppm (0, 0.75, 7.5, or 75 mg/kg/day, respectively) for 6- months. No treatment related effects were observed in survival, clinical signs or body weight parameters. Pronounced effects on hematologic parameters, were manifested as decreases in hematocrit and hemoglobin levels at 300 and 3,000 ppm.
———————————————————————-
The FDA said a few days ago Melamine was probably a marker for something else.
———————————————————————-
Cyromazine is used on Celery Head Lettuce Leaf Lettuce Spinach Onions Tomatoes and a lot of other things. It is a known ground water Contaminant.
http://www.pesticideinfo.org/D.....Id=PC33510
———————————————————————-
It appears Melamine on its own is not a strong contender, unless, maybe the levels were way up there.
Comment by DeeAnn — April 8, 2007 @ 2:34 am
Wal-Mart is still the same old cheap, obsessed with profits company it always was. Who’s this quack they hired?
Carib Journal
Pet Food Recall: What’s Happening?
April 2007 Ann Baker [Staff Writer]
On Friday, Wal-Mart revealed that it has teamed with veterinarian and nutritionist Dr. Sean Delaney to provide consumers pet food solutions.
“Here at Wal-Mart, we acted quickly and responsibly on the related advice from the FDA and know it’s been a confusing time for pet owners,” said Scott McCall, senior vice president of Wal-Mart. “We also want to help our customers, not only feel confident in the pet food choices they make, but find solutions that work for them and their pets.”
…
“Wal-Mart’s efforts to provide safe and easy options for feeding pets are very helpful for pet lovers,” said Dr. Delaney. The accredited veterinarian and nutritionist suggests a few common sense tips that may make the transition more enjoyable for both pets and their human families.
With many pet owners transitioning their pets in recent days from wet pet food varieties to dry selections, Dr. Delaney recommends adding one cup of warm water to each cup of dry food to make the food more appetizing for the pet. This will safely increase the moisture level to the amount found in most canned foods and help pets become more quickly accustomed to the transition. This strategy will also help the dry food mimic the pet’s former wet food and using warm water will help release aromas that can improve palatability.
BUT WAIT A MINUTE… this is what the Animal Protection Institute recommends… don’t add water:
Although the cooking process kills bacteria in the ingredients, the final product can pick up more bacteria during the subsequent drying, coating, and packaging process. Some experts warn that getting dry food wet can allow the bacteria on the surface to multiply and make pets sick. Do not mix dry food with water, milk, canned food, or other liquids.
From “Get The Facts: What’s Really in Pet Food” at http://www.api4animals.org/facts?p=359&more=1
Comment by Carolyn — April 8, 2007 @ 5:27 am
IF YOU CAN’T WET DRY DOG FOOD WHY DO THEY SELL IAMS SAVORY GRAVY SAUCE IN A BOTTLE TO PUT ON TOP OF THE IAMS DRY DOG FOOD? SO THIS MEANS NO GRAVY? WHY DO THEY SELL IT?
Comment by Georgeann Heckman — April 8, 2007 @ 7:32 am
RE: POSTING by Russel via Sandy K.
I too believe that the list is very incomplete!
I have posted again and again that my old freind Brandy had all of the symtoms attributed to aminopterin poisoning after eating just 11 cans of Sprout Beef Cuts & Gravy. She was too sick to eat after that. While that food is on the list her lot exp date was Oct 25 09.
I reported this to the FDA and the man took all of the information and asked me to hold the cans for pickup and testing. That was one week ago last Friday. On taking all of her information down he agreed that it certainly tended to support the idea that all of the lots had not been identified yet nor were the actual agents causing the illnesses.
Could she have been sick for some other reason? There is always that possibility, yes. But what are the odds?
The lot list has grown and grown from the first day. Then they announced that this was due to a change in suppliers now identified as Chem Nutra and that the first shipment was used in production on December 3rd. Now they advise that it was first used on November 8th. Yet many of the products on the list still do not identify lots earlier than January.
The entire list has been a moving target from day one.
One other note: I could not help but notice that the list as published on howl911.com is grossly out of date. They need to get that corrected or people may have a false sense of confidence about known recalled product that even the ever shifting Menu list identifies as bad!
Comment by Bernard J. (Bernie) Starzewski — April 8, 2007 @ 9:07 am
How do we get the media to stop repeating the canard that this contaminated food “has killed at least 16 dogs and cats”? I think it is well established that hundreds of dogs and cats have died and thousands have be permanently diabled - yet we keep reading this minimizing language that undercuts the efforts of concerned pet owners across the country.
Even if they can’t write difinitively that the hundreds that are alleged to have died did so from the contaminated food, because it hasn’t been proven by independent testing, they could be writing “suspected to have” and in doing so give a more representative picture of the impact that this disaster has had on the people and pet owners affected.
It just drives me crazy to read, this long after all the information has been disseminated, reports that downplay the scope of the damage that has been done.
Comment by Gail B — April 8, 2007 @ 11:32 am
The 3 Dr. practice I work in has been seeing an increased number of ‘upset tummy’ cases, pets with vomiting, diarrhea, kidney and liver failure for at least a month prior to the recall announcement. This is normally our ‘slow’ season, and we’ve been anything but SLOW. Just last Sat, we had 10 walk-in cases alone, and that’s an unusually high amount of walk-ins for one day at our practice, which is a vet hospital.
I would definitely continue a vigil on the recalled foods and the available foods, but keep in mind, that it is still difficult to determine, with accuracy, if the food is the culprit in many cases. We can only attribute 2-3 cases we’ve seen to recalled food, and those have been reported to the FDA.
Comment by I work for a Vet — April 8, 2007 @ 3:22 pm
RE: Adding water to dry food
Comment by Carolyn — April 8, 2007 @ 5:27 am
Most people let food sit around half a day if pets don’t eat it. If you wet the food and dog eats it all, that’s fine.
Comment by CathyA — April 8, 2007 @ 4:49 pm
RE: Recall list out of date
Comment by Bernard J. (Bernie) Starzewski — April 8, 2007 @ 9:07 am
I think she has a sick kitty. People keep asking for more and more from those who have put in hours for days on end. Ease up. Be nice. Be ashamed.
Comment by CathyA — April 8, 2007 @ 4:53 pm
I BEG TO DIFFER WITH WALMART PLACING A nationwide block on all recall products at their checkout scanners as an extra precaution BECAUSE I JUST BOUGHT DOG FOOD THAT WAS RECALLED FROM THE ELIZABETHON, TN. WALMART TODAY!!! SO THE BEST ADVICE I CAN GIVE IS TO WATCH WHAT YOU BUY YOUR PETS. BECAUSE THEY ARE CARELESS. IT HAS TWICE WITH TWO DIFFERENT BRANDS.
Comment by christen Padgett — April 8, 2007 @ 8:48 pm