Pet-food recall: AP tries another angle
By Gina Spadafori
April 9, 2007
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Banfield The Pet Hospital seems to have decided they didn’t want to extrapolate their data to suggest a nationwide trend, after all. The AP tries with a new version:
Cases of kidney failure among cats rose by 30 percent during the three months that pet food contaminated with an industrial chemical was sold, one of the nation’s largest chains of veterinary hospitals reported Monday.
Banfield, The Pet Hospital, said an analysis of its database, compiled from records collected by its more than 615 veterinary hospitals, suggests that three out of every 10,000 cats and dogs seen in its clinics developed kidney failure during the time the melamine-contaminated pet food was on the market. There are an estimated 60 million dogs and 70 million cats in the United States, according to the American Veterinary Medical Association.
The veterinary 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 during that period, or a roughly 30 percent increase when compared with background rates. It’s not clear if those animals ate the contaminated food, though it seems likely.
“It has meaning, when you see a peak like that. We see so many pets here, and it coincided with the recall period,” said veterinarian Hugh Lewis, who oversees the mining of Banfield’s database to do clinical studies. The chain continues to share its data with the Food and Drug Administration.
In the three weeks since the first pet food was recalled, Banfield vets have examined 1,605 cats and dogs reported to have eaten the recalled food. That is less than 1 percent of pets examined. Just six of those animals – five cats and one dog – have died.
The Veterinary Information Network, the independent online service for veterinary professionals that counts about half of all small-animal practitioners among its members, doesn’t much like extrapolating their numbers, either, but they did anyway, reporting a range of deaths between 2,000 and 7,000, along with an estimate of the cost of care to pet-owners.
That earlier post is here.
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Important Concern:
Please follow the link on howl911 to doggybling.com concerning Purina Beneful DRY dog food—apparently a number of dogs have died from the food since January. The site had notified Purina and gotten no response, and the food is not on the recall list.
Is anyone else aware of problems with this food?
Comment by carly — April 9, 2007 @ 9:37 pm
Gosh, I guess the numbers are so scary it even scared Banfield? So high it couldnt be true? I think we all know better…..
Comment by Sandi K — April 9, 2007 @ 9:47 pm
Comment by Carly
Lots of local owners in my area are complaining about Purina dry dog and cat food and Nutro Products not on the list and Fancy Feast Elegant Gourmet. And still I’m hearing complaints around the country that stuff is back on the shelves on sale. What gives with that.
Comment by Kathi — April 9, 2007 @ 9:49 pm
I just can’t believe this. When I read this story a couple hours ago I was so happy that some real numbers were getting out. About 25 minutes ago I reread the same damn story but it seemed like a “watered down” version. Yes, the facts are the same (except they leave out the big number of 39,000), but it is a completely different spin. At first I thought I was nuts to react so differently to the same story, glad to see I was not the only one.
Comment by Christi Alcox — April 9, 2007 @ 9:49 pm
Gotta ask - who’s behind the numbers game? Who doesn’t want the truth revealed? Do I smell corporate pressure? Maybe bribery, a little expansion money for your business if you just cooperate with us? Tweak the numbers a little.
Comment by Kathi — April 9, 2007 @ 10:01 pm
Lab finds problem with pet food not on the recall list.
http://www.marinij.com/ci_5630208?source=rss
Comment by Christi Alcox — April 9, 2007 @ 10:07 pm
Think. Who would pressure them to pull back?
Maybe even Banfield. I’ve worked with the CEOs of big companies and sometimes the get cold feet when they think they might piss off other companies. Maybe the didn’t see the ‘percentage’ in given the numbers.
Comment by spocko — April 9, 2007 @ 10:15 pm
There are so many that will not even get counted because we don’t have vet support. I’m 99.9% sure that my dog’s kidney disease is due to the recalled food he ate in December. It was food he usually does not get, but he was on medicine that required food and didn’t want to eat his regular Innova dry, so I fed him all kinds of canned junk food just to get him to eat, including the recalled food.
Because of his other condition, he has frequent lab work done, and his kidneys were fine. A week after he ate the recalled food, suddenly he had kidney disease. The medicine he was on is not known to cause kidney problems, by the way. The vet was shocked and baffled as to why he suddenly had kidney problems, but she claims that if it had been due to the food, he would have had complete kidney failure. I say that’s not necessarily true if you catch it and treat it as fast as we did. He was only 6 and a half years old when he was diagnosed in December, so it certainly wasn’t old age that suddenly caused this.
Because of not having vet support and no longer having proof (I don’t save empty cans for 3 months!), I have not reported my dog’s illness to petconnection’s database or the FDA, since they both need vet info and I know that if they call my vet, she will say it wasn’t due to the food so it doesn’t do any good to report him. I wonder how many others there are that will never be counted due to lack of vet support.
Since he was diagnosed with kidney disease, he has been going to the vet every couple of weeks, at a cost of $200-$300 per visit. He is a certified therapy dog and has had to stop doing therapy work because I’m supposed to keep him as stress-free as possible. This dog has given so much of himself to help others.
I’m lucky, my dog is still with me. But I constantly worry about what the next test results will show. There is no peace of mind anymore, and it will probably be this way for the rest of his life. It’s been very difficult financially too, but I will do anything for this dog. He is my soul mate. I have loved a lot of dogs, but never knew it was possible to love and connect with one as deeply as I have with this one. I can’t have children. He is my child.
Comment by Sandy — April 9, 2007 @ 10:17 pm
In the morning, the country will just see the same old low numbers (5 cats and 1 dog dead) and basically have no idea that this pet food poisoning affected tens of thousands of pets. It’s just sick if you ask me….
Comment by SK. Scott — April 9, 2007 @ 10:20 pm
Comment by Christi Alcox Lab…not on recall list.
Thank you so much for that url. I knew it. My cat was sick just days before recall, puking. She was eating Nutro Natural Choice dry cat and Nutro MaxCat Gourmet Classics Adult Salmon & Whitefish Entree in 3 oz cans. Never on the list. And Nutro never acknowleged it either. My cat didn’t like the stuff anyway so the day of recall I overnight shipped Natural Balance. But I’m thinking of trying raw or something homemade if she wasn’t so darn skeptical of everything in her dish. I can’t blame her for distrusting me or anyone else. She witnessed my daughter’s murder 3 yrs ago and no longer is the same. She probably thinks I’m trying to poison her with that damn food.
Comment by Kathi — April 9, 2007 @ 10:24 pm
well since the original Banfield numbers are posted here and I’m sure other places, I guess it’s time to forward them to CNN, Durbin and others who have been interested in this *problem*. Geeze, who thought it would be so darn hard to get honest reporting in this day and age of the internet! And accountability . . .
Comment by straybaby — April 9, 2007 @ 10:29 pm
Sandy
I hope your baby gets better. My 12 yr shepherd suffered allergies for years. She tested negative for everything and vet said it was probably food. We tried all kinds of foods but she remained miserable. I finally had to let her go last Sept. She developed Degenerative Mylopathy and couldn’t walk. I cared for her nine months carrying her down stairs to go to bathroom. I don’t believe I’ve ever loved anyone as much as I loved that beautiful soul. I sometimes can’t wait to join her. She truly was my best friend.
Comment by Kathi — April 9, 2007 @ 10:40 pm
Comment by Kathi…..
Kathi, I did not realize that someone had posted that same link a little earlier on the “Banfield says 39,000….”” blog. It appears you are not the only one who suspected the canned food even though it was not on the list.
Comment by Christi Alcox — April 9, 2007 @ 10:44 pm
Christi
It was just a “hinky” feeling I had. I also put away Fancy Feast cans the day of recall. Glad I did. I’ve read blogs locally and around the country from their small town newspaper and TV station blogs that other pet owners are complaining about food that is not on the list. I bought the Fancy Feast the day before the recall, but hadn’t used theirs before and thought I might try the new Elegant Gourmet. That’s the very one that people have complained about.
Comment by Kathi — April 9, 2007 @ 10:53 pm
Kathi, I’m so sorry to hear about your dog. What you said, “I don’t believe I’ve ever loved anyone as much as I loved that beautiful soul”, describes exactly how I feel about my dog. People who have not experienced such a feeling don’t understand.
Comment by Sandy — April 9, 2007 @ 10:54 pm
Thank you Sandy
Her name was Chelsea Leigh. I got her when she was 11 months old. She was a Coast Guard Dog until the unit shipped out. She was born on my birthday. I didn’t know that til later. It was definitely love at first sight. She had beautiful amber colored eyes. She saved my life twice. a fire and attempted burglary. It hurt not to be able to save her. I’ve instructed my kids to have our ashes buried together.
Comment by Kathi — April 9, 2007 @ 11:28 pm
Wow, Kathi, our dogs seem to have a lot in common! I got my dog when he was between 10-12 months old. He came from the dog pound so I don’t know his exact birthday, but we celebrate his birthday on May 1 and we also celebrate his “gotcha” day, on the day I adopted him. He’s not a Coast Guard dog, but he does serve his community by being a therapy dog. Like your dog, mine saved my life too when he alerted me during a medical problem, and I have also asked to have us buried together. Your dog sounds like a very special soul.
Comment by Sandy — April 10, 2007 @ 12:30 am
Sandy
I think all of us who have posted could tell very similar stories about the deep love between us and our furry babies. For Christmas after she died an out of state friend asked for a photo of her. Then sent me an ornament she hand made with the photo in Victorian decor. I cried. And it is such a beautiful remembrance of her.
Comment by Kathi — April 10, 2007 @ 12:44 am
“Comment by Sandy — April 9, 2007 @ 10:17 pm”
Report your dog to the petconnection database, even if you don’t have vet support. I think there is a section for comments, and you can describe your vet’s reaction there.
Comment by Pamela J. Betz-Baron — April 10, 2007 @ 5:58 am
Kathi, can you provide links to info on problems with Fancy Feast? At this point there seems to be a lot of .. “I heard from a friend of a friend…” and so on that it is hard to keep facts straight from just paranoia. Our cats were taken off Fancy Feast when this whole thing broke. Then, after being on Blue Buffalo and Merrick’s and having the poops, and on Fromm’s and finding out it is made in China and imported to the US, we decided weeks of testing and Fancy Feast has still not been shown to be tainted, we put them back on it in the meantime. Unfortunately, they do like the crap so very much :( and tend to turn their noses up at most other foods, esp homemade. If there is real info on Fancy Feast problems or 1st person accounts.. I’d like to hear about it.
Thanks
Comment by Scott — April 10, 2007 @ 10:40 am
I just don’t know what to do anymore. I sit here day by day, hour by hour. I’m not getting much of my work done, because of the fear for my kitties. I lost one, one is sick, and the other I had tested 4 weeks ago, and he was fine, but this morning I caught him drinking out of the toilet. As much as I need a good cry, it isn’t going to make anything any better. I just hope all the helpless animals that haven’t made it are together upstairs and living in a “better place”.
Comment by Sharon Gilbert — April 10, 2007 @ 11:00 am
Sharon,
I’m so sorry for your loss and the pain you are going through. So many of us are fretting and want answers but right now everything is up in the air and seems to be getter worse. I wish we could offer more.
Linda MS
Comment by Linda — April 10, 2007 @ 11:02 am
I am so sorry ,sad and angry about all of this.
I have 4 bichons that I cannot seem to get well. What I was doing was feeding them CANIDAE and mixing it with wet food because that is the only way I’ve been able to get them to eat dry food. I switched them about a year ago on CANIDAEafter having problems with there skin being dry. Anyhow one is back and forth at the hospital test after tests ad I have spent thousands of dollars on vet bills. I lov my Little Kids an just want them to be better. I would lie to go to the CEO front door and give them a piece of my mind but what would that solve. I have one Kitty that we rescued a year ago that has always ate dry food thank goodness. She seems to be doing well. There has been so many sytems with my dogs it is unreal. Blood in the Urine, Stool, Vomiting blood, Pus in the stools, depressed,and the list goes on.
Has anyone had any ofthese sytems in their Pets?
And does anyone else use CANIDAE FOOD
Comment by Mary — April 10, 2007 @ 11:09 am
Mary - what wet food were you using? And what treats? CANIDAE claims to not have any wheat or corn in it. “CANIDAE Pet Foods also does not produce cuts and gravies, pouches, and does not contain corn, wheat or soybeans in any of our products or formulations, and all ingredients are of US origin.” I just switched from Nutro dry to CANIDAE. This is the first complaint I have heard of about CANIDAE.
Comment by Ashlee — April 10, 2007 @ 11:58 am