pet connection

Brava Betsy Saul! I always love it when worthy people are not only recognized for their great work, but get wealthy in the process.   Woman’s Day magazine released their list of 50 Women who are changing the world.  The names include Oprah, Angelina Jolie and Billie Jean King.  Best of all, Betsy Saul!  Betsy’s the founder of petfinder.com, and of course, their work has been an unparalleled success over the years.   The wealthy part?  When Petfinder was bought by Animal Planet three years ago for $35 million.   Further proof that you can do well by doing good! (thanks to Gina for the heads up on this)

Pets helping people: the genetics edition. The Boston Globe tipped me off to work underway to use the genomes of dogs to find cures for human conditions such as obsessive compulsive disorder.  The groundbreaking study, which is a partnership between the Broad Institute, the Cummings Veterinary School at Tufts University, and UMass Medical School, is analyzing dobermans with OCD issues, then looking for analogous “hotspots” in human and canine genetic maps.

“This is exactly where we were hoping to get to,’’ said Elinor Karlsson, a postdoctoral fellow at the Broad Institute, a genetics research center in Cambridge, and coauthor of a paper on the subject. “This is taking a disease that people have had a lot of trouble working with in humans, that seems to be a multigenic and complex psychiatric disease, and using a dog breed to look at something completely new about that disease – something we wouldn’t be able to find in any other species.’’

This is a powerhouse alliance.  When and if results are announced, I’ll report them here.

Fee waivers boost cat adoptions: Makes sense, right?  If you make it more economically attractive to adopt a pet, more pets should get adopted.  Guess what?  It works.   USA Today spotlights the trend, with examples from Maine to Walnut Creek, and Charleston to Salt Lake.  Always reassuring to see common sense approaches triumphant.

Melamine in Chinese milk – again! I know, right?  Just when you thought you’d read the last of melamine showing up in a food-related story out of China, Christie tipped me to a post from Dr. Marion Nestle, which includes a link to the New York Times story.  Melamine was found in pet food out of China in 2007, artificially boosting protein levels.   The next year, it showed up in infant formula in China. Now, a Chinese dairy which was previously implicated in 2008 has been shut down because of contaminated milk powder, found to have high traces of — yes, melamine.   Optimism for long-term improvement may not be warranted yet, as Dr. Nestle points out.

Why?  Maybe Chinese adulterators are getting a double message.  Here are a couple of items I picked up off Chinese news sources on the Internet (Google the names to find the sites):

• Li Changjiang, the director of the inspection agency that failed to deal with the melamine problem, was forced to resign from the agency. He has overcome his disgrace, more or less.  He was just appointed deputy head of a major anti-pornography group.

• Zhao Lianhai organized the parents of victims of the infant formula adulteration to try to get compensation.  He was put under house arrest in November and formally arrested in December.

Sorry, but I’m afraid this problem isn’t going away quickly, and neither are controversies over a lack of government control related to it.   Expect this to reappear in the future, somewhere.

A boy’s best friend, especially against cougars: In British Columbia, a cougar (the big cat, not um, you know) attacked an 11 year old boy.   The family’s golden retriever Angel stepped in, distracted the cougar, and in fact took the brunt of the assault.  And lived!  Loyal reader (and my lead volunteer researcher) Snoopy’s Friend sent me a great link to a heart rending, but ultimately positive story.

The officer fired two rounds into the cougar’s rear end, but the cougar continued its attack.

The officer closed in to within five feet and shot the cougar again, killing it.

Even after it was killed, the cougar’s jaws were clenched on Angel’s face, Forman said.

Angel was silent for a few moments but then took in a big gasp of air and got up.

Best Friends weighs in on TNR for homeless cats:   TNR (trap/neuter/release) might be one of the two or three most contentious pet-related public policy issues  today.    On the heels of a Los Angeles County Superior Court judge’s ruling that bars the city from nominally supporting a TNR policy (and therefore encourages more cats to be killed), Best Friends Animal Society weighed in with a press release, saying TNR helps bird as well as cat populations.  Interim CEO Mike Castle slammed the judge’s decision, saying

“Best Friends believes that the needs of free-roaming community cats and the requirement that municipalities help care for them are best encapsulated in the term ‘community cats,’” asserts Castle.

“The effort to eradicate homeless cats is not only an inhumane, costly approach, it also is futile,” Castle continues. “If killing community cats were the solution, free-roaming cats would be eliminated by now. In fact, catching and killing one group of community cats simply opens that niche for another group of cats.”

Personally, I’m all in favor of an adult discussion on the issue. That’s not to say I’m optimistic it will happen, but it would be nice to give it a shot, right?

Have something to share? Drop it in the comments, or send me an e-mail.

Photo credits: Betsy Saul – Women’s Day.

We know what the drug companies think, and the health care trade organizations, including the AVMA, think. But what do the majority of Americans think about the FDA’s proposed new early alert reporting system for pet food and veterinary drug recalls?

Impossible to say, as only five of us have commented so far, at least, electronically.

If you’re interested in what Pfizer has to say, you can read it here. Also, the American Society of Health System Pharmacists and the Advanced Medical Technology Association.

Then go add your comments. This is the system we all wanted so badly during the 2007 pet food recall. The rolling ketamine recall that’s going on right now is demonstrating the exact same broken process all over again. We have to do better.

Tell the FDA what you think. Review the document here — give your feedback electronically here.

The snowball keeps rolling downhill in the ongoing recall of ketamine, an anesthetic drug used in veterinary practice.

The story began last summer, when the FDA sued Teva Animal Health, the largest manufacturer of generic animal drugs in the United States, after agency inspections turned up adulterated animal drugs.

On Dec. 7, Teva reported to the FDA that it had begun receiving  reports dating back to November that as many as five cats may have died as a result of the affected ketamine. The FDA says it reviewed those reports on Dec. 11, and issued the following announcement on Dec. 21:

Teva Animal Health, Inc. is expanding a nationwide voluntary recall of Ketamine Hydrochloride Injection, USP CIII 100mg/mL in 10mL vials for all lot numbers within their expiration dates to the Veterinary Level. This product had previously been recalled to the distributor level and is being expanded as a result of an increased trend in serious adverse events associated with this product.

Veterinarians who have this product in their possession are instructed to cease using the product immediately and return it to their distributor.

[....] This recall is being conducted as a result of an increased trend in serious adverse events associated with this product, including lack of effect, prolonged effect, and death and involves all lot numbers within expiration.

Teva Animal Health, Inc is voluntarily recalling the aforementioned product. The FDA has been apprised of this action.

The Veterinary Information Network News Service followed up with an in-depth article on Dec. 29, saying that five cats may have died as a result of the compromised drug, and describing a quagmire of unanswered questions, confusing conversations with a Teva representative who refused to identify herself, and conflicting information about just what drugs were or weren’t involved.

From VIN News Service’s Jennifer Fiala:

The expiration dates of the lots range from September 2009 to February 2012, the FDA says. Additionally, the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) warns practitioners not to rely on the Teva brand name to determine whether their ketamine falls under the recall. Rather, the following signs offer a better indication:

* If the lot number is six numeric digits, the product is not part of the recall.
* If the lot number is seven numeric digits, the product should be returned.
* If the lot number starts with 5401, regardless of the number of digits or the presence of letters in the lot code, the product should be returned.

This recall actually began last summer at the distributor level, following the filing of the FDA lawsuit and a subsequent FDA shutdown of Teva’s manufacturing facility in St. Joseph, Missouri.

Fiala’s report also raised the question as to whether Teva was manufacturing ketamine under other labels — a practice reminiscent of the 2007 pet food recall, when surprised pet owners learned that Menu Foods, a company few had ever even heard of, was manufacturing so many foods bearing other manufacturers’ names.

Today, that question was answered: yes, the Teva recall includes other brands, including Fort Dodge, one of the largest names in veterinary drug manufacturing, and that was acquired by Pfizer this fall. (Note: Pfizer is a sponsor of the Pet Connection newspaper feature’s database.)

The FDA’s Center for Veterinary Medicine today told the VIN News Service that affected labels include:

* AmTech Group Inc. Ketamine Hydrochloride Injection, USP, manufactured by IVX Animal Health Inc., St. Joseph, Mo.
* Butler KetaThesia, distributed exclusively by Butler Animal Health Supply, Dublin, Ohio
* Fort Dodge Ketaset, manufactured for Fort Dodge Animal Health, Fort Dodge, Iowa
* VEDCO KetaVed, distributed by Vedco Inc., St. Joseph, Mo.
* Phoenix Ketaject, manufactured for Phoenix Pharmaceutical Inc., St. Joseph, Mo.
* LLOYD Laboratories VetaKet, manufactured for Lloyd Laboratories in Shenandoah, Iowa
* RXV Keta-Sthetic, manufactured for RXVeterinary Products, Westlake, Texas

It’s crucial to note that veterinarians have had as much trouble getting answers about this recall as pet owners have. The problems with ketamine go back several weeks at least, and there’s no estimate how many animal may have been affected, or might be affected in the future — the inevitable outcome of slow, fragmented recalls with partial and often misleading information being dispensed both by industry and government.

It’s not likely there will be more information over the long holiday weekend, but we’ll keep watching the story as it develops. Gina is speaking with Joshua Sharfstein, the FDA Deputy Commissioner leading the agency’s transparency task force, on Monday — hopefully we’ll have more information for you then.

And kudos to Jennifer Fiala at VIN News Service for moving this story today. You can follow them on Twitter, subscribe to their RSS feed, or just plain old check their website to keep up with their coverage. Great work.

The FDA is looking for citizen/consumer input on a proposed early warning system for pet food recalls.

Think you might have something to say about that?

I thought so.

Get yourselves over to this government docket information page and try to decode its secret instructions, and tell them what you think. Or, in a nutshell:

You can submit written or electronic comments by January 29, 2010.

Electronic comments are submitted at http://www.regulations.gov/search/Regs/home.html#submitComment?R=0900006480a741c2, and written comments go to:

Division of Dockets Management (HFA-305)
Food and Drug Administration
5630 Fishers Lane, rm. 1061
Rockville, MD 20852.

Docket number must be included and is:

Docket No. FDA-2008-N-0546

Confoozled? You can try contacting point person Denver Presley Jr. in the Office of Information Management at 301-796-3793.

What do they want from you?

Review the proposed reporting document at this link, and tell them what you think. Don’t just tell them you want the system; take the time to see what they’re considering and give feedback on that.

But it’s not a bad idea to also remind them that pet owners need to know before all the stones are turned if there is a risk to our pets’ health, and FDA’s job is to protect us and our animals, not the pet food or any other industry.

Be gracious.

Christie and I just got off a conference call with the FDA where they introduced a widget to help people report problems with pets foods and find out about recalls. The FDA stressed that the widget is being tried in the area of pet health first, which I guess is as good an acknowlegment as any that pet-owners have proven to be an audience no one dare take lightly. Here’s the widget, and gee, does that cat look familiar to anyone else? (Yes, thanks to the pet food recall, I actually DO know the location of every possible piece of stock photography featuring a dog/cat and pet food.)

The widget’s fine, a good idea. Our concern is what information will improve — or not — with the use of the widget. Currently, we see not only “hidden pullbacks” of products that are never reported to the public, but also recalls that are reported to and by the FDA weeks and even months after the food was pulled off the shelves.

While delayed reporting of toxic product may help to get any that missed the recall off the retailers’ shelves or out of a pet-lover’s cupboard, it’s still not good enough. When a food is suspect enough that the manufacturer knows there’s a problem and the FDA is looking into that problem, we need to know right away, not at the close of the investigation.

In matters of public health, concern over the  ”reputation” of the manufacturer should take a back seat.  When a food is suspect, everyone should know so they can avoid the product until it’s either formally recalled, shown to be safe, or made safe again.

The conference was very short, with one unrelated question from a trade publication and one from me, asking about the problem we have with the reporting of food problems, whether by media release, on the FDA Web site or through a widget. The answer seems to be that the widget is just another way to get the information out, not a way to improve the timeliness of the information — but my follow-up question regarding this didn’t get out before they wrapped everything up.

Look, we sure appreciate any and all efforts to get information out more quickly, but if the quality and timeliness of the information that comes through a cutey-pie widget isn’t any bettter, well … it’s not going to do anyone much good.

We’ve asked to get this question and others answered in a follow-up interview. We’ll let you know what the answer is.