pet connection

After hearing about a recent PetSmart recall of beef hoove chews contaminated with salmonella from the indefatigable Therese Kopiwoda at PetSitUSA, I found myself launching into one of my regularly scheduled rants about “voluntary” recalls.

Every freaking press release, from industry or from FDA, uses that same meaningless phrase: a “voluntary recall” — as if there’s any other kind, considering that the FDA doesn’t have mandatory recall authority.

And then I was caught mid-rant when something completely different popped into the old email inbox: a warning from the FDA that no one should buy other treats made by the same company that manufactured the treats in the PetSmart recall, because they, too, were probably contaminated with salmonella:

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is issuing this health alert to warn consumers not to use Pig Ears and Beef Hooves pet treats manufactured by Pet Carousel because the products may be contaminated with Salmonella. The products were distributed nationwide in both bulk and retail packaging for sale in pet food and retail chain stores. Pet Carousel is based in Sanger, Calif.

The products were manufactured under conditions that facilitate cross-contamination within batches or lots. Although no illnesses associated with these products have been reported, the FDA is advising consumers in possession of these products to not handle or feed them to their pets.

The affected pig ear products were packaged under the brand names Doggie Delight and Pet Carousel. The affected beef hooves were packaged under the brand names Choo Hooves, Dentley’s, Doggie Delight, and Pet Carousel. All sizes and all lots of these products made by Pet Carousel are included in this alert.

During September 2009, the FDA conducted routine testing of pig ears made by Pet Carousel. The test results detected a positive reading for Salmonella. This prompted an FDA inspection of Pet Carousel’s manufacturing facilities. During the inspection, the agency collected additional pet treat samples. Further analysis found Salmonella present in beef hooves, pig ears and in the manufacturing environment.

I guess a “health alert” is about as strong an action as our current FDA can take. Which raises the question: When will Pet Carousel issue a “voluntary” recall of its own?

However much the “voluntary” thing makes my head explode, at least PetSmart sent out a press release and recalled the treats. Good for them. Of course I’d rather they weren’t selling contaminated treats in the first place (and I bet they do, too), but bad things do happen, and the way you tell the good businesses from the bad is how they react when they do.

A lesson everyone in the pet food industry should take to heart. The sooner the better.

Although I’m not exactly holding my breath.

A cat in Iowa contracted the H1N1 influenza virus — the so-called “swine flu” — from his stricken family members. This is the first confirmed feline case of the disease, previously thought to affect only humans, birds and pigs.

There has also been a confirmed case in at least one ferret. While the ferret case isn’t too surprising — ferrets are notoriously susceptible to influenza viruses — the cat’s illness is causing concern among veterinarians and cat owners.

The American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) sent out a letter to its member veterinarians an hour and a half ago, informing them of the feline case. They also posted a public announcement on their website:

A cat in Iowa has tested positive for the 2009 H1N1 influenza virus, state officials confirmed this morning, marking the first time a cat has been diagnosed with this strain of influenza.

The cat, which has recovered, is believed to have caught the virus from someone in the household who was sick with H1N1. There are no indications that the cat passed the virus on to any other animals or people.

Prior to this diagnosis, the 2009 H1N1 influenza virus had been found in humans, pigs, birds and ferrets.

The American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) and the American Association of Feline Practitioners (AAFP) are reminding pet owners that some viruses can pass between people and animals, so this was not an altogether unexpected event. Pet owners should monitor their pets’ health very closely, no matter what type of animal, and visit a veterinarian if there are any signs of illness.

The AVMA is actively tracking all instances of H1N1 in animals and posting updates on our Web site at www.avma.org/public_health/influenza/new_virus.

Pet Connection’s Dr. Tony Johnson acknowledges the concern that many people may feel about this, but asks them not to over-react. “The humans who gave the virus to their cat, and the cat, all recovered,” he said. “And there is no evidence H1N1 goes from cats to people; it was the other way around.”

I asked him why, if a virus can be passed from humans to cats, we shouldn’t be worried it can pass the other way, too.

“The answer is, we don’t know for sure,” he told me. “But sometimes a virus can make a host sick, but not reproduce and become infectious in that host. So far there is no evidence that this virus can be passed from cats to humans, although that doesn’t mean it can’t.”

The bottom line: “Think about this critically, and don’t make knee-jerk reactions,” he said. “Common sense and a cool head are better than flipping out and putting your cat out with the garbage.”

The AVMA said that owners who have the flu should try to avoid close contact with their cats. If your cat shows signs of respiratory illness, seek immediate veterinary care.

We’ll update as more information is available.

I’ve been asked to discuss my SFGate.com column about Michael Vick and what he did to his dogs on the radio show Live from the Left Coast with Angie Coiro — I guested, along with Marion Nestle, on her show about the most recent Nutro pet food recalls earlier this year — this evening at around 6:40 PM Pacific Time.

You can listen to the show in the San Francisco Bay Area at 960 AM, or on the Internet at www.green960.com.

They also run an open discussion during the show as well, at www.lftlc.com/live.

Hope you can tune in!

It’s the one law I keep coming back to as something I could get behind: Ban discrimination against pet owners in housing. And now I have some solid data to back up the fight.

The Petsavers Foundation conducted a study of the housing market for pet owners, and among their many findings were these:

The data suggests there is little if any difference in damage between tenants with and without pets. The biggest difference between damage from tenants with pets and those without was under $40, with an average of $323 in damage for tenants without pets and an average of $362 for tenants with pets. This was not a statistically significant difference (meaning that the difference is quite possibly due to random variation in the data rather than any real difference) and the amount is very small when compared to the extra deposit, rent, and other benefits received from renting pet-friendly housing.

Interestingly the $40 (at most) difference in damages for tenants with pets was much smaller than the difference found for tenants with children. Tenants with children on average had $150 more damage than tenants without children. If housing is divided into four categories based on whether children and/or pets are present, then for housing with children the people with pets caused on average $4 less damage. For housing with no children, the people with pets caused on average $25 less damage. In other words, when having children is accounted for, people with pets did not cause any more damage whatsoever on average than people without pets.

There’s a lot more, inc luding some measurable financial benefits to landlords who allow pets that, as noted above, actually outweigh the $40 loss in extra damage.

Since housing problems are the main reason people give up their pets, and it appears that landlords’ reluctance to rent to pet owners has no rational basis, what do you think? Should there be a law?

The closure of the Bay Bridge here in San Francisco has made our city streets impassable and probably prevented a fairly large number of the Humane Society of the United States’ natural constituency as well as their foes from turning up tonight.

I’ll be liveblogging the town hall meeting, so just a couple of reminders: This is live, so there will be typos. Only things in quotations marks are direct quotes; everything else is a paraphrase. I’ll update now and then, so if you come across this post while the event is still in progress, just hit “refresh” to see new material.

Here we go. :)

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