This pet food recall has everyone scared, but fear won't help your pets. Be armed with knowledge.
The recall is widespread. I just opened up the lists of brands -- for dogs (50 brands) and for cats (40 brands). The lists do cover many flavors, sizes and even packaging -- cans and pouches. With Iams and Eukanuba -- two giants -- you have to go through their Web sites to find the affected foods.
Forget calling the hot lines -- interest is high and word is that it's tough to get through. Be prepared to track down information yourself.
Go to your shelves or whereever you keep your pet food. The details you're looking for -- flavor, size, product number -- are on the Web sites and they tell you where to find the product number on the packaging.
Local vet Dr. Jim Berg told The News Journal that a good way to check the quality of a pet's food is to check the ingredients label. He said if dog food lists its main ingredients as non-animal byproducts, it is a lower-quality dog food because dogs do better when they get a majority of their proteins from animals.
If you think something is wrong with your pet, follow the advice that Berg and local vet Kathryn Stoltzfus gave in today's News Journal story: See a veterinarian immediately if the animal shows any signs of kidney failure, such as vomiting. And discontinue using the pet food. Other signs to watch for: increased water intake, increased volumes of urination, unwillingness to eat and lethargy.
There are plenty of brands not on the recall list -- Science Diet has only five flavor/sizes of cat food listed and I didn't see Fancy Feast on the cat list. Some stores are removing unlisted brands as a precaution. Ask at any pet store - Concord Pet is open on Sundays - and they'll likely recommend a temporary replacement.
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6 comments:
I had to have my cat put down three weeks ago. He wasn't even a year old yet, and had been eating Special Kitty food from Walmart for the past several months. He started throwing up and had very little energy. I took him to the vet where a blood test was done. His counts were off the chart. An ultra sound showed there was something wrong with his kidneys. The vet took him to the emergency hospital. More blood tests were done the next day and his counts were not coming down. He had a seizure and it was decided that he was not going to get better, his kidneys were too far gone, so, I had to make the choice to put him to sleep. That was not an decision to make, but the vet said it was the right one. I finally got through to the company. I still had several pouches of food left, thinking I would use it whenever I got another cat. Every date I gave them off the pouch I was told that one wasn't included in the recall. Those particular pouches were bought a week before JC died. He had been on that food for several months. Now I just wait to hear from the company to see what will do.
I'd like to know what they put in this stuff to cause Kidney failure, and way the same company that makes Ole Roy makes the premium food I get!!!!
I had to put my cat down on February 17th, he had not been feeling well for several days, and on his last day he kept falling over, and his tongue was hanging out. I took him immediately to the vet and he was jaudice, and his blood count was down to 10, and his kidneys were failing, and he had lost two lbs. since his last visit in January. The vet did several tests to rule out a few things, but felt any more testing wouldn't help to keep our pet alive. We had to decide then to put him to sleep, or keep him suffering just to keep him with us.
The idea of his food never entered our mind at the time, but how else could a cat be healthy one day and so sick a few days later.
Ole Roy is NOT premium food, no matter what walmart tells you. Just ask your vet.
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 a natural 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.
- Elizabeth
Hi. I just stumbled on your blog and found it very interesting. I wanted to let you know that I found a website that is giving away free samples of a pet food that is made by Life's Abundance. It's derived from organically fed animals and has no wheat or wheat by-products. The site is http://www.precious-pets-paradise.com and you can get it from there.
My dog loves it and I feel much safer giving my pet something that is so natural and is not on the recall list! Thought you might want to know! Bob
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