WARNING - PET FOOD RECALL
At River Ridge Veterinary Hospital we are committed to bringing you the most up-to-the-minute information about pet health. On March 17, 2007 breaking news surfaced regarding the recall of over 16 million cans and pouches of many brands of pet food from various manufacturers. Resources are speculating that during the manufacturing process there was contamination of one or more of the ingredients used to make many different pet foods. It is not yet known where or when this happened; however, all the affected foods appear to contain an ingredient supplied by the distributor Menu Foods. Currently, the ingredient wheat gluten is the highest on the suspect list of contaminated ingredients, but it has not been definitively identified at this time.
The pet food contaminant, whatever it may be, causes kidney damage, kidney failure and in some cases death. It can also cause gastrointestinal upset. Symptoms of kidney failure are increased thirst and urination, decreased appetite, lethargy and vomiting. If your pet has symptoms of kidney failure, make an appointment to bring your pet in immediately. In cases where the toxicity is caught early and treated aggressively, the animal may recover.
This recall does not involve any dry or kibble-type foods. If you feed only dry food to your pet, no change is necessary at this time.
The types of foods involved are:
· Cuts & Gravy style canned and foil pouch of both dog and cat foods.
· Affected lots appear to have been in circulation during the months of December 3, 2006 – March 6, 2007. There have been reports of problems from every region of the US and Canada.
Popular brands involved include:
· Eukanuba
· Iams
· Cadillac
· Nutro and NutroMax
· Ol’ Roy
· Numerous store brands, such as Walmart and SafeWay brand foods
· A full listing of all affected brands and links to specific lot or serial numbers can be found at:
http://www.menufoods.com/recall/index.html
If you are a client and wish our assistance in determining whether your food is on the list, you can fax all information regarding the lot numbers of the can/pouches you fed your pets and the brand of food fed to (336) 712-3414 and we will get back to you as soon as possible. However, due to the sheer volume of affected pets and magnitude of this problem, we cannot promise to answer each query quickly, so please try to verify if your product is on the recall list on your own.
If you can confirm that you have fed a product whose serial or lot number or UPC is on the list, please perform the following:
- Save all unopened cans or pouches.
- Find any empty cans or pouches that may still be in your garbage and save them in plastic bags.
- Make an immediate appointment to have your pet examined and kidney function evaluated via laboratory testing.
If you have been feeding one of the foods on the list but have different serial or lot numbers or UPC’s:
- Discontinue feeding these foods since the recall list may be expanded to include batches of food not originally recalled.
- Please save these foods in case they are added to the recall, so that they may be submitted for analysis if indicated.
If your pet has been eating one of the types of foods on the recall list, but you don’t know if they have ever eaten one of the known affected batches, we advise that you make an appointment to have laboratory evaluation of kidney function performed. This appointment should be made immediately if there are any signs of kidney problems, even if you cannot confirm lot or serial numbers as being in the current recall.
At this time we do not know what, if any, costs of diagnostic testing or treatment will be reimbursed by the manufacturer. We require payment at the time of services and recommend that all receipts and product packaging be saved, and associated costs documented. We will cooperate fully in collecting any and all evidence that may be necessary in detecting any link between a pet’s illness and this terrible incident.
Please call us at (336) 712-3413 if you have any further questions regarding the pet food recall.