update : emergency pet food recall
March 21, 2007
93 pet food brands have been recalled —
In a recall spanning three countries on the north american continent. The pet foods contain a contaminant that causes kidney failure in both dogs and cats. Kidney failure is fatal. The FDA has received more than 1,000 animal fatality reports in the U.S. to date. Recalled brands so far include :
CAT FOOD BRANDS [42] : Americas Choice, Preferred Pets, Authority, Best Choice, Companion, Compliments, Demoulas Market Basket, Eukanuba, Fine Feline Cat, Food Lion, Foodtown, Giant Companion, Hannaford, Hill Country Fare, Hy-Vee, Iams, Laura Lynn, Li’l Red, Loving Meals, Meijer’s Main Choice, Nutriplan, Nutro Max Gourmet Classics, Nutro Natural Choice, Paws, Pet Pride, Presidents Choice, Price Chopper, Priority US, Save-A-Lot, Schnucks, Science Diet Feline Savory Cuts Cans, Sophistacat, Special Kitty Canada, Special Kitty US, Springfield Prize, Sprout, Stop & Shop Companion, Tops Companion, Wegmans, Weis Total Pet, Western Family US, White Rose, Winn Dixie.
DOG FOOD BRANDS [52] : Americas Choice, Preferred Pets, Authority, Award, Best Choice, Big Bet, Big Red, Bloom, Wegmans Bruiser, Cadillac, Companion, Demoulas Market Basket, Eukanuba, Food Lion, Giant Companion, Great Choice, Hannaford, Hill Country Fare, Hy-Vee, Iams, Laura Lynn, Loving Meals, Meijers Main Choice, Mighty Dog Pouch, Mixables, Nutriplan, Nutro Max, Nutro Natural Choice, Nutro Ultra, Nutro, Ol’Roy Canada, Ol’Roy US, Paws, Pet Essentials, Pet Pride – Good n Meaty, Presidents Choice, Price Chopper, Priority Canada, Priority US, Publix, Roche Brothers, Save-A-Lot, Schnucks, Shep Dog, Springsfield Prize, Sprout, Stater Brothers, Stop & Shop Companion, Tops Companion, Weis Total Pet, Western Family US, White Rose, Winn Dixie, Your Pet
THE LIST OF BRAND NAMES AND PRODUCTS EFFECTED IS EXPANDING DAILY. The contaminated food source originated with Menu Foods, a Canadian pet food manufacturer that supplies pet food ingredients and product for internationally based commercial pet food labels. Distribution includes all of North America including Canada and the U.S. and Mexico.
REPORTED PROBLEM LOTS ARE DATED BETWEEN DECEMBER 3, 2006 AND MARCH 6, 2007. Emphasized food lots include “cuts and gravy” style pet food in cans and pouches.
MENU FOODS : LIST OF RECALLED PET FOODS
FDA : RECALL OF PET FOODS MANUFACTURED BY MENU FOODS, INC.
OTHER IMPORTANT ONLINE SOURCES OF INFORMATION :
ENG TECH : MASSIVE PET FOOD RECALL
FDA : MENU FOODS TESTS KILLED 7 PETS BEFORE RECALL
HOWL 911 : MENU FOODS PET FOOD RECALL
SATYA : WHAT’S REALLY IN PET FOOD? A REPORT BY THE ANIMAL PROTECTION INSTITUTE
PET CONNECTION: HAS YOUR PET BEEN EFFECTED?
IF YOU HAVE RECALLED PET FOOD a Pet Connection PDF sites advice from Dr. Marty Becker :
“Has your pet eaten any of it? If so, call your veterinarian right away even if your pet seems fine,” says Dr. Becker. “Sometimes a pet will look just fine on the outside, but what’s happening on the inside may be an entirely different story. Discuss with your vet whether your pet should have a diagnostic test of kidney function to catch any problem before it’s life-threatening.”
“Today’s tests no longer have to have a pet in renal failure before a problem can be caught. Making sure there’s no problem is an investment in your pet’s health and in your peace of mind,” he says.
If you have a recalled product in your home and your pet hasn’t had any, return it to the place of purchase. Most have indicated they will refund consumer’s money. Contact the store or the company for assistance.
DO NOT JUST THROW THIS STUFF IN THE TRASH. Especially if packaging is open or can be opened by an animal. Strays and other animals sometimes go through trash. Renal Failure is a bad death. Strays and other animals do not deserve that death or need to get poisoned either.
INFO ON CANINE RENAL FAILURE :
WESTLAKE ANIMAL HOSPITAL INFO ON CANINE CRF [CHRONIC RENAL FAILURE]
INFO ON FELINE RENAL FAILURE :
FELINE CRF [CHRONIC RENAL FAILURE] INFORMATION CENTER INFO
IF YOU ARE WONDERING just why any of this matters so much to the celluloid blonde chick? Um. Gee. NONE OF YOUR FUCKING BUSINESS.
Now go save some four footed kids. That means —
POST THIS INFORMATION ON ANY WEBSITE OR WEB PAGE YOU HAVE ACCESS TO.
special thanks : to zee for starting the danger call
author’s note : okay it does not happen often but i am actually using my powers for good here, which scares me just as much as you
EDITED MARCH 23 TO INCLUDE : POOKS ON CAUSES, THE CHINESE & WALMART
EDITED MARCH 24 TO INCLUDE : UPDATE II : EMERGENCY PET FOOD RECALL
EDITED MARCH 30 TO INCLUDE : UPDATE III : EMERGENCY PET FOOD RECALL
***
EDIT 04.02.07 : If you are looking for a list of foods that is safe for dogs and cats, and that list is shrinking daily, I do not have that list but NATURA FOODS FOR DOGS AND CATS APPEAR SAFE
celluloid blonde 
Thank you for posting this!
Just wanted to interject.. it’s important for readers to know that kidney failure is not always fatal.. acute renal failure (as is associated with the recall) can be successfully treated in some instances if caught early, depending on the cause. Although we do not have a definitive cause at this point, it does indeed appear that there are pets who have recovered or are recovering from this.
It is imperative that owners of pets experiencing any signs of potential kidney problems (vomiting, lethargy, inappetance, diarrhea, increased water consumption and/or urine output, etc.) make an appointment with their vets ASAP. This is one situation (among many) where prompt medical attention can indeed save lives. The earlier you catch it, the better the odds for you and your pet!
Thanks, Gwen. I think it is real important one phrase gets paid big attention to there. “If caught early.”
Cats with kidney damage/failure usually do not exhibit symptoms until they have lost at least 70-75% kidney function. And that is so so too late. All these reports are saying watch your pet for symptoms. Those symptoms just will not show in cats until it is too late.
[…] I am on deadline, I am going to send you to max’s site, which has a thorough, detailed list and links if you need additional help / information. Max […]
My two year old dog died on December 12, 2006 of a mysterious kidney failure. Bracebridge, Ontario Canada. She only ate Iams can food. I have e-mailed Iams today and I am awaiting a response. We never dreamed her food could have been the cause. Still devastated from our loss.
[…] Pet Food Recall If you have a dog or cat, please visit my friend, Max Adams’ blog. […]
My vet is telling all of his clients not to feed their pets any packaged wet dog or cat food, to consider them all contaminated. Even the stuff on the shelf.
What to feed them? Steamed rice and chicken broth.
The dry dog and cat foods are okay.
If I was a dog, I would be saying skip the chicken broth and give me the chicken.
It’s really hitting hard with stories of lost pets. I realized today that until this crisis, I was feeling rather guilty about feeding the cat “people food” This new freedom has not gone unnoticed by the cat.
My friend’s cat just died of kidney failure… She’s thinking it was the Iams. She’s distraught and is freaking out that her other cat is next :(
Oh no. I am so sorry.
[…] March 22nd, 2007 at 11:48 am (animals) Over at Max’s blog, there is an update on the pet food recall. […]
I just heard on the news that there was rat poison in the food that was killing animals.
It looks like they are following in Johnson & Johnson’s footsteps handling this like the Tylenol crisis. They will blame an outside source. If they can, they will so blame an outside source and claim it was tampering. They will offer to make some reparations. They will keep feeding the press low numbers. There will be some big stories about them working hard to save animals and animals making it through the crisis and living happily ever after. Probably there will be lots of puppy and kitten photo ops.
Those plants never shut down during any of this.
There is a Reuters Canada story up with info:
http://ca.today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=domesticNews&storyID=2007-03-23T215735Z_01_N23438546_RTRIDST_0_CANADA-PETFOOD-RECALL-MENUFOODS-COL.XML
This is also pretty comprehensive:
http://www.canada.com/topics/news/story.html?id=56ac91e6-8872-4e6f-a539-bd35e9eb88e0&k=94460
Pooks has gone radical on this:
[…] UPDATE : EMERGENCY PET FOOD RECALL 03.21.07 [this includes a list of recalled foods as well as links to sources for information on feline and canine renal failure and the fda’s posting to the pet food recall] […]
[…] EDITED MARCH 24 TO INCLUDE : UPDATE : EMERGENCY PET FOOD RECALL […]
I finally got my mother to do something – her puppy ate the Iams once and threw up. But seems okay now. I told her to take it to the vet anyway to get tested.
She called the vet and they said the dog does not need testing if she appears fine – which she does. So my mother is okay with this she thinks all is good. It is so hard to talk any sense into her – jeez.
Well. It would be better if she got the puppy’s creatinine levels checked in a blood test. This kind of thing, you know, if she takes the puppy in and the puppy is fine, then no big, all is well with the world. But, if she does not take the puppy in and the puppy later is not fine? She is going to feel like a complete asshole and will have to live with that the rest of her life. That knowledge she maybe could have done something earlier, but she did not, and it was the puppy who paid the price.
I know which one I would choose.
You are right. But she won’t do it – I know my mother all she needs to hear is the word “fine” and she is good – she picks what she wants to hear. And now that the vet said not to bring her in, she won’t. But I will bug her again.
Well. The puppy probably is fine. If the puppy ate the food just that one time and spit it back up without ingesting any of it, probably it is okay. But. We are talking a puppy. They have to be really REALLY sick to exhibit lethargy. And experts still do not know whether or not there is just the one contaminant in the dog food, and that one alone does weird stuff, like inhibit the growth of cells [hello, dwarf dog], suppress white blood cell counts, cause birth defects — a lot of what it expressly does is bad bad news for a dog during developmental stages.
It is impossible to tell someone else how to care for a dog or a child though. Not without a big gun. And you do not have a gun, you just have those dumb golf clubs. Ooops. That means ultimately it is up to her.
i am posting on as many blogs as i can, if the public dont step up and demand that pet foods deliver on their promises of healthy real food for pets, and be regulated like human food production, then we should tell them to f— off. i will give my pets real food thank you very much.this is just another disaster in a long line of them in the pet food industry. the way i see it, before all this processed pet food dogs and cats lived on table food, i am going back to that, and anyone who trust the pet food industry is nuts, i worked at a well known so called natural pet food company, and surprise they are on the list. get smart if you care about your 4 legged family members read Ann N. Martin’s books, Foods pets die for. think about it, would you stick your face in the bowl and eat that stuff, well then it isnt food. after all it is made with roadkill ,downer animals, euthanised pets, they even grind up carcasses loaded with large tumors, melt it all together at rendering plants, and viola fidos food. There is no regulation in the pet food industry, they police themselves.i would love to see the big shots at these pet food companies choke down a bowl of fidos food. then tell me it is real food. as for how the poison got into the food, probably sprayed on the wheat while it was in the storage tanks to keep the rats off it. and i would not doubt if it is in the dry food, or might have made it to the human food chain. my dad always said, if i didnt grow, kill it or harvest it, i dont trust it. we as consumers have put our lives and the lives of our loved ones in the hands of multi billion dollar corporations who are only in it to make profit. just go back over the past year and look at all the food recalls.
No. Not all of us.
Not yet.
Pretty damn close though. The farmers I know who are left are being pushed towards seedless seeds. That is a problem.
Also, I am done.
LSP (my cat) eats Purina. I don’t think it is on the list, thank God.
My cat throws up a lot but my friend Uncle K says she’s just trying to keep her figure. However, in light of the recent situation, I don’t know if this is so funny anymore, she vomits an awful lot.
Stiletto Girl, if your cat is vomiting alot, it is a sign, you need to take her to a vet and make sure she dosent have FIP, feline leukemia, food allergy, ect. Remember cats require a meatbased diet not grain based, they are true carnivores. I home feed my pets, I worked in the industry, and no way am i giving my babies the crap put into pet food! Also I don’t believe in soylent green, it truly is a dog eat dog world ya know.
http://commondreams.org/headlines02/0106-03.htm
Well [grossness allert] is she throwing up fur balls, or just food? If it is fur balls, you can get petromalt or laxatone and give that to her and it should help. But if it is food, something about the food probably does not agree with her and you want to change it out. You could try giving her tuna for a couple weeks and see if that makes a difference. Most cats like tuna and it is not coming out of a pet food plant so should be safe. [Aside from mercury scares, sigh.] Also you can check out some of the brands of food PETA endorses. [There is a link in the updates ii post] I do not approve of vegetarian cat food cats are carnivores but they are not all vegan cat foods and PETA is strict they will not put a brand up that is pumping out soilent green pet food or doing animal testing. Also there is the raw meat diet, which you can get packaged now, I have a link around somewhere for that I will hunt up. Not all cats will eat it, cats have their own ideas about what they will eat,but it is very healthy and worth giving a try.
Oh, there is one other thing. Do you throw up a lot? I know this will sound weird, but lots of times, pets in odd ways reflect their owners’ health. This does not mean do not do the food change and testing, ask a vet, and try out the laxatone and petromalt. Do all that. But also, animals are like tuning forks that way sometimes and real susceptible to picking up nervous and health stuff around them and just mirroring it.
Hey Dina and Max, thanks for the info. She is throwing up food. I’m not sure what furball throw up is supposed to look like. I assume that means without any food in it? She eats really fast and throws it up right after. She hasn’t been sick since I’ve had her but I should get her checked anyway.
Now I’m paranoid. Oh, and I throw up in the gym and after boozing which means I get sick more than average lol
You would know, if it was fur balls. They are mostly matted fur and sort of hard to miss.
Yeah, you need to change her food and get her checked out by a vet. Something about the food is disagreeing with her, but she is hungry, so she eats,then she cannot keep it down. It is a vicious circle. Change her food, not to anything pet though right now the pet food market is a disaster, to something like tuna, for now, and take her in to get her weight checked and maybe a panel done.
Also you could see if she will eat a little bit of cottage cheese. That is easy on the stomach but do not give her too much of that or that will make her sick from eating too much too fast.
You know, I don’t ever recall seeing furball seconds on the floor.
Tuna fish and cottage cheese? Max, Pumpkin wants to thank you right now. She’s got that glow in her eyes, she’s licking her lips, she’s ready to feast like it’s 1999!
Cool. Tell her next week I will drop hints about chicken and scrambled eggs.
I am getting worried here. I keep hearing about sick dogs and cats that were not on brands from Menu Foods. And they are coming down with liver failure too. I do not think at this point it is safe to be feeding animals any manufactured dog and cat food till something gets figured out here because something is very wrong and not just with the Menu Foods recalls.
For a continuation of this discussion please go to https://celluloidblonde.wordpress.com/2007/03/24/update-ii-emergency-pet-food-recall/
I would like to consolidate in one topic.
[…] UPDATE : EMERGENCY PET FOOD RECALL 03.21.07 [this includes a list of recalled foods as well as links to sources for information on feline and canine renal failure and the fda’s posting on the pet food recall] […]