One story here http://www.citynews.ca/news/news_8840.aspx
I know this isn’t much of a post but considering the high proportion of pet-loving Dopers, I thought an alert might be of use.
You know, it’s OK to cut and paste a relevant paragraph or two. In fact, I think it’s rude not to.
And the advice is
That’s a pretty long list of foods. Considering big brands like Iams and Eukanuba are on the list (cat list at least, I didn’t look at the dog one) I hope this information gets to everyone who uses those.
I too looked at the long list of affected pet foods, and hope that pet owners will get the word ASAP! It’s very scary to think that your pet could get sick and even die from eating this, so it’s very important to check on it. :eek:
Yep, Iams and Eukanuba are included in the list for dogs too. I was scared when I noticed that the brand I feed my cats (Nutro Natural Choice) is also listed, but fortunately I have only been feeding them dry food lately and as I understand it this recall only involves wet food.
This sure is scary. If you’re checking the list on the Menu Foods site, be sure to click the brand name. This will take you to a more detailed list that includes the exact UPC codes and flavors and that are being recalled. I found my favorite brand of cat food on the list, but we don’t currently have any of the flavors that are subject to recall. Whew.
Damn.
Well, after going through the recycle bin, I know that my cats ate at least one can of the recalled food. More than likely more than that.
And Hills/Science Diet’s phone lines will not be open until Monday. Figures.
If you had posted the fact that it only involves canned and foil-packed WET food, it would save a lot of bandwidth, waiting time and frustration with the hammered website server. But thanks for the heads up.
Here is the FDA press release. It should help ease your minds. The affected animals exhibit specific symptoms. Also, no causal link has yet been found.
Moving thread from IMHO to MPSIMS.
Perhaps it’s time for a thread merge?
Yeah, merge or lock. I would not have started the other thread had I known this one existed.
Why am I paying more for Iams if the same company makes them all. What are they telling me ,dog and cat foods are all the same.?
I think the high-end pet foods have some 'splainin to do.
Just to play Devil’s Advocate, many companies farm out their production. Presumably, Iams sets the standards, and Menu must meet them, fro example.
Now, I am no defender of corporate America, and it is certainly possible that they are just putting different labels on the same crap. it is by no means necessarily true, however.
Well, I’ve seen two animals so far who are in renal failure from whatever toxin was present. I think everyone should take this seriously. The one cat that I saw Monday had only one packet of the food.
All commercially sold pet foods have to meet the same **minimum **requirements, yes. But as to whether the contents of the cans are identical, there’s not enough information at those links to tell. Since they don’t know what the toxin is or how it got there, it might be something on the canning line that got into already prepared food from multiple companies. It may be that these two plants simply package product made by other companies (if you have the tinning and labeling facilities, you might rent your line out to someone who shows up with vats of food made elsewhere) or they could make different batches of food with different recipes for different labels right there OR it could be the same slop in the Iams and Save-a-Lot cans produced in the same vats at the same time and different labels slapped on the cans after canning.
(Personally, I sort of believe the last is true, at least until you get into the really high end stuff, but I’m paranoid and cynical like that.)
Vetbridge - I was hoping you’d be along. Can you tell me how long after eating the tainted food do symptoms show up? None of my 8 dogs and cats have eaten it, but I’m curious. Also, if they get traetment, what is the probility of survival?
StG