Pet owners were worried this weekend that the kibble in their cupboard may be deadly after the recall of millions of containers of dog and cat food sold at major retailers across North America.
Menu Foods, the Ontario-based company that produced the pet food, said Saturday it was recalling dog food sold under 46 brands and cat food sold under 37 brands including Iams, Nutro and Eukanuba. The food was distributed throughout the United States, Canada and Mexico by major retailers such as Wal-Mart, Kroger and Safeway.
An unknown number of cats and dogs had suffered kidney failure and about 10 died after eating the affected pet food, the company said.
Many stores that sold the affected brands frantically pulled packages off shelves.
At a Petsmart store in Union, Silviene Grzybowski became worried when the four types of Iams products she buys for her cat, Smokey, had vanished from shelves. The cat was very sick and had not been eating for days, she said.
"The vet told us to buy her her favorite food, but I'm going to call the vet right now," Grzybowski said, looking at an announcement Petsmart had taped to shelves announcing the recall.
A complete list of the recalled products along with product codes, descriptions and production dates was available from the Menu Foods Web site — http://www.menufoods.com/recall — and consumers also could call (866) 463-6738.
Menu Foods' chief executive and president Paul Henderson told the Associated Press on Friday that the company was still trying to figure out what happened.
He said that the company had received an undisclosed number of owner complaints that dogs and cats were vomiting and suffering kidney failure after eating its products.
The recall covers the company's "cuts and gravy" style food, which consists of chunks of meat in gravy, sold in cans and small foil pouches from Dec. 3 to March 6.
In Omaha, Neb., Susan Balvanz said she sometimes feeds her five cats packets of sliced meat and gravy sold by Nutro Products, one of the brands affected.
"I've done so much research on pet food. It didn't surprise me but it scared me all the same," said Balvanz.
She said her 9-year-old cat, Boots, was especially fond of the food but seemed to have lost its appetite in the last few days.
At the Missouri Valley Veterinary Clinic in Bismarck, N.D., veterinarian Jacob Carlson has been referring worried pet owners to the Menu Foods web site.
"We've had a lot of calls," Carlson said, although none of his patients were sick.
The company said it makes pet food for 17 of the top 20 North American retailers. It is also a contract manufacturer for the top branded pet food companies, including Procter & Gamble Co.
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Attention Dog & Cat Owners
- Arborealus
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It's tainted with my taint...Gemily wrote:What is it tainted with?
My family got a mix husky/malamute(sp) a few years ago, and they've been cooking the damn thing gourmet meals with rice, chicken, eggs, and some mixed veggies. She's grown quite big and she has a beautiful coat. They attribute this to the two full meals a day cooked with their own love Not to get all mushy and shit over a dog, but if you really love your pet, cook it REAL food. I just don't trust that bagged shit. Who knows what could be in it.
Products like chocolate and ketchup have all sorts of shit you'd never know would be in there. Because quality control is so hard in major factories where they make these products, there's a certain amount of "foreign ingredients" that's allowed to be in products. Rats, insects, and all sorts of other delicious morsels are among these. In very small amounts, of course.
Anyway, if this shit can be found mixed in with miracle whip or whatever, who knows what's in dog food. Then again, yes, they are just dogs.
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I hope you are following the guidelines of an animal nutritionist. Animals have MUCH different dietary requirements than humans. My vet has seen many instances of people cooking for their animals and not providing the right balance of nutrients and the animal ends up with severe health problems. Dogs need a lot more calcium than humans and standard human food fare will not provide that. That's the biggest mistake people make and the effects are detrimental to your dog's bone development. The other big mistake is giving your dog too much protein which can also cause calcium loss.MooZilla wrote:It's tainted with my taint...Gemily wrote:What is it tainted with?
My family got a mix husky/malamute(sp) a few years ago, and they've been cooking the damn thing gourmet meals with rice, chicken, eggs, and some mixed veggies. She's grown quite big and she has a beautiful coat. They attribute this to the two full meals a day cooked with their own love Not to get all mushy and shit over a dog, but if you really love your pet, cook it REAL food. I just don't trust that bagged shit. Who knows what could be in it.
Products like chocolate and ketchup have all sorts of shit you'd never know would be in there. Because quality control is so hard in major factories where they make these products, there's a certain amount of "foreign ingredients" that's allowed to be in products. Rats, insects, and all sorts of other delicious morsels are among these. In very small amounts, of course.
Anyway, if this shit can be found mixed in with miracle whip or whatever, who knows what's in dog food. Then again, yes, they are just dogs.
I cooked for one of my dogs when he was a puppy, but I bought a bookfirst and did research other than surfing the web (there is a lot of bullshit out there). I would love to start doing it again, but it's a lot of work. The mixing of supplements and measuring out of everything so its balanced is a lot to deal with. There are a lot of good commercial foods on the market that use only natural, high-quality ingredients. Hard kibble also has a benefit of keeping the teeth cleaner than with softer foods.
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Wasn't aware of the issue with calcium. I've actually been talking about my father and step-mother who live out in Seattle, but i'll make sure to let them know. From what vaguely remember they did a bit of research on a good diet for a dog of our size (120+ lbs) Either way, the damn thing has better dinners than i do sometimes
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Man, I'm just feeling so bummed after reading that. The Yorkie pictured that died was the kicker. I hope they get to the bottom of who fucked up and said person/people are faced with criminal charges. Fortunately my dog doesn't eat the food in question, but it so easily could have been her and I'd fucking flip out if that happened.
Our previous dog suffered from an atrophied liver that never full developed and had to go through a lot of medication and exploratory surgeries, and the last couple of years of her life (she lived to 13) were spent in a fairly altered state of mind. That was hard as is. For someone to have to go through a poisoning like this.. bleh.
Man, I'm just feeling so bummed after reading that. The Yorkie pictured that died was the kicker. I hope they get to the bottom of who fucked up and said person/people are faced with criminal charges. Fortunately my dog doesn't eat the food in question, but it so easily could have been her and I'd fucking flip out if that happened.
Our previous dog suffered from an atrophied liver that never full developed and had to go through a lot of medication and exploratory surgeries, and the last couple of years of her life (she lived to 13) were spent in a fairly altered state of mind. That was hard as is. For someone to have to go through a poisoning like this.. bleh.
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I couldn't imagine this happening to one of my little pups. I'm not 100% sure, but I believe one of the dog food affected (Nutro pouches) was what I used to mix in with their kibble. I stopped doing that a couple months ago in an effort to try and minimize their gas issues (breed thing). I'm glad I did.
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