Pet Deaths(Dog Food Recall) ?

Question

What do you feed your dog? Pet food recall:
http://www.rr.com/flash/index.cfm

WASHINGTON(AP) A major manufacturer of dog and cat food sold under Wal-Mart, Safeway, Kroger and other store brands recalled 60 million containers of wet pet food Friday after reports of kidney failure and deaths.
An unknown number of cats and dogs suffered kidney failure and about 10 died after eating the affected pet food, Menu Foods said in announcing the North American recall. Product testing has not revealed a link explaining the reported cases of illness and death, the company said.

"At this juncture, we're not 100 percent sure what's happened," said Paul Henderson, the company's president and chief executive officer. However, the recalled products were made using wheat gluten purchased from a new supplier, since dropped for another source, spokeswoman Sarah Tuite said. Wheat gluten is a source of protein.

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 between Dec. 3 and March 6

I need to mention Cats as well...

Sold throughout the U.S., Canada and Mexico
The pet food was sold by stores operated by the Kroger Co., Safeway Inc., Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and PetSmart Inc., among others, Henderson said.

Menu Foods did not immediately provide a full list of brand names and lot numbers covered by the recall, saying they would be posted on its Web site _ http://www.menufoods.com/recall _ early Saturday. Consumers with questions can call [phone].

Repeated calls to that number over several hours Friday night got only a busy signal. Attempts to reach a company spokeswoman for an explanation were unsuccessful.

The company said it manufacturers 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.

I still am unable to access their web site above. Their server probably has crashed. This article was posted this evening (Associated Press).

Nursing 4 - What a terrible loss for you...........I am so sorry.........

Some of it was sold under the Iams and Eukanuba brands.

The recall covers the company's "cuts and gravy" style food

You can find the list of recalls on the web site menufoods.com. Several Nutro types were mentioned but only the canned or pouches. The "dry" Nutro was not included on this list but be cautious and observant. You never know if they will include dry foods at a later date as well......

I am so sorry to hear from those of you who have a sick pet and for those who have lost a pet(s). They are such a part of your families, I can only imagine what you are going through right now.

No amount of compensation can ever mend your heartache, but for the shear principle, if this recall had effected one of my pets, I would be looking for an attorney interested in handling a Class Action law suit. I am not advocating this to anyone, just expressing what I personally would do.

Has anyone been able to get through to the company's phone line?

Keep abreast of the latest news as they seem to add other foods as well - Hills Nutrition Inc. was added to the list.

I am so sorry to hear from those of you who have a sick pet and for those who have lost a pet(s). They are such a part of your families, I can only imagine what you are going through right now.

No amount of compensation can ever mend your heartache, but for the shear principle, if this recall had effected one of my pets, I would be looking for an attorney interested in handling a Class Action law suit. I am not advocating this to anyone, just expressing what I personally would do.

Has anyone been able to get through to the company's phone line?

Keep abreast of the latest news as they seem to add other foods as well - Hills Nutrition Inc. was added to the list.

Dotr - Purina is not involved. Iam's dog food (canned/pouches)is, if I'm not mistaken.

THEY NOW ARE SAYING THAT IT WAS RAT POISON!

Answer 1

Thank you for posting this. The more people that this story reaches the more lives may be saved.

Answer 2

Hi I finally got through to the pet food hotline.It was quicker to get through at this number-1-866-895-2708.My dog has been getting Purina dry but I do add a half pack of the Presidents Choice Cuts in Gravy.I checked the packages as soon as I heard and the UPC number on the site is the same as the one Im giving my dog.The guy at the call centre takes your name,address,phone number and asks what other foods you give your pet.They also want to know the animals weight and age.Im assuming if you try to go after them for any bills they can now turn around and say-"Oh you fed it other food besides ours"Its funny if you go to Menufoods.com it gives a huge blurb on the shareholders loss and what it going to cost them to try to recover.Yep thats what I want to see how much money these %!$*&!!! are losing.I think most pet owners/lovers really couldnt care less about the companies loss.Maybe they should post something to say how sorry they are for the pet owners loss.You can get money anytime-you cant replace a friend!! I wont be using any items manufactured by this company again and if you read the american news sites on them it seems they did there own testing-feeding this product to cats,dogs,and other animals it says.Some died.Good to know they do animal testing of tainted food on animals.Maybe the comapny shareholders should chow down a bowl or two!

Answer 3

I became concerned when the wet food recal occurred. No problem, threw out all wet food, even though it didn;t match the serial numbers. I would just do dry food. Then the other day came the dry food recall. Who knows how far this will go. I threw out all treats and snacks, in addition to the dry food. I made my own. It is pretty easy and not too expensive. In fact an old country vet used to have us feed this to any pet who was sick. I adapted it for cat food.. Additionally, I am trying to come up with an equivallient for dry food that is homemade. Dogs: Equal amounts of ground beef( beef, chicken, sauteed in water and drained) and brown rice, both cooked. Add in EVOO. For cats : Equal amounts of Tuna and brown rice w/ EVOO/ Squish into canned type food. Need to look into adding veggies. Thinking about Baby Food.

Answer 4

We had to euthanize our 2 year old cat last Tuesday (3/13/07) and have now learned as of this morning that his death was due to this recall. We were feeding him Iams Select Bites packets three times a day. We noticed last Friday that he did not finish all of his food, which was odd for him. Over the weekend, he continued to lose his appetite, stopped eating all together, and vomited several times. Our vet assured us he probably just had a hairball since he was otherwise very healthy. On Monday, we took him to the vet and they hooked him up to an IV because he was dehydrated. He seemed a bit better on Monday night, but Tuesday seemed very ill again. We took him back to the vet on Tuesday, and they performed X-rays and bloodwork. The bloodwork showed that he was having kidney failure, which is extremely rare in such young cats. We had to have him put to sleep Tuesday evening, because the vet said his kidneys were about to shut down all together and he could experience a very painful death. The vet said that he could have eaten part of a houseplant or somehow consumed cleaner or something that caused his kidneys to shut down, and my boyfriend and I felt terrible to think that we may have been at some fault for his death. We both miss our cat, Oscar, terribly and have literally been heartbroken all week. Yesterday, our vet called to tell us about the massive recall and said to watch the list in case Iams was added. Sure enough, we checked today and saw that Iams is in fact on the list. After looking into it, we found that the codes specified on Iams website did in fact match the codes on the remaining packets of food that we still have. I am now feeling a huge mix of emotions - relief to know what caused his death, but anger that the food we were feeding him took his life. Our vet said that we should be able to reimbursed the cost of his medical bills, but that still does not replace the pet that we loved and miss so much.

If you have pets or know someone who does, PLEASE take this very seriously!! Check the food that you have and make sure it is not contaminated. Our cat and numerous others have died. I only wish this recall would have come out one week earlier, and maybe our cat would have had a chance...

Rest in peace, Oscar - xoxoxo

Answer 5

SOOOOO sad. My two older cats LOVED this stuff. They fell ill to renal failure a day apart and we chalked it up to awful coincidence. After many attempts of 2 vets to save them, they did have to be euthanized (I said i would never make this choice but when they were suffering so bad it was something I HAD to do). One died on Feb 16th 2007 and the other on Feb20th 2007. They ate the recalled pouches of Wal marts "Special kitty", 2 a day. I now know that this was NOT coincidence. I am devastated beyond belief. I wish i could sue them. They will say that it is because my cats were old...well that just means that there poor little bodies couldnt handle the poision they were given. I hope there is a class action suit. i spoke to the FDA's veterinarian and he said there deaths fit the time frame exactly. He encouraged me to please report it to the MENU brands hotline...well that number has conveniently been disconectedn this morning. I dont see how they can do this to people...I lost my 2 best friends. Of course, my kitty that didnt care for there food is fine. Mmmhmmm. It is obvious and i am heartbroken.

Answer 6

I heard about the recall and was wondering. I always buy 2 kinds of wet kitty food at a time all the sudden they will not eat it. I think I will keep them on dry food and scraps for a time.But I am upset if purina or Iams is involved in this!! I purposely spend the extra money for a "trusted" brand!

Answer 7

My dog has been effected by this recall. I took him to the vet for odd urination and found out he was in kidney failure. she did not know why since he is a healthy 3 year old. The store that we bought the food at did reimburse for the food and he is under going treatment to try and reverse the problem. i have called the number several times for menu foods but there line is busy. if you go to menufoods they have a list of the effected foods. there is a long list. i have been told it does not effect the dry food but i have taken my dog off all of it and he is on a special prescription food for now. is there anyone out there that knows more????
Has anyone got threw to this number and spoken with anyone at menu foods???

Answer 8

I was stunned Saturday morning, on learning so much pet food, was poisoning our pets. It took a long time, but I got a listing of the Special Kitty varirty, since I buy some for my two cats. After searching by UPC symbol, I was destroyed, to learn I had one of the recalled lots.

What hurt me so bad, is that three weeks ago, one of my cats, a female named Baby, started throwing up on a Friday afternoon. But instead of a normal fur ball being spit out, all that came out, was foam like bubbles, with no solids with it. I had to wait over the weekend, to see her vet, because naturally here in south La., weekends stop you from getting help for your pets. She became very lethargic during the weekend, not eating at all, and her fur, was falling out in large quantities. I finally gor her in Monday morning, and the vet found her with a fever of over 103, and her urine was dark brown. A blood test led him to conclude, she had a bad LIVER infection, and gave antibiotics, to be given her, by me. She took the antibiotics, and improved just a little. She stayed lethargic, but did eat and drink a little, and used her litter box. I brought her back to the vet a week later, and her infection was gone. He stated I should give her more time to recover. But in the next 4 days, she stopped eating, and rarely moved, and because I didn't want to see her suffering, I took her back again, and the vet but her to sleep. My other cat, and I grieved her missing in our lives.

A week later, this pet food recall, really creates trouble for me. All the stories I've read, have very little to explain of the symtoms our pets get. But I did see, nausea, lethargy, loss of appetite..., all symptoms Baby showed me. So, now I have to wait until Monday, to speak to the vet, to see if it could have been a kidney problem, and not a liver issue? Also, being she would eat the recalled Special Kitty, and not my other cat eating it, if it's possible her health really was affected by the food, and if so, what could have been done, differently? Did he make a mistake in judgement, could she have gotten better with different treatment, and not put to sleep like she was? Sadly, there's so little info coming from the manufacturer of these poisons, that the common folks like us, will have a hard time getting up-to-date and accurate info on this situation. I'll start with her vet, and hope he's straightforward with me. I can't help but feel, I killed Baby, by feeding her this trash, and putting her to sleep, to ease her misery. Time will hopefully tell us the truths.

Answer 9

To see a list of pet food brands recalled, and information on a class action lawsuit being started in Canada, see

http://www.merchantlaw.com/petfood.html

or

http://www.petfoodrecall.ca

Answer 10

I hope my answer helps someone whose pet has eaten the tainted dog food.
My vet told me if I noticed any symptoms, to get a spoon full of table salt down your pet as soon as possible. I did that to my dog, and he "puked" up green stuff, and has had no other ill affects.

Answer 11

I feed my dog Alpo canned cuts with gravy and it sounds like it may be one of the recalls but I can't seem to get anywhere on that website. I couldn't get the article up on yahoo home page today either. I'm just keeping my fingers crossed.