Pet deaths prompt recall of pet food --- Pet Owners Alert

[Lone_Star_Dem]

By ANDREW BRIDGES, Associated Press Writer 44 minutes ago

WASHINGTON - 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 throughout the U.S., Canada and Mexico.

The pet food was sold by stores operated by the Kroger Company, Safeway Inc., Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and PetSmart Inc., among others, Henderson said.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070316/ap_on_he_me/pet_food_recall


Webstie for recall information: http://www.menufoods.com/recall/

Phone contact information: [phone]

[WiseButAngrySara]

1. KNR for others. My beloved dog of 16.5 years recently

died, but I will pass on this info.

[Lone_Star_Dem]

7. 16.5 years is a long full life

You must have been a caring pet parent for her/him to live so long.

I'm sorry for your loss, I know how painful it is to lose one of our four legged family members. :hug:

[bigtree]

23. names of brands

dog food: http://www.menufoods.com/recall/product_dog.html

1. Americas Choice, Preferred Pets
2. Authority
3. Award
4. Best Choice
5. Big Bet
6. Big Red
7. Bloom
8. Bruiser
9. Cadillac
10. Companion
11. Demoulas Market Basket
12. Fine Feline Cat, Shep Dog
13. Food Lion
14. Giant Companion
15. Great Choice
16. Hannaford
17. Hill Country Fare
18. Hy-Vee
19. Key Food
20. Laura Lynn
21. Loving Meals
22. Main Choice
23. Mixables
24. Nutriplan
25. Nutro Max
26. Nutro Natural Choice
27. Nutro
28. Ol'Roy
29. Paws
30. Pet Essentials
31. Pet Pride
32. Presidents Choice
33. Price Chopper
34. Priority
35. Publix
36. Roche Bros
37. Save-A-Lot
38. Schnucks
39. Springsfield Pride
40. Sprout
41. Stater Bros
42. Total Pet, My True Friend
43. Western Family
44. White Rose
45. Winn Dixie
46. Your Pet


cat food:http://www.menufoods.com/recall/product_cat.html

1. Americas Choice, Preferred Pets
2. Authority
3. Best Choice
4. Companion
5. Compliments
6. Demoulas Market Basket
7. Fine Feline Cat, Shep Dog
8. Food Lion
9. Foodtown
10. Giant Companion
11. Good n Meaty
12. Hannaford
13. Hill Country Fare
14. Hy-Vee
15. Key Food
16. Laura Lynn
17. Li'l Red
18. Loving Meals
19. Main Choice
20. Nutriplan
21. Nutro Max Gourmet Classics
22. Nutro Natural Choice
23. Paws
24. Presidents Choice
25. Price Chopper
26. Priority
27. Save-A-Lot
28. Schnucks
29. Sophistacat
30. Special Kitty
31. Springfield Pride
32. Sprout
33. Total Pet, My True Friend
34. Wegmans
35. Western Family
36. White Rose
37. Winn Dixie

[Lone_Star_Dem]

26. Thank you for the full list!

I had a meeting and wasn't able to update the post.

Hill Country Fare is the store brand of my local grocery. I'm going to make a few more phone calls to some of the elderly folks I know who purchase that brand, just in case the haven't heard. \

Thank you again! :)

[William769]

2. I lost my Princess in October of last year

I feel for the loss of any pet. But to lose one to this OMG!

[Lone_Star_Dem]

12. Tragic, isn't it?

And it's not as if it's a simple death these guys have died. Kidney failure is a horrible way to go.


I'm deeply sorry for your loss. :hug:

[northernsoul]

3. Yikes!

Keep an eye out for you four-legged friends, fellow DUers!

[alstephenson]

4. MODS - Can you cross-post this on the PETS forum??? thx

[Lone_Star_Dem]

8. I should have looked for one

I didn't even know DU had a pets forum.

[Lone_Star_Dem]

13. I placed it there also

Thanks for the idea. :hi:

[onecent]

5. I cannot access the menufoods.com website. I'll try again later.

[Lone_Star_Dem]

9. It was very slow to load for me.

Basically it says there will be more information on the various products available after 6:00 a.m. Saturday March 17, 2007. Check back then.

[kestrel91316]

6. Question: Have they perhaps been trying to sneak GE ingredients

into pet food????

[Lone_Star_Dem]

10. Good question

I wonder what the regulations are regarding pet food and ingredients?

[kestrel91316]

14. I honestly have no idea if they allow GM ingredients in pet food,

but I bet they do. They allow GM soy for people, and canola, and who knows what else.

I hope this isn't another mess like the GM tryptophan years ago........
http://www.netlink.de/gen/druker1.html

[me b zola]

11. Kicking for others

Our four-legged family members don't get canned food, but lets keep this kicked so everyone can protect their furry loved-ones. :)

[itsrobert]

15. How do they know for sure it was only canned and foiled?

My wife bought our dog some walmart brand DRY dog food and the dog got real sick afterwards. This was 3 weeks ago.

[Lone_Star_Dem]

16. I don't know.

To be on the safe side I'd not use any of their products, and I definitely would not use any that contained wheat gluten, since that's what they suspect may have caused this.

[demnan]

17. K&R

none of our food is safe, there is no oversight.

[Behind the Aegis]

18. More info...

The Facts You're Looking For:
- only "cuts and gravy" style wet food is affected
- list of specific brands will be released Saturday
- includes most store brands, including Walmart, PetSmart, Wegmans, Safeway, Kroger
- includes Iams and Eukanuba brands (Procter & Gamble)
- Purina is also involved, so Alpo, Mighty Dog, Pro Plan, Fancy Feast and Friskies may also be affected

---snip---

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 throughout the U.S., Canada and Mexico.

---snip---

P&G announced Friday the recall of specific 3 oz., 5.5 oz., 6 oz. and 13.2 oz. canned and 3 oz. and 5.3 oz. foil pouch cat and dog wet food products made by Menu Foods but sold under the Iams and Eukanuba brands. The recalled products bear the code dates of 6339 through 7073 followed by the plant code 4197, P&G said.

more...

[SammyWinstonJack]

25. I feed my dogs "Kirkland" brand, both dry and canned, from Costco

Rice and Lamb/Chicken, rice and vegetable formula. Don't see it on that list. *whew*

[REP]

19. Animal Caretakers - Please Consider What You Feed The Animals in Your Care!

I learned the hard way about pet food after my beautiful, sweet, beloved Felix died a horrible death from FUS. When I took him to the emergency vet with a blockage, the vet felt him and said, "He eats Purina, right?" He did; we'd always fed our cats Purina - they wouldn't make cat food that would harm cats, right?

Not really. Most commercial cat foods have high amounts of cereal (mostly ground yellow corn) that cats - obligate carnivores - cannot digest and inadequate meat; what meat there is is usually by-products (meat from tumors, feathers, "downer" animals, fat, etc) and is of low nutritional value. The artificial colorings and preservatives are at best useless to a cat and at worst they are irritants that can cause a cat to barf far more than a cat needs to, which not only makes a mess for you, but causes the cat to lose what little nutrition they may have derived from the food. Most commercial foods are so low quality that cats need to eat and eat and eat to gett the nutrients they need, causing weight gain and frequent large and stinky bowel movements.

It's worth the few dollars more it costs for the super-premium feeds; not only do they contain more of the nutrients you cats needs in a form s/he can use, they stay stay healthier and the litterbox does not stink. Since the cat needs to eat less to get the nutrients needed, it ends up either costing the same as feeding commercial brands or even being cheaper. The cat looks and feels better; the litterbox is cleaner due to smaller, firmer, less stinky stools and there is far less barf to deal with. On top of that, chances are good that the cat will be healthier, longer! I know when initially making the switch to a good pet food the sticker shock can be jolting, especially when things are tight (been there, done that) but it is really worth it - in vet bills saved, and in animal suffering avoided.

There are several good brands available at petfood stores; I personally feed Nutro Natural and Castor & Pollux Organix (and Trader Joe's canned food; the dry has too much corn) but there are other reliable brands, such as Royal Canin (their Sensible Choice line, which is not as expensive as their breed-specific line, is made from quality ingredients last time I checked, which was last week!). Be sure to read the labels, and remember that the higher on the list meat is on the ingredients the better, and the fewer cereal ingredients the better. Check around read the labels, research - don't be like me and find out the hard way!

[Greyhound]

22. I recommend and use Canidae for my dogs, it is all human grade food,

no meat by-products, no artificial coloring, flavors, or preservatives, and best of all, it is only slightly more expensive than the Purina-type crap that you see in the grocery store.

Royal Canin is great, but at over $4\pound, it's beyond my price range.
:kick:

[WernhamHogg]

20. Hmmmmm

I just got an e-mail from my mom. She's heartbroken because they had to put their 6 year old cat to sleep yesterday -- the cat suffered complete kidney failure. :(

I'll have to ask her if this is what they were feeding the cat.

[Swamp Rat]

21. k&r

[EmperorHasNoClothes]

24. K&R - Looks like Science Diet is affected, too

Even though they are not listed on the Menu Foods recall webpage:

http://www.hillspet.com/menu_foods/Menu_Foods_en_US.htm

[Mojorabbit]

27. There should be a complete list on the menu website

but there isn't. So far I've seen Science diet, iams, eukanuba, plus the long list at the website. I wonder if there are others?
I am also keenly interested in what the mystery ingredient was that they stopped using.

[Lone_Star_Dem]

28. Thank you very much.

That is the brand my cats eat, but thank goodness I use the dry.

[Lone_Star_Dem]

29. Be sure and see the full list provided by Menu Foods

If you see a brand you use, or know of someone who does, click on it and it opens a spreadsheet of exactly what types in that brand are in the recall.

Link to cat food under recall: http://www.menufoods.com/recall/product_cat.html

Link to dog food under recall: http://www.menufoods.com/recall/product_dog.html

As mentioned above some Science Diet are also under recall and not mentioned on the official list: http://www.hillspet.com/menu_foods/Menu_Foods_en_US.htm

If you feed your pets canned food I'd check the website of the brand you use just to make sure.