Public service announcement for all the pet owners out there

[krisomniac]

There has been a recall of 60 million cans of wet cat and dog food in connection with ten reported deaths due to kidney failure (nine cats, one dog). The food was marketed under many labels including Iams/Eukanuba, grocery store brands (Wegmans, Food town, etc), america's choice, and Nutro.

I know many of you have cats and dogs. Please check the product codes on their food.

If it comes from Iams, this is the information to look for:

Dayton, OH (March 16, 2007) – In response to the recent Menu Foods, Inc. nationwide recall of wet pet foods, P&G Pet Care has announced a voluntary recall in the United States and Canada on specific 3 oz., 5.5 oz., 6 oz. and 13.2 oz. canned and 3 oz. and 5.3 oz. foil pouch “wet” cat and dog food products manufactured by Menu Foods Inc. Emporia, Kansas plant with the code dates of 6339 through 7073 followed by the plant code 4197.

To read can product codes, refer to the bottom of the can. The first four numbers of the second line of numbers are the date code, and the following four numbers indicate the plant code. For example, if the second line begins with four numbers from 6339 to 7073 followed by the plant code 4197, then the can should be recalled. For foil pouches, the code numbers are located at the lower left hand corner on the back of the pouch. The date and plant codes appear in the third group of numbers, beginning an 11-digit sequence. See www.Iams.com and www.Eukanuba.com for illustrated details. Review the list of involved products here.



The list of other cat products can be found here

and dog food products here

Spread the word.

Comments

[ignipes.livejournal.com]

That's really scary. Do you know what got contaminated?

[krisomniac.livejournal.com]

They don't know yet what the contaminant or toxin is, but it seems to be in the gravy cuts.

Totally scary. Especially because we're talking companies that have a very strong reputation for safe, quality products. You know?

[deirdre-c.livejournal.com]

My girls eat Iams sometimes (but mostly ProPlan). o_O

[krisomniac.livejournal.com]

So far, there's no press release about recalls on any dry foods. They seem to be linking it to the gravy and bits in wet ones. Also, there's no recall on purina foods either, so the proplan should be fine.

[deirdre-c.livejournal.com]

For most of their lives I only fed them dry food, but then a few years ago my vet told me that they needed at least some wet food (and the reasoning escapes me at the moment), so they now share a little can every morning or every other morning. Stupid wet food. (Yeah, I checked and we haven't had Iams canned for at least a month, so I'm hoping I'm safe. *frets*)

[krisomniac.livejournal.com]

huh. In our nutrition class they were saying that dry food is important for dental health. Wet is good if your cats are overweight because it is a whole lot less calorie dense and fills them up.

I feed both, too.

[medicinal-mirth.livejournal.com]

Is dry food okay, though? I don't usually give my dogs wet food.

[krisomniac.livejournal.com]

Yes. They haven't released anything about dry foods being affected.

[exitosus.livejournal.com]

Oh holy shit, my heart is pounding. I've given my girl Little Champions for months now but the other day they didn't have any so I went with the Iams Select Bites Pouches. The full number I see at the bottom of the only pouch I have left of it is: 180109 369 70184197W70 16:11. Are we okay?

[krisomniac.livejournal.com]

I can't see your comment anymore, but that is one of the recalled batches.

Don't feed any more of it and keep an eye on your kitty for any signs of lethargy, inappetance, etc.

:/

[krisomniac.livejournal.com]

Also, I understand your worries, but keep in mind that there is a LOT of food on the recal list and really very few animals affected as of right now. So even if your batch is within the recall, that does not mean that your kitty will necessarily have a problem.

You should be okay if keep an eye on her, make sure she's getting enough water, and call your vet if you have any questions.

Also, I'm happy to listen if you ever want to talk (although I'm not qualified to do much more than pass on information from press releases etc.)

Good luck! *hugs*

[exitosus.livejournal.com]

She's a dog actually, lol. Which makes me feel a little better considering but yeah, she seems fine. I might take her in just in case in a few days. Thank you for your kind words.

[krisomniac.livejournal.com]

excellent!

[unperfectwolf.livejournal.com]

And... it strikes again! This has happened before, over and over. When I worked at vet clinic this was HELL because we have to call EVERY OWNER who bought the stuff, and document the issues when the cats (it was a cat only clinic) come in after eating the stuff, and then we have to send it to the company. And you know how much that company cares about the animals we're all frantically trying to save? Not a whole lot. Gah. And it's always the wet. I wonder if it's the D3 contents again. (here through someone. i don't remember who.)

[krisomniac.livejournal.com]

yeah, as of yesterday there was no word on the contaminant. These things suck, though, man. We got hit hard by the aflatoxin incident last winter...