75 Comments so far

1. Charles Malesev on March 17, 2007 11:16 pm

   Since my learing of this pet food recall on Friday, March 15th 2007, I have spent many hours in research on the web and I have learned these facts, Menue foods in Emporia, Kansas has admitted that they changed their supplier of a protine ingredient on December 1st 2006 and as early as January 1st their customers were calling to notify them that their pet food contained a poison that was causing kidney failure and killing pets yet they did nothing, they did not notify the media or stop selling the poisoned food.

   My cat went into the hospital with kidney failure on January 1st 2007, my cat is 20 years old and has never been in the hospital in his life until he was poisoned by this sleazy cheap manuver at Menu Foods to save money by buying a cheap product to make more profit.

2. Wayne Shaffer on March 18, 2007 1:36 am

   I have also located several references about the switch to the new protein source last year, and an influx of complaints shortly thereafter. I too was unable to locate any references to any reports of these incidences to the public.

3. Carol Auld on March 18, 2007 7:16 am

   What I hope this serves to bring to the public’s attention is that there is a HUGE problem with dry cat food. Dry cat food is causing Feline Diabetes, Chronic Renal Failure and IBD. This happens not immediately, like in the case of this horrendous recall, but over time.

   My cat got very sick with Feline Diabetes from eating the food that the vets here push in Canada — MediCal — preventative, reducing, weight control. These dry foods and the way they are made are a “species inappropriate diet” for cats, who are obligate carnivores.

   I now feed only raw natural cat food and many progressive vets are not recommending this as the “only solution” to feeding our beloved kitties.

   http://www.felinespride.com is the food I use

   I also make my own from the same recipe on this site:

   http://www.catnutrition.org

   Pet food companies have been getting away with murder — literally — through the $15 billion a year profits they make in North America on cat food.

4. Carol Auld on March 18, 2007 7:18 am

   I now feed only raw natural cat food – chicken, duck, turkey and cornish hens and many progressive vets are NOW recommending this as the only solution for feeding our beloved kitties.

   No grains, no fruits, no carbs. Cats cannot tolerate carbs at all in their diet.

5. lisabeth sorn on March 18, 2007 9:42 am

   My cat was no even 10 years old. He came down with kidney disease a couple of weeks ago. He died on March 15, 2007. I fed him Special kitty from Walmart in the foil pouches. I have 2 receipts with the sku #’s that were poisoned. I really upset because at the beginning of March I look at the shelf at our Wal-mart and all the special kitty products were off the shelf – Why did it take so long to notify the consumers? Maybe my cat would still be alive today. Please all the vet bills i have occured, because of this.

6. Bobbi Thompson on March 18, 2007 9:45 am

   This whole thing makes me wonder if perhaps we should go back to what our parents and grandparents did. Feeding our animals what we eat. My father in law has been feeding his dog from the table for 16 years and Chip is a very active and healthy elder dog.
   I also belive if cat food can harm a dog, it should be posted prominatly on the bag.

7. Julie Schmit on March 18, 2007 11:56 am

   I’m a reporter for USA TODAY, trying to locate someone who’se pets ate these products. Please call me: 925-528-3657

8. Brian Leber on March 18, 2007 1:27 pm

   Our cat Max died of renal failure last Monday. The Eukanuba that is being recalled was a regular part of his diet. I’ve discovered many others whose pets have suffered the same fate.

   I’d encourage anyone whose pet has fallen ill to contact the FDA at 301-443-1240 to report this. (The number is 24/7.)

   If you still have any of the suspect pet food, save it.

   I understand some of the pet food companies are offering compensation for medical expenses. While I am not an attorney, individuals may want to seek legal counsel before accepting payments.

9. Allyson Jones on March 18, 2007 1:57 pm

   Our beloved 10 year old chocolate lab died from respiratory failure after a weeklong struggle due to kidney failure friday morning at 9:30am. Our black lab continues the struggle today. The first we heard of the pet food recall was saturday morning from friends that heard it on the news the previous night. After much research I found the first customer complaints to menu foods were as early as June 12, 2006. I bought Nutro Natural Choice for senior dogs March 8, 2007 from Petco. On the Petco website on March 17, 2007 it said it pulled Nutro, amongst others, as a precaution because it was made by the same manufacturer but had not been recalled. However, my veterinarian confirmed with menu foods that the food I bought with a specific lot number had been tainted. How do they determine what lots to recall? Is it based on the number of deaths reported by vets? Where is the gap in communication? I am certain that this has been under reported by vets and pet owners. Keep researching this please. Don’t let this go.

10. Brian Leber on March 18, 2007 2:56 pm

    Allyson,

    I very sorry to read about your loss and I wish your black lab the best. We’re trying to organize a way of sharing information among all of us who have lost pets because of this tainted food. Feel free to contact me and we can talk further.

    dolomitekat(at)gmail(dot)com

11. Brian Leber on March 18, 2007 3:33 pm

    There is now a central location to exchange information regarding this rapidly evolving issue.

    http://petfoodrecall.blogspot.com/

12. tonna on March 19, 2007 3:25 pm

    My 7 month old wheaton terrier puppy, Honey Bear, was spayed in the beginning of February. I thought she was having side effects of the surgery. Her symptoms started by peeing alot, constantly. She could not hold her pee for more than 30 minutes. I took her to the vet and they gave me some anti-biotics, Clavomax and Rimadyl. She was on the meds for 5 days and seemed to be getting worse. She would not eat her food and she started to vomit. So, I took her to a different vet. I wanted a second opinion. The vet I took her to see took both a urine and a blood test. We were just doing it as a precaution. We only thought she had a UTI. The vet called me at the end of the day with the test results. He told me that my beautiful, happy, beloved, 7 month old puppy had renal failure and was going to die with in 6 months to a year. Her BUN count was 94 the normal was 11. Her urine was not concentrating, which was a sign of her kidneys not functioning correctly. He asked me if Honey Bear had gotten into anything: toxins, poisons, plants. I said no, never thinking that her food could be toxic. As a result, he told me that he thought that it was genetic. He told me that kidney disease just happens sometimes and that there was nothing that we could do. I was shocked and devastated. The vet changed her food to Hill’s k/d and gave her a different antibiotic, cephlex and a medication to stop vomiting.

    I called my boyfriend and told him what had happened. Neither of us knew what we were going to do. However, I knew I was not going to wait around for my puppy to die. My boyfriend told a friend about Honey Bear and the friend gave us the number to his sister, who just so happened to be a vet. I wonderful vet.

    I went to all of the vets I had ever taken Honey Bear to and got all of her records, any and everything I had ever taken her to the doctor for, I got. I faxed everything to her and she looked into everything in depth. I took Honey Bear to see her the next day and the first thing she did was put Honey Bear on IV treatments for four days. I had to take my puppy to the animal hospital at 8am every morning and pick her up every evening at 5pm. It was one of the hardest things I had to do, because all I kept thinking was that she is not going to live very long anyway and I am not able to see her the whole day. My quality time with her, her quality time with me is being taken away. We were hoping to get all of the toxins out of Honey Bear’s system. After the four days of treatments, the vet did another blood test. With our fingers crossed, hoping for the best and expecting the worst, we waited for the results.

    The next day, we got the results back and her BUN number was down significantly. It was not in the normal range, but it was now 27 instead of 94. I was very happy, but I knew that this was just the beginning of a long process to get her counts down. The vet told me to keep Honey Bear on the Hill’s k/d food for another week and then to come back for another blood test. I did and the following wednesday I took her back and we did a blood test and urine culture. We got her results back and her BUN count was at 11, normal, finally. The vet then told me to keep Honey Bear on the Hill’s k/d for another two weeks and then we would do another blood test. I am suspose to take my puppy back wednesday for her fourth blood test in four weeks. I am still hoping for the best and expecting the worst.

    For the past month, I have been thinking that my puppy was going to die and still may. However, when the press release came out I looked to see if the food that my puppy was eating at the time of her diagnosis was on the recall list, it was. She was eating Nutro Ultra Puppy. It has the exact UPC and date on the can of the food on the recall list. The Nutro Ultra food is suspose to be Holistic and it is expensive. I thought I was buying my puppy good food that would help her grow to be a healthy adult dog with a long life span. I never expected that I would be feeding her something that could kill her and will decrease her life span. Honey Bear ate 9 cans of the toxic food with the December 11th date. Although it is a relief to know that she does not have a genetic disease, Honey Bear still has kidneys that are not functioning normally. Kidneys, unlike the liver, do not repair themselves. This will not rejuvenate. She has only 25% function at the most in her kidneys and she will never have more function than that. The question now is how do we keep that 25% functioning as well as we can? How do we give her a full life for her? We already know she will not live as long as dogs normally do. We are hoping the she will live to be 2 or 3 or maybe even 4, but that is as realistic as we can be.

13. Reed Peters on March 20, 2007 11:11 am

    Our 12 year old mixed breed dog, Lady, had to be put to sleep on Thursday, December 14th, 2006 due to complications from liver failure. We did not know what caused the problem then, but we suspect that it is related to the current pet food recall.

    Just by chance, we still have six cans of the Iams dog food left over. We bought 6 cans of the “Chunks with Chicken in Gravy” (product code: 60834197w2) and 6 cans of the “Chunks with Beef & Vegetables in Gravy” (product code: 61824197w2). We have three cans of each remaining, which means we feed Lady three of each flavor before she stopped eating. (These product codes are before the currently listed recall codes.)

    The interesting thing is that we also have the sales receipt for the purchase of the dog food. (It was in the same plastic store bag as the dog food cans.) We bought the dog food on December 3, 2006. I wanted to point this our because this would suggest to me the problem ingredient was in the dog food before the currently listed recall dates.

    In summary, I have six cans of Iams dog food left from a 12 can purchase. My dog died after just six cans. Probably because she was an older dog. These cans are from just before the recall dates. This leads one to conclude that the new supplier of the wheat gluten is not the cause of the problem. If these cans would be of any use to find a resolution, please let me know.

    Reed Peters
    pethen2@yahoo.com
    Sonoma, Ca

14. Jennifer Eckhart on March 20, 2007 3:34 pm

    I buried my dog CJ March 16th 2007. He was hospitalized for kidney failure after consuming Nutro Ultra Holistic canned food. My vet was very aggressive with treatment, but there was no response. Cj’s kidney values continued to elevate each day and never could stop the vomiting. By the 5th day all his levels(kidney,bun,phosphorous) were of the charts so I had no choice, I did not want him to suffer anymore. He was at the point of no return and I knew it. Kidney failure is a horrible death for pet and owner.
    I do have receipts for petsmart and also have a can of tainted food. I ‘m going to start looking into what my rights are legally. I would imagine that if the pet owners that have lost a pet due to this negligence stood together we might have a better chance of making a difference> I don’t want CJ’s suffering and death to be in vain.
    Jennifer
    mydog_cj@yahoo.com

15. Charles Malesev on March 20, 2007 5:42 pm

    Thank you for all of your comments on my March 17 2007 entry to the BLOG.

    At this date I am most focused on exposing the slowly emerging lies that have been releasd to the media and the FDA by Menu Foods. Some of you have reported to this blog the fact that your pets became sick long before March of 2007, one report stated that their pet got sick in June of 2006 and died after eating food produce by Menu Foods.
    At this point I want to ask all of you that reported pets becoming sick and especially those of you that had pets get sick back in 2006 to take the time to call these reports into the FDA.
    Menu Foods has already inadvertantly admitted to lying in their first reports to the media when they stated they first learned of the sick pets in March of 2007 and now on todays TV news ( 03/20/07) I see they have told the FDA that when they got the first reports of sick pets back in December they tested the suspect food on 50 animals in their labs and by December the 10 2007 seven of the dogs tested had died… Not only are they filthy liers but this admited cruel act also demonstrates their contempt for the lives of animals and our pets. I for one would like to see them all out of business and homeless.

16. Paul, Jeff, Fred, Lola and Oliver on March 20, 2007 7:10 pm

    The bottom line is that the only thing that matters to these greedy corporate execs is MONEY. Why else would they delay for a month hoping the story would die before fessing up to it. Well, unfortunately for them, the only thing that is dying are people’s beloved pets. Perhaps by boycotting the likes of Iams (Proctor and Gamble) some of these subhumans will actually pay attention. I’d like to personally spoon feed some of them the poison they foisted upon innocent and helpless pets.

17. Jennifer on March 20, 2007 8:05 pm

    Posted:www.theblogpound.com
    #

    The Menu Foods recall will likely be traced back to a mix up by a vendor that shipped the wrong material: Propylene glycol is used in pet food, and they possibly received ethylene glycol. Ethylene Glycol (used in antifreeze) produces the symtoms of renal failure. Either product is metabolized quickly and lab tests to confirm are usually too late to help with the emergency care issues. Both of these glycols appear similiar and odorless.

    Respectfully submitted based on 27 years in the pet food business.
    Posted by Dawg Man on 03/19 at 10:09 AM

    Posted:www.avma.org
    The Iowa State University Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory reports that autopsy and microscopic examination of tissues from affected animals indicate acute renal toxicosis including the presence of birefringent crystals, as well as other crystal formations. The effects are consistent with exposure to ethylene glycol and derivatives, mycotoxins, ochratoxin and citrinin, some heavy metals or vitamin D toxicity. At the present time the exact cause of this problem is not yet known. Investigations are continuing.

18. Kim McLaughlin on March 21, 2007 12:36 pm

    This pet food recall has been a nightmare for me. Both my cats became sick on March 5. I thought it was just a bug- they were vomiting a little but otherwise looked and acted healthy. Then Muffin started to feel better so I figured it was going away. Unfortunately, Solomon’s sickness returned worse than ever on the 12th. I broguht him to the vet and he was suffering with mouth ulcers (sometimes associated with advanced kidney disease) and his BUN, creatinine, and phosphorus were all off the charts. The vets tried IV and antbiotic treatment for an entire week but his numbers never came down.
    I found out about the recall on the 17th. I knew immeadiately that I had the affected food, and upon cheking the cans, confirmed my suspicions. I have been trying since then, many times a day, to get a hold of the Menu Foods Co. I have yet to succeed. I called Iams and they refunded my money for the tainted food and took my name and number saying they would call back regarding Solomon’s haspitilization. I have yet to hear back from them.
    I just feel like no one wants to be held responsible regarding this matter. I am sure I will gget the runaround from company to company (i.e. Iams saying to call Menu Foods and vice-versa.) It is frustrating to know that most likely to get through to any of these companies I am going to have to get a lawyer. All I really want is for my cat to get better and I hope that can happen. At the moment, Solomon is home because we know he can’t stay on IV’s forever. We are enjoying our time with him while we still have some and when he starts showing that he is uncomfortable or showing symptoms we will take him back to the vets so he can go Home. It is hard for me to look at him knowing that soon I will never hear his sweet “meow” again unless there is some sort of miracle where his symptoms never return.
    Meanwhile, Muffin went to the vets yesterday to get IV treatment to essentialy flush the toxins out. Her bloodwork on Monday revealed she had high levels of BUN and creatinine but not phosphorus. Her numbers are manageable but most likely she will be on a special diet for the rest of her life- which is fine with me since I will never buy Iams again.
    My heart goes out to all the animals and their owners who have to deal with this tragedy. I am also writing to find out where owners like myself can go for more information regarding the recall and possibly legal advice on the matter.
    Lets hope these people in charge of this recall can find some compassion for the animals we love best!

19. Charles Malesev on March 21, 2007 1:41 pm

    TO: Kim Mc. Laughlin:

    I wanted you and everyone else to know what worked very well for my two kitties.

    When they first got to the vet on January 1st 2007, their blood work was very poor, the vet put them into the hospital with an Lactose Ringer IV and antibiotic to flush out the kidneys and sddress the infection in the kidneys.

    After ten days in the hospital the blood work returned to nearly normal.

    My kitties returned home with canned prescription food called Multi-stage renal and at home I have to give them 100 ml of Lactose ringer subcutaneously, thats with an IV once a day to continue flushing out the kidneys.

    A subcutaneous IV is very easy to administer, with your index finger and thumb get hold of the skin between the soulder blades, pinch and lift to create what looks like a tent and then insert the IV needle between the shoulder blades and turn on the IV valve. 100 ml takes about 10 min. using a 22ga needle and my kitty usually lays still for me.

    Your vet can instruct you and demonstrate how to do this very important IV at home.

    Hope this helps any of you to completly flush the kidneys for your pets.

    One other sugjestion is to ask your vet for pills to take home that will give your pet a strong appetite.

    Once home and after a week of force feeding 150mg ( equal to a 6 oz can )of pureid the prescription canned food with a 2.5 mg eyedropper ( you will need to enlarge the hole in the eyedropper.) my pets have returned to a nearly life normal life, eating well on their own, gaining weight, maintaining their weight, but I will keep them on the IV for another week or two ( home IV about 4 weeks ).

    Hope this helps someone save their pet.

    Charles at: CMMichigan@juno.com

20. Charles Malesev on March 22, 2007 5:38 am

    March 22 2007:

    On TV this morning from a channel 7 Detroit News
    report, I learned that it is now suspected that the a second Menue Foods plant in New Jersey is also involved as well as the one in Emporia, Kansas.

    Guess this means that their are more date an factory codes to be looking for and it makes me wonder if other brands of food are involved?

    Only Menu Foods can answer this and their plant phone (620) 342-1312 is being reported as out of order and the phone numbers listed in the news are 200% over loaded, however there is a FAX number for the Kansas plant it is

    FAX (905) 826-3481 ).

    A week ago I sent them a notice of my cats being sick on this FAX number, it was received but they never called me back.

    Charles at: CMMichigan@juno.com

21. D.M. on March 22, 2007 8:36 am

    The FDA is once again asleep at the wheel. Please pet owners contact your U.S.Senators and Congressional members. Tell them you demand answers and ask that the pet food industry be better regulated and be accountable for quality control. This is not a dry,pouch,can issue. It is $$$$$$$$$ and no regulation. Please take the time to write. We can make a difference by working jointly State by State. Our pets can’t speak for themselves, we must do it for them.

22. Kim McLaughlin on March 22, 2007 11:11 am

    To: Charles Malesev:

    Thank you for your input on the matter. I am definietely going to ask my vet about the lactose ringer IV. I am not sure if that’s what she was using or not. She did show me how to give the IV’s at home but I chose not to do it because I was told Solomon was hopeless…that his numbers were too high for him to live comfortably. Right now he seems like nothing is wrong with him and he is beginning to eat out of my hands!

    I did want you to know that when I learned of the recall on Saturday I heard of both the plants (N.J. and Kansas) producing the tainted food. So, my belief is that all the codes are up to date. I live in Mass. so I can only assume my food purchased from Wal-Mart came from the N.J. plant and my codes matched those in the recall.

    Does anyone know of a class-action site starting up? I have heard rumore but have not yet found it.

23. Kim McLaughlin on March 22, 2007 11:19 am

    To: Reed Peters

    I read your comment and I am very sorry to hear about your dog. I could’ve interpeted this wrong but when I read the articles discussing the recall my belief was that although the tainted food was produced before December 3 it didn’t hit shelves until then. So, unfortunately, you may have gotten the tainted food on the earliest possible day that it could be bought.

    A girl I work with said that her cat died in late December because of kidney failure. Of course she never knew about the recall until I told her a few days ago. So, she most likely purchased affected food early in the month.

    I hope this was helpful to you. I will keep posting as I find out more!

24. Fiona MacMillan on March 22, 2007 12:40 pm

    The Vets too are to blame since they are the ones selling pet food and telling us never to feed anything but pet food and Hills, Royal Canin, Purina and Iams all give huge funding to the veterinary schools and Hills and Royal Canin etc. are even being allowed to teach veterinary students nutrition at British Veterinary Schools since here the veterinary schools have disclosed this under the Freedom of Information Act. Because of taking this funding from pet food companies the veterinary schools then cannot speak out and say that pet food is causing illness but I have a lot of veterinary research which shows that pet food is causing diabetes, cystitis, kidney failure, GDV in dogs, dilated cardiomyopathy in cats and dogs, struvite which stops cats passing urine, calcium oxalate caused by the pet food companies acidifying the pet food, calcification of the lungs, kidneys and heart caused by the pet food companies putting too much Vitamin D in pet food, deformities in kittens caused by pet food companies having far too much Vitamin A in pet food by putting in a lot of liver in it and the veterinary research I have shows that pet food is quite literally causing serious and fatal illness in cats and dogs and I blame the Vets as much as the pet food companies because the Vets should have known that the pet food is bound to cause illness eventually. My Vet told me to feed Hills to my 5 cats and on this food 3 of them got cancer, one kidney failure and one stopped being able to pass urine. Vets rarely stop to think that the pet food caused the illness and tell us to feed a prescription diet because they make money from that and money from all the illness that feeding pet food causes so I think the Vets are a great deal to blame too. In Britain we have a Parliamentary campaign against pets being fed pet food and our aim is to stop the veterinary schools being funded by pet food companies and a stop to be put to pet food companies incredibly being allowed to teach nutrition to veterinary students which is like leaving Dracula in charge of the blood bank. It makes veterinary marketing arms of pet food companies and veterinary students fail to use their intellect to even question it and the result is animals with needless illness that theVet often makes a lot of money trying to save when the pet would never have got the illness if the Vet had not told the client to feed it pet food from which the Vet makes a considerable profit.

25. Carol Auld on March 22, 2007 1:06 pm

    http://www.yourdiabeticcat.com/forums/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=2264

    Discussions about the class action suit are on this thread on the YDC site.

    The YDC site clearly shows how dry cat food is causing Feline Diabetes in cats. It is an epidemic.

    Ontario pet-food company faces $60M lawsuit
    2nd class action in a week alleges products to blame for cat and dog deaths

    http://www.cbc.ca/canada/toronto/story/2007/03/21/pet-lawsuit.html

    And a SECOND class action lawsuit has been filed in Canada…against Menu Foods.

    http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2007/03/20/pet-food-lawsuit.html

    The lawsuit seeks compensation for anyone who has purchased Royal Canin dog or cat food since Aug. 1, 2004.

    For anyone who fed Royal Canin food. I am applying because MediCal, the food my female Siamese got sick on is owned by Royal Canin.

    These companies need to be held accountable. People need to stop buying dry cat food and commercial cat food altogether.

    This is probably the only thing these selfish greedy companies will understand. Obviously the makers of junk pet food care only about their profits not the health of our pets!!

26. Jennifer Eckhart on March 22, 2007 2:45 pm

    To: Kim Mclaughlin
    Yahoo Groups has started Menu Foods Class Action Forum. You have to join, but it is free. There is helpful info there. I have also found a couple of other sites that are keeping on top of posting any new info. : http://www.petconnection.com and http://www.howl911.com( click on Wisconsin Class Action link on this site, they are asking pet owners from other states to fill out form if interested in starting class action in your state). Which I am so anyone affected in Texas feel free to contact me.
    mydog_cj@yahoo.com

27. Brian Leber on March 23, 2007 9:47 am

    It seems there is a good chance our pets were poisoned.

    http://abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=2975912

    This is very tragic and inexcusable.

28. Allyson Jones on March 23, 2007 1:20 pm

    I am sorry for everyone’s losses. The cost for all of us is acute. I would feel better if they stopped reporting one dog death repeatedly. There have been many. It has been a week today since my chocolate lab Luna died. I was able to reach menu foods and gave them pertinent information. I have repeatedly called the FDA. I leave my name and number as requested and they say they will call back. No call so far. My vet got through and they gave her a number for me to call but couldn’t get through and no call back. I read an article that the FDA has never visited the menu foods factory in Kansas before this problem. How can it be rat poison when the symptoms are not consistent with rat poisoning? I could use help finding a lawyer in LA. Anyone? Brian, I am sorry for the loss of your cat Max. My home is too quiet.

29. GP on March 23, 2007 8:37 pm

    wow.. i’m sorry all of you condolences for your pet losses. Good info and links here

    GP in montana

30. paul courcier on March 23, 2007 9:02 pm

    i found out about the recall a couple days ago. iam shocked.at the response of the fda and menue foods i fed my dogs ole roy dog food from walmart in december 2006 till now . think i might have fed them some of the tainted food.I was stunned to learn ol roy was on the recall list the beef cuts and chicken are the very same ones i fed my dogs. they seem to be ok but iam watching them,the spca needs to be involved with this cruelty.

31. Cassie Blythe on March 24, 2007 8:52 am

    My shelter kitty (and best friend) died after eating this food. My other cat was also very ill but luckily pulled through. There is no reason why both cats only 2 years of age should be so ill, except for that I was poisoning them.
    Snowflake was sick off and on in January. He was vomiting off and on and one day had a very high fever. We took him to the vet where he was given IV fluids and some antibiotics. His blood work showed a low white blood cell count (on of the signs of kidney failure). The next week he seemed to feel better and his appetite resumed. That week he went missing. He was an indoor cat but occasionly went outside for short periods of time. We were frantic, put up colored fliers on every mailbox (despite the mailman threatening us with a felony!) We went the the local Humane Society every day or every other and looked for him. We put ads in the paper. Months went by and still no Snowflake. My 8 yr old daughter cried herself to sleep for a week straight after he went missing. Eventually we gave up hope of finding him, we figured that he had run away although none of us could specifically remember letting him outside that day. On March the 12th our family moved to a new house. Family and friends showed up to help us with the move. My daughter was somewhat tearful that day knowing that meant we would definetly never see Snowflake again because if he returned we would not be there. I heard a scream from my daughters bedroom and ran in. After the guys had moved my daughters bed they found Snowflake. Curled up in a ball in the corner of the room underneath my daughters bed. I literally had to pry my daughter off of his decomposed body. I believe that my cat died of kidney failure from eating the cuts and gravy pouches that we served at least 2-3 times a day, although I can’t prove it. There was no reason that a perfectly healthy 2 yr old kitten should all of a sudden come down with kidney failure, curl up in a ball and die.
    My daughter lives with a huge amount of guilt that she should’ve looked under her bed and found him. She believes that she could’ve saved his life had we found him in time. She will forever have the image of her first kitten decomposed underneath her bed burned into her mind. We will all miss you Snowflake.
    I went to the menufoods website and they state that you must have your store reciepts for the purchase of the catfoods to be reimbursed for your vet expenses. WHO KEEPS RECIEPTS FOR CAT FOOD FROM 4 MONTHS AGO? Certainly not me and I am sure that I will never get any justice.

32. Tammy on March 24, 2007 2:09 pm

    I am concerned about my cat, he has become sick and the vet is still trying to get to the root of the problem. I find it very ironic that he is sick now, when he has never been sick before, Bailey is 4yrs old. He only eats DRY FOOD, but i wonder if they haven’t discovered if its affected the dry food yet, or they have and just aren’t telling us, like they did months ago.
    If anyone is experiencing prob and only feed the DRY FOOD to their pet, i would be very interested to know. Please, before Bailey gets more sick.

33. beth on March 24, 2007 8:09 pm

    our precious, beautiful , golden retriever, maggie is dead thanks to old roy (pouch) dog food from walmart. she died a horible death after long suffering, on feb. 14 inspite of four trips to two different vets. we are all still crying over this loss and there is nothing worse than realizing that we poisoned her ourselves just by feeding her. feed table food to your pets – do not trust any pet food for now!!!!!

34. Cliff in phx on March 24, 2007 9:51 pm

    So sorry to hear about everyones loss. This is a direct result of todays political climate and lack of oversight by our federal Government. As with pets, it is with humans. Most of these brands of pet food are full of poison, by products and preservatives anyway. Good opportunity for people to research Independent alternatives like Flint River Ranch ( http://www.f-r-r.com ) or Life’s Abundance . 2 foods NOT affected by the Recall.

35. Ronald Wempen on March 24, 2007 10:36 pm

    This entire scenario is suspicious. Weeks after Menu Foods knew there was a problem, but just prior to their annual meeting, and on a Friday, they announce the recall. Mystery is solved in exactly one week, blaming a “rat poison”, which is originally an old-line anti-leukemic drug. My old pharmacology textbook describes the toxicologic findings in fatal feeding of Aminopterin to animals, and the picture is NOT what we have all read has been happening recently. This fact should have been recognized immediately by oncologists, and by toxicologists, and by second and third year medical students, maybe by veterinarian students.
    What is going on? Is this a planned cover-up? I have been developing evidence, since the day after the first announcement from samples on the recall list, that there is another culprit involved and which has does have a pathological picture closer to that now being observed.
    If anyone has material from sick animals, like litter with urine, consider placing it in a clean glass or hard plastic container. If you have a deceased pet and willing to have an autopsy done, tissue slides for pathologist studies would be very helpful. We need trails of evidence, and the companies and government cannot be trusted. It is very easy to spike lab samples. We consumers may have to solve this mystery ourselves.
    Anyone willing to help may email me at healthenergy@netzero.net.

36. Margo on March 25, 2007 2:11 pm

    I am so sorry for all the pets and their owners who have been suffering since this awful thing happened. My dog had been eating at least two or three cans a week of the Nutro tainted recalled food since I adopted him back in late October. The day after the recall was announced I stopped with the gravy-based food for my dog but did continue feeding him and my cat the Nutro dry food, and am still. However, I have been gradually switching over to a brand called PetGuard found at health food stores. I think the reason my dog is (hopefully) okay is because through the months I’ve been giving him a tablet supplement with his food every day called Vita-Dreams Daily Greens made by Halo, Purely for Pets, also found at health food stores. In it are at least 10 ingredients that promote healthy kidney function. I am also now giving him one capsule of milk thistle a day because it cleanses the liver. If anyone is interested I will provide the company’s phone # and any other necessary contact info. I believe that Vita-Dreams Daily Greens may have helped to save my dog’s life, or at least keep him from getting sick. My thoughts, prayers and well wishes go out to all of you who are hurting. I believe what Ronald is saying. Something is just not right, and terribly unfair and unjust.

37. Rena Volpe on March 25, 2007 3:57 pm

    PLEASE!Pet owners,quit feeding your precious pets cheap store brand pet foods![Especially your cats]These foods are seriously lacking proper nutrition for your pets,as well as containing some questionable ingredients.If cats do not receive the proper amount of protien they can have liver problems, and without proper nutrition [as well as plenty of fresh water] they can develop kidney problems.Educate yourself about good nutrition for your beloved pets-just like with humans,they are what they eat!Their health and wellbeing depend on how well take care of them.Choose carefully what you feed them. Raw diets aren’t always a good idea, unless you know what you’re doing- it takes more than just throwing together some meats and vegetables.[Make sure to find what kinds of supplements should be added or not added.]I just lost my sweet little 17 year miniature dachshund,who was , as my vet said,in remarkable shape, to what may be the result of the recently recalled dog food.Unfortunately, try as we may to give our pets the best of care, there are sometimes perils outside our control.I will do my part to make sure those responsible for this tragedy are held accountable.My heart is ACHING for the loss of my dog, and I feel for the other pet owners that lost their pet[s].

38. Carol Auld on March 25, 2007 5:21 pm

    I don’t think some kind of Green tablet would be enough to mitigate the effects of RAT POISON!

    Sorry, this sounds like a no go to me.

    For a good raw cat food recipe use:
    http://www.catnutrition.org

    It is my understanding also that dogs are not supposed to be eating things like rice and vegetables, just meat. There are good recipes for raw dog food too, but dogs and cats are carnivores, they are not omnivores (like us) or herbivores (like rats). They need MEAT that is their food.

    No one trusts commercial pet food anymore.

    Everyone is switching to raw or lightly cooked meat diets that I talk to.

    And signing onto the class action suits.

    Too many selfish greedy pet food companies have made many people rich creating pet food that has made our cats and dogs sick.

    I hope these class action lawsuits rip the industry to shreds!

    THIS IS CONSUMER FRAUD.

    There can be no claims of “health” to any of these commercial pet foods. The feeding trials, if any, are a scam.

    The government has to step in and regulate this industry since obviously “self regulation” isn’t working.

39. Ellen on March 25, 2007 6:25 pm

    I have resisted for a teleseminar to be held this Wed, 3/28. The person who is being interviewed is Sandra Bailey, who has a website and has written a book about better food for your dog. I bought her book, and she really has good information. If you are interested in the teleseminar, you have to register at http://www.TheNaturallyDog.com/?id=28
    Her website is http://www.TheNaturallyHealthyDog.com and her book is “Real Dog’s Don’t Eat Kibble!”
    This has really been a scary incident and hopefully some new legislation can come out of this. How can we make the government understand that our pets are family members and are just as important and valuable as our children?

40. Rena Volpe on March 25, 2007 9:35 pm

    In response to Carol Auld;Yes,cats and dogs are considered carnivores, they also consume vegetation either through chewing on natural grasses or by consuming whatever vegetation may have been be ingested by their prey in nature.These are very important nutrients that you need to consider.

41. Charles Malesev on March 25, 2007 10:28 pm

    I wonder if any one knows enough about this type of rat poison to know if it could cause cancer?

    On January 24th I noticed a lump on my 7 year old kitty Angel’s neck and now I am being told it is T Cell Lymphoma.

    Charles

    CMMichigan@juno.com

42. Rena Volpe on March 26, 2007 8:12 am

    I’ve read that aminopterin is the “ingredient”[for lack of better word] in the rat poison found in the recalled food. As I understand, aminopterin is used as a cancer drug.

43. Alicia on March 27, 2007 3:13 pm

    If you’re looking for homemade diets, go to Balanceit.com. They have recipes developed by board certified veterinary nutritionists. You can get a FREE recipe by entering the promo-code “homemade” at the checkout.

44. Jennifer on March 28, 2007 2:56 pm

    I’m sorry to hear that so many people have lost a pet.

    In Canada, two actions have started against Menu Foods. You can check out the above link for more information on how to join the class action.

45. Jennifer on March 28, 2007 3:45 pm

    Check out http://www.menufoodsclaim.com to find out more about how how can join the class action suit against Menu Foods in Canada.

46. Jennifer Eckhart on March 28, 2007 4:09 pm

    Law firm interested in pursuing Class Action in the US. They want to hear from any other pet owners affected, no matter what state in which you reside. Contact them via email.They are researching which state would be most beneficial to file suit in. Also looking into all angles possible negligence, liability, etc….So here’s the info and pass it on to any other pet owners affected.
    email info to; abelm@oqlaw.com
    Info:
    Pet affected canine or feline age and breed
    Do you have receipts-medical,food purchase
    Do you have any recalled food in your possession, if so hold on to it
    Time line of illness and symptoms leading up to
    Condition of pet to date
    Use my name as ref. Jennifer Eckhart
    Also here’s link to look at John Oquinn law firms history and success with class action suits http://www.oqlaw.com/PracticeAreas/Class-Actions.asp

    Jenn
    mydog_cj@yahoo.com

47. Kitt Songstad on March 29, 2007 11:28 am

    I worked for Menu Foods as a temporary employee in Emporia last year. One of the benefits to working there was that I was allowed to take home free pet food which was made available due to mislabeling or can damage. After feeding my perfectly healthy cat who I had owned for 5 or 6 years foods from menu she took ill and died over the course of a week. I suspected the food because I worked in an area that qc’d the product package before it went out and I believed that the work was not undertaken thoroughly enough due to shipping deadlines. I was also concerned with the manner of production and the condition of the meat biproducts that were used as ingredients.

    I am terribly saddened by this news and upset about my own negligence in protecting my dear pet.

48. kellie on March 30, 2007 10:46 am

    Has anyone fed their cat Nutro Gourmet Classics “Chicken Cacciatore” “California Chicken Supreme Dinner” or “Lamb and Turkey Cutlets Platter” in the 3 0z can?

    My cat developed severe renal failure shortly after consuming these foods.

    So far Nutro has only recalled cat food in the pouches.

    Is this coincidence?

    Thanks

49. paul courcier on March 30, 2007 3:40 pm

    i have fed my dogs the ol roy cuts and gravy as recently as 2 weeks ago before i found out about the recall. i am no longer feeding them ol roy products. my red heeler has beed throwing up and shhe lays in my bed room and dosent come out much only if i call her then she coes back in there.i hope i havent done something to her ive had her since she was a puppy. she is 5 yrs old. what do i do.also is the ol roy hearty loaf on the recall i have some cans of it.

50. Rena Volpe on March 30, 2007 4:16 pm

    The FDA is now saying,they have found a chemical called melamine in the recalled food, as well as finding it in the urine of sick cats and in the kidney of cat that had died after being fed the recalled food.The chemical is used in making plastic items-such as kitchenware.Also,I’ve read that Menu Foods may recall ALL cans/pouches of their pet foods-not just chunks and gravy types.In response to Paul Courcier;PLEASE TAKE YOUR DOG TO A VET IMMEDIATELY!! And STOP FEEDING OL’ ROY DOG FOOD –to be blunt,OL’ROY dog food is pure crap!I know it’s inexpensive and for some reason,dog’s like it-from a nutritional stand point,it is severely lacking.I wish you and your dog the best,and I hope she is feeling better soon.

51. Jennifer Eckhart on March 30, 2007 5:40 pm

    Paul,
    Take your dog to the vet immediately!!!!The longer you wait the less chance of recovery, this is something you almost have to catch before you see any symptoms.

52. Charles Malesev on March 30, 2007 11:47 pm

    Since the FDA has discovered that melamine is the chemical that is hurting our pets kidneys, I wonder if anyone knows if the melamine could cause cancer.

    One of my kitties ” Lucky ” has been sick with kidney failure and being treated by the vet.since Jan. 14th and my other kitty “Angel” does not have kidney failure but on March 5th I found lumps on her neck and it has turned out to be T cell lymphoma and since I had been feeding them the canned food and their medical problems started since December 2007 it makes me wonder about the Lymphoma.

    Paul Courcier please get you dog to a vet early Saturday morning.

    Charles at: CMMichigan@juno.com

53. Dave on March 31, 2007 12:07 pm

    Our dog Jag, a five year old chow/german shepard mix, became ill and weak around the middle of January after feeding her Iams weight control moist food for several months. She was vomiting a yellow liquid and stopped eating. We took her to a local vet who did a complete blood panel and decided she was just obese and put her on Hills prescription dry food.
    She threw the Hills food up so we began feeding her a rice and boiled ground beef mixture.
    She showed a slight improvement but noticed she was constantly licking her lips. Having a glucose meter in house I tested her and got a reading of 41 mg, this being extremley low. I called the vet and he had an assistant call back and inform me that the human testing meters were not accurate on dogs and basicly I should stop trying to diagnose her. I went online and found he was totaly wrong about the meters so I called another vet who was better trained.
    Our new vet told us that such low numbers would indicate an insulinoma, or cancer of the pancreas. She drew more blood and had an insulin panel run and the results confirmed that diagnosis.
    She has been on Medrol since the first of March and has shown remarkable improvement especially after we started a once a day vitamin high in folic acid. Although we know that it is just a matter of time for the cancer to overcome the drugs she is back to enjoying life for now.

54. Charles Malesev on April 2, 2007 4:48 am

    As I earlier reported that my kitty Angel has Lymphoma and now I just learned that kidney failure can cause Lymphoma of the kidney.

    This type cancer causes Lymphoma of the white cells and is spread to the Lymph nodes.

    Be sure your vet palpates your pets neck to feel if the Lymph nodes are enlarged.

    CMMichigan@juno.com

55. TJ on April 6, 2007 9:59 am

    My mini shits zue has respirtory problems, and we are taking her to our vet. They don’t know if it is caused from K/D or Z/D dog food. My neighbor has two shits zue’s with the same problem. There platletts are low. My sister just had her dog which was a shits zue put down last month with a respirtory problem, which the vet said it was from heart failure. Now our dogs are having the same problem. They aren’t saying it’s the dog food. But I am now going to feed my dogs people food. I want to save my dog. I hope it’s not to late. Please stop feeding your animals and kind of cat or dog food. We need to take a stand and stop buying them. I have contacted the FDA with no response. Please note there are other problems besides kidney, there is respiratory problems.

56. Toto on April 6, 2007 8:19 pm

    I think this article says it the best:

    http://community.whptv.com/forums/thread/1483113.aspx

57. Rena Volpe on April 7, 2007 4:51 pm

    My little dog, also,died from respiratory failure,recently.However,I haven’t heard of this being related to the foods recalled.Has anyone heard any new information?Please,let me know how your little Shih Tzu is doing, and if the vet has any news about whether it is related to the recalled dog food.I wish you the best.

58. Dr. Ronald Wempen on April 7, 2007 6:34 pm

    To TJ and Rena:
    If the media and FDA are wrong, and the culprit is a Mycotoxin, then there is a total organ failure possible, with the organ most susceptible being diagnosed first, with all the others damaged to a lesser degree.
    So far, that is what I suspect, with some positive data results.

59. Rena Volpe on April 8, 2007 10:07 am

    To Dr. Wempen:Are you a vet?Why do you suspect Mycotoxin?I would appreciate any information.

60. Rena Volpe on April 8, 2007 10:20 am

    My dog was, at first,diagnosed with gastroenteritis,with a high fever.We treated her with antibiotics,plus a bland diet[cooked chicken/rice].She started to feel better, so my vet said if she felt up to it, I could return to feeding her regular food[Nutro in a pouch]-so I did.On her follow-up,she had improved,but x-rays showed her liver was enlarged,but her liver enzymes were in normal levels.That night,she was in respiratory stress-very labored breathing. I took her to the emergency vet,where they wanted to keep her overnight in an oxygen tent.Around 5:am, she went into respiratory arrest,and died.My heart is so broken-no words can explain.

61. Dr. Ronald Wempen on April 9, 2007 8:42 pm

    Der Ms. Volpe:
    I am sorry to hear of your dog’s death. I am not a vet. I treat humans. However I have had experience and training about Mycotoxins in humans. I can measure the presence or absence of a substance, including this one. So far from samples I have been given to test, the disturbing factor is a mycotoxin, nothing else.

62. Flynn on April 11, 2007 9:39 pm

    SENATE HEARING ON PET FOOD CONTAMINATION TOMORROW (4/12)
    2:00 pm (EST)

    for more information
    and a link to the live webcast visit
    http://durbin.senate.gov/record.cfm?id=272058

63. Rena Volpe on April 12, 2007 10:13 pm

    BUYERS BEWARE!Many stores,I have noticed,are not pulling all recalled pet foods!It seems they are as confused, as many consumers,about which pet foods have been recalled.I have seen,especially in Walmart,recalled dog food still on the shelves.I notified customer service[in person]about this,as well as speaking with a manager,with no results.When I attempted to let customer service know about recalled dog food still on the shelves, she actually rang-up the food,before realizing what I was trying to convey to to her.And even then,I don’t think she took me seriously.So,consumers be informed–check often,to make sure the pet food you’re buying has not been added to the pet food recall list!!

64. Margo on April 13, 2007 7:55 am

    Some people are suspicious that this act was intentional. Others seem so complacent, as if nothing is wrong and business as usual, which really annoys me. I don’t mean to sound paranoid but I am suspicious of this being a deliberate act and I’m wondering if any of you feel the same?? I live in Central New York. And even here, out in the middle of nowhere – my next-door neighbor lost her cat to kidney failure a couple of months ago. Her cat had eaten the tainted food. I’m so sorry for all who are suffering and whose pets have died. It’s very disturbing how many places and people from all over have been affected by this terrible incident. Thank you all for your comments. They help to keep everyone informed and connected.

65. alex on April 13, 2007 10:54 am

    hi nice site.

66. Brian Leber on April 13, 2007 1:13 pm

    For those who haven’t heard, the Senate Hearings on Pet Food went well. From Sen. Robert Byrd’s remarks “Our pets are our companions, our soul mates, and our hedge against emotional turmoil—…when the FDA protects our pets, the FDA protects the health of millions of Americans as well.” to Sen. Dick Durbin’s dogged critique of both the FDA’s lack of oversight (less than 1/3 of pet food facilities have been inspected in the last 3 1/2 years) and his pointed refutation of the Pet Food Institute’s hollow claim that pet food is “perhaps the most highly regulated product on store shelves”, the afternoon went well. (The PFI also asserted that “pet food is safe” and that regulation should be left to the marketplace. I believe we have all witnessed how that idea has failed.)

    For those interested in viewing the hearings they are available at http://appropriations.senate.gov/webcasts.cfm.

    Speaking as one who has lost a beloved pet (Max, our cat) I think that if it weren’t for the dedication and commitment of Sen. Durbin and the rest of the sub-committee, the pet food industry would have been able to sweep this entire issue under the rug. While we have lost a pet that cannot be replaced I believe we will have answers and, more important, real solutions that will prevent companies like Menu Foods from allowing this to happen again.

67. paul on April 13, 2007 3:59 pm

    kudos to sen. dubin hope fuly something will be done now,to regulate the pet food industry.there should be heavy fines leved against those companies that make pet foods for makinh substandard and unsafe products.i hope who is ever responsible for the recall is punished to the full extent of the law.

68. paul on April 13, 2007 8:36 pm

    is alpo classic ground in sauce #70371159 on the recall list. it has the same date code as the prine cuts do. i fed my dog that food before i found out about the alpo recall.

69. kellie on April 15, 2007 5:44 pm

    I found out that my cat Cleo was in fact affected by the Nutro 3 0z cn Gourmet Classics products. They finally recalled it on April 11, 2007.
    I was in contact with Nutro and Menu foods since March 26 and they reassured me that it was not food in the cans only the pouches.

    I went so far as to send Nutro 6 samples (2 cans each of all 3 varieties) along with her “renal failure” bloodwork report. These cans sat at their office for over a week and were never tested. In addition I also sent cans to UC Davis to be tested. On April 9, UC Davis contacted my
    vet to let them know that they did in fact find the melamine in all 3 cans.
    Please google – Sacbee, April 11, Pet food Recall to read article.
    It seems as if every company is blaming one another.
    My frustration is that this could have been recalled at least 1 week prior from Nutro, but of course they were “too busy”. I believe the recall wouldn’t have happened if it weren’t for UC Davis. I’m afraid that all of these tainted pet foods would still be on the shelf.
    Please let me know if your pet was affected by the pet food from the expanded recall on April 11, and when they were affected.
    Cleo is doing better but had to spend 10 days under 24 hour care at the pet emergency hospital. She is home now.

    Thanks and my heart goes out to all that have been affected by this “Horrible Coincidence”.

70. Dave on April 17, 2007 11:54 am

    Update on Jag.
    A new recall was just announced. It is for Natural Balance brands venison and brown rice dry dog food and venison and green pea dry cat food.
    We have been feeding our two dogs rice and boiled ground beef or chicken since the first recall. We decided it would be safe to reintroduce some dry dog food this weekend because all the foods should have been checked by now. Wrong.
    We purchased a bag of Natural Ultramix adult dry food with what looked like great mix of natural ingredients on saturday and on sunday our 11 year old golden retriver was feeling sick and slept under a tree most of the day. He is better today after stopping the food. This could be a coincidence or more bad food. Never the less we are sticking with the home made food or people food, maybe forever.
    Jag has been doing well and we have been able to reduce the Medrol (steroid) to 4mg per day. She is drinking lots of water so we suspect her kidneys may have been affected along with her pancreas. This would seem to strenghten Dr Wempens theory that all the organs can be damaged by the food.
    haaabbb221@yahoo.com

71. Carol Auld on May 29, 2007 5:38 am

    Here’s what Dr. Elizabeth Hodgkins has to say about the lack of safety of commercial pet foods.

    Safe Pet Foods and Truthful Labels: Are They Possible?
    Elizabeth Hodgkins DVM, Esq.

    Commercial Pet Foods Are More Unsafe Than You Think!

    The recent recall of millions of cans and bags of commercial pet food after contaminants were found in these products has caused pet owners all over the world to wonder just how safe commercially-produced products are. It is well that they do so. The most recent safety crisis in dog and cat foods is only the latest in a shocking list of such problems in the past several years. Within the last 18 months, commercial products have been recalled several times because of adulteration with fungal toxins as well as excessive supplementation with Vitamin D. In the more distant past, thousands of pet cats consuming commercial pet foods suffered and died of a nutritional deficiency of the essential amino acid taurine, before it was discovered by accident that many popular feline foods available then were dangerously deficient in this nutrient. Furthermore, many of today’s pet foods contain massive excesses of nutrients like highly processed simple carbohydrate, known to be harmful to humans in these amounts.

    New US Legislation Will Not Improve Safety of Pet Foods

    Despite recent action taken by the US government to address this very serious shortfall in pet food quality, the legislation that has emerged in that effort does not fix this problem. In fact, that legislation only calls for better tracking and reporting of contamination once it is identified in ingredients and finished foods. While there is language in the law that suggests there must be “more uniform” standards for pet food labels, this is a very nebulous requirement considering that pet food labels in the US are already extremely uniform. The problem with pet food labels is not lack of uniformity, but a lack of truthful information on those labels.
    Essentially, this new legislation leaves intact the entire regulatory infrastructure and legislative loopholes that have existed for decades in the United States, and which have allowed unsafe, even toxic foods to be freely marketed to pet owners all over the world. What makes this situation all the more shocking is the fact that every bag and can of recalled product in the recent and more distant recalls contained label guarantees that told the consumer that they are tested safe to feed for the lifetime of the pet! Clearly, those label guarantees were false and misleading. Nothing has changed in the past several decades to remedy this terrible situation, and our pets continue to pay the price. If Canadians wish to have safe pet foods packaged within truthful labels that do not mislead purchasers about the actual testing and quality control used in their production, it is up to the Canadian government, and Canadians themselves, to make this happen.

    History of the Pet Food Industry

    To understand how we have managed to arrive at this troubling state of affairs, it is necessary to understand the history of the pet food industry itself. By its own admission, and that of governmental regulators as well, the commercial pet food industry provides a constructive outlet for the “scraps” of human food production. Meat that is condemned or unacceptable for human consumption for any of a myriad of reasons, and vegetable matter unsuitable for use in human food product production, is shunted to the manufacture of pet foods. Pet food purchasers must understand this reality; pet foods are affordable for pet owners, and highly profitable for the industry, because the average quality of pet food ingredients is well below the standards required for humans.
    Because of this disquieting truth, the pet food industry has, for its entire 60 year history, operated “in the shadows.” Regulations that attempt to insure the safety and wholesomeness of human food have been understood not to apply to pet foods, by their very nature. This is not to say that there are no good quality ingredients used to make pet foods, only that there is no real requirement for wholesomeness and no effective regulation of the industry. The quality of a company’s products is entirely a voluntary matter. In fact, the US government has recently recognized the industry as essentially “self-regulating.”

    How Does the Pet Food Industry Regulate Itself?

    If government is not regulating the pet food industry, who is? The truth is that the industry has over the past several decades has formed a very solid coalition among all of the major and most of the minor producers to “agree” upon a set of ground rules to provide a level playing field for all participants in this very crowded and highly competitive industry. Through the efforts of the Pet Food Institute (PFI) and the American Association of Feed Control Officials (AAFCO), vague ingredient definitions and a non-scientific set of nutrient content standards have been adopted and implemented across the entire industry. Because of this, it is almost impossible for the pet food purchaser to know from the astonishingly uniform labels that appear on all products just what is actually contained within the bags or cans on the store shelf. It is even more difficult for consumers to know how safe, or nutritionally adequate those foods are for exclusive feeding to their pets. Today, it is impossible for pet owners to read a label and tell which products are superior, or inferior, to others. This is a result of the deliberate “homogenizing” of pet food labels by the industry itself.
    Because essentially all commercial pet foods carry meaningless AAFCO adequacy statements and ingredient definitions that deny the consumer real information about what is inside the package, the larger pet food companies have turned to other, less product-quality-focused methods to attract customers. Perhaps the most brilliant and successful of these have been the efforts of some manufacturers to enlist the veterinary profession to advocate and endorse specific products to their clients. It is well known that veterinarians are among the most respected and trusted of all professionals in society. When the pet’s doctor insists that a particular food is the very best choice for a pet, many if not most pet owners will listen. To gain the veterinarian’s endorsement, certain pet food companies have convinced the profession that they produce well tested, well researched, proven products with scientifically verified efficacy. Unfortunately, the science that actually supports even the best pet foods is scant and flawed in design with biased results interpretation.
    The industry as a whole has accomplished a remarkable feat in convincing veterinarians and pet owners that only commercial pet foods can be trusted as safe and balanced nutrition for the pet. Pet owners and their pet health care providers now consider the natural diets of the dog and cat to be dangerous, even deadly, for those very animals. Sadly, pet owners have come to be viewed as incompetent simpletons, incapable of providing healthful diets for their pets, even though society trusts them to do just that for their children. The pet food industry insists that pet owners not trouble themselves learning anything about their pets’ nutritional needs, but rather rely solely on the industry’s good intentions and “perfect” development and manufacturing capabilities. With veterinarians endorsing this paternalistic view, what pet owner would argue? After all, don’t the labels of pet foods certify their quality?
    Even though commercial pet foods have repeatedly shown themselves to be subject to serious contamination and catastrophic imbalances of various nutrients, the trust of pet owners and veterinarians alike goes on, bolstered by label claims that promise excellence. This unquestioning trust, and the label claims that create that trust, is the root cause of the present problem, and it threatens to be the cause of many more to come.

    How Is It Possible For Pet Foods to Carry Unjustified Label Claims?

    Naturally, pet owners find it hard to understand how this state of misleading, even fraudulent claims on pet foods can exist. The answer is simple, lack of effective regulation from outside the industry and a failure of the industry to self-regulate. The blind trust of pet owners and veterinarians makes pet food highly profitable, and without regulatory or market-driven incentive to invest in better quality assurance and scientific testing, no corporation is going to make that investment. It simply does not make business sense.
    The claims that pet foods carry would be unthinkable for human foods. In fact, many of these claims are like those earned by pharmaceutical companies for drug products that have undergone a decade of rigorous clinical trials. The standards for pet food claims of quality, safety and medical efficacy are unconscionably low because government has not demanded otherwise from an industry that has been regulating itself for 60 years!
    The pet food industry will argue that it is one of the most highly regulated industries there is. This is a statement of appearances only. There does appear to be a “cast of thousands” running around in tight circles regulating this industry. Between FDA (the Food and Drug Administration), AAFCO, and PFI, it does, indeed, seem that there are layers and layers of stringent regulation of pet food products. What is not so apparent is the cooperative and collaborative relationship between these groups. All desire the same thing; peace among the parties, profitability for the companies, and tax revenues for the government. Unfortunately, this leaves the pet owner, and the veterinarian, in the dark. This also leaves the pet at great risk of poor nutrition, and even intoxication or death when this unregulated industry makes a mistake.

    How Do We Correct This Absurd State of Affairs?

    The best news in this otherwise dismal situation is that starting to correct it is not that difficult. This is especially true in countries where pet food regulation is not already so complex and ponderous that meaningful change becomes impossible. Those who desire a regulatory environment that stimulates truly healthful products to develop and thrive, and where truth-in-labeling is fundamental, must act now to make sure that government and consumer work together to achieve these ends.
    To be sure, regulations requiring enhanced ingredient and finished product quality testing can be a positive step. But we must look beyond this most obvious and often difficult step. Legal requirements for pre-and post-production contaminant testing are by their nature imperfect, costly for government to enforce, and are never as efficient as creating incentives for the pet food companies to produce better products themselves. Such incentives best come from the marketplace itself.
    To do this, I propose that governments eliminate all unsubstantiated health and disease management label claims. Just as human foods are marketed without health or disease management claims, pet foods should also not carry such claims, unless such claims are substantiated scientifically according to the same standards that apply to health and medical claims for human foods. See attached “Supplemental Testimony for the Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee Hearings, April 12, 2007 for the outline of how such “truth-in-labeling” regulations might be set out.
    Although pet food companies will insist that all of their label claims are absolutely valid, and have been proven so, this simply not the case. Witness:

    AAFCO feeding trials require only 10 weeks to 6 months of feeding of a “representative” food to 6 animals. This is the same kind of trial that permitted foods with deficiencies of taurine to be fed to millions of cats, with the result that thousands were sickened and most of these died from dilated cardiomyopathy. Nothing in the format of the AAFCO feeding trials requirements has changed since that time.

    Evidence for the continuing inadequacy of feeding trials appeared recently when a major pet food manufacturer had to recall food that had been supplemented with excess Vitamin D, which caused excessive calcium levels in pets fed this food. These foods had carried AAFCO feeding trial guarantees on their labels, but the problem, as in the taurine situation, was not discovered until owned-pets became sick.

    All of the recalls in the past many years have been for foods that carried AAFCO certification language. How can a food that has been “feeding trial tested” and found complete and balanced for feeding to pets turn out to be toxic in the short term or the long term? The answer is that the vast majority of the cans and bags of food you see in the store have never been tested for anything, despite the label language! Even the small numbers of foods that have been tested have undergone testing for such a short time, and in so few animals, that no long-term claims can be made for those foods, if genuine scientific standards are applied.

    Despite all of this, pet food labels tell the prospective purchaser that the food in the package should be trusted absolutely to provide safe and highly nutritious food for long-term feeding of the pet.

    The only long-term studies that are ever performed on commercial pet foods are those that occur in owned pets whose caregivers have purchased those foods for feeding to their pets. And these studies do disclose the problems that long-term studies would have disclosed had they been performed properly before the label claims were applied.

    Medical claims are similarly unfounded and untested prior to marketing. The best example of this is the marketing of feline diets for “urinary tract health” (specifically, a type of crystal or stone known as struvite urolithaisis). When these foods were originally introduced, they had never been tested for long-term safety in the laboratory. Decades later, we now know that those foods caused a disease of a different type (calcium oxylate urolitiasis) in many of the pets they were supposed to be treating for the original problem. This very serious side effect came to light in owned pets whose owners spent considerable time and money to treat with the original diet. It was not discovered prior to the marketing of many millions of dollars of the untested diet. Many pet food companies copied the original “urinary tract diet formulas,” with similar results in people’s pets.

    The pet food industry’s response was to develop a new diet that is said to correct this problem. Unfortunately, this new diet is no better tested than the old diet, and we cannot be confident that this diet to correct the old one will not cause a new problem, yet to be discovered in the decades ahead as this food is vigorously prescribed by veterinarians, and purchased widely by concerned owners trying to save their pets.

    When will this scientific insanity end? It appears that no matter how many problems arise in commercial pet foods, no one, not the pet food companies, nor the regulators of the pet food industry, do anything meaningful to bring the actual safety and quality of pet foods into conformance with the high-sounding label claims these foods carry. Why should the pet food industry be allowed to do something no human food industry would be allowed to do?

    I believe the solution is to eliminate the claims, and allow pet foods to compete in the marketplace without them, as human foods do. In time, if certain pet food companies wish to make those claims again, they should be required to prove their foods deserve them. The industry will never take this step on its own. Government must step up and make this change to protect the pet owner and the pet.

72. Laurie Wilkinson on June 4, 2007 3:55 pm

    I am being told that my pets sudden illnesses, screaming in pain & collapsing, urinary & bladder infections, fevers and much more are not related. It is very odd to me they all became sick one by one (the smaller first) in the last some months!! I have 3 dogs, 2 cats & had 3 birds. My first dog had started throwing up & showing signs of skin problems, 1 bird died 16 March after suffering for a month, our cat got sick at the same time starting in february I think it was, then my chihuahua whom has been litterally rushed to ER every day since 02 May, then our other dog now is very ill. What troubles me is they all had fevers, 2nd eye lids covering their eyes, bladder or urinary tract infections, throwing up, excessive drinking even before summer started, then diareah drops later constipation but that could possibly be from pain meds. and I can’t even describe to you the listlessness or worst yet the screams of pain. The horror I have had to go through over the last month has been sickening to the stomach!! To hear them scream, then fall to the ground. Yet, I am being told it is all non-related. How do so many animals come down with similar things yet diagnosed with “Maybe’ he has hip displacement or “Maybe” its a blown disc or “Maybe” it’s a knee flaculation, yet they have fevers, throwing up, bathroom problems, breathing problems, tumors, and these are all young to good age pets. Quote “Too Young” to have these things. Even if i was to believe another condition suddenly pops up with these animals as a coincidence all at same time, that dont explain fevers, throwing up & bladder infections & digestive problems etc… The horror of the screams & them collapsing kills my head now as I have heard it for over a month wondering if they will die. The vet bills have wiped us clean & I may loose my home as we have nothing left but loans trying to save our pets. What is going on? Why is one person sayiing one thing & yet you go to another & they say another?? I have my pets on video, as I desperately wanted to show the vets what was happening at home. Shall my babies die before anyone gets decent answers?

73. Dave on June 7, 2007 10:31 am

    Laurie, so sorry about your pets. Another company is recalling its pet food this time the food is for fish and birds. We have been feeding our dogs home made food as we no longer trust store bought products. Several of my friends healthy cats have died very suddenly recently and were being fed food not on any recall YET. To see the latest recalls go to http://www.fda.gov/oc/opacom/hottopics/petfood.html

74. rena volpe on June 14, 2007 4:23 pm

    Thanks for the “new info” on recalled pet food.Please, be considerate when posting comments.

75. Gene and Gerri Richards on September 3, 2007 3:44 pm

    Our pet Rosie, a 3 year old Chihuahua was poisoned from Chinese made Bestro’s Jerky Chicken Strips #77849 00006 1 We have this contaminated bag. We have three Chihuahuas and one of them died one month ago. She started with vomiting and dehydration (she was drinking lots of water) and then we were told she may either have an obstruction or have been poisioned. Since our dogs are inside dogs and we are with them at all times outside we thought it was an obstruction. Finally the doctor at Elwood Animal Clinic in Glendora, California said he was almost positive it was some kind of poisoning. They were going to scope her but before that could happen she died July 21, at VCA in Fountain Valley, California.
    We gave our dogs Waggin train and Bestro’s Jerky Chicken Strips. Our Sweet Rosie (our chihuahua that passed) loved them and and she would eat all the treats we put down for the other dogs too. Up until today we never had any idea what happened but now with Wal Mart pulling this quietly from their shelves. (I brought my treats at Wal Mart, Glendora, California) I truly believe that is why she died. Rosie wants all dog owners to be aware of this and a Total Recall of this chinese junk pet treats so other puppies don’t slowly suffer is she did. How many other puppies must die before a total recall is called? We are totally heartbroken and will never forget Our Sweet Gypsy Rose! Since Wal Mart had this problem before, why didn’t they pull all that Chinese junk off the first time? Our Rosie will still be alive! Is Wal Mart concerned about people and their Pets or Money? You figured it out.
    Gene and Gerri Richards San Dimas, California
    Rosie’s website:
    http://www.dogster.com/dogs/614878