Pet Tracks
PET FOOD RECALL UPDATE
with Jan Jaeger

"I have been feeding my dogs Science Diet all their lives," the customer lamented over the phone. "What am I going to feed them now that it is contaminated?" Her distress was real, but obviously, this long-time customer had heard only part of the continuously evolving story about the pet food recall which first hit the news last week.

Science Diet has recalled only the canned Feline Savory Cuts sold in the United States, specifically, 3oz and 5.5oz Kitten Ocean Fish Dinner and other Beef, Chicken and Ocean Fish Savory Cuts in the 5.5oz size. The recalled products involve less than one-half of 1% of the total Hill's Science Diet product line, and does not include any other Science Diet, Prescription Diet, or canine formulas, either canned or dry.

No doubt, pet owners have every reason to be concerned and our phone at the shop has been ringing off the hook with questions about the impact of this recall on their pet's health.

The newest announcement that the contaminant in the recalled foods has been identified as aminopterin, a cancer drug once used to induce abortions in the United States and still used as rat poison in other countries, has everyone agitated. The federal government prohibits aminopterin for killing rodents in this country and so far U.S. officials have not determined how the poison got into the pet food.

Wheat gluten, the common denominator in the recalled "cuts and gravy" style foods, was identified early into the investigation as being from a source new to Menu Foods, the producer of the contaminated wet and foil pouch products, but wheat gluten does not cause kidney failure. The wheat gluten used in the production period from December 3, 2006 through March 6, 2007, was purchased from China.

An official of the National Pest Management Association said grain shippers typically put bait stations around the perimeter of their storage facilities, but that it makes no sense to spray a crop with rodenticide. Menu Foods does not believe the foods were tampered with because they were produced at two different facilities, one in Kansas and one in New Jersey.

Dr. Connie Driscoll, a veterinarian with our AAMC-Nantucket, said they too have been receiving numerous calls from concerned pet owners and they have seen a few animals that ate recalled food and that exhibited classic symptoms of renal failure. "Fortunately," Dr. Driscoll said, "even though the pets had vomiting and diarrhea, blood tests proved negative presence of any aminopterin and to date we have had no instance of acute renal failure on Nantucket."

If your pet shows any signs of illness, including loss of appetite, lethargy, vomiting, diarrhea, changes in water consumption or urination, consult your veterinarian immediately. It is extremely important that detailed veterinary records be kept to determine if the illness is due to ingesting the recalled product.

The word to remove affected product from retailer's shelves was quickly dispersed, but pet owners need to examine their cupboards for supplies that should be turned in or destroyed. While the list of affected brands now includes 48 dog and 53 cat brands across the entire manufacturing spectrum, this still represents less than 1% of all available pet food products.

Some producers are being extremely conservative in requesting retailers to remove all the recalled product type in their stores, regardless of dates, to prevent inadvertent selling of contaminated product. Two helpful websites for further information are the American Veterinary Medical Association, www.avma.org and Menu Foods, www.menufoods.com/recall. Individual brands also have further information on their sites, and we continue to update information at the shop. Stop in or call us at 508-228-3731.

Menu Foods, with three plants in this country and one in Canada, is a contract manufacturer that makes canned and small pouch food for a great many branded pet food companies as well as private label products. Because canned and foil pouch products are typically a small part of overall pet food production, most pet food manufacturers do not own or operate a wet food facility. Rather, they contract with a wet food production company to make their own branded products, using highly guarded proprietary recipes using specified ingredients.

Menu Foods, already facing lawsuits, is, along with its co-manufacturers, focusing on determining the sources of contamination, removing affected product and strengthening guidelines to ensure stricter quality control measures to prevent this situation from occurring ever again.

Jan Jaeger is owner of Geronimo's, Ltd., Nantucket's pet supply and gift shop, and is a member of DWAA and CWA (Dog and Cat Writer's Associations of America). Her pets at home are Junior, a Chesapeake Bay Retriever and three cats. At the shop are the cats, Messrs. Fish and Chips, Flower bunny, Willie guinea pig and two budgies. Send e-mail to jan@geronimos. com.