I Missed This: Nov. 26, Pet Food Recall

[orleans]

i bring this up because i'm listening to randi (on a rerun from earlier today) and she is talking about how her little dog was sick

Salmonella found in more pet food samples

November 26, 2008

Mars Petcare US is extending a recall of dry pet food after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) reported finding Salmonella in additional samples of the company's SPECIAL KITTY Gourmet Blend cat food.

The earlier recall, issued October 27, was for cat food produced at Mars' Allenton, Pa., plant on August 11, 2008. The recall is now being extended to cover all dry pet food produced at the plant with a "best by" date between August 11, 2009 and October 3, 2009.

The recall affects only products sold at BJ's Wholesale Club, ShopRite Supermarkets, and Wal-Mart locations in Connecticut, Delaware, Massachusetts, Maryland, Maine, North Carolina, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Virginia, Vermont, and West Virginia. No other customers and no other states are affected.

Retailers have been notified of the recall and asked to remove the products from their shelves. The recalled pet food should not be fed to pets and should be handled carefully by consumers. Consumers should wear disposable gloves and wash their hands carefully when handling any food product thought to carry Salmonella.

Mars makes a variety of pet foods, including Nutro dog food, which has been the target of hundreds of complaints from angry pet ownes who have written to ConsumerAffairs.com.

Eric of Lowell, Mass., said his dog became ill when he switched to Nutro.

"We rushed him to the vet who initially thought it might be leptospirosis, but those tests came back negative," Eric said. "After four days at the vet, with IV's, a negative Lepto test, and multiple medications, he was sent home and seems to be doing much better."
"Bottom line? He became sick after eating Nutro. He got better after stopping eating Nutro," Eric said.

Salmonella
Salmonella can cause serious infections in dogs and cats, experts say. People can also be infected if they handle the tainted food. Children, the elderly, and those with compromised immune systems are especially vulnerable.

Symptoms of Salmonella infection in humans include nausea, vomiting, diarrhea or bloody diarrhea, abdominal cramping and fever. Salmonella can, in rare cases, cause such serious illnesses as arterial infections, arthritis, muscle pain, and urinary tract symptoms.

Pets infected with Salmonella may be lethargic and have diarrhea or bloody diarrhea, fever, and vomiting. Some pets, however, may only have decreased appetite, fever and abdominal pain.

Pet owners whose cats ate the recalled food and have these symptoms should contact their veterinarian.

Mars said it was trying to get ahead of the problem.

"We are continuously monitoring and updating our processes to be at the forefront of product quality, innovation, customer responsiveness, and manufacturing efficiency. In recent months, we have invested tens of millions of dollars in plant upgrades, new testing protocols, advanced associate training, and a new state of the art testing facility that will open in mid-2009," the company said in a statement.

For more information about the recall, pet owners can contact the company at 1-877-568-4463 or visit the company's website.

http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/2008/11/pet_food_recalls104.html

and this:

A pet food company is extending a voluntary recall of dry cat and dog food manufactured at its Allentown facility.

Mars Pet Care US says the food could potentially be contaminated with salmonella.

the products has *best by* dates between August 11th 2009 and October 3rd 2009.

They were sold at BJ'S Wholesale Club and Wal-Mart.

Here are the following products in the recall:

Berkley & Jensen Bistro Blend Premium Cat Food 21.6# 00000 20052

Berkley & Jensen Small Bites & Bones Dog Food 52# 00000 14958

Ol' Roy Puppy Complete Premium Dog Food 4# 81131 79078

Ol' Roy Puppy Complete Premium Dog Food 20# 81131 79080

Ol' Roy Complete Nutrition Premium Dog Food 4# 81131 17550

Ol' Roy Complete Nutrition Premium Dog Food 4.4# 81131 69377

Ol' Roy Complete Nutrition Premium Dog Food 8# 05388 67144

Ol' Roy Complete Nutrition Premium Dog Food 20# 81131 17549

Ol' Roy Complete Nutrition Premium Dog Food 22# 05388 60342

Ol' Roy Complete Nutrition Premium Dog Food 44.1# 81131 17551

Ol' Roy Complete Nutrition Premium Dog Food 50# 78742 01022

Ol' Roy High Performance Premium Dog Food 20# 05388 60345

Ol' Roy High Performance Premium Dog Food 50# 78742 05815

Ol' Roy Meaty Chunks & Gravy Premium Dog Food 22# 81131 69630

Ol' Roy Meaty Chunks & Gravy Premium Dog Food 50# 81131 69631

ShopRite Crunchy Bites, Bones and Healthy Squares Dog Food 20# 41190 04521

Special Kitty Original Premium Cat Food 3.5# 81131 17557

Special Kitty Original Premium Cat Food 7# 81131 17562

Special Kitty Original Premium Cat Food 18# 81131 17559

Special Kitty Gourmet Blend Premium Cat Food 3.5# 81131 17546

Special Kitty Gourmet Blend Premium Cat Food 7# 81131 17547

Special Kitty Gourmet Blend Premium Cat Food 18# 81131 17548

Special Kitty Kitten Premium Cat Food 3.5# 81131 17553

Special Kitty Kitten Premium Cat Food 7# 81131 17554

http://www.whptv.com/news/local/story/Pet-food-recall/ZGCverrG406MImK-wpz9PA.cspx

[ColbertWatcher]

1. Thank you for posting this! n/t

[DoctorMyEyes]

2. Damnit! Damnit! Damnit!

Thank you for posting this!

We switched our very elderly dog from Kirkland to Nutro a couple of months ago because his joint function seemed to improve by the time he'd gotten through a sample bag offered by Petco. In the last week or so we've noticed that he's been "going" more frequently and has become more "whiny".

He's so old that we didn't even think about something other than his just approaching the end might be causing his discomfort.


I guess the Nutro isn't on the official recall list, so the expensive bag of shit is going into the trash - ASAP!

We'll be going back to Kirkland brand, which has NEVER been involved in one of these recalls. What's more, because Costco is a membership club when a product you've purchased is the subject of a recall you receive an actual letter from Costco, advising you to discontinue use and return the product for a full refund. You don't have to learn about it weeks later on a random website you might be surfing.

I always assumed that using a Petco card would be beneficial in the same sort of way - that since your purchases are in a database that they could and would contact you if there was a problem.


edited for the sake of full disclosure: I work for Costco

[Patiod]

3. Nutro USED to be good, but then it was sold

Used to be very high quality, but then it was bought by another company, so now we feed our little cat Merritt's and California Natural Dry.

[PearliePoo2]

4. I also switched from Nutro.

My Border Collie was getting really bad skin problems.
I spoke to the owner of our local pet supply store and she recommended California Natural dry dog food.
My Border Collie's skin and coat immediately responded. The owner of the store said that sometimes "simpler is better" in terms of ingredients.
Works for us!

[SlicerDicer-]

6. Salmonella I doubt it....

I feed my dogs raw chicken and raw lamb etc etc

Check out Natures Variety.. if there was problems with Salmonella my dogs would be sick. I never have problems and the dog food is likely better than what most people eat ;-)

And yes when I buy whole chickens I give them necks and stuff like that.

[PearliePoo2]

7. salmonella?

Are you responding to my post?
Where did I mention salmonella?
:shrug:

[SlicerDicer-]

13. Sorry I hit reply to wrong one.. was meaning OP.

Notice in initial post


Pets infected with Salmonella may be lethargic and have diarrhea or bloody diarrhea, fever, and vomiting. Some pets, however, may only have decreased appetite, fever and abdominal pain.

Blah blah blah.

Note: Just today my dogs got raw turkey :)

[InvisibleTouch]

14. Right, healthy dogs & cats aren't really susceptible to Salmonella.

Makes you wonder what the problem really is.

I do some raw feeding also, but have gotten away from it lately. I've mostly used Wellness and (wouldn't you know it) Nutro. Time to go back to raw/homecooked, I think. And given the way the "premium" kibble prices have shot up lately, making my own pet food will probably come to about the same cost.

[SlicerDicer-]

16. yep you can get crates of raw chicken and things like that rather cheap

its just a BS excuse... Similar to Jalapenos... yeah smidgen of research shows that it was unpossible what they claimed..

Same thing with the _osmosis_ of the tomatoes when that occurred.. I guess they prey on stupidity in people. If there was a Osmosis problem then every plant would have it.. Nothing would be safe to eat. I am getting quite sick of BS excuses to cover asses. And people wonder why I am all into self sustainable...

[Jack Rabbit]

5. Thank you for the information

And thank you from Buccaneer, Spitfire, Swashbuckler, Pancho, Zorro, Bandit, Phoolan and Desperado.

Bucky is sitting on my lap now. We read the list together.

BTW, does anybody want a cat? I'm giving away Swashbuckler and Pancho (6 mos old) and will soon start giving away Zorro, Bandit and Phoolan.

[orleans]

8. no cat here, thanks. i'm alergic. but i love their names.

why are you giving them up?

[Jack Rabbit]

10. Why am I giving them up?

Because I'll still have Buccaneer, Spitfire and Ike (a black 5-year-old-medium hair male). That's all I can really take care of.

Buckie and Spitfire were born under my house (a ratty mobile home) in the Spring of 2007 to Pinta, a feral queen who disappeared this summer. They were half of a litter of four, the others being Jefazo and Desperado. Jefazo finally became so disruptive that I let him out this summer and haven't seen him since. Desperado isn't disruptive, but he just doesn't get this domestic thing. I can chase him all over the house with an open can of tuna. He will be fixed and returned to the wild.

Spitfire delivered two litters this year; in each case, three kittens survived. Of the first litter, born June 7, Moro (a black cat who was sired by either Jefazo or Desperado) was given away last month; Pancho (sired by Jefazo, of whom Pancho is the spitten image) and Swashbuckler (sired by Buckie) are almost out the door. The other litter, born September 25, consists of survivors Zorro (Desperado), Bandit (Buckie) and Phoolan (also Buckie). Phoolan, named for the Indian bandit queen Phoolan Devi, is the only female with whom I've had any luck. At least I think Phoolan is female. I keep looking at her bottom to make sure, but she doesn't hold still long enough for me to adjust my eyes. If she turns out to be a he, then he will be rechristened Robin Hood.

Did I mention that I am a romantic anti-establishmentarian?

[orleans]

11. (smile) nice story--thanks for the run down/low down on everybody. n/t

[stuntcat]

9. wow thank you

I'm sending this to my family.
k,r

[tbyg52]

12. Why am I not surprised to see Ol' Roy here? MalWart's brand, right?

I bet Special Kitty is their brand as well.

I happen to know about Ol' Roy even though I try to stay out of MalWart because our vet specifically warned us *not* to use it, years ago.

[ebayfool]

15. They just issued a chocolate bar/melamine recall from Walgreens

http://www.fda.gov/oc/po/firmrecalls/walgreens12_08.html

Walgreens Recalls 173 Teddy Bears With Chocolate Bars Sold Since Late September 2008

They said "... should return them immediately to the Walgreens stores where they were purchased for a full refund."
-----------------

I dunno - chocolate wouldn't still be around from September at my house.

We're still working on the baby formula/melamine announcements - we have a 3 1/2 mo old baby boy that was on that.

Has anyone heard of any news on FDA appointments or upgrades from Obama, yet? I'm hoping that they will have big plans for that particular dept.!