Urgent :: Pet Food Recall... Urgent!!! - TOXIN FOUND

[white cat lover]

I spoke with my vet today while getting Damita & Twitch tested. They're both OK. However, he commented that rat poison would cause internal bleeding: vomiting blood, blood in urine, blood in feces, etc. Rat poison wouldn't cause renal failure. He then said he wished this had never happened. Told me to keep a close eye on all my cats.

 

[momofmany]

I just received this e-mail from Petsmart this evening. I think it went out to anyone with a petsmart perks card. There are some links about tests and contacts for major food companies:

Dear Valued PetSmart customer:

As you have probably heard, Menu Foods, a national manufacturer of pet foods, issued a voluntary recall of canned and pouched wet dog and cat food manufactured in two of its facilities between December 2006 and March 2007. Again, this is a recall of a specific type of wet pet food made by Menu Foods. Other wet pet foods and all dry pet food and treats are not impacted by this recall.

Menu Foods initiated the recall after receiving reports that some of its foods may be the cause of reported illnesses and kidney failure in dogs and cats. Menu Foods distributes these products to supermarkets, mass merchandisers and pet specialty stores, including PetSmart®, under a variety of brand names.

Click here http://media.corporate-ir.net/media_...er_Handout.pdf to see a complete list of PetSmart products that are part of the recall, as well as their respective UPCs (also referred to as the bar code). The bar code can be found on the product label; the UPC is under the series of bars. As a reminder, the items listed are the only items that PetSmart carries that have been affected by the recall.

In the meantime, we have pulled all recalled products from our store shelves and have a process in place to help ensure they're not restocked or distributed in any way.

If you have purchased any of the recalled items, you should discontinue use immediately. We recommend you contact your vet if you have any concerns that your pet may have been affected. Symptoms may include:

Vomiting (this is usually the first sign)
Refusal to eat
Fatigue
Abnormal increase in water consumption
Abnormal increase in urination
If you're interested in finding out more about what kinds of tests vets recommend to make a diagnosis, click here. http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix....65&p=factset16

Additionally, if you are looking for a recommendation for your unique pet food needs, please visit our Smart Nutrition Selector on our website. Or, if you need additional assistance while in the store, feel free to ask an associate. If you know of any other pet parents that are in search of more information, please share this with them.

If you have food that is a part of the recall, you can bring it back to PetSmart for a complete refund. Or, we'll exchange your items with any dry food or alternative canned or foiled pouched wet foods that we have in stock.

Please remember, this recall affects only specific wet pet food items. All dry pet food and treats are not impacted by this recall.

We also encourage customers with concerns or questions to contact any of the companies listed below:

Authority – 1-866-738-7375
Award – 1-866-738-7375
Eukanuba – 1-800-882-1591 (www.eukanuba.com)
Grreat Choice – 1-866-738-7375
Hills/Science Diet – 1-800-445-5777 (www.hillspet.com)
Iams – 1-800-882-1591 (www.iams.com)
Menu Foods – 1-866-463-6738 (www.menufoods.com)
Mighty Dog – 1-800-778-7462 (www.purina.com)
Mixables – 1-303-768-8400 (www.varietypetfoods.com)
Nutro – 1-800-833-5330 (www.nutroproducts.com)
Sophisticat – 1-866-738-7375

At PetSmart, we're very concerned pet parents too, and we will do everything in our power to help. Please visit PetSmart.com for the most up-to-date information. If you have any additional questions about the Menu Foods recall, please call our Customer Service line at 1-866-738-7375.

Sincerely,

Philip L. Francis
Chairman & CEO, PetSmart, Inc.

 

[javern]

I feed my cats IAMS dry, there is no wheat anything listed in the ingredients so if this is true wheat must not be the only carrier of the poisen.

 

[beandip]

Originally Posted by ladybass0711

Its not nessasarily the canadian plant that is affected by this. Its the US plants, and thusly they would not be able to get wheat from Canada unless they import it. Probably could get the wheat cheaper from China.

Good point, however...one of the affected plants is in Kansas if I'm not mistaken. Kansas is one of the top, if not *the* top wheat producer in the US. I know in reality it's still probably cheaper from China but it is sad, nonetheless.

 

[catsarebetter]

You sort of have to wonder exactly how cheap wheat is in China that it's cheaper to buy it from across the world than it is to import it from the same state.

 

[jenniferd]

Originally Posted by CatsAreBetter

You sort of have to wonder exactly how cheap wheat is in China that it's cheaper to buy it from across the world than it is to import it from the same state.

I bet now they wish they never hear of it.

 

[sylorna]

Originally Posted by CatsAreBetter

You sort of have to wonder exactly how cheap wheat is in China that it's cheaper to buy it from across the world than it is to import it from the same state.

I don't think it's the wheat itself, but I'm pretty sure it'd have to do with labour costs. Unfortunately that one is a rant for IMO I think

Sometimes I hate the way the world works.

 

[ladybass0711]

Originally Posted by CarolPetunia

Ladybass -- Lest you think I'm an idiot: that post of mine that you refer to was from the first day of the scare, and the article as I saw it had been truncated (I later realized) by a break in my modem connection. So I hadn't read the clarifying paragraph... only the ambiguous one.

I didn't bother to post this information in my defense because the thread was growing so quickly, and I didn't want waste space on my own ego... but since you brought it up, that's the explanation.

I don't think your an idiot, and wasn't posting to cause an arguement, was just wanting everyone to be aware that it was not just store brands affected.
Sorry if you took offence.

 

[swampwitch]

This link says that tainted dog food was send to 29 countries, including Europe.

<link removed>

 

[javern]

that story is dated

MSNBC News Services
Updated: 10:08 a.m. CT May 10, 2006

 

[swampwitch]

Originally Posted by Javern

that story is dated

MSNBC News Services
Updated: 10:08 a.m. CT May 10, 2006

Oops, sorry, you're right, my mistake.

 

[hissy]

another link

http://www.stevedalepetworld.com/ind...=234&Itemid=71

 

[caterpillar]

Good news for those using Friskies cat products because even their pouch food is manufactured by Purina at their own plant:

http://www.friskies.com/

Of all the Purina products, only Mighty Dog pouch food has been recalled as a precautionary measure:

http://www.purina.com/company/press/...20Dog%20Recall

Purina stands by the quality of their pet foods. I am now officially switching to all Purina and Friskie cat food. I've had it with Science Diet and Max cat. A year ago I had a traumatic episode with Max cat and Natural Choice 5 oz. canned products when Cindy became ill with vomiting and diahrrea.

Also, I've been opening Nutro natural choice and Iams pouch products daily and getting the stuff all over my hands. How can we be assured that the poisons that we handled didn't get through our skin or become inhaled or ingested in some way? This is so totally tragic for our pets and everyone concerned!

 

[dusty's mom]

I belong to another forum not about pets, and two people on that forum have lost pets due to kidney failure from feeding the contaminated food. Has anyone here had a sick pet caused by this food? Please share your story.

Here's a link to information about a class action lawsuit filed against Menu Foods. If your pet has become sick because of this food, you will want to read this:

http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/03/22/pet...ml?eref=rss_us

 

[python]

Originally Posted by Javern

I think the idea of PETA purposely putting rat poison in wheat is ridiculous. Think about it....a ship load of wheat coming from a place like China where most of the country lives in poverty. Offers a load of wheat to a company in Canada for a real attractive price. Canada and USA grows plenty of wheat, only reason to import it from China would be the price. Was probably unfit to use in China, ship it to Canada and the USA.

We can speculate as to how it happened till we're blue in the face. PETA is an extremist organisation as most people know but I don't think poisoning cats (or any other animal) is their style.

However, there are others who would be prepared to sabotage foodstuffs - perhaps in the thought that the consignments were for human consumption. Lets face it, there are a lot of wars going on just now that involve both the USA and the UK and people who are brought up to hate animals and hate the West.

A month ago we had something similar happen here in the UK except it wasn't foodstuff, it was supermarket petrol. Thousands of people's cars were affected and needed to be repaired by garages. Some kind of silicon had got into the fuel. The cause apparently was that the tankers the petrol had been shipped in hadn't been cleaned out properly, had been carrying silicon previously and that got into the petrol. Whichever way the contaminant got in has been very quickly played down by our powers-that-be but left a lot of irate people having to pay out to get their cars repaired. The knock on effect of that is people are claiming expenses and repairs back from the supermarkets. To my way of thinking, it was more than just a trace of silicon in the petrol - more than would have been left by the tankers not being cleaned out properly - too many people's cars were affected.

As to how this poison got into the wheat gluten, I doubt if the source would have been China. Like most people, they will choose the cheapest form of shipping and that is often Liberian registered ships, so anyone with an axe to grind could, in theory, sabotage whatever consignment on route to further their own political agenda.

We shall just have to wait and see what the outcome is.

 

[amberthe bobcat]

We can speculate as to how it happened till we're blue in the face. PETA is an extremist organisation as most people know but I don't think poisoning cats (or any other animal) is their style

I'm not turning this into a PETA debate, but they would, if they could, do something like this. Their actions in North Carolina, where they killed kittens, cats and puppies, proves it IMO. But, I doubt that they had anything to do with this. Just makes you wonder though, if China puts this stuff on their wheat, do they eat it? If so, why haven't their people gotten sick?

 

[kai bengals]

Originally Posted by Python

We can speculate as to how it happened till we're blue in the face. PETA is an extremist organisation as most people know but I don't think poisoning cats (or any other animal) is their style.

Not to take this thread too far off topic, but I'd like to take a moment to explain to you, just exactly what PETA's style is.

This happened in North Carolina where I live. PETA employees went to a local shelter pretending to want to help out and removed dogs/ kittens/cats from the shelter under the false pretense of quickly finding them new homes.
Well they followed through with their promise, all those dogs/kittens/cats got a new home over the rainbow bridge within hours of leaving the shelter.

The wonderful caring animal loving PETA people killed those dogs/kittens/cats in their van the same afternoon, stuffed them in garbage bags and then were caught red-handed dumping them in a trash dumpster.

These people were recently tried here in Carolina. I was pretty outraged that they were only convicted of littering for dumping animal carcasses in a shopping mall dumpster.

 

[javern]

If you have proof or information that PETA is involved in this instance you should report it to the authorities. A few PETA employees in North Carolina mistreating animals is quite different than poisoning a whole food supply. It's well known that in China they use many chemicals that are not allowed nor used in the USA and Canada. I feel this is some sort of tragic accident.

 

[hissy]

Just received a sad email:

Dear Mary Anne,

First off I want to thank you so much for your efforts to help me socialize Tawny the feral cat. You may not remember me but we worked together years ago through email. It took about 6 months to break through and gain Tawny's love.

She died yesterday victim of poisoning. Sad isn't it? When I rescued her she was in danger or being poisoned by the apartment manager who had found his end with all the feral cats. Ironic, that when I found out about the poisoning, I rescued her and several others too. Now, ironically she is dead from poisoning.

They tried hard to save her, they really did. I don't blame my vets. I blame myself for not protecting her as I told you I would-


Vickie

I have been talking with people via email and on the phone about their personal battle they are facing now. Many stand to lose these animals who they have shared their love and life with freely. I hear no anger in the words or the voices, I only hear bewilderment- how could this happen?

 

[catsarebetter]

Originally Posted by Javern

If you have proof or information that PETA is involved in this instance you should report it to the authorities. A few PETA employees in North Carolina mistreating animals is quite different than poisoning a whole food supply. It's well known that in China they use many chemicals that are not allowed nor used in the USA and Canada. I feel this is some sort of tragic accident.

I agree that it's a tragic incident, and who can say that China knew this was intended for animal consumption.. it's entirely possible that this didn't even happen in China.. it's *also* completely possible that the contamination was an accident.

PETA, again, is probably NOT involved in this, which has been stated at least twice by me and I have read every post on this thread.. people have only stated that they wouldn't put it past PETA or that they don't think PETA is behind this. If they are, however, I'm certain they will be reported to the authorities for all the good it does.

Harming animals in NC (80, if I remember correctly), or blowing up a cow, or blowing up a building that housed a research laboratory.. probably is a bit different than poisoning an entire supply of wheat. Of course, it does fit in with their philosophy that all domesticated animals should be dead and extinct rather than be domesticated.

For anyone interested in what PETA has done... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/People_...ent_of_Animals .... and believe me, I'm an avid supporter of animal charities as well as environmental charities.. but I will not support PETA for many reasons.. because of their own actions.... PETA is considered, and rightly so, a terroristic organization.