Cat Food Recall Weruva Best Feline Friend (bff) Product Recall - Australia

[abyeb]

This whole situation is terrifying me. I want to be able to trust that brands will, at the very least, make food not kill my pet. My kitties liked some Weruva stuff but I'm hesitant to feed it now. I almost feel as though their "poor quality" foods like Friskies, Iams, and Science Diet are safer.

You bring up an interesting question. I don't know much about pet food manufacturing; does anyone here know if bigger companies like Hills and Purina have more monitoring and quality control than a smaller brand like Weruva?

 

[valentine319]

Thanks. I started giving my cats each a brewer's yeast tablet today for the B Vitamins/Thiamine. I'll look into maybe getting them a powder with no additives. But they eat the tablet no problem. They seem to have a lot more energy, hope there are no side effects to brewer's yeast.

Brewers yeast is controversial. Watch for allergies.

Brewer's Yeast Allergy in Cats - Symptoms, Causes, Diagnosis, Treatment, Recovery, Management, Cost
Brewer's Yeast for Cats | Cuteness.com

 

[maggiedemi]

Oh my! Thank you. I guess I'll stop giving it to them.

 

[destinyz12]

I also have some CITK cans leftover from a while ago, that don't expire till 2019, but still deciding if I want to use them or not. With that said, they are from the same batch as a bunch of cans that I already did use a few months ago and my cat seems fine so maybe there isn't anything to worry about, who knows.

 

[orange&white]

Oh my! Thank you. I guess I'll stop giving it to them.

I add B-complex to my cats' food (I'm feeding raw). What is interesting is that there is no indication of the source of thiamin or any of the other "B's" in the supplement I use. Brewers yeast is a likely source, as are wheat or rice germ. Most of the grains consumers have been shunning are high in thiamine. However, I would rather feed a thiamine extract from wheat germ in a small capsule than a cup of wheat germ.

Recalls like this make a good case for rotating not only types of protein, but brands of food, and not feed only one food exclusively.

 

[maggiedemi]

What's the brand of B-Complex you are using? Do you think brewer's yeast tablets are okay? I guess I'll give it to them for a few days and find out. They are 500mg, I give each cat one with their breakfast.

 

[orange&white]

Central Market...It's a regional store brand. The thiamine content is 50mg, one capsule to every 1.5lbs of food. That's about 2mg per ounce of food and each cat eats up to 5 ounces...so 10mg per day or less on top of the thiamine already in the meat and liver. Almost 4 times the daily requirement.

I'm not sure how many mg's of thiamine are in 500mg of brewer's yeast. Does the bottle say?

Cats need 2.55mg of thiamine per pound of food, and several times that amount will be fine as it's water-based. Extra is excreted in urine. (Source Link: Thiamin)

You shouldn't have to add any supplements to processed foods, but at least half of the last several canned cat food recalls have been due to thiamine deficiency. I would be inclined to go with a B1 Thiamine capsule rather than brewers yeast (even if the Thiamine is a brewers yeast extract). One 50mg per day would be way over minimum.

 

[maggiedemi]

I think I know the Central Market Brand, is it from Price Chopper? My bottle says 2 tablets contain 1000mg of brewers yeast and 0.10mg Thiamine. So that makes me think the Thiamine is added to whatever Thiamine is in the brewers yeast. It's a confusing label.

 

[orange&white]

.10mg Thiamine in 1000mg brewers yeast tablet is surprisingly low.

 

[maggiedemi]

The brewers yeast and thiamin are listed separately, so that might just be some extra thiamin added to the brewers yeast.

 

[orange&white]

I don't think so....that's probably the total amount of thiamine per capsule. Nutrition data shows 1.2 mg Thiamine in 2 Tablespoons of brewers yeast. Brewer's Yeast (Lewis Labs) 2 Tablespoons Nutrition Facts & Calories

 

[maggiedemi]

I had to stop giving the brewers yeast. They weren't reacting well to it at all. I guess I'll just avoid fish or look for just a Thiamine supplement.

 

[lisahe]

Recalls like this make a good case for rotating not only types of protein, but brands of food, and not feed only one food exclusively.

I agree! I've cut back a lot on canned food for our cats by feeding more homecooked food but I'm not going to cut Cats in the Kitchen since it's just a small part of their overall diet.

 

[Sallysoo]

Investigation still on going. Seems not much findings beside statg the lack of enough thiamine. This incident will sure cause damages, at least for a short term, to their reputation for their high quality food ...

 

[valentine319]

I saw information on the recall and wanted to include it. If there are issues with the information please post it.

The Difference between Human Grade Pet Food made in the US and a Pet Food made in a Human Food Facility in Thailand

 

[Sallysoo]

I stopped buying Weruva after this incident. Don't really understand fully the issue. Disappointed.

 

[valentine319]

I stopped buying Weruva after this incident. Don't really understand fully the issue. Disappointed.

It's complicated. You'd have to really understand the difference between feed and food.
Is it Feed or Food?

But basically it's using pretty words and the lax laws and rules to make you think the food you are feeding is healthy. You use a facility in Thailand using meat not fit for human consumption according to their rules and laws. You've got so many possible mistakes in the pot of pet food that finding the multiple reasons pets die could be multiple or could be one all from processing.

 

[ScarlettGatsby]

Is there any lists of where cat food brands are made? And what countries have the highest standards?

 

[valentine319]

Here's an interesting link to independent pet food stores. Might be worth checking out.
Find Healthy Pet Foods

 

[Evie's Mommy]

I'm so disappointed with this news and wish I would have known about it before I bought so many cans of TruLuxe.
I live in Canada but the food was made in Thailand so I'm still hesitant to use it..