Friday, March 23, 2007 , mid-afternoon

The answer is: rat poison

This article in the Toronto Star reports that researchers at Cornell have found Aminopterin in samples of recalled pet food from Menu Foods.  Aminopterin is an ingredient in rat poison, and less commonly, it’s used as a chemotherapy drug.  It was found in wheat gluten which was imported from China, so I don’t know how they’ll ever find out how the product was contaminated.  How about pet food manufacturers just use ingredients from plants which they can inspect, and which fall under the type of regulations consumers expect?

This horrible incident underscores the need for a central database where veterinarians can track unusual pet deaths.  It would be a great way for veterinary epidemiologists (are there such people?) to look for patterns of illness and to react quickly.  By the way, if you want to stay really up-to-date on all the latest news about the pet food recall, I recommend reading the blogs Pet Connection and Itchmo.  Yes, I’ve always got my two cents to put in, but they’re both doing a great job of staying right on top of all breaking stories.

Posted by Leigh-Ann on 03/23 at 04:40 PM
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Does the pet food recall make you want to BARF?

I’m sure I’m about the one-millionth person to use that line (unless others have better taste).  However, I wanted to use this opportunity to put in a plug for the book, Raw Dog Food: Make it Easy for You and Your Dog.  The book is by Carina Beth MacDonald, a frequent commentor here, and author of her own great blog, Dog Muse.  Carina’s book is a great basic introduction to the BARF concept - easy to understand, and easy to implement.  She’ll tell you about the materials you’ll need (like a meat grinder), the types of things you’ll feed in a raw diet, and help you gradually change the way you feed your dogs.  It’s not a preachy book, and it was one of my favourites on the subject of raw food.  Because of this book I started adding some raw food treats into my dogs’ diets, things like chicken necks, raw green tripe, etc., and the dogs absolutely loved it.  I slacked off in my BARF-supplementing because the meat was so hard to get (nary a butchershop in town), but there’s a new grocery store near us so I’ll give them a try. 

Okay, no more BARF jokes, no more pet food recall talk… right now, I’m finally going to get some sleep.

Posted by Leigh-Ann on 03/23 at 07:13 AM
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So, what are you feeding now?

The Menu Foods pet food recall encompassed 91 brands, according to this story in the Toronto Star.  Ninety-one!  It sure makes you wonder, doesn’t it, because you know that there are not 91 different dog and cat food recipes on store shelves.  You know that this incident proves that a brand like Petsmart’s “Authority” brand might just be Science Diet with a different label.  The pet food industry is in terrible need of transparency on so many levels, and maybe all the information being released (and being leaked) from this incident might finally be the means by which consumers are enlightened.  Menu Foods is being punished for the error of their ways, although certainly not the same way affected dog and cat owners have been punished.  Still, their stock price has dropped about 50% over the past week, and I doubt it will go up as personal and class action suits are announced in both Canada and the US.  The increased consumer awareness of animal testing will probably take its toll as well.

So, what to feed now?  I’m using up some cans of food which are recalled brands, but not recalled batches, but I’m doing it with trepidation.  And I’m resentful.  I’ve been resentful of many of the major pet food brands ever since I took that annoying “Pet Food Fundamentals” continuing-ed class, which was taught by a Hill’s rep, and which seemed to mock small, private brands like Merrick and Fromm.  I used to feed Merrick exclusively, but as our cat family grew to double-digits, it became too expensive.  Our dogs eat ”Dick Van Patten’s Eatables”, and even though I like to mock the name, it seems like a great food which the dogs love.  They’re thriving on it, too - positive weight loss, good skin and coat quality, etc.  I happened to have two free cans of Mighty Dog, and we offered them to the dogs as a snack and the dogs weren’t all that interested.  They want their Eatables!  At about $3 per can, those dogs have good taste.

So, I’m left wondering what to do about the cats.  I have a business license, and I need to write some letters to see about buying Merrick in wholesale quantities.  Even if I have to buy $500 at a time, if I can buy it wholesale it will save a lot of money over retail.  Feeding nine cats costs a fortune (and my cat count as been as high as twelve), but this food recall was a reminder of the importance of paying attention to diet.  One great thing about the better-quality foods is that the pets eat less yet feel full.  I’m willing to switch to anything which is manufactured in small batches in private plants, and I guess I’ll again consider making my own food.  The cats really like “Spot’s Stew” for example, and the ingredients look very simple.  If I can find a homemade food “base” and can add my own meat, vegetables, etc., that might be something I could try.  It’s just the workload which is daunting… I don’t know if I can squeeze another chore into my day.  On the other hand, not popping the tops of cat food cans will stop my nails from being broken and tattered, so that could be part of the reward.

Has the food recall changed what you plan to feed your pets, or will you just soldier on with what you’re using now?  Depending on how many cats I’m caring for, and whether or not I can buy wholesale, I may have to stick with my Petsmart specials.  When we only had four or five cats, feeding Merrick was expensive but it was a cost that we accepted.  If I was to feed Merrick to all the cats now, and pay retail, it would cost us about $450 per month.  I should be able to make a pretty damn fine cat food using filet mignon and Alaskan king crab for that kind of money, huh?

Posted by Leigh-Ann on 03/23 at 03:02 AM
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Wednesday, March 21, 2007 , late morning

Pet food recall database shows 200+ deaths, and counting

An independent survey being done on the Pet Connection blog shows that over two hundred pet owners are reporting pet deaths which can be tied to the pet foods recalled by Menufoods recently.  The database project isn’t strictly scientific, and involves a lot of “drawing conclusions” by pet owners, but it’s safe to say that the statistic reported in the media of “about 14 deaths” is grossly inaccurate.  200?  2000?  This survey and database project by Pet Connection is a super idea, so please pass the link along to anyone you think might have been affected:  Pet Connection Food Recall Database

Posted by Leigh-Ann on 03/21 at 11:01 AM
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Tuesday, March 20, 2007 , late evening

52 paws up for the Furminator

(Isn’t that awful?  52?!  No wonder I’m always behind on nail trims.)

I bought a “Furminator deShedding tool” after succumbing to the thrill of the moment at the Western Veterinary Conference.  It seemed like a really cool product with a great sales pitch, and while I didn’t really need it, I figured it would still be fun to own.  I’ve since tried the brush (it’s not a bristle brush, but a metal “rake") on big dogs, little dogs, and an assortment of cats, and I’ve been completely impressed.  The brush removed an unexpected amount of hair from all the pets, even the ones who don’t seem to shed much, and did a good job on matted shih-tzu hair, tangled pseudo-poodle hair, thick German shepherd hair, and both short and long cat hair.  All the animals enjoyed the Furminator experience, so I guess it’s comfortable.

The Furminator is a very hyped, “as seen on TV” product, so it’s easy to blow it off as just another gadget, and it’s hard to imagine what sort of improvements could be made to something as ordinary as a pet brush.  When you try it for the first time, though, you’ll appreciate the comfortably padded handle, sturdy construction, and protective plastic guard on the metal tines.  It’s definitely something I’d recommend to the average pet owner, and would be a nice “congratulations on your new pet” gift (if we can have bridal showers and baby showers, surely we can have pet showers too).  If you wear the product out by having too many pets to groom, you can buy a replacement blade.

I use the large size Furminator because of my German and Anatolian shepherd dogs, but the small size would be perfect for cats.  They’ve got a pretty nice website at Furminator.com, but if you plan to make a purchase, shop around for the best price.  I paid about $32 for my large-sized Furminator at the WVC convention, they’re just under $40 at Amazon.com, and are almost $50 elsewhere online.

Posted by Leigh-Ann on 03/20 at 10:13 PM
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Second Life

Have you been sucked into a “Second Life” addiction yet?  If you frequent the land of Linden, you’re invited to attended an IFAW press event this afternoon at 2pm (eastern time) for the ”Stop the Seal Hunt” campaign.  Coordinates for the meeting space on Progressive Island are 128, 144, 25.  You may see me there, if I can figure out how to get there—I signed up for Second Life, but am having trouble getting off Orientation Island.  Look for me if you stop by… you’ll know me by my stage name, Chickpea Humphreys. 

Posted by Leigh-Ann on 03/20 at 07:36 AM
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A veterinary toxicologist opines about the pet food recall

We took Phoenix to the vet today for her cat bite.  The verdict:  she has some cellulitis and is now on Clavamox, but otherwise the wound is healing very well.  While at the clinic, I was able to read a report by a veterinary toxicologist regarding the recent pet food contamination scare and subsequent recall.  The toxicologist offered five possible causes of contamination, as follows:


  • Vitamin D excess.  This was a problem for Royal Canin and their Urinary SO formula last year, but it seems unlikely in this case because it can take months for the symptoms to appear.
  • Mycotoxin contamination, specifically Ochratoxins and Citrinin.  These can both cause nephrotoxicity.
  • Heavy metal contamination, like Mercury or Arsenic.  The doctor didn’t think this was likely, because the clinical signs would be very obvious.
  • Contamination with industrial chemicals like phenols or toluene is another possibility, but it would have likely made the contaminated foods unpalatable.
  • Contamination with Glycols, such as Ethylene Glycol (antifreeze) and Diglycol Ether.

In addition, someone from the pet food industry with the name of “Dawg Man” left a comment in one of my previous entries, and he feels the problem will likely be traced back to a mix-up between ethylene glycol to and propylene glycol—the latter being a normal ingredient in wheat gluten, and the former being used in antifreeze.  With a bit of luck the mystery might soon be solved, because there’s a veterinary patient somewhere in the country currently being treated for renal failure which came on after eating food from a batch which was subsequently recalled.  Just a week prior to that, the patient had been perfectly healthy, and had received a routine dental cleaning and a full pre-op blood panel.  The patient was tracked so carefully in the days after surgery that there’s no way anything but eating contaminated food could have brought on the sudden renal distress, and hopefully tests on that specific batch of food will help reveal some answers.

We had to go to Petsmart this evening, and it’s just row after row of empty shelves.  The empty spots have signs explaining the food recall, and they claim all food still on the shelves is safe.  At the front of the store were carts filled with pouches of recalled cat and dog food, perhaps owner returns.  Menufoods produces food for 17 of the top 20 American pet food retailers (85%), as well as manufacturing for Proctor and Gamble (Iams and Eukanuba), and Hills.  There’s barely any food which went untouched, and it’s a sad day when you walk into a store and find that Friskies and Whiskas are your safest pet food choices.  I don’t know if the recall caused confusion among pet food companies at first, but Menufoods did a very poor job of making their pet food recall list accurate (they left off Iams, Eukanuba, and Hills), and the brands they did list were then linked to complicated and confusing Excel files.  It should have been easier, and it should have been more thorough, and there should have been one list in one central location which named everything being recalled.  I’d like to know if Menufoods didn’t want to list Iams, et al, because they didn’t want to make the recall look even worse than it already was, or if Iams, et al, didn’t want to be listed on the Menufoods site with those “cheap” brands.  Kudos to Nutro for being on that first list, however they managed to get there.

Let’s hope that this horrible mistake leads to some transparency in the pet food industry.  The cat is out of the bag - some company we’ve never heard of manufacturers almost all the pet food in the entire country - so perhaps it’s time to make that sort of information easier to find, and easier for the consumer to trace.  It’s said the recall is costing manufacturers about 30 million dollars, and I hope they’re also picking up the tabs for the owners of affected pets.

On a closing note, this is a good time for me to put in a plug for Whole Dog Journal.  I started subscribing to their newsletter a couple of years ago, as I wanted to read their famous “annual top dog food list”.  Today they sent around a bulletin about the pet food recall, and they ‘fessed up to the fact that “Nutro’s Ultra Holistic” dog food was on their top food list of 2006.  I thought it was an informative alert for them to distribute, and it reminded me of what a wealth of information they are regarding dog food quality.  Has this pet food recall incident prompted you to want to explore other, better options for feeding your dogs (and cats)?  If so, definitely check out Whole Dog Journal—you can even order just the dry dog food review and/or the canned dog food review online, at a cost of $10 each.  It’s well-worth the price, and will give you insight into cat food as well.

Posted by Leigh-Ann on 03/20 at 02:48 AM
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Monday, March 19, 2007 , terribly early in the morning

More on the pet food recall

I was just reading that Hill’s Science Diet is involved in a voluntary recall of a number of their “cuts and gravy” food types, yet another casualty of the Menufoods recall from a couple of days ago.  I believe both Hills and Nutro have food manufactured at the same processing plant as some of the Menufoods products, so I think this recall is a precaution and not a result of any reported problems.  Still, it’s upsetting for me to know that the “kitten savory ocean cuts” food is now being recalled, because it was one of the foods I was giving Madison while I was weaning her.  I also sent an entire case of the food with her when she went to her new family.  Obviously she’s doing fine, and wasn’t negatively affected by anything she ate, but if she’d gotten sick I just would have been beside myself.

As Helly pointed out in the comments from my previous post on this issue, it’s tough to point fingers at pet food companies when even food for people is prone to contamination.  I always thought grain-laden kibble was the product most likely to cause pet illness (because of the potential for aflatoxin contamination), but I think this current recall of canned food shows that our best protection is to be diligent and aware of our pets’ behaviour.  There are many times I’ve been able to sense that a pet “just isn’t right”, even though there’s nothing visibly wrong, but I often take a “wait and see” approach because I don’t want to seem like a hypochondric-by-proxy.  Maybe that isn’t always the best approach, though… maybe any case of “just ain’t right” should really make us stop and think about what we’re feeding, changes in diet, etc.  I feed so many animals every day that I slop the food in dishes and often don’t take the time to watch my pets eat, but it’s something we should all try to do a couple of times a week. 

Another comment from my previous post is worth repeating.  Jan stopped by to mention that she was feeding a colony of cats, and they suddenly refused to eat when she offered them a new bag of kibble.  When she switched to a different bag, the cats all resumed eating normally.  I’ve had that same thing happen here, with my own pets—every once in a while, I’ll open a can of food and none of them want to eat it.  Even Derek refused to eat the contents of one can of food, yet it looked and smelled normal to me.  We can all benefit from listening to the little messages our pets send us.  Maybe they’re just messing with our heads, but it’s still okay to be overly protective.

Speaking of “messing with our heads”, Frank and Jackson had one of their worst fights ever this evening.  It was almost cartoon-like—I came across them intertwined and rolling rapidly down the hallway, like a couple of tumbleweeds.  Frank got the worst of it, but that just seemed to be some missing chunks of fur and a spitty neck (maybe I should say the carpet got the worst of it, with cat pee and some poop tossed in for good measure).  I’ve checked both cats over and didn’t find any evidence of blood or wounds, and I don’t want to find another abscess in a week and a half.  We decided this evening that we will take Phoenix to the vet tomorrow for her cat bite, because the “pocket” of the abscess is so huge.  It still seems to be clean and no longer inflamed, but when I flush it, the wound swells up like a ping-pong ball with fluid—that’s how much room there is inside that space, with only a tiny pin-sized hole for an entrance.  I think a course of antibiotics would be a good thing.

Let’s end this on a nicer note.  Here’s a blog entry from Helly about a cat who was pretty darned happy about the pet food recall:  Finnovar and the sushi dinner

Posted by Leigh-Ann on 03/19 at 03:00 AM
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Sunday, March 18, 2007 , early evening

The one where Phoenix is bitten by a cat

We discovered a bit of blood on Phoenix’s shoulder yesterday.  I thought she might have a sebaceous cyst, which she’s had before, so I shaved the hair from the area.  I was greeted by the sight of a massive abscess—I mean massive.  It was pretty disgusting, even by my standards (and we all remember how nasty Derek’s butt abscess was).  I started to wash the wound, and it started draining… oh my.  It was beyond anything you want me to describe to you, trust me.  Once it was cleaned up, I noticed that what I thought was one little hole was actually two, and then Flippy remembered Phoenix had yelped after a hallway run-in with Frank about ten days ago.  At the time we figured it was nothing, but I guess Frank got a nip in.  Oddly enough, Phoenix didn’t indicate she was in any discomfort, and she’s been running and playing and eating normally, so we never would have known about the bite if it hadn’t become infected.

We were going to take her to the vet for antibiotics, but today the bite is looking really good.  It was so “open” that I was able to really wash it out with Chlorhexidine Flush, so I flushed it a few times and left it uncovered.  It hasn’t filled up again, the swelling has gone down, and it looks greatly improved.  We’re definitely on the look-out for heat, swelling, more discharge, etc., but I think we caught this and stopped it.  I’ll do another check this evening to see how it’s coming along.  Never a dull moment!

Posted by Leigh-Ann on 03/18 at 07:12 PM
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Friday, March 16, 2007 , early evening

Dog and cat food recall!

MenuFoods.com has announced a huge recall of its dog and cat food products.  The foods are manufactured in plants in Canada and the US, but are then distributed as “private label” products to stores like Walmart and PetsMart.  The company has set up a specific page listing products which are part of the recall (http://www.menufoods.com/recall), but I haven’t been able to get to the page yet—perhaps it’s overrun with worried pet owners.  I was able to find this list of foods manufactured by MenuFoods on the PETA website, however:

Albertson’s
A&P’s Master Choice
Authority (PetSmart brand)
Award (PetSmart brand)
IGA
Kroger
Loblaw
Pathmark
Safeway Select
ShopRite
SophistaCat (PetSmart brand)
Stop & Shop
Wal-Mart’s Special Kitty Pouches

That list may not be all-inclusive, but it’s all I can find right now.  The company doesn’t know (or say) specifically what is wrong with the food (I think the recall is confined to the “cuts and gravy” style pet food), but it’s been anecdotally linked to kidney failure deaths in dogs and cats.  Cats seem to be most at risk.


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Update:  Here’s the official press release about the recall.  The webpage listing the brands and lot numbers will be up and running by 6am Saturday, March 17th.


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The lists/lot numbers of recalled food are now available on the MenuFoods site.  Here’s the list for cat food, and the list for dog food.  Please note there are some foods manufactured by Nutro on both lists, so the recall doesn’t just apply to grocery store brands.


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The “good” news just keeps on rolling.  Iams/Eukanuba is now part of the recall as well.  Read the news release on their website.


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I’ve added a couple of other entries on this issue—they’re a bit more organized than this one, which was sort of just tossed together on a moment’s notice.  If you’re interested, check out More on the pet food recall and A veterinary toxicologist opines about the pet food recall.  I hope you’ll find some information which is useful to you.

Posted by Leigh-Ann on 03/16 at 06:26 PM
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