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Latest Information For Pet Owners

Cause of Pet Poisonings Not Yet Determined

By Lisa Wade McCormick
ConsumerAffairs.com

March 22, 2007

• Report Finds Toxins Common in Products for Children, Pets • Feds Bar Teva Animal Health From Selling Veterinary Drugs • FDA Confirms Probe of NUTRO Pet Food Deaths, Illnesses • Evidence Destroyed in Menu Foods Case May Hamper Other Lawsuits • Pet Food Class Action Preemptively Thrown Out • More Pet Foods Added to Salmonella Recall • Lawsuits On the Trail of Nutro, Canidae Pet Foods • FDA Halts Illegally Medicated Animal Feed • Pet Owners Warned about Chicken Jerky Products • Mars Extends Pet Food Recall; More Salmonella Found • Mars Recalls Cat Food Sold at Wal-Mart due to Salmonella • Hartz Recalls Rawhide Chips After Possible Salmonella Contamination • Pet Owners Eligible For $24 Million in Landmark Melamine Settlement • Internet Rumor Claims Cocoa Mulch Causes Dog Deaths • Mars Recalls More Pet Food; Possible Salmonella Contamination • Mars Petcare Recalls Some Pedigree Dog Food • Expert Finds Unexplained Pet Deaths 'Not Consistent' • Illness, Death Dog Nutro Pet Food • Feds Raid PETCO Warehouse in Illinois • Pet Owners Not Thrilled with Poison Food Settlement • CDC Links 2006 Salmonella Outbreak to Dog Food • FDA Orders Illinois Pet Food Maker to Clean Up Its Act • String of Illnesses Afflicts NUTRO-Fed Pets --- • More about Pet Food Recalls ...

Pet owners anxiously watch their dogs and cats for signs of illness as word of the recall of potentially tainted pet food spreads.

In addition to brands recalled earlier, Nestle Purina PetCare Co., Procter & Gamble, and Hill's Pet Nutrition Inc., have voluntarily recalled some products made by Menu Foods. The recalled pet foods were sold under both store and major brand labels -- including Iams, Nutro and Eukanuba -- at Wal-Mart, Kroger, Safeway, and other large retailers throughout the United States, Canada, and Mexico.

In all, there are 42 brands of cat food and 53 brands of dog foods involved in the recall.

What To Do

Consumers who have any of the tainted food should immediately stop feeding it to their pets.

If their pets have eaten the food, they should watch for symptoms like drinking large amounts of water, not eating, lethargy, vomiting, or any other usual behavior. If their pets have any of these symptoms, they should immediately contact their veterinarian.

Consumers should be careful handling pet food, as the toxin that makes animals ill could also be dangerous to humans. All pet food should be kept away from children.

"Puzzling and Troubling"

But, as in the recent cases of Salmonella poisoning from peanut butter, the "official" government figures greatly understate the problem. The Associated Press reported late Wednesday that Menu Foods now says at least 16 pets -- 15 cats and one dog -- have died after eating the food.

ConsumerAffairs.com has received reports of nine dogs and nine cats dying as of March 21.

Menu Foods President Paul Henderson called the deaths "a puzzling and troubling experience," and says the food shows no sign of contamination.

But the FDA suspects the culprit might be contaminated wheat gluten the company uses as a filler and source of protein in its wet dog and cat food. Additional testing is underway to pinpoint the exact cause.

Earlier this week, the FDA sent investigators to Menu Foods' plants in Kansas and Pennsauken, New Jersey. The FDA has not released any information about what investigators have uncovered.

The first of what might be many lawsuits against the Menu Foods was also filed this week.

A Chicago woman on Tuesday sued the pet food manufacturing, alleging the company delayed its announcement of the recall even though it knew the food was contaminated and potentially deadly.

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