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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

• RECALL LIST • Consumer Complaints --- News • 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 • Pet Owners Not Thrilled with Poisoning Settlement • Menu Foods Settles Pet Food Class Action • Many Pet Foods Still Missing From Store Shelves • Pet Owners Cheer Indictments in Toxic Pet Food Case • Indictments in Toxic Pet Food Case • Diamond Pet Foods Agrees To $3.1 Million Settlement • Tests Find More Toxic Pet Toys • Finding Safe Toys to Give Your Pet • China Agrees to Stepped-Up Food, Drug Inspections • Menu Foods Denies Acetaminophen Found in its Cat Food • Veterinarians Solve Pet Food Death Puzzle • Menu Foods Agrees to Test for Pain Killer in its Cat Food • Lab Tests Again Find Acetaminophen in Pet Food • Toxic Pet Toys: A Doctor's Advice • Consumers Respond to Toxic Wal-Mart Pet Toy Stories • Federal Import Safety Panel Outlines Proposals • Pet Industry Agrees on Need for Toxicity Standards • Industry Responds to Reports of Lead in Wal-Mart Pet Toys • Wal-Mart Attacks Lab Tests that Found Lead, Chromium in Pet Toys • Wal-Mart Reviewing Results of Tests on China-Made Pet Toys • Lab Tests Find Lead, Other Toxins in Pet Toys Sold at Wal-Mart • CANIDAE Denies Reports of Painkiller in its Pet Food • Lab Tests Find Painkiller in Samples of Pet Food • Purina Denies Claim on Bichon Frise Deaths • FDA Blocks Nutro Pet Food Shipment from Entering U.S. • FDA Testing Dog Treats Pulled from Wal-Mart Shelves • Wal-Mart Finds Melamine in Chinese-Made Dog Treats --- • 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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