Dog Food Recall (Iams & Eukanuba)

If you are feeding Iams & Eukanuba, check this out:

DAYTON, Ohio, March 16, 2007 /PRNewswire/ -- In response to the recent Menu Foods, Inc. nationwide recall of wet pet foods, P&G Pet Care has announced a voluntary recall in the United States and Canada on specific 3 oz., 5.5 oz., 6 oz. and 13.2 oz. canned and 3 oz. and 5.3 oz. foil pouch "wet" cat and dog food products manufactured by Menu Foods Inc. Emporia, Kansas plant with the code dates of 6339 through 7073 followed by the plant code 4197.

This voluntary recall is part of a larger product recall by Menu Foods Inc., a contract manufacturer that makes a small portion of canned and foil pouch 'wet' cat foods for Iams and Eukanuba as well as other non-P&G brands. There have been a small number of reported cases of cats from the US (none in Canada) becoming sick and developing signs of kidney failure. The signs of kidney failure include loss of appetite, vomiting, and lethargy.
P&G Pet Care has received no case reports involving dogs.

To read can product codes, refer to the bottom of the can. The first four numbers of the second line of numbers are the date code, and the following four numbers indicate the plant code. For example, if the second line begins with four numbers from 6339 to 7073 followed by the plant code 4197, then the can should be recalled. For foil pouches, the code numbers are located at the lower left hand corner on the back of the pouch. The date and plant codes appear in the third group of numbers, beginning an 11-digit sequence.

Full Article: http://www.pr-inside.com/p-amp-g-pet-care-announces-voluntary-participation-r68347.htm

Pet Food Recall

Mar 16, 2007 - A major manufacturer of dog and cat food sold under Wal-Mart, Wegmans, Iams, Eukanuba and other store brands recalled 60 million containers of wet pet food Friday after reports of kidney failure and deaths.

An unknown number of cats and dogs suffered kidney failure and about 10 died after eating the affected pet food, Menu Foods said in announcing recall. Product testing has not revealed a link explaining the reported cases of illness and death, the company said.

"At this juncture, we're not 100 percent sure what's happened," said Paul Henderson, the company's president and chief executive officer.

The recall covers the company's "cuts and gravy" style food, which consists of chunks of meat in gravy, sold in cans and small foil pouches between Dec. 3 and March 6.

Menu Foods did not immediately provide a full list of brand names and lot numbers covered by the recall, saying they would be posted on its Web site -- www.menufoods.com/recall -- today. Consumers with questions can call 1-866-463-6738.

The company said it manufacturers for 17 of the top 20 North American retailers.

The recalled Wegmans brands are:

For dogs: Bruiser Preferred Cuts with Beef and Liver 22 oz. (UPC 77890 35174) Bruiser Preferred Cuts Country Stew Cuts in Gravy 22 oz. (77890 35180) Bruiser Preferred Cuts with Beef and Gravy 22 oz. (77890 56847) Bruiser Preferred Cuts with Chicken and Gravy 22 oz. (77890 56922) Bruiser Preferred Cuts Country Stew Cuts in Gravy 13.2 oz. (77890 35249) Bruiser Preferred Cuts with Beef and Liver 13.2 oz. (77890 35252) Bruiser Preferred Cuts with Chicken and Gravy 13.2 oz. (77890 56796) Bruiser Preferred Cuts with Beef and Gravy 13.2 oz. (77890 56913)

For cats: Wegmans Chicken Slices in Gravy 5.5 oz. (UPC 77890 54269) Wegmans Pouch Chicken in Gravy 3 oz. (77890 82643) Wegmans Pouch Turkey and Giblet 3 oz. (77890 82646) Wegmans Pouch Mixed Grill 3 oz. (77890 82649) Wegmans Pouch Tuna in Gravy 3 oz. (77890 82658) Wegmans Pouch Beef in Gravy 3 oz. (77890 82664) Wegmans Cat Food Variety Pack 132 oz. (77890 54272)

Customers should not feed these products to their pets and may return the product to Wegmans for a full refund.

http://www.wtvh.com/Story.aspx?type=ln&NStoryID=4387

Kibbles not listed in WDJ 2007

Kibbles available locally but not listed in WDJ's 2007 quality dry food.

Abady
Active Care
ANF
Avoderm
Beneful
Blackwood
Eukanuba
Life’s Abundance
Nutro
Pedigree
Propac
Purina Proplan
Sava
Sensible Choice
Science Diet
US Grain’s Regal

Selection criteria for quality dry dog food is as follows:
1.) We look for foods that contain a lot of high-quality animal proteins
2.) We reject any food containing meat by-products or poultry by-products
3.) We reject foods containing fat or protein not identified by species
4.) We look for the use of whole grains & vegetables
5.) We eliminate all foods with artificial colors, flavors, or preservatives
6.) We eliminate all foods with added sweeteners

Flea & Tick Prevention Products.

Like many dog lovers, I want only the best for my dogs. Therefore, I read up a great deal to find out more all the time.

Recently, I saw an ad about a flea/tick control item, which I find a little misleading and would like to talk about this topic, so that pet lovers are not ill- informed. The ad indicated the negative effects of active ingredients in other products, but did not indicate the negative effects of their own active ingredients.

Sure, these ingredients are poisonous, and so are pesticides/insecticides that we use at home.

Flea/Tick control items are essentially pesticides/insecticides. All pesticides/insecticides are poisonous. Most households are exposed to the vapours when we spray them, the person spraying it sometimes get the pesticides/insecticides on his/her fingers/hands. So, the question is not whether “poisonous” ingredient is used, but are they used correctly? Are they safe enough to use?

How do we use this chemical safely? There are a few considerations; amount used, the way it is administered, eg: orally, applied on the skin, inhalation, etc…

Some of the popular flea/tick control items used in Singapore are Frontline, Frontline Plus, Accurate and Revolution (not in any order of preference). I have personally used all these four products and I find that some are more effective against fleas/ticks than others for my dogs. I believe that all these products are safe to use. Otherwise, they would have been recalled. See link - http://www.epa.gov/pesticides/factsheets/flea-tick-drops.htm

There is a also a link comparing some products:
http://marvistavet.com/html/flea_product_comparison.html

Information about Etofenprox, an active ingredient used in Accurate from National Institute of Public Health and Environmental Protection,Bilthoven, Netherlands

“In a 52-week study in dogs using dietary concentrations of 0, 100, 1000 or 10 000 ppm, the NOAEL was 1000 ppm (equal to 32 mg/kg bw/day) based on decreased red blood cell parameters, increased serum alkaline phosphatase and increased liver weight (with swellingof hepatocytes).”

Detailed info can be found in http://www.inchem.org/documents/jmpr/jmpmono/v93pr09.htm

More examples – morphine, steroids and sleeping pills are used in modern medicine today. When they are given in the right dosage, they are helpful. When abused, they are harmful.

Giving “poison” to our dogs is the lesser of the two evils. If they are not protected, they are likely to suffer pain and great discomfort from flea/tick infestation in our environment, especially if we bring them out frequently.

All products have their good and bad points. However, based on my personal experience, I will go for the following:

- If no allergy problem, all these products are ok.

- If the dog has some allergies and you are unable to single out the problem whether it is yeast, fungus, parasites, food or environment, then I would recommend using Revolution, because the product is active against ear mites and sarcoptic mange mites in dogs (so it can rule out these two possibilities), even though it costs twice as much.

However, if the dog is pregnant, then you should use Revolution.

The important thing to note is :

- make an informed choice

- choose what works best for your dogs

- do not fall into “scare” tactics used in the marketing of products.

Garlic: Helpful or Harmful?

Garlic, regarded by many as "nature's antibiotic"; the Soviets even call it “Russian Penicillin”, is also known to be a powerful anti-fungal, anti-pathogen and is also valued for its anti-oxidant properties. Garlic is most commonly used in preventing internal parasites & flea controls in dogs.

Recently, some research cautioned about feeding garlic to dogs. Studies showed that garlic contains thiosulphate, which can damage red blood cells and cause anaemia.

"Garlic Flea Remedy Dangerous For Dog". Posted on People's Pharmacy:
Q. I heard that garlic could keep fleas from biting, so I put some in my dog's food for about a week. He became lethargic and couldn't even climb the lowest stairs. I thought this might be a reaction to the antibiotics I had him on to heal sores from the original flea bites.
I took him in again to check for infection, but there wasn't any. I casually mentioned the garlic, and the vet said that garlic is toxic to dogs. It causes something called Heinz body anemia. Please warn other readers.

A. Both garlic and onions can cause anemia in dogs. Cats are even more susceptible.
People often assume that they can give their pets the same things they take themselves, but that's not necessarily a good idea. Always check with the vet before giving your pet any medicine or extra treats like chocolate or raisins, which are also toxic to dogs.
Source: http://www.healthcentral.com/peoplespharmacy/408/61174.html

Heinz Body Hemolytic Anemia With Eccentrocytosis From Ingestion of Chinese Chive (Allium tuberosum) and Garlic (Allium sativum) in a Dog:
A 4-year-old, intact male miniature schnauzer was presented with anorexia. The dog had ingested some Chinese steamed dumplings 2 days before, which contained Chinese chive (Allium tuberosum) and garlic (Allium sativum). Hematological examinations revealed severe Heinz body hemolytic anemia with eccentrocytosis and an increased concentration of methemoglobin, which was thought to result from oxidative damage to erythrocytes by constituents in these Allium plants. In this case, eccentrocytosis was a hallmark finding and could be detected easily, suggesting that this hematological abnormality is useful in diagnosing Allium plant-induced hemolysis.
Case Report: http://www.jaaha.org/cgi/content/abstract/41/1/68

Some branded kibbles also contain garlic. Therefore, it may be likely that it is all right if given in small quantities, although no one knows if it will be harmful if given on a long term basis. Prevention is better than cure. It may be good to refrain or be very careful when giving garlic as a supplement.

What's Your Doggy's Name?

Am sure that all doggy guardians bring their doggies out for walks. These days, there are more and more doggies around and we will always meet one or two, if not more doggies during our daily walks with our doggies.

During the first meeting, guardians would usually exchange information about their doggies, eg: is it a male or female, how old is your doggy and the one question we will always ask is, "what is your doggy's name?"

The next time we chance upon each other, and want to say "hello", we then realise that we don't know the name of the guardian. We only know the name of the doggy. We somehow feel awkward asking for the names of the guardians, but feel so natural asking the name of their doggies. I don't know why. Do you?

Heartworm Prevention

When chatting with Doggy Guardians during our walks, one of the topics I always like to discuss is Heartworm Prevention. But I realized that many have no idea what heartworm disease is. I hope we can help spread the word on the importance of Heartworm Prevention, especially in tropical countries like Singapore. Here are some Links to Canine Heartworm Disease.

http://www.ingleburnvet.com.au/heartworm.htm

http://www.heartwormsociety.org/CanineHeartwormInfo.htm

http://www.avma.org/communications/brochures/heartworm/heartworm_brochure.asp

My Pals are on ProHeart SR-12. Remember to check with your Vet if he/she has the antidote to reverse the action, as some may have a reaction to it. I only leave the clinic 15 minutes after the jab to ensure everything is fine.