A local animal hospital is preparing to deal with the recent
North American pet food scare.
“I need to get on the computer … and check it out,” said Dr.
Fred K. VanDeusen Jr. of the Bradford Veterinary Clinic on Monday.
“It’s new to us in the last 24 hours.”
The scare has killed at least 10 pets nationwide and caused
kidney failure in many more, according to the company that made the
food.
Menu Foods, an Ontario, Canada-based company that produced the
pet food, announced Saturday it was recalling 88 brands of dog and
cat food sold in North America, including Iams, Nutro and Eukanuba.
Major retailers such as Wal-Mart, Safeway and Kroger sell the
food.
VanDeusen may have already had his first case of an animal
affected by the contaminated food.
“We’re not sure; we suspect we might have had a cat” who ate the
affected food, said VanDeusen. “It was a relatively young cat. It
had renal failure, so we had to euthanize it.”
VanDeusen then explained some of the symptoms pets may be
experiencing if eating the contaminated food.
“Generally, from what I have read, the animals stop eating,
drink abnormal amounts of water and they may vomit,” he said. “The
only way you can tell for sure is you have to do some bloodwork on
them and check the kidneys.”
The doctor expects the issue to only compound over the next few
days.
“I’m sure by the time we’re done, it’s going to be a widespread
thing,” VanDeusen said. “There are so many dog and cat foods
involved.”
A statement at Wal-Mart’s www.walmartfacts.com Web site read,
“Wal-Mart has sent direction to our stores to immediately remove
all impacted dog and cat food product from store shelves, based on
information provided by Menu Foods, the manufacturer.”
In addition, the statement said, “As an additional precautionary
measure, we have also put a sales restriction on the products in
question so that, should one inadvertently be scanned, a
restriction notice will come up for the cashier.”
The Web site also gave a list of pouches and cans affected by
the recall. They include: Ol’ Roy Gourmet Sliced Beef and Gourmet
Chicken with Gravy selections in 5.5 ounce cans, all Ol’ Roy 5.32
ounce pouches, Special Kitty in the 3.0 ounce pouch, Purina Mighty
Dog 5.3 ounce pouch products and assorted Iams dog and cat food in
cans. Those with an affected product purchased from Wal-Mart can
return it for a full refund, according to the Web site.
Two other companies, Nestle Purina PetCare Co. and Hill’s Pet
Nutrition Inc., said as a precaution, they were taking some Menu
Foods products off shelves.
A Parkview Super Market manager said he was unaware of any food
being brought back yet, but, “If people bring the food to the
customer service desk, Parkview will be more than happy to give a
full refund.”
Tops Markets was also not aware of anyone returning affected pet
food yet, but a manager noted that customers could bring it to the
customer service desk for a full refund.
Those looking for more information can log onto
www.menufoods.com/recall or call Menu Foods at 1-866-895-2708.
The owners of dogs or cats who have consumed the suspect feed
and show signs of kidney failure should consult with their
veterinarian.
