Friday, March 23, 2007

Food recall information

We are getting a few hits from people searching for information about the pet food recall, so here's a little more information that I've collected (with lots more available at vetcetera)...

The Animal Medical Center of New York offers the following information about cases they've had:
Owners of pets with azotemia [an excess of urea or other nitrogenous wastes in the blood as a result of kidney insufficiency] have been contacted to determine if the pets had eaten the recalled foods. During this time period 143 chemistry profiles were performed and 5% of pets who had a chemistry profile obtained in that time period have been determined to have food-related acute renal failure. At this time, AMC has identified 12 cases of food-related acute renal failure, 8 cats and 4 dogs. Age range was 2-14 years with a mean age of 7.4 years.

Based on this survey, we can provide the following limited information about food-related acute renal failure. All pets had at least one clinical sign of acute renal failure: 75% had anorexia, 50% had polyuria and polydipsia, 50% had vomiting and 50% lethargy. The course of the disease before presentation to AMC ranged from 1 to 60 days. Mean creatinine was 7 mg/dl with a range of 2.1-14.8 mg/dl. Mean BUN was 110 mg/dl with a range of 33-210 mg/dl. Three pets were diagnosed on an out-patient basis. Nine animals were hospitalized of which 3 (2 dogs, 1 cat) died or were euthanized despite treatment. Six were discharged from the hospital. Four of these were discharged with persistent azotemia. Our follow-up time is short and the long-term prognosis is unknown.

Cornell's diagnostic lab is still working on figuring out what the toxin is that's causing this... They posted this a couple of days ago with information for pet owners and vets.

There are still no dry foods included in this recall. If the brand you feed is not on Menu's recall list but you want to be sure they aren't in the recall, check their website. I know that Natura (who makes Innova and California Naturals), Nature's Variety, Timberwolf Organics, Eagle Pack, and Wysong all have statements that they are not involved in the recall.

The extent of the problem still isn't clear...

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