Analysis of Menu Foods Pet Food Recall
UPDATE 2: (Monday 3pm Pacific) Director of the FDA’s Center for Veterinary Medicine estimates that this recall affects 1% of all US pet food supply. Divide the 1% sold over three months and our estimate sounds plausible.
UPDATE: Many news outlets are reporting that the suspect food was sold until March 6th. We’ve read enough reports (including GK’s) to believe that the food was being sold days afterwards since the recall was not announced until the 16th. The March 6th date seems to be the last manufacturing date. GK, Our thought are with you and your cat.
The manufacturer Menu Foods of Ontario, Canada, suspects a new supplier they used as a possible cause. It’s alarming to us to the recall was not announced until 10 days after they switched away from this supplier on March 6th because of the suspected problem — bolded in the quote from the Press Release (PDF) below.
Shortly after receipt of the first complaint, the Fund initiated a substantial battery of technical tests, conducted by both internal and external specialists, but has failed to identify any issues with the products in question. The Fund has, however, discovered that timing of the production associated with these complaints, coincides with the introduction of an ingredient from a new supplier. The Fund stopped using this ingredient shortly after this discovery and production since then has been undertaken using ingredients from another source.
Okay, so let me get this straight. After switching to a new supplier, Menu Foods got complaints, started testing and switched the suspect supplier on March 6th, but didn’t recall the products until 10 days later?
Why did they wait this long? They also released the news on Friday afternoon when Internet and media traffic was winding down, limiting the reach of their warning. We’re curious as to how this turns out in the pet community. The next number we’re interested in is the average settlement amount per pet where the pet ingested harmful food. The company is estimating that the recall will cost $26 to $34 million.
To calculate the impact of this recall, we put our heads together here at itchmo and tried to size up the magnitude of this recall. We’re estimating that roughly 1/2 million pets were affected from this recall of 60 million cans or pouches of pet food (our math is after the jump). Out of 90 million cats and 74 million dogs (source), that’s an impact of 0.3% of all pets or about 179,000 households.
To put that into perspective, the entire city of Atlanta has 179,000 households (equivalent to about 4/5th of Seattle). This is huge.
Check our math. Let us know if you think our math can be verified or corrected.
It’s also interesting to note, that the Menu Foods Web site has been reduced to the homepage and the recall page. As you can follow from this link, there is far more information if you dig a little. Hey, Menu Foods, it makes you seem like you’re hiding from your customers. Now we know why their site was down on Friday night as the news broke.
Our math:
Pets Served:
60 million cans or pouches of food (assuming 1 container per day consumed)
(divided by) eaten over 90 days
(multiplied by) 80% consumption rate (This is an educated guess)
= 533,333 pets served. (or 0.325% of all pets)
Households Affected:
63% of all household have a pet
(multiplied by) 80% are cats or dogs
(multiplied by) 110 million households in the US
= 55 million households
and 0.325% of 55 million is 178,861 households.
March 18th, 2007 at 6:26 am
I’m surprised more people haven’t brought up the issue of the delay between the point where they realized that food containing the suspect gluten source was dangerous enough to halt production and the time of the actual recall.
My four-year-old cat is currently being treated for kidney failure associated with the consumption of the tainted food.
Food I purchased on the evening of March 14th.. at least a full EIGHT DAYS after they came to the determination that this stuff was toxic. Why on earth was it still on the shelves?
March 19th, 2007 at 10:26 am
I am considering why Menu Foods would change the supplier for wheat gluten. The obvious answer is the cost was less to Menu Foods. Where do cheap products come from? China.
I believe that the Chinese supplier ordinarily used the gluten for noodle production. The cheapest flavoring is MSG. So I think that it’s MSG that’s is causing renal failure.
Menu Foods. Inc., is going to lose a lot more than it ever anticipated saving by using cheaper ingredients. I hope that the company is hit hard financially.
March 19th, 2007 at 11:51 am
I sent this to Iams on 11/2/05:
Sent: Thursday, November 02, 2006 9:18 PM
To: customer.service@iams.com
Subject: A consumer message from Iams.com - en_US, Email Us, 1-1738850475
[Comment:]Hello - I purchased 2 cases of Iams Variety Pack of Beef and
Chicken Entree (24-3oz cans). I tried to feed my cat one can of each and he will not eat it. I have been feeding him Iams since he has been eating solid food (over 2 years) and have not had this problem of him not eating. I still have the packaging but the boxes have been opened. The store where I purchased them (Target, Rockaway NJ) said that I could not return them since the boxes were opened. I have 46 cans (2 have been opened and thrown out) of cat food that I cannot use. I would like to know how I can exchange these or receive a refund for them.
When I called Iams, I was told that the normal supplier was affected by hurrican Katrina so they had to find another supplier. I wonder if this issue extends much further back than what we are being told.
I will not be using Iams anymore. I would like to find a cat food that is not made by Menu Foods altogether.
March 19th, 2007 at 11:56 am
I want to know what they have been doing since DECEMBER??
March 19th, 2007 at 1:33 pm
All the more reason to be very diligent in reading labels for your pets. Grains first of all aren’t good for them! Wheat being the most hyperallergenic for animals. Research what you feed your pet! don’t always get what is cheapest, sometimes spending a bit more initially is cheaper in the long run!
It is sad that corporations like this can do this to people like us and only pull a recall when they are looking at thousands of lawsuits. Kinda like closing the barn after the animals have escaped.
My heart goes out to everyone who has lost an animal to this and those struggling to live because some sensless money jocks are more concerned about money than their consumers.
March 19th, 2007 at 2:02 pm
2 of my 6 cats were vomiting & lethargic for 4 days last week but thankfully recovered probably because I only fed them one meal of “Special Kitty” from a can and they all didn’t eat it. BUT the “Prime Entree Dinner” that I fed them is not on the recall list, only gravy type dinners are they recalling. I wouldn’t trust ANY canned or pouch food from Menu Foods at this point especially since they waited so long to recall the stuff in the first place.
March 19th, 2007 at 3:31 pm
I’m suspicious of a link to Asian gluten as well, particularly considering the AVA’s almost immediate interest in investigating the recall (seemingly before other markets- like Canada and Australia, who I would imagine would’ve been more likely to have been hit).. the AVA appears to be particularly interested in whether or not Singapore was affected. Perhaps there’s some sort of link going on there?
Tyson is currently at the vet’s on IVs. Though he appears healthy and is no longer vomiting, his kidney values have continued to rise despite fluid therapy. We intend to recheck them Wednesday evening.. he will remain on IV fluids until that point. It is not looking good.
This cat was a healthy, happy four-year-old. Now, four days and THREE POUCHES of this stuff later, I’m faced with the very real possibility that he may not live to see the weekend.
This should have been taken care of MONTHS ago. I shudder to think how many pets have been needlessly affected in the time that Menu was more invested in covering their behinds than removing dangerous product from their shelves. The entire handling of this recall amounts to gross negligence.
Shame on you, Menu Foods.. shame on you.
(Among other things.)
March 19th, 2007 at 3:32 pm
(On the up side, my five-year-old cat, Nicholas, who ate only a single pouch of the tainted food before beginning to refuse it was tested today and appears to be maintaining normal kidney function.)
March 19th, 2007 at 3:46 pm
Thank you so much for the extra info on Menu Foods. I will use it, believe me. My dog, Freedom, almost died from eating Ol Roy. Freedom would not eat the more expensive brands. Freedom was so sick with kidney problems that she was hospitalized for 5 days and even lost part of her tongue. It died and fell off! She is doing better but I wonder about long-term effects. Menu Foods is running from us. I can’t get through on the phone numbers they’ve listed for the recall and they have changed their web site. You can no longer contact them that way. I did contact the FDA and am in the process of sending them info. Please, if anyone has a pet that has been affected, contact the FDA so they know how widespread the problem is. I am in Dallas.
My heart goes out to all who have lost their pets and to those who are still fighting this battle.
March 19th, 2007 at 5:39 pm
Hey, it’s your itchmo admin here. I have some responses to the comments in this thread.
I found the Singapore AVA site. It seems that the Singapore testing is merely cautionary at this point as they are making sure that no tainted US product was shipped to them:
According to the recall information available so far, the products are sold in the United States, Canada and Mexico. Nevertheless, the AVA is currently carrying out investigations to determine if the products had been exported to Singapore.
In fact, according to a 2004 research paper, the vast majority of the US wheat gluten market is controlled by 4 companies:
http://pods.dasnr.okstate.edu/.....559web.pdf
That’s not to say that Menu Foods didn’t buy foreign supplies. We don’t have enough data to support any direction in finding the toxin.
Also, we could not find any connection between the consumption of MSG and pet renal failure. Also, MSG would most likely be added prior to manufacturing of the product, not at the raw source level.
PS. GK, it makes us very happy to hear that your baby is doing much better.
March 19th, 2007 at 7:35 pm
This is what I tried to send to menu foods with no luck
My beagle is 2 years old and after extensive and expensive testing has been found to have kidney failure. He has been eating your product on the recall list. Nutro, Natural Choice, chicken & rice, chuncks in gravy. 12.5 oz cans UPC code 079105322607. The vet says my dog doesn’t have long to live. I believe it’s only fair that you pick up the expensive vet bills that I have acquired.
March 19th, 2007 at 7:55 pm
[…] let’s take that rate and apply that to the number crunching we did earlier. We estimated that about 533,000 pets had consumed this food. Which would put the number of pet […]
March 19th, 2007 at 8:50 pm
My dog Rupert began displaying symptoms of illness approximately 6 days into a 12 pack of Nutro Ultra. Interestingly he started refusing the dry food first, so stupid me, I kept giving him the canned food. He has been diagnosed with acute renal failure, and is not out of the woods yet. We are looking at over $2000 in vet bills. It’ s most likely less than some because I have been giving him subcutaeous fluids at home rather than IVs at the vets. I spoke with a menu foods reperesentative, but couldn’t get through to Nutro, and have not been contacted by the menufoods representatives. I have emailed Nutro 4 times. partly because their website is not up to date at all. I think we are probably all going to have to file lawsuits. I can’t see these companies paying for their mistakes
March 19th, 2007 at 11:26 pm
My nearly five year old cat is now in intensive care at the vet, thanks to ‘trusting’ the IAMS name. He had a teeth cleaning on Feb 27th and his blood test values were all within the normal range. Today he tested nearly double in all categories after apparently two weeks of this poison. This also might have been lessened by an earlier recall.
I find interesting this information I read yesterday online at Scaredmonkeys.com:
“And no malicious slandering toward our Canadian neighbor is intended, but I think it is remarkable that the Menu Foods manufacturer of these pet foods is based in Canada and it was a huge shipment of imported wheat from Canada that was seized by authorities in Italy last year when tests showed that it was contaminated with high concentrates of ochratoxin.”
March 19th, 2007 at 11:55 pm
I just emailed IAMS the following letter at their website, since their phones were busy all day today:
My 5 year old cat is in intensive care at my vets in San Diego with compromised kidney function, thanks to trusting the IAMS name. So far the medical bills are nearly $600. And what price do you put on quality of life for him and his loved ones? What is P&G going to do about it?
sent by email to IAMS via their website on 19 Mar 2007
March 20th, 2007 at 12:49 am
oh .is 9 lives on any of these lists????urinary tract health dry cat food?or 9lives wrt canned cat food? I can’t spell and sure the heck can’t read those long lists ..letmeknow:)
March 20th, 2007 at 2:27 am
Looks like you’re probably right re: the supplier, benemo.
This article:
http://www.stltoday.com/stltod.....enDocument
suggests that the FDA has linked the questionable gluten to a supplier in Kansas. Not sure what their source is, though, as I have yet to see this information posted anywhere else.
They also list Menu as having received the ‘first of six’ customer complaints regarding the food on February 20.. which sounds a little suspect, given the fact that other sources still seem to be claiming that complaints began months earlier in December. Hm.
This veterinarian:
http://www.dolittler.com/index.....ms.3.19.07
writes that “This case was even more egregious in that the supplier was allegedly a known-offender in providing unsafe-quality foods.” By ’supplier’, I am not certain if he’s referring to the gluten supplier, or to Menu Foods. I can’t recall having seen any previous reports linking Menu to unsafe foods, so I am guessing it’s the gluten distributor? Maybe the vets are starting to receive some information we haven’t? Could just be speculation at this point, I don’t know.
March 20th, 2007 at 3:15 am
OMG! I reached for the IAMS cat food dry,then decided to go for the IAMS wet food insted…Then as I was walking my cart of cat food to the check out at PetCo,I had a change in mind(at the time I was being annoying to myself on not being able to make a cat food choice)I turned the cart around put all the IAMS food I chose back and decided to go with a big bag of dry 9lives urinary tract diet cat food..Later that night I was watching the news….And was so happy with going with my gut feeling of putting the IAMS back onto the shelf…Just wondering if anyone has thought about conspearicy theries on this pet slaying…Overpopulation of pets and someone thought this might help bring the numbering of pets down???????That’s some funked up shnit!
March 20th, 2007 at 3:37 am
[…] However, based on the FDA, number of comments on this site and others, we think that currently hundreds of pets have died. We’ll know more when the FDA report comes out. We may never know the real truth since many […]
March 20th, 2007 at 4:09 pm
I will do my best never to spend a dime that will go to Menu Foods. Not only did they wait before testing, but it has been published by the AP that they tested the food on 40 or 50 of their dogs and cats, with the result of deaths of 7 or 8 of them, before they admitted there was a problem. I know Diamond had a problem last year, but I haven’t read anything to show that they were this unfeeling. Things happen whether we like it or not but I feel Menu basically killed those animals without emotion.
March 20th, 2007 at 4:52 pm
I had contacted Nutro back in December to report my feline O’Malley was experiencing Urinary problems. We initially thought it was a UTI but there was no bacteria in his urine sample… hence no infection. So where did the stones come from you ask?? I had JUST switched his food to Nutro Natural Care 2 weeks prior. I contacted Nutro who instructed me to return the food and have PetSmart refund my money. I sent the food samples in and waited about 6 weeks. I got a letter back from them 2/28/07 stating the testing showed no reason their food to cause my cat’s kidney stones. They stated they had tested the food (fed) on several animals and those animals were fine. During that 6 week testing period, O’Malley he went in to the emergency twice. $1500 & 5 weeks later, he’s been surgically altered so he can safely pass the stones he was producing. We had to do this because we could not determin the cause. Now I know that I was right, it was their food. What happened to quality control?
O’Malley was taken into the vet today and had his kidney’s tested. He’s fine, thank his Lucky Stars.
March 20th, 2007 at 5:10 pm
OK, I know this sounds childish, and I’m not even religious, but I hope all the pet food manufacturer’s who had a hand in this rot in Hell…………
Sorry, but so many animals and people have suffered.
March 20th, 2007 at 5:18 pm
Here’ s the timeline for my dog’s sudden illness after eating Ol’ Roy. I’m posting it everywhere as I still can’t get through to Menu Foods. I did send it to the FDA. For those of you who threw away the pet food pouches…and who wouldn’t…see if you still have your receipt of the purchase. I found out that the stock numbers that Wal-mart uses are the same as the lot numbers for Menu Foods. Thank you for the info you provided about the company and for caring. Prayers to all who still have sick or dying pets.
Timeline for Freedom’s Illness
1/12/07 Purchased 4 foil pouches of Ol’ Roy chicken and turkey from Wal-Mart. (I have Wal-Mart receipts showing all of these purchases. The receipt shows the lot numbers and these lot numbers are among the ones that are recalled.)
1/21/07 Purchased 2 more foil pouches of Ol’ Roy from same Wal-Mart in Plano, TX.
2/03/07 Purchased 4 more foil pouches of Ol’ Roy from the same Wal-Mart.
Week of March 5, 2007, I feed Freedom 3 pouches of Ol’ Roy.
2/09/07 Freedom becomes very sick. She is weak, shivers constantly and won’t eat. My husband takes Freedom to our vet, Dr. Mitchell. He runs a variety of tests, trying to find out what the problem is. Her kidney enzymes are high. He gives her fluids and antibiotics. Dr. Mitchell keeps her overnight.
2/10/07 Freedom’s kidney enzymes are down enough that Dr. Mitchell let’s us take her home. I continue to administer Clavamox twice a day.
2/12/07 Jay takes Freedom in for a re-check. She is given more fluids. Dr. Mitchell runs more blood chemistry and urinalysis tests.
I feed Freedom more of the tainted Ol’ Roy, not knowing it is what’s making her sick. By the time Freedom is hospitalized the second time on March 26, 2007, she has eaten all ten pouches of Ol’ Roy.
2/26/07 Freedom becomes deathly ill again. She won’t eat anything. She shivers constantly and is weak, lethargic. I take Freedom into see Dr. Mitchell. He states there is blood in her urine. Her kidney enzymes have sky-rocketed to 150. He gives her fluids and runs all kinds of tests on her, including ultrasound. Freedom continues to weaken despite the antibiotics. Dr. Mitchell receives results from a urine culture and sensitivity tests and tells us that Freedom has an infection of a strain of E Coli that is resistant to Ampicillin and Clavamox. Of course, no one knew about the tainted food yet. Freedom is hospitalized at pet clinic until 3/1/07, when Dr. Mitchell has to go to a funeral and has us transfer her to another emergency pet clinic.
3/01/07 Freedom is transferred to the emergency pet clinic at 4:15 PM. Kidney tests show her enzymes are finally dropping but they are still high and Freedom is still not eating.
3/03/07 Due to financial constraints, Jay and I decide to bring Freedom home so we can care for her ourselves. Her kidney enzymes are still dropping. Jay and I begin caring for Freedom around the clock. We are giving her 7 different medicines and administering fluids under the skin. I am feeding her chicken broth and water with a plastic syringe and do so every 3-4 hours, even through the night.
3/05/07 We take freedom back to Dr. Mitchell who says he thinks she is recovering. We continue giving her medication.
3/06/07 As I’m feeding Freedom with the syringe, I notice that her tongue is turning black and the tip of it keeps flipping up and sticking to the back part of her tongue. I have to manually pull her tongue down with my finger each time I try to feed her with the syringe. She’s having trouble eating and drinking with her tongue this way. Dr. Mitchell keeps her for the day while I am at school. He tells us that part of Freedom’s tongue has died due to the kidney problems and that she’ll lose this part of her tongue. He also tells us that she can only lose one third of her tongue to be able to keep eating. If she loses more, she may have to be put down. Dr. Mitchell feels sorry for us at this point and doesn’t charge us for the stay for the day or the fluids he gave her. He only charges for the pain meds he gives us for Freedom.
3/09/07 I take Freedom in to see Dr. Mitchell. She is having a terrible time trying to eat and still can’t drink water. Dr. Mitchell (a very dedicated vet) proceeds to feed Freedom a can of Hill’s Prescription canned food by using his fingers and a tongue depressor. It’s the most I’ve seen her eat in weeks. He also gives Freedom fluids again. He tells me to up the dose of pain medication to help Freedom with the extreme pain she is experiencing.
3/10/07 Freedom is in terrible pain, despite the pain medication I’m giving her every 6 hours. She can’t drink and foams at the mouth. The dead part of her tongue is stuck to the back part of her tongue. She has trouble swallowing food and can’t drink water. I give her chicken broth and water by the syringe every 3-4 hours. It is a struggle just for her to eat. Toward the end of the day, Freedom begins to lose pieces of her tongue. I am up at 4AM giving her pain meds and water.
3/11/07 Freedom wakes up and seems to be feeling a bit better. I’m still giving her pain meds every 6 hours. Finally, at the end of the day, Freedom begins eating and drinking on her own again.
3/12/07 After over a month of this nightmare, Freedom licks both my husband’s and my hand. We know she will make it. She is one tough little dog. I take her in to Dr. Mitchell, who tells me the dead part of her tongue has all fallen off and it won’t need to be scraped. Freedom regains appetite and energy. Still, after learning of the pet food recall, and knowing what it did to Freedom, I have to wonder about long-term effects on her.
March 20th, 2007 at 9:19 pm
my situation with my dog abbey is very similar to ann jackson except she ate mighty dog food pouches and passed away march 6, 2007. i do so wish i could hurt this company as much as they have hurt me. i have been devastated
March 21st, 2007 at 1:35 pm
I took my miniture american eskimo, who is only 3 years old to the vet this past Thursday to get a dental. When they tested her blood, the vet told me that she was in kidney failure!!! I’m still in shock, never did I imagine this would happen. I thought my litte dog was perfectly healthy. Menu foods needs to pay for this, they need to be shut down!!!
March 21st, 2007 at 5:34 pm
I bought a bag of IAMS Lamb Meal and Rice DRY dog food on Feb 26, and started feeding it to my Basset Hound a couple of days later. On Thurs 3/8 he woke up and vomited a slimey, watery fluid, not chunks. He refused to eat. Later that day I took him to the vet, his white blood count was high,as was an enzyme from the pancreas. The next day after a fitful night with severe diarrhea I took him back to the vet for IV fluids and antibiotics. They wanted to do an x-ray, they thought they saw something, opened him up and there was no stone or obstruction. He survived the surgery, but after a bloody stool at 2am at an emergency clinic, died. His food was not on the recall because it was the DRY food. I am afraid that the recall does not go far enough and many more animals will suffer and die because people are being led to believe that the dry food is safe.
Another point, the symptoms of radiation poisoning are the same as those my dog suffered from and that so many others have described: vomiting, lethargy, nausea, diarrhea, bloody stool and more. Is there any way that the cause of this outbreak might not be from the wheat gluten or a microbiological toxin, but from a kind of radiation poisoning?
March 21st, 2007 at 7:11 pm
[…] There are still dogs and cats getting sick with the recalled foods.They show symptoms of being lethargic, excessive thirstiness and end up with kidney failure. I am doing my best to get word out so word can be passed around, and as many people are made aware of the recalled pet foods manufactured by Menu Foods. […]
March 21st, 2007 at 7:35 pm
My cat Sam stopped eating and is now at the vet getting treatment for kidney problems. I am praying that this is acute and he will bounce back, but my vet has no idea how bad the damage is now. He was eating Nutro wet food once a day.
I am so angry that I will sign on for any class action suit out there. If this company knew about this in December, then I hope nothing but this company going under as soon as possible, not to mention Nutro. This is the typical using the cheapest supplier crap that is killing our animals slowly, or in this case this wheat was exposed to something really toxic.
March 22nd, 2007 at 2:41 pm
AMERICANS TEMPORARILY LIVING IN CANADA. OUR BEAUTIFUL HEALTHY 7 YR. OLD BLUE POINT HIMALAYAN PERSIAN CAT NAMED GUMBO YAYA HAS BEEN EUTHANIZED AS OF YESTERDAY AFTERNOON. THIS IS HEARTBREAKING. WE CONTINUED TO TRY TO GIVE GUMBO THE POUNCE MOIST KITTY TREATS HE LOVES ALTHOUGH HE STOPPED EATING 3DAYS BEFORE. HE WAS DIAGNOSED WITH COMPLETE KIDNEY FAILURE AND NOTHING WAS HELPING HIM. HE FOUGHT HARD ( HE LIVED WITH TWO SHITZUS AND A 178 LB ROTWEILLER THAT THOUGHT GUMBO HUNG THE MOON) SO OF COURSE HE WAS QUITE A TOUGH AND FUN KITTY. HIS SYMPTOMS WERE EXACTLY AS THOSE THAT ARE LISTED AND OUR VET FEELS CERTAIN THIS WAS A RESULT OF WHAT HE INGESTED. GUMBO ATE DRY IAMS HAIRBALL FOOD, AS WELL. HERE’S OUR DILEMMA: NO ONE HERE IN CANADA SEEMS TO KNOW HOW TO TELL ME WHERE TO REPORT THIS DEATH, ESPECIALLY SINCE POUNCE MADE BY DELMONTE IS CLAIMING THEIR FOODS DIDN’T DO THIS. IAMS OR POUNCE - ONE OF THEM DID! AND I WANT THIS PRODUCT OFF THE SHELVES! ANYONE WITH INFO ON WHAT TO DO PLEASE ADVISE. THANKS SO MUCH!
March 22nd, 2007 at 6:07 pm
Im just sick.
My dog died because they spent 10 days trying to figure out how to sweep thier mistakes under some carpet.
If it had been a true accident I’d be hurt but more understanding..this might have well be murder of a family member
March 23rd, 2007 at 1:14 pm
just heard the breaking news on cnn that RAT POISON was found in the tainted pet food!!! FDA having press conference later today. this is terrible!!!
March 23rd, 2007 at 7:14 pm
[…] does he really understand the magnitude of the pet parents’ anger? Why did they wait to announce the financial responsibility until Friday. Again. Why couldn’t they have announced it earlier in the week when Web and media traffic was […]
March 24th, 2007 at 12:02 pm
I stumbled across this site and had to comment. I feed my two boy cats the Chicken Soup brand and I’m thankful for that (although now I really want to know where every brand is manufactured since so many brands were affected.)
My question is- wasnt there another way to find toxins in tainted food than for Menu foods to deliberately poison their test animals with this junk? I’m so upset on behalf of the cats and dogs living in the Menu Foods research facility who were forced to eat this stuff and die when they already knew that something was wrong with this. How do these people justify it as they hand poison to those poor animals? This whole thing is just sick. I mean, they identified the rat poison through tests. Why was it neccesary to make more animals eat it???
March 25th, 2007 at 9:48 am
FDA inspectors had never before visited the Kansas plant. The FDA warned the company following a 2004 inspection of its New Jersey factory after it failed to flag food made for zoo cats of the risk of mad cow disease if the product were fed to cattle.
March 25th, 2007 at 7:26 pm
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April 1st, 2007 at 8:57 pm
I want to scream and cry. My precious baby is sick and there’s nothing that can be done. Right after eating Pounce treats, she was vomitting violently. Now Pounce has been added to the list. I feel murderous. Why wasn’t this figured out before now??!!!! I checked the del monte (manufacturer of pounce) website after the recall was first announced and they assured the public that pounce wasn’t on the list. I’m also frustrated that no one has been advising the public of the poisoning signs/symptoms. Anyone know of any telephone number or website where we can report illness/death of our animals?
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April 9th, 2007 at 10:37 am
I wouldn’t trust any food made by Menu Foods or any food that contains wheat gluten. I read somewhere that another company bought the tainted wheat gluten, but was staying confidential. That scares me becase we had been feeding our cats Friskies canned and Special Kitty dry and I have read where that has killed cats. I have done a lot of research and found out that FIRST OF ALL there are not just 15 cats that have died, it is more in the thousands of both cats and dogs that have died. The fifteen reported cats were just menu foods test cats. They are trying to make this look more small scale than it is.
WHAT TO FEED ANIMALS?
1. homemade food
in fact you can get great recipes all over the internet
here is a link to a book with 100 cat food recipes. You just go to the link and then click on download for free with file factory basic
http://www.filefactory.com/file/d0fec3/
you may have to cut and paste the link in your browser
2. Natural Balance or another brand that isn’t made by Menu Foods and doesn’t contain wheat gluten. You can get Natural Balance at petco online or petco stores.
Lots of people think they are safe because their food wasn’t recalled but I have read reports all over the net where cats and dogs have died from foods that weren’t recalled that contained wheat gluten.
April 19th, 2007 at 1:06 am
After reading everything on the internet about the low grade of products put into dog food, inventive ingredient listing and nutrients the dog is supposed to get from the food, the method of making the food and the fact that some products like wheat gluten come from China, I have decided to make my own Raw dog food diet using the BARF method and support North American beef and chicken producers, not China. The cost is about the same, I have control of the products I use and the dogs are healthier and will see the vet less. This seems to be the only other way to feed your pet as all commercial food is the same regardless who makes it.
May 7th, 2007 at 10:51 am
The recall list has inaccuracies. I continued feeding my cat “Special Blend” because I looked for it on the list, which is alphabetical, and didn’t see it there. Alas, it was listed under “Save-A-Lot Special Blend”, which put it in a different place on the list than where I thought I should be looking, even though “Save-A-Lot” is not on the title on the can! Now, after my cat nearly died and certainly had irreversible damage — and almost $500 spent to boot — I am wondering how many other cats and dogs suffered from the same inaccuracy. And how to get reimbursed for all this; I left my info. with the Menu Foods report center, but no one has called me back like they promised.
May 20th, 2007 at 12:48 pm
I just feel terribly sorry for those who have been heartbroken by Menu.
May 22nd, 2007 at 9:25 am
I think this goes back to last summer and nobody has connected the dots yet. I had never given my 10 year old dog canned food, but felt that he was getting old, so started mixing Alpo and Pet Pride canned food in his dry food July 2006. This loving, soleful shepherd/chow mix that came to our family when he was only four weeks old was chasing his ball on Sunday, and had to be put down the following Thursday due to kidney failure. It was the most horrible thing I’ve ever experienced. I loved that dog and had to watch him suffer; he could neither eat nor drink. I was totally confused as he had not been ill in his entire life. I know there has to be a link.
May 22nd, 2007 at 10:12 am
I had to put down my 11 year old Australian Cattle dog on Monday, May 14th. He was fine as usual on Wed, 8th, but then on Thurs morning appeared to be on death door. Attempts were made on several days. He was put on IVF and antibiotics. My vet pooh pooed that it had anything to do with Menu Foods even though the previous week he had 1/2 can of recalled President Choice Extra Meaty food on 4 consecutive days.(Yes, I didn’t know until the 4th that it had been recalled!) I think that he may have had a weakened system because of old age, but I think this tainted food may havbe taken him to the next level where he couldn’t recover. It’s very frustrating…………..
June 18th, 2007 at 2:53 am
[…] The first analysis of the recall impact. […]
June 20th, 2007 at 1:31 am
I had 7 cats. I make their food or bring home from my store, where we only carry top of the line, human grade etc.. I have a dog grooming buisness and we needed more kennels for the next day. I forgot to pick up cat food. We were at Walmart…I decided that if we were going to buy grocerie type pet food ..get the Iams. It’s not great but it won’t hurt for a couple of days. Long story short, My vet listened to me and was instrumental in getting the pet food recall started. Iams pays for all my vet bills without me paying a dime. Including the creamation and urns for the 3 that died. I still work hard to keep the remaining 4 alive. All of you that have been hurt by this…we have to ban together . I am willing to do what ever it takes.
June 20th, 2007 at 1:34 am
By the way, my vet bills are around 10,000 emotional anguish..can’t be paid off.
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