Pet food recall causes worry among residents

By MARY BERRYHILL

Hagadone News Network

No one wants their best friend to get sick — especially when the best friend has four legs, a tail and can only bark or meow.

The recall of specific dog and cat foods has been of national concern this week and, although a probable cause has been discovered, many pets have suffered greatly.

According to Bonners Ferry resident and veterinarian, Dr. Marty Becker, there could be a silver lining to all of this, and chances are our local pets aren't at as much of a risk as those in larger cities.

Becker is the resident veterinarian on ABC's Good Morning America, nationally syndicated newspaper columnist for Universal Press, and has authored 12 books. He also works part-time at North Idaho Animal Hospital.

"We've been scrambling on this problem since Sunday when we realized, nationally, how big it was," he said. "The number one thing we've been telling everyone is that you don't want to panic, but can prevent the problem by not feeding pets the 'cuts and gravy' products. Dried food is not the problem."

A Web site, www.petconnection.com, was immediately set up by Dr. Marty Becker, Gina Spadafori, Christie Keith, and Susan and Dr. Rolan Tripp, to track the number of sick pets nationwide. Within the first two hours of operation on Monday, PST, Becker said that more than 100 people filled out the online form. Eighty cat owners responded within the two hours, and 50 percent of them were reported fatalities.

"We had a very nice database set up immediately and wanted to be a part of the solution," he said. "We had some veterinarians reporting and so we knew that what was being reported was accurate. They had tested and done the 'Sherlock Holmes' on the problem."

Dr. Robert Pierce of North Idaho Animal Hospital said it is unknown, on a local level, how many animals have been affected or are at risk.

"We are still figuring out where the distribution is," Pierce said. "We'll know more later today. My personal opinion is that people feed a lot of dry food to their pets in this area — the rural areas. We don't sell that much canned. So, my feeling is that the risk is probably going to be less affecting here because dry food isn't the problem."

Pierce said that animals he sees coming into the hospital with kidney problems have not been linked directly to the contaminated food, but instead to other more explainable conditions — like age-related illness and poisonings.

Although the recall is limited to the "cuts and gravy" style pet foods in cans and pouches, some are manufactured and sold under private label as well. To determine whether cat and dog food in a person's possession is subject to recall, consumers should refer to the list of brand names under "listed products" at www.menufoods.com/recall. Also, important information can be obtained by logging onto Web site www.petconnection.com.

"I worry about people who are not Internet savvy," Becker said. "My mother-in-law has never turned on a computer, so I think we need to reach out to those people to enlighten them about this risk. They might need a little assistance with all of this."

Symptoms of kidney failure include loss of appetite, lethargy, increased urination, increased water consumption, and vomiting. Kidney failure can develop rapidly and the only symptom at first might be that the animals just isn't acting right.

"Kidneys have to loose a lot of their capacity before problems are seen," Becker said. "And then when damage does occur, it is irreversible. So if your pet is on the 'cuts and gravy' style food, the first thing is knowing that your pet might be at risk, even if he or she is not showing symptoms."

The PetConnection.com Website is tracking the number of pets affected by the contaminated products, and pet lovers are asked to report illness to the site. Additional information on the recall and updates are being added by the Pet Connection team to the site's Web log as the situation develops.

"One thing that I'm hearing a lot of is

"So, the silver lining to all of this is hopefully if your pet slipped by and escaped a problem, and if it did he or she will get a clean bill of health," he said. "But there are lots of pets than can use a complete physical and blood work, and what you will find out is that there are a lot of pets that we find who have previously undetected problems — totally unrelated to the recall.

"Pets aren't considered animals anymore," Becker said. "They are our kids."

For more information log on to: PetConnection.com or menufood.com/recall.