This is why I love California!Last weekend, I posted news of a pet food recall. For those who missed it, Mars Petcare announced the recall of 20-pound bags of dry dog food in Southern California and the Las Vegas, NV area. The dog food, which was possibly contaminated with Salmonella, was shipped – according to the press release – to Albertson's for retail sale.
California is the only US state to provide consumers with a list of retail locations that have received recalled food, something USDA has been promising – so far emptily – to begin doing this month.
According to the California Department of Public Health, Albertson's was not the only recipient of the Pedigree® dog food. The recalled batches were supplied to Costco in 52-pound bags and were being sold in Costco stores throughout California. Mars Petcare has acknowledged having supplied 52-pound bags of the recalled food to Costco, but only to Northern California and Nevada – not to Southern California.
Anyone who has purchased Pedigree® "Complete Nutrition Small Crunchy Bites" from Albertson's (20-pound bags) or Costco (52-pound bags) in California or Nevada should check the recall notices to determine whether the food they purchased has been recalled. If in doubt, contact Mars Petcare toll-free at 1-877-568-4463.
Posts
If your dog has diarrhea mixing rice with their food and even some unflavored Metamucil helps to firm up stool. Pedigree is really not a very good food to begin with. Neither is IAMs Beneful Purina or any of the other foods you have usually heard of. The first several ingredients are usually corn (we know what happens when our body gets corn, we poop it out and don’t use it, same with dogs) meat by products (the take the meat off of whatever it is and you get the bones, feathers, coat, feet, beaks, etc) and white or brewers rice (no nutritional value, just a filler) because of this our dogs need to eat more to get the nutrients they need and poop a lot more too. Also...science diet and eukanuba are not very good foods either. They used to be but they were bought out by other companies who, to save money, changed the ingredients to fillers and by products. These foods cost about the same as the all naturals foods and you are getting pedigree quality food. You can check all the ingredients yourself. Stay away from the first 3 ingredients being corn, by products of any kind, and white or brewer’s rice. Go for foods with chicken, chicken meal, or any meats that don’t have by product after them, and BROWN rice. These are good foods. Try going to a specialty pet store and ask about a better food. Precise, Royal Canin, and Verus are all really good foods. When you look at the ingredients they will be along the lines of Chicken, brown rice (the only rice with nutritional value for dogs), and usually another protein source such as chicken meal (chicken meal is just dehydrated chicken, very good) your dogs will eat much less of the food so even though it cost a bit more you go through less food and it ends up saving you money. They also poop less, live longer, and are overall healthier. I have four shih tzus and I feed them Royal Canin dry food. 10lbs of that food last us over a month. 4 adults dogs eating only 10lbs of food between the 4 of them is pretty good! These foods are also all natural and organic so they are never involved in any recalls; you know your food is always safe. Go to your local pet store and ask about these brands (Precise, Royal Canin, Verus, Wellness, California Natural, Innova, Canidae, Merrik) many stores, such as Pets Plus, will even give you your money back for the dog food if your dog doesn’t like it and has programs such as buy 10 bags get your 11th free. It's worth a try and trust me your dogs will love it.
ReplyDeleteWe live in Virginia. We purchased a 52-pound bag of Pedigree from the Costco here this year 2010. One of our dogs (a hound 4yrs. old) would not eat the food. Our other dog (pointer mix 2yrs. old) did and became very sick. Within 24-48 hours she was vomitting, had severe (4 times an hour) diarrhea and eventually blood in the diarrhea. We took her to the vet and it turned out that she has a large amount of Campylobacter in the diarrhea. She was prescribed Biomox and Metronidazole tablets every 12 hours for 10 days. She had a regular stool after three doses of the medication and appears to be doing much better. After 14 years of using Pedigree for different dogs we have had, we will NEVER touch Pedigree again. We have since switched to Wellness or Canidae dog food.... more expensive but worth our dog lives!
ReplyDelete@D. Leichliter: I find it odd to associate Campylobacter with kibble. Campy is more commonly associated with a "wetter" situation. It is not as hardy a microbe as Salmonella, for example, which survives very well under dry conditions.
ReplyDeleteIt's possible that the timing of the illness and the new bag of food was coincidental. It's also possible that the Campylobacter was coincidental with whatever was in the food that caused your dog's illness. Either way, I hope that you reported the incident to Costco and to FDA's Consumer Complaint Coordinator for Virginia. Don't rely on your veterinarian to report these problems.
Thanks for sharing your story.
Phyllis
I spoke with a family about Campylobacter, because we had been plagued with it while doing dog rescue and pulling dogs out of shelters on a regular basis. It does seem to be a common problem in shelter dogs. They had purchased a purebred standard poodle from a reputable breeder with clean conditions. They found that their pup had campy, and followed all directions from their vet faithfully and were even more diligent about cleaning as they had a family member with suppressed immune system and this is of course contagious to humans as well. They could not shake this bug from their dog, after months of trying, they were told that their dog may have food allergies that were contributing to him getting this bug over and over again. Didnt sound like it would work, but they switched him to a bison and sweet potato diet, and NEVER gave him anything else, they even bought sweet potato/bison treats for him. That was the end of fighting the campy bug for them. They have continued with the diet faithfully. I dont understand it myself, but it worked for them.
DeleteI may have a similar story as Dr Leicliter. We purchased a 50+ lb bag of Pedigree dry dog food at Sam's Club in Asheville NC about a month ago. When I opened it, I noticed that it was oddly colored/faded, but didn't think much of it. We have probably been feeding our two labs the food for 2 weeks and I have noticed that they have vomited at least 3 times and our 5 yr old yellow lab has developed a goiter-like nodule on her neck this week. I have a feeling that this bag is bad and have just replaced it. Sam's Club says they have had no other complaints. Should I notify Pedigree somehow?
ReplyDelete@Rich. Definitely, you should try to contact Pedigree and report your concern. You also should contact FDA's Center for Veterinary Medicine (http://www.fda.gov/AnimalVeterinary/SafetyHealth/ReportaProblem/ucm182403.htm) and report the problem.
ReplyDeleteI hope your two labs are on the road to recovery.
Phyllis
Thanks!
ReplyDeleteI've been researching Holistic Dog Food but it's actually becoming an overwhelming situation because I'd want the best for my Dog ( A Male Shih Tzu w/ a Sensitive tummy )and I still worry about having another round of recall scares .
ReplyDelete"Innova " Dog Food seems to be have a general consensus that this is the best for their pets with sensitive tummies.
What are your thoughts ? I'd greatly appreciate it .
@Kimberly: We've used Innova most of Quintzy's life (he's 7 years old). Quintzy also has a sensitive tummy, and has done well on Innova. Of course, every dog is different, so you'd have to try it and see. I would suggest a VERY GRADUAL transition to any new food. Please feel free to email me (use the email alert request link) if you want to discuss this privately.
ReplyDeletePhyllis