Now wtf are they going to do for all the pet owners with outrageous vet bills because of this? Or for the pets that die because of it? I’d have something to say if something happened to my kitty because of their negligence.

Thank you for spreading this list!

this is really disturbing, but not surprising.

most pet food brands have all kindsa junk in it: diseased pig and cow parts unfit for human consumption, dogs and cats that have died at the vet, and moldy vegetable products (hi, cats are CARNIVORES). I believe it’s why so many pets die of kidney failure and cancer and diabetes and the like. It’s basically just trash that’s in the food, even the so-called “natural” brands they sell at specialty stores.

I urge all animal lovers to do some research and find out what they REALLY put in pet food.

The Truth About Commercial Pet Food

I am seriously thinking that I will start my cat on a raw food diet.

oh yeah, and they put roadkill and restaurant grease in pet food, too. yum.

I hope this whole recall at least opens some people’s eyes.

and thank you for posting this!

I have three cats, and two of them (litter mates) got sick recently. Not eating, drinking nonstop, lethargic, etc. We took them in and they’re kidneys were doing badly. Couldn’t explain it, they didn’t get into any chemicals, and even if it was genetic, they are only two years old. Now we found out about this, and it explains it all. We’ve been feeding them Special Kitty food two times a day, everyday, for who knows how long. Our third cat only likes the juices, so that’s why he doesn’t have any problems. Seriously, we thought they got a hold of something somehow, even though we lock everything up, and here we are, making them sick by feeding them. We are def. looking into this, how we can act, because our vet bill was $600 and the food that is now unusable … who knows what that totals to. Unbelievable.

We also have two dogs, and we have some old cans of Award and a few packets of Ol Roy, but those were strictly in case of emergency, so luckily we won’t have to worry about more sick animals.

i smell a class action suit brewing . . . affected parties: keep records and receipts!

* i am not a lawyer; i am but a lolhuman.

Thanks for listing all the products! I have one of each, but none of the food for either!
I was thinking of going to a private maker, and this may push me.
I enjoy your site, and my daughter is an “awwww” freak! LOL!
You have done me a service, thanks again!
Good morning, G*D bless and Maranatha!

tmw

Thanks for the heads up; I’ll help spread it around.

TImes like this, I’m happy to be a tree-hugging hippy. Only Newman’s Own Organic for my kittehs.

Yikes! Thanks for the warning. Don’t want any potential macro material getting sick.

[...] Uh oh [...]

Thank you for the notice.

From what I have read, it is only the wet food that has been a concern. Just thought people should know that as well before you run your furry family members to the vet to be checked.

Sorry copper, but that article is tripe (heh heh). Anyone who recommends feeding (as you said!) carnivores “wholesome homemade and/or vegetarian diets”, and who prefers a “holistic practitioner or herbalist” to a veterinarian has no room for being outraged over anything happening to their pets.

You are right in that this is an outrage, you are right that pet food ingredients should be well-controlled. I’d imagine that this is a nightmare for the company as well, which has essentially been shafted by a supplier that hasn’t put enough care into *its* product.

Back to the article: “Cow brains. Sheep guts. Chicken heads. Road kill. Rancid grain.”
Yes, and? There is ONE objectionable ingredient in there, and that’s the rancid grain (and just *maybe* the roadkill). Put anything else, fresh from the kill, in front of any cat or dog and they’ll gladly dig in and be none the worse for it — don’t project human tastes on an animal. I do not believe we need to butcher extra animals just to pamper our pets with the choice cuts. They’re pets.

Feeding them leftovers, contrary to what the article says, is fine — the “veterinarians advised against owners feeding their pets leftovers!” line in the article is deceptive because that advice concerns cooked, prepared human dinner leftovers, not “the extra bits that happen to be left over from an animal killed to feed humans.” Those would otherwise go to waste, and needlessly so. By the way, humans eat guts and brains too, just not enough to to sell all that the meat industry gets from all the cows, pigs and chickens killed for steaks, bacon and chicken wings. Anyone who wants to treat their cat to a diet that is 100% cat-centered should start breeding songbirds right about now.

There’s even a LOLcat to answer the article’s outrage: “I’m just a cat. Stop anthropomorphising me.”

That being said: Yes, it’s important that pets get food and care they can actually deal with, which does not include anything rotten or laced with potentially harmful ingredients. This is what is the problem, not the idea that tinned pet food does not contain prime steak cuts.
And of course, good health to all kittehs and puppies out there, and fingers crossed that it gets sorted (and costs reimbursed if necessary) soon.

This is a problem in canned food only? The info on the site wasn’t all that clear. My cats all hate canned food, and only eat Science Diet (spoiled kittah).

What a disgrace. I hope everyone affected does sue them.

Rohina– This article says it was all wet pet food, and I clicked on a few of the links above and the package types were all listed as “can.” (Not that I’m not still nervous about giving our dog her dry food, now.)

Well, aside from pure-bred show animals, most pets haven’t got a price tag beyond vet bills. A lot of the food was in packets but cans were affected too. Basically any “wet” pet food should be held suspect.

We feed our spoiledrotten kittahz Wellness, which has no grains and is made with human-grade food products. Kittahz need no grains!!

Kudos to Cheezburger for posting the info; you know we all come here to find pics of cuteness, so thank you for posting where you know we’ll find the info.

We used to feed our kittahz Nutro packets… but once Serenity started over-eating and then barfing, we switched them to Wellness. Thank heaven.
–Elfnow

Thanks for adding this on here. My thoughts and prayers go out to the poor animals and their families affected by this, and thankfully I don’t feed my babies any of those foods.

WithaK:

You are a complete douche.

To some people, their animals are not their “pets”. My two kittehs are my babies, and I would willingly give up my life for them.

May you come back as somebody’s “pet”.

I would have never thought I would see Nutro on that last.

Also, Ed and WithaK, plz not to be flaming here.

My 4 year old died on friday…after 238. vet bill, we had him put down 106 more “pest was a great friend who rode on my shoulders, shared his love with me and we have filled the house with tears. menu foofs must pay,. he was only 4, an indoor cat, and I am pissed.

Ps …on the news it says no cats or dogs reported dieing in canada… I am in winnipeg and bouight the poison that killed my cat at walmart

jim - that seriously sucks ass. we’re all sorry to hear that

cheez - good job on making this into a post. adam’s right - I smell lawsuit(s)

Aw, no. My former roommate used to feed his corgi Wal-Mart and Sav-A-Center brand food all the time, both wet and dry. He never got sick (thank god) but the idea of all those poor animals getting sick and dying makes my heart ache. And from what I saw on that list, it’s not just for people who buy store brand foods. Iams and Eukanuba? Those are pretty well known, higher priced foods. I hope these companies are going to do something to help those poor pet owners.

I assure you, when my fiance and I get our two corgis and a kitten, we’ll research what foods we put into their little tummies.

Anyone knows if this is only US? I live in Sweden. My cats get Royal Canin but I still wonder… I work at a cat shelter here with lots of different brands…
Haven’t heard of this on the news so maybe it’s nothing to worry about in Europe… Any1 nose if it dose?

aww jim sorry to hear that. (im a pegger too!)

i think i’ll keep my cats on dry food until i find a decent wet food for them :/ this makes me nervous

things like this are exactly why i started my cats on a raw diet a few weeks ago… go to catnutrition.org if you’re interested, it’s what got me started. they’re still transitioning, but it’s made a noticeable difference in their health/attitude already. research the facts and come to your own conclusions- - i’m grateful i found out the facts when i did. mah kittahs r 2!

OK: here is the google news link for ‘pet food recall’
http://news.google.com/news?q=pet+food+recall&num=100&hl=en&safe=off&client=safari&rls=en-us&um=1&sa=X&oi=news&ct=title

“Food being sold under 40 different brand names for cats and 50 different brands for dogs is included. The recall covers the “cuts and gravy” style food, packaged with chunks of meat in gravy. … ‘No dry food has been affected, it’s only cans and pouches and obviously not all cans’”

“The Food and Drug Administration doesn’t know what’s wrong with the food”

“It’s still not clear what is causing the kidney failure and fatalities but wheat gluten from a new supplier, has been mentioned as a possible culprit.”

“This recall affects everyone using wet pet food with packaging marked December 3 through March 6.”

“My advice to all my clients and to anybody that’s listening is just don’t feed any of that wet food until we know what’s going on,” said Hutchinson… Try switching to dry food but if your pet is finicky, Dr. Hutchinson recommends mixing up some rice and ground beef or chicken without the skin or tuna.”

symptoms of kidney failure include: “excessive drinking and urinating, vomiting, diahrrea, general lethargy, pets not responding as they normally do”

http://www.menufoods.com/recall
1-866-463-6738

I’m glad to know that icanhascheezeburger.com cares about pets. ^.^

Thanks so much for this, it literally stopped us from giving our pets the bad stuff.

We normally use a different wet food, but keep a stash of the cheap stuff from the Kwiki-mart for when we forget to re-up. Today was one of those days, and we checked it against the list you put up, and sho’ nuff it was on there.

I mention this especially because when we heard the news originally, we checked the usual food and saw that we weren’t affected. It was when we hit the backup, and had second thoughts, that we had to check that too. This site was the one I remembered (because I hit it once a day) so it was much easier to look up. As silly as this place usually is, it also provided a valuable service today.

Thanks from us, our two cats, and a dog who has to have some of what the kitties get.

[quote comment="1654"]Thanks from us, our two cats, and a dog who has to have some of what the kitties get.[/quote]

tht poor loldog eatin tunaz.
n we do care — u peeps puts the lol into lolcats/loldog/lolrus/lolhamster/lolperson!

[quote comment="1626"]I would have never thought I would see Nutro on that last.

Also, Ed and WithaK, plz not to be flaming here.[/quote]

take away their burger karma if u don’t like their comments… i is gonna fade out/hide comments that peeps don’t agrees with, soon.

Humane educator pet food recommendation list

Does anyone know if this problem is anywhere but North America? I live in Australia, so if anyone had any info it would be greatly appreciated by moi and my two furry lolcat friends

The recall covers the company’s “cuts and gravy” style food, which consists of chunks of meat in gravy, sold in cans and small foil pouches between December 3 and March 6 throughout the United States, Canada and Mexico.

Though, honestly, at this point I’d rather be safe than sorry.

Luckily none of my animals will eat the wet stuff. Years ago, though, I had a cat that would get horribly sick after eating wet cat food, so I only fed her dry stuff. All this time I thought she just had a sensitive stomach.

I will definately be more careful in the future in choosing food for my pets. No, it doesn’t have to be prime cuts of meat, but I do expect it to be safe, and better yet, good for them. I wouldn’t be able to look at myself in the mirror if one of my cats or my dog died because of something I had fed them.

Just to clarify, Ed (and I don’t think I was flaming): I think that the article I referred to was proposing things far more harmful to cats/dogs than the food it was railing against (such as putting them on a vegetarian(!) diet and taking them to a herbalist (!!) instead of a vet, for crying out loud!).
I never said I wish any harm on cats, or dogs, or pets on any kind, I just advocate treating them sensibly. That doesn’t mean don’t love them, or even neglect them; just don’t go overboard on the wrong issues and then propose something that really *is* harmful. I love my cat dearly as well, but I know that it doesn’t distinguish between lamb fillet and chicken heads the way I would.

Hold the douche-calling. And if your wish comes true and I do come back as someone’s pet, I couldn’t wish for something better than to come back as the pet my cat is to me; in my book, a pet is something beloved, not an insult. Period.

Re. wet vs. dry. Our elderly lab had similar symptoms about 6 weeks to 2 months ago - lethargy, lack of appetite, vomiting; but she was on dry Iams. Emergency vet diagnosed kidney/liver problems, had her on an IV all night. Anyway we switched her diet to ground turkey, rice, and frozen veg, seems like she is getting better now. But at the time I thought that maybe the Iams kibble was the problem.

Not much of a posting type but feel I must do so now! I LUV this site and come here every day for the fun: I’m recovering from cancer and I really get a morale booster here! - ANYWAY - I have one 15 year old Kittah and have been following this pet food story from the very beginning when I heard it on NPR Saturday morning. There’s a food involved in the recall that I haven’t seen anybody mention here because at first it wasn’t suspected - Hills Science Diet! (CheezB I don’t think you have it on your list either, prolly because it wasn’t known at first!) Some of their canned cat products are involved! Go to their site:
http://www.hillspet.com for a list of the effected products along with item codes. I freaked out when I saw this because all my old girl eats is Science Diet, mostly canned because she has very few teeth. I checked all my cans and thankfully none are from the effected batches. I think I’m going to try something else for her though - I do believe she has a couple years peace and happiness left in her and wouldn’t want her to go thru the kind of thing that’s happening. Well - that’s all, just wanted to let y’all know about the Science Diet connection - keep up the Good Work and the LOLKritters - I luvs U! LUNA )O(

Kudos to you for putting this on your site.

For those in places other than North America asking whether you should not feed your pets these products, think about it. Lots of times companies downplay recalls. Did you notice their March 16 press release says, they were announcing a “Precautionary Dog and Cat Food Recall”. “Precautionary?” Please. That Press Release also says, “NOT FOR RELEASE OVER US NEWSWIRE SERVICES”. Not for release over US newswire services?

My suggestion is be on the safe side. Don’t use any products on the recall list regardless of where you live.

Thanks for listing these. It took me a while to track down this list on my own. Fortunately, my dog eats organic food and it isn’t listed here.

Wow … all my friends who buy grocery store crap are laughing at me now. I would turn my feline nose up at their food: I only get “the best.” I only buy food from pet stores. My friends give Whiskas and Benefit to their cats. I would never!

But now this… hitting all the foods I give that I thought was healthy. Thank you for whoever recommended staying away from all wet foods now — until we know what is going on — and suggested rice with ground beef or skinless chicken. My little girl loves wet food so this I can do for her.

I feel so helpless when these things happen. You just try to give your pets the best because you love them so much. Will be interesting to hear what EXACTLY is in the food and how EXACTLY it affects the renal system.

It really upsets me that some people were doing what they thought was the absolute best thing for their little ones and the pets end up dying (one was only 3 years old!).

THANKS SO MUCH for posting the most complete list I have seen. Thank you for the service you provide.

I has a flavor ….

Jim –

My thoughts and prayers go out to you. I am so sorry to hear this.

Amidst all this fine humor, thank you for posting this information. Please take a bow, well-deserved, for interrupting your regular service for doing this. Thanks again.

to be honez baxter tocher (tangents: LOL ur name sounds like a character from achewood (ps, is a compliment)) it just seemz liked the right thing to dos. thaz all.

Just recently I gave my dog a can of wet food just for a change. She ended up vomiting all over the place for a few days. Luckily I am a vet tech, and kept an eye on her at home. (I also have drugs on hand I can use for her.) But after that I vowed not to give her any more wet food. After seeing this I definitely won’t feed wet food anymore.

All I can say to anyone is that if you see your pet drinking a lot more water than usual, and they were eating that food, rush them to the vet. The sooner you get them in, the sooner they can get treated. Makes all the difference.

Luck and hope to anyone with a pet suffering because of this.

I’m glad your doggy’s ok, natolyi!

poisonmunk, that site (catnutrition.org) is fantastic! I stumbled upon it 2 days ago after I posted the first link I posted up there, and find it to be the best site I’ve found as far as information goes.

very good information about the raw food diet there, which I’m thinking about starting my cat on. There are also links to quality non-crap canned food here that you can buy, since the raw food diet is really impractical for a lot of people.

I was surprised to find Nutro in the list, too, because that is my cat’s normal food (though the dry kind). Seems that even most “natural” brands are made from crap, too, and use the same suppliers as Friskies and crap like that.

and Iams/Eukanuba are craps brands, as is Science Diet. Iams used to be sorta good, but they were bought out by Procter & Gamble a few years ago and now its just junk (which is why you can now them at any grocery store now.)

WithaK, are you a vet or something that gets paid by the companies to sell crap cat food (as most vets are)?