Renal failure - Food Product recall

[Beanie]

Hi CC,

Yup! I was also Beanie on Cat Chat and opften used Pete G. Not sure if that's good or bad 

The problem was not the buckle. It was a sliding bar which, thankfully, few collars seem to use these days.

I am an advocate of cat collars PROVIDED they have either quick release safety catches or have sufficient eleasticity and are regularly checked by the owner, I met Marla at Olympia last year at the cat show. She posted on Cat Chat and  runs a collar serevice. She sells some really good safety collars that i can recommend.

http://www.kittycollars.co.uk/

I am also a fan of Beastie Band collars which, I believe, are now available in the UK. They were certainly on show at the Olymoia cat show in 2005.

http://www.beastiebands.com/beastiebands.html

[Susanne (urbantigers)]

Since it looks like the deaths and illness caused by this problem is due to rat poison getting into the food I think those claiming have a good chance of successfully suing the company, although I suppose it will depend a lot on whether the manufacturer is deemed to have carried out sufficient quality control testing and whether they could have prevented it from occurring.  They certainly seemed to have known about a potential problem at least a month before they announced any recall of food.

cc - whiskas and felilx etc are safe.

[ccmacey]

Beanie are you pete G from cat chat? Just wondering.

Thats a sad story, poor cat. I used to have problems with them buckle type colars, my cat would some how get it in his mouth and it would get stuck and the cat was running around going crazy and it had cut into his gum. I dont use cat colars now but if I knew there was a 110% safe 1 I would use them.

[Beanie]

Can the makers be sued if your animal dies as a result of this?

That is a good question.

I am not sure of the situation in the USA. In the UK animals are not protected by Products Liability laws and for products legally supplied under health and safety legislation.

I had a local incidentabout 18 months ago where a cat collar design was responsible for a cat's death. As the cat clawed at the collar it tightened due to a sliding bar and the cat choked to death whilst the owner was at work. I took this up with the manufacturers on behalf of the owner and the local pet supply shop withdrew the collars after we discussed it. The design was dangerous in my opinion. The owner was 'bought off' with some vouchers and simple toys for her other cat and the pet store was never compensated for the return of the stock despite a promise to the contrary.

I took up the case with trading standards who told me they were powerless as product liability laws do not apply to animals.

The name of the company supplying this product - Hi-Craft of Snady Road, Liverpool. I wouldn't buy any of their products if they were the last manufacturer on earth. I have noticed that therir products have started disappearing in many pet shoips so I am not sure if they are still trading. Memo to Beanie - check this.

[ccmacey]

I only buy whiskers gourmet of felix, go cat. These arnt products of this company are they?

[Susanne (urbantigers)]

Can the makers be sued if your animal dies as a result of this?

Already several lawsuits pending in the USA.

[Susanne (urbantigers)]

Already a few threads about this     but you're right that UK owners could be affected if they've bought imported food (very easily done if bought online) so an additional warning does no harm.  I know I've been affected as I buy nutro pouches online from zooplus and they are made by menu and included in the recall.  Thankfully mine don't match the BB dates published but I'm not feeding what I have left to be on the safe side.

http://www.chaptanservices.com/purrs/index.php?topic=2831.0

http://www.chaptanservices.com/purrs/index.php?topic=2831.0

[ccmacey]

Can the makers be sued if your animal dies as a result of this?

[Beanie]

March 26, 2007
 
 
 

I received this alert about food which appears to be manufactured / processed in Canada for the local US and Canadian pet markets. To the best of my knowledge Menu Foods do not export here but I may be wrong. With this in mind and with always the slim possibility that UK cat owners may have this food sent to them or purchased it when across the pond, I thought I would post this warning
Clarification From Menu Foods: No Expanded Recall.
 
 
Over the weekend (in USA / Canada), there has been a lot of press coverage about a pet food recall. There have been reports of different pet foods causing kidney failure in cats and dogs and death in at least 10 pets.

 
TORONTO, ONTARIO--(CCNMatthews - March 26, 2007) -


Media outlets have reported conflicting and incorrect information, including that Menu Foods has expanded its recall to include all products produced.

To clarify, late last week, the US Food and Drug Administration (the "FDA") and various media outlets reported that some retailers still had recalled product on their shelves. In response, Menu Foods issued instructions for retailers to remove from their shelves all cuts and gravy products of the flavours listed on the recall list, regardless of the dates produced. For many retailers, this had already been completed as their standard operating procedure.

This step did not expand the recall but provided the remaining retailers with an efficient means of withdrawing the recalled product. The full recall list is available at www.menufoods.com.

In addition, Menu Foods reiterated that there is no evidence of any problems in any products manufactured at either its Streetsville, Ontario, facility or its North Sioux City, South Dakota, facility. Furthermore, there is no evidence of problems in any of the products not on the recall list produced at Emporia, Kansas, or Pennsauken, New Jersey.