painkiller now found in pet food in America

[swampmaxmum]

It's weird. The other tray with a month's earlier expiry date has a lot more fat and is lighter to look at and no blue dots and they prefer the one with the blue dots (of course). They've now eaten quite a few cans so I hope that it is nothing. It's easy to get neurotic when info is being withheld. Private labs test positive for contaminants and the FDA doesn't so who is right and how many cans are affected etc.
If my cats were totally young and well I would feed my own food to them; however as old critters that need kidney support etc a safe prescription diet's probably the best thing. Emphasis on safe!

My vet thinks there have been little blue specks in i/d cans for quite some time and says not to worry. Anyone else out there seeing blue? I am now feeding RC Renal and i/d to Swamp and Hills K/d and i/d to da Max, mostly cos they won't eat anything else. I just hope this is a one off scare and that the companies will now be more careful.....
yours scaredly
swampmax's neurotic and devoted slave/mum

[Millys Mum]

this tray has little blue dots in the food???)

I wouldnt use it but it may just be vitamin/mineral remnants that havent dissolved properly? Cimicat milk powder has coloured flecks in it that are minerals.

[Sam (Fussy_Furball)]

NEW YORK, June 15, 2007—Based on news reports that the
U. S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) regards widespread contamination of pet food with acetaminophen to be unlikely, the ASPCA® (The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals®) believes that pet parents can ease their guard somewhat against another mass pet food recall related to this issue. However, the organization today reiterated that vigilance is the key to keeping their pets safe and healthy—coupled with a strong dose of common sense.

“We understand how trying recent events have been for pet parents and concerned consumers alike,” said Dr. Steven Hansen, a board-certified toxicologist and senior vice president with the ASPCA, who manages the ASPCA’s Animal Poison Control Center (APCC), located in its Midwest Office in Urbana, Ill.

“Indeed, as we earlier explained, our data show that if an average-sized cat ingests as little as one extra-strength acetaminophen pain-reliever caplet and is not treated in time, it can suffer fatal consequences.”

“However, acetaminophen itself is not hard to detect, and given recent events, I am sure the FDA is taking reports of any contamination extremely seriously. If they see no compelling need to examine further pet food samples for this specific contamination at this point, we feel it unnecessary for pet parents to panic further.”

Dr. Louise Murray, director of medicine at the ASPCA’s Bergh Memorial Animal Hospital (BMAH) in New York City, and a board-certified internist, agrees that vigilance among pet parents should continue.

“When you bring a pet into your family, you really do become responsible for its well-being on so many levels,” said Dr. Murray. “So even though we don’t feel there is cause to raise the alarm at this point, it is important that you keep a watchful eye on your pet and take her to your veterinarian immediately if you think she is unwell. And cats, more so than dogs, are especially sensitive to acetaminophen toxicity.”

The most common effects of acetaminophen poisoning in cats include swelling of the face and paws; depression; weakness; and difficulty in breathing. “We also see a condition called ‘cyanosis,’” said Dr. Murray, “which is literally when their gums and tongue start turning a muddy color due to the lack of oxygen.”



http://www.aspca.org/site/PageServer?pagename=press_061507

[swampmaxmum]

have managed to get online via a......mac! bread and water for me for a good while then.
has anyone got any updates on this story or has no more come of it? My Max will only eat Hills, especially i/d. Swamps is on i/d too for his tum at present. There's yet again differences between one tray and the next (colour, texture, this tray has little blue dots in the food???) so I'm anxious. The only other sensitive tum food is RC which (wet food) is apparently too high in phosphorus which is disappointing. It's over 1g/100gs for the duck one and 2gs of phosphorus for the chicken. i/d is only 0.8 acc to the website.

still catching up on work missed by the absence of a pc for 2 weeks so if anyone's heard anything, please post! thanks.

[Millys Mum]

You could look at the likes of applaws, almo nature or porta 21, the chicken ones are low phos i think, i dont know what you need protein wise tho so they may not be any good 

[swampmaxmum]

While I manage to get online, Dell having 'fixed' my PC  they are coming back tomorrow with motherboard no 3

What are my alternatives as regards feeding a safe, low phosphorus, fat, protein, suitable etc food to my 2 whose kidneys and liver need supporting and who have sensitive tums?
I looked at Burns but the phosphorus is 1.1g which is high (the worrying k/d is 0.38 and even i/d's 0.. Plus it is dry food which isn't tolerated.
I am sticking to the few i/d cans from the existing batch that I have left but there are only 4 days of it left.

[swampmaxmum]

It seems to be paracetamol so very toxic to cats, less so in small amounts to dogs.

Why are the ASPCA and FDA keeping so quiet? Someone must know which company and which products. Why do the Uk animal orgs like the RSPCA not get involved and tell us what's going on, or WSPA etc. Millions of British pets eat American food.
The American public have been sending off individual bags and cans for private testing. I can't see any results posted as yet, can anyone else?  I don't know if it's a time-lagged problem and no longer of worry. I just know that everyone's being so secretive, which makes me suspicious of big companies/corporates that are protecting their share price etc. Pet food is worth $$$$$$$$$$s.
Why's this one being handled so differently from the melamine one though? There have AFAIK been no product recalls. I presume from the involvement of the ASPCA and the press (who unlike here use fact checkers methinks) that this is definitely no hoax.

I have my PC being nuked now so it may never work again but will try to check in if it does later today. I left a message to speak to my vet but not sure that he'll know anything more than we do, or could find out anything from the reps.

[Gill (sneakiefeline)]

This is frightening and very worrying.

In a country where litigation is the norm, I would have expected a major recall to happen if there was a problem. By the sounds of it maybe the contamination of paracetamol........always wonder what t.....mol was lol.................was in foods in the original recall and problem is no longer current.

But who knows?

[Sam (Fussy_Furball)]

As yet the FDA doesn't have anything about this on it's website but the ASPCA is having regular updates:

http://www.aspca.org/site/PageServer?pagename=recall

http://www.fda.gov/oc/opacom/hottopics/petfood.html

[swampmaxmum]

Hills canned cat food sold in the UK comes from America (some dry may be processed in Europe??). Royal Canin AFAIK is processed and manufactured in Europe. But I think the companies use the same suppliers.
Question: careful reading of the links (thanks for posting them) says the Americans want to hear from people whose cats became ill or died from late last year to end January.
No info on whether this means that the problem with the food has been dealt with internally by the companies concerned - who refuse to go public - and whether the food is now safe.
OH is a lawyer and wonders why the FDA can hide behind 'confidentiality' if they are in full knowledge of a certain company's selling harmful or contaminated food?! Unless that has been misreported. Until we have the facts, we can't accuse anyone of anything, we can just worry.....so give us the facts!!!!

Stuff I read suggests the other melamine scandal may have spread to humans potentially too as was also fed to pigs that were sold for pork for human consumption.
There's a danger in being paranoid here and my cats have done welll on both RC and Hills foods, but I have a right to know when I open a can that it will not harm them.

[Bazsmum]

That's bloody shocking! 

[Sam (Fussy_Furball)]

Info on the ASPCA (American RSPCA)  site:

http://www.petconnection.com/blog/2007/06/06/aspca-issues-alert-on-acetaminophen-in-pet-food/

http://www.petfoodrecallfacts.com/lab.html

http://petfoodtracker.blogspot.com/2007/06/texas-lab-finds-pain-medicine-in-pet.html

[swampmaxmum]

The painkiller Acetominophen (think paracetamol??) has been found in dog and cat food. The FDA were testing for melamine et al and found this by surprise too. This time the FDA have not listed brands but say they are waiting for the Pet food company/ies to come forward and recall products and that they notified them a whole month ago!
Reading the internet forums, Hills products are among those tested and potentially implicated. I can see nothing on the Hills site and they reacted fast to the melamine contamination.
I don't know how much is really true at this point and how much internet freaking out, but we need to know if what we are feeding our cats is safe.
Why can't they release the names of the products this time around?!!

Please anyone post if you have any info.