Anyone who has had a pet eat this food should print this out and speak to your vet. Updated information for veterinarians
Content on this page has been provided by the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine.
AMERICAN COLLEGE OF VETERINARY
INTERNAL MEDICINE (ACVIM)
1997 Wadsworth Blvd., Suite A
Lakewood, CO 80214-5293
http://www.acvim.orgFOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 21, 2007
MEDIA CONTACT:
Jenn Armbruster
Communications & Media Relations Manager
303.231.9933 or Jennifer@ACVIM.org
PET FOOD RECALL: UPDATED INFORMATION FOR VETERINARIANS
LAKEWOOD, Colo. – In response to the recent national pet food recall, the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine (ACVIM) has collected the following information for veterinarians in regards to the treatment of animals that have ingested the recalled food.
a.. Menu Foods of Ontario, Canada has initiated a North American Recall of its "Cuts and Gravy" format dog and cat food manufactured in its Kansas and New Jersey facilities between December 3, 2006 and March 6, 2007. See
www.menufoods.com/recall for list of recalled food. Also consult
www.avma.org for the most up to date information.
b.. According to an FDA press release dated March 16, 2007, some dogs and cats refused further feedings following feeding of the product, while others exhibited signs of renal failure (including loss of appetite, lethargy and vomiting).
c.. Veterinarians should examine and perform screening blood work and urinalysis on all patients who have consumed the recalled foods, symptomatic patients that have eaten recalled foods, and generally on all patients.
d.. Veterinary experience with affected pets is still limited. Colleagues are reporting that pets having confirmed exposure to the diet have a wild spectrum of presentations. Some animals exhibit signs of mild renal insufficiency developing over days to weeks while others rapidly exhibit signs and acute renal failure. Most clinical cases have been cats. Anecdotal information suggests that many cats respond to standard fluid therapy and recover. Animals treated aggressively, even those with severe azotemia, seem to have a fair prognosis based on evidence to date.
e.. Veterinarians should take a dietary history with each pet. After a thorough physical examination, the minimal data base of a comprehensive blood panel and a urinalysis should be performed to screen for causes of clinical signs including renal disease. It is important to screen for all diseases because this recall will bring in clients whose pets had preexisting diseases or coincidentally have developed an unrelated illness at the time of the recall. If renal disease is diagnosed, additional tests such as a urine culture and imaging should be considered to rule out causes of renal disease other than a toxicant.
f.. Patients with renal disease should be managed with appropriate fluid therapy including an assessment of electrolyte status and administration of medications to treat gastrointestinal signs. If the patient is in acute renal failure and anuric or oliguric, additional considerations to acid-base status, and diuretic therapy (including lasix, mannitol and/or dopamine) may be required, necessitating a careful monitoring of fluid rates, vital parameters such as CVP, and urine production.
g.. If a patient with anuric or oliguric acute renal failure is not responding to appropriate therapy, veterinarians should promptly consider contacting a small animal internist with the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine (
www.ACVIM.org) in their local community for case consultation and possible referral. Hemodialysis can be utilized for severely affected patients and is available at a limited number of veterinary teaching hospitals.
h.. Duration of treatment in patients which may have renal failure due to ingestion of the recalled food is unknown at this time and obviously will vary between patients. Long term effects on renal function are unknown. Patients succumbing to illness should be necropsied and tissues saved in formalin for histopathology to determine cause of death.
i.. The Iowa State University Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory reports that autopsy and microscopic examination of tissues from affected animals indicate acute renal toxicosis including the presence of birefringent crystals, as well as other crystal formations. The Iowa State University Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory has the capability to analyze pet food for the suspected toxic agents described above and examine tissues from animals that have died. More information is available at
www.vdpam.iastate.edu.
j.. The Animal Health Diagnostic Center (AHDC) at Cornell University will also receive food samples for testing and tissue samples for histopathology. For more information, see
www.diag.center.vetcorne ll.edu. According to the AHDC, substances that have been preliminarily ruled out are: ethylene glycol, cholecalciferol, other glycols including diethylene glycol, propylene glycol, heavy metals, ochratoxin, several solvents and cleaning products known to be used on the machinery used in the production of these foods, and several pesticides.
Prepared by Sandy Willis DVM DACVIM
ACVIM Communications Committee Chair
www.ACVIM.org
