Wellness Cat Food Recall

Certain lots of WellPet’s Wellness® canned cat food have voluntarily been recalled because they may contain less than adequate amounts of thiamine. Internal testing by the company found that most lots of the canned food contained sufficient amounts of the vitamin, but WellPet says it decided to recall certain lots “out of an abundance of caution.”
The affected lots are: Wellness Canned Cat Food (all flavors and sizes) with best by dates from 14APR 13 through 30SEP13; and Wellness Canned Cat Food Chicken & Herring (all sizes) with 10NOV13 or 17NOV13 best buy dates.
Cats fed the affected lots for several weeks could develop a thiamine deficiency, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Symptoms could include gastrointestinal or neurological problems.
Customers who bought the affected lots should stop feeding them to their cats and call the company at (877) 227-9587. There have been no reports of illness, FDA says.

Pet Food Settlement Appeal Decided

An appeals court that reviewed a $24-million class-action suit settlement over melamine-contaminated pet food has concluded that the deal is “fair, reasonable and adequate” except for one minor issue.

The issue relates to the limit of purchase claims to a maximum of $250,000. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third District, in an opinion filed Thursday, sent the case back to U.S. District Court Judge Noel Hillman in New Jersey for more information to support the purchase-claim limit. It was Hillman who approved the settlement in November 2008. Appeals filed by two separate parties blocked disbursements from the settlement fund.

Lisa Rodriguez, liaison counsel for the multiple class-action suits covered by the settlement, described the appeals court’s single concern as minor. Purchases are just one category of expense under which claimants may seek reimbursement. Rodriguez said the decision generally is favorable to the claimants.

“I think it’s a very good opinion,” Rodriguez told the VIN News Service. “It wasn’t ... particularly critical. They just wanted additional findings.”

Rodriguez said lawyers on the case will try to get “a quick turnaround date” with the judge to settle the matter once and for all. “Early January is our hope,” she said.

The delayed resolution to the pet food settlement has salted the wounds of people whose pets were killed or sickened by melamine and cyanuric acid found in more than 150 brands of dog foods and treats in 2007. The contamination led to the largest pet food recall in North American history, involving more than 60 million containers of pet food.

According to information in the appellate court decision, 24,344 claims were submitted by the Nov. 24, 2008, deadline. Of those, 20,550 have been deemed payable. The average claim is about $1,283, for a total estimated payable amount of $26,365,575.41, which exceeds the settlement fund by more than $2 million.

In addition, plaintiffs’ lead counsel may apply for reimbursement of attorneys’ fees for a total of up to $7.45 million, plus reimbursement of expenses. The fund covers claims and legal costs in the United States and Canada.

The pet food scandal was caused by unscrupulous suppliers in China who spiked wheat gluten and rice protein with nitrogen-rich melamine in an attempt to boost the products’ apparent protein levels.

Melamine is an industrial chemical not approved for consumption. If ingested, it can combine with the chemical byproduct cyanuric acid to form crystals in the kidneys, causing potentially fatal renal blockage.

Tainted imported product was sold to Menu Foods, a Canadia manufacturer that produced private-label and name-brand wet pet foods for a variety of companies. The contamination affected pet food giants including Hill’s Pet Nutrition, Mars, Inc., Nestle Purina PetCare Co., The Iams Co. and Procter & Gamble, along with prominent retail chains such as Walmart, Target, Costco, Petsmart and Petco.

Owners of ChemNutra, the company that imported the adulterated wheat gluten and rice protein, pleaded guilty last year to charges stemming from the scandal. The company and its owners, Sally Qing Miller and Stephen S. Miller, were fined a total of $35,000. The Millers were spared prison sentences but each given three years of probation.

This article is from the VIN News Service.

Feline Inflammatory Bowel Disease in Cats

Treatment for inflammatory bowel disease in cats:

1.  Foods:

Avoid the following ingredients in foods:
Lamb
Beef
Seafood
Wheat
Corn
Soy

Do feed:  Poultry and rabbit

Read the ingredients on foods carefully because they often contain mixtures of different meats.

Avoid dry foods.

2.  Probiotics:  Consider probiotics.  We recommend Fortiflora which can be found online as well as at vet clinics.

3.  Vitamin B12 injections:  Some cats have a cobalamine deficiency and respond to B12 injections that are given once weekly initially and then less frequently.

4.  Checking a stool sample is prudent, because cat can occasionally have intestinal parasites.

5.  Treating with a parasite medication that eliminates parasites not easily detectable is also advised.

6.  Antibiotics such as metronidazole can be helpful.

City Cat Gets Excellent Reviews on Yelp!

Thanks to our super sweet clients for posting the nicest reviews!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Introducing Smiley Dog.... They Have Food and Toys for Cats Too!

We would like to introduce Smiley Dog which is a local online pet store that offers free delivery of healthy, natural pet food, pet toys, and pet supplies in the Seattle, WA area.  This is particularly beneficial to clients who do not have cars such as people in the Capitol Hill area and downtown.  The owner of the store is often able to order things that are not listed on his website as well!!!

smileydog.com

Rabies in Washington State

We recommend vaccinating all cats, even indoor cats for rabies due to the prevalence of the disease in bats in Washington State.  Even indoor cats can be exposed to bats that enter the house.

The following information is from Communicable Disease and Epidemiology News published Public Health of Seattle and King County.

• Bats are the primary reservoir for rabies in Washington State.  
• In the period 2003-2007, between 5.5 to 10% of bats tested each year in Washington were positive for rabies.  
• Rabies in humans is almost always fatal.  
• In Washington State, the most recent human deaths that occurred from exposue to bat rabies strains occurred in 1995 in a Lewis County resident and 1997 in a Mason County resident.

Photos From The Holbox Spay and Neuter Program

Over 300 dogs were spayed on Isla Holbox, Mexico and surrounding areas from May 8th through the 12th, 2010.