Laurel Droz
A local veterinary clinic and three local stores have been inundated with phone calls since the recall on March 16 of 91 brands of pet food manufactured by Menu Foods.
Brian Mills, owner of Pet Supplies ‘Plus,? 22 N. Ortonville Road, said he is averaging 20-30 calls per day, wanting to know what foods are affected.
Mills said the majority of the recall is for generic, in-house brands such as Wal-Mart and Target, and all of the food in question is from cans and pouches, not dry food, manufactured between Dec. 3, 2006 and March 6, 2007.
Although there are some name brands, such as Iams and Eukanuba, Mills said it was a ‘very, very small amount.?
Pet Supplies ‘Plus? has pulled every case of Nutro canned food from the shelves, not just recalled codes, ending up with two shopping carts of recalled food.
‘At our end, we’re doing everything possible to ensure the safety of all dogs and cats,? Mills said. ‘We’ve pulled all the recalled food so people can feel safe shopping at our store.?
Buk’s Feeds & More, 8159 S. State Road, and Brown’s Do-It Center, 7281 S. State Road, both in Goodrich, have also had numerous inquiries, but neither store had any of the affected products.
?(The problem is) mostly on the lower-end foods and we promote the higher-end foods,? said Desirae DeJohn of Buk’s. ‘Usually on the higher- end foods you dont get the recalls like this.?
Brown’s only carries dry pet food, but says customers are still very concerned, and Mark Brownrigg said one customer who purchased food at a different store had to take a pet to the veterinarian because of the situation.
Dr. Kent Schermerhorn, a vet at the Ortonville Animal Clinic, 959 S. Ortonville Road, said the clinic has received ‘a lot? of phone calls and has two canine patients that they suspect may have eaten contaminated food.
Both dogs have been diagnosed with acute renal failure, the same illness that had killed, as of press time, nine cats and one dog as a result of the recalled food.
‘There is no other reason (for the dogs to have kidney failure),? said Schermerhorn. ‘It’s still being investigated as to what they ate. These are dogs we found before the recall came out… It’s too early to tell if it is permanent damage. If they are treated aggressively, they may survive. But we don’t know if they will have compromised renal function over the rest of their lives or not.?
Symptoms of kidney failure in pets includes: loss of appetite, listlessness, vomiting, diarrhea, changes in water consumption (increased or decreased), and increase or decrease in urination.
Schermerhorn says not to panic if a pet is displaying the symptoms.
‘It may not be the food, and could be a sign of a lot of other illnesses,? he said. ‘But contact a vet and have them examined as soon as possible.?
For a complete list of recalled foods, visit www.menufoods.com or call (866) 895-2708.