Major cat and dog food recall

Menu Foods, the Ontario-based company that produced the pet food, said Saturday it was recalling dog food sold under 48 brands and cat food sold under 40 brands including Iams, Nutro and Eukanuba.

The food was distributed throughout the United States, Canada, and Mexico by major retailers such as Wal-Mart, Kroger and Safeway.

An unknown number of cats and dogs have suffered kidney failure and about 10 have died after eating the affected pet food, the company said.

Meanwhile, two other companies - Nestle Purina PetCare Co. and Hill's Pet Nutrition Inc. - announced Saturday night that as a precaution they were voluntary recalling some products made by Menu Foods.

Purina is a major brand name that has recalled its pet food products as retailers yanked millions of goods off shelves across the continent.

The recall affects a total of 17 of the 20 kinds of pet foods sold in North America.

For now, Menu Foods Fund, the leading manufacturer of private label wet pet food products, is saying that the "undisclosed" number of complaints has been "relatively small" and confined to the United States -- a claim which has been disputed since the Fund sent out a press release on March 16th.

Symptoms include apparent dizzy spells, difficulty walking, seizures and even renal failure. There have been some deaths, also it may be too early to attribute a cause. One of the first signs is a refusal to eat and vomiting.

The company says the product in question is limited to the "cuts in gravy" foods in cans and foil pouches, and specifically batches produced from December to March 6.

The complete list of recalled items can be found here:

http://www.menufoods.com/recall/

(UPDATE) Rom immediately stopped feeding her old (almost 17) kitty Friskies and Whiskas cuts in gravy -- talk about a close call. But a neighbour of ours has a young dog who was exhibiting odd symptoms, and a visit to the vet yielded the dreaded answer: it's the food.

If your pet is showing signs of difficulty urinating, refusing food or water, or difficulty walking or maintaining its balance, a urine test should be done as soon as possible, as that is the best way to determine if an animal is in the early stages of renal difficulty resulting from, in this case, diet.