Another Pet Food Recall - Some Wysong and Diamond Varieties!

There have been two pet food recalls recently that Pet Supplies "Plus" has brought to my attention.

1. Diamond Pet Food Has Recalled Two Varieties of Premium Edge Cat Food – because of the cat foods were deficient in thiamine. These are Premium Edge Finicky Adult Cat and Premium Edge Hairball Cat. Click here for lot numbers of affected product and more details.

2. Wysong Has Recalled some Wysong Maintenance and Wysong Senior Dry Dog Foods that were manufactured in June and July of 2009 because of mold growth. Click here for lot numbers of affected product and more details.

Anyone who has these foods should STOP FEEDING THEM TO THEIR PET IMMEDIATELY and return them to the store where they were purchased for a full refund. Contact information for the manufacturers is as follows:

Diamond
Mail: PO Box 156, Meta, MO 65058
www.premiumedgepetfood.com/contact_us/

Wysong
Customer Service - 1-989-631-0009
Fax: 1-989-631-9280
Mail: 7550 Eastman Avenue, Midland, MI 48642-7779
Email: wysong@wysong.net

A special thanks to our friends at Pet Supplies "Plus" for this timely warning!

Cat Food Recall - Stop Using Some Nutro Dry Cat Food Varieties!

Nutro Products has recalled some varieties of Nutro Natural Choice Complete Care
and Nutro Max Dry Cat Foods with "Best If Used By Dates" between May 12, 2010 and August 22, 2010.

These products are being recalled due to incorrect levels of zinc and potassium in the formulation. Unfortunately, the affected products were distributed to retail customers in all 50 states, as well as to customers in Canada, Mexico, Japan, Korea, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, New Zealand, and Israel.

Where to get all the details about this recall...
To check if your exact product is part of the recall, please visit http://www.nutroproducts.com/press-recall/affected-Products.html or call 1-800-833-5330 between the hours 8:00 AM to 4:30 PM CST.

What to do if you have any recalled products at home...
If you're a cat owner and have purchased any of the affected cat foods, STOP FEEDING THEM TO YOUR CAT IMMEDIATELY, and switch to another product with healthy nutritional profile.

As readers of this blog already know, I can recommend Innova Evo as a healthier alternative. It's one of only two low carbohydrate dry cat foods. Innova Evo is not as good for your cat as low-carb wet cat food, but it's great if you must feed your cat dry food.

For more information about Innova Evo, please see my blog post: Low Carbohydrate Dry Cat Food Does Exist! BUT Is It Right For Your Cat?

If you've purchased any of the products affected by this voluntary recall, you can return them to your retailer for a full refund or exchange.

If you've already fed your cat the recalled products...
The company has had no reports of illnesses in any cats yet. Short-term symptoms in pets may include reduction in appetite or refusal of food, weight loss, vomiting or diarrhea. If your cat is experiencing health issues or is pregnant, please see your Veterinarian.

Not every Nutro pet food is affected by the recall...
For you multiple pet owners, there are no Nutro Products dog foods (wet or dry), wet cat foods, dog treats or cat treats included in the recall.

For More Information...
Again, for specific varieties of dry cat food included in this recall and their UPC codes, please see the Nutro Products web page: http://www.nutroproducts.com/press-recall/affected-Products.html

Constipated Cat? Your Cat May Need Fiber!

Lynn (Raja's mother) went away on vacation for a week and I came over every night to feed the cat and clean her box. That's when I first noticed Raja's problem.

While cleaning her box, I could see that poor Raja was having some pretty hard stools. She also didn't seem to be "going" every day.

So, after checking the Internet for a cure, I tried adding unsweetened canned pumpkin to her food, as recommended by people and some of their vets. Pumpkin is a safe, home remedy for constipation, because it contains quite a bit of fiber and is usually something cats will eat.

Of course, Raja hated it. Apparently most cats love it and consider it a treat, but not our Raja. What little I did manage to sneak into her food seemed to help a couple of days later, so that was good. However, when Lynn returned from vacation, we stopped feeding her pumpkin (she was avoiding any food with pumpkin in it) and we noticed the hard stools again.

Fortunately she was scheduled for a vet visit anyway so we asked the vet about her problem.

First, the vet checked her anal glands (who knew?) and said they were impacted and that was probably causing her hard stools. Also, if she was having difficult bowel movements, she was probably holding it in (talk about anal-retentive!) which explained her not going every day.

So, Lynn paid like $29 to have the vet "express her anal sacs". I could tell by her howls from the back room that Raja really didn't care for the procedure at all. Would you?

Anyway, the vet suggested we give Raja 1/4 tsp Benefiber in her food every day as a stool softener and to add fiber. She suggested Benefiber because it is completely tasteless and would dissolve in Raja's wet food. The other fiber you can buy is not water soluble and usually has a flavor added.

However, the vet did say that expressing her anal glands might be all she needed.

Just to be safe, we started her on Benefiber and it seems to be working. Her stools are looking better (who knew we'd become stool watchers?) and she's "going" a lot easier.

If you are trying the Benefiber cure at home, keep in mind that if your cat has another problem, like diabetes for example, that might be drying her up, adding fiber could actually make things worse. So keep an eye on your cat's stools and if they don't get softer after adding fiber, be sure to take him/her to the vet for a checkup.

For more details than you may want to know about your cat's anal glands, here's an article from About.com: http://cats.about.com/od/healthfaqs/f/diyanalglandsex.htm