Food Recalls

food for thought..... should humans and their companions worry about food chain safety?

A rare strain of Salmonella has been identified at Diamond Pet Foods Plant in Gaston, S.C. 

Interesting to note that so far 14 people have been fallen ill. That is correct, 14 people not pets! Pets are less likely to get sick from Salmonella according to Dr. Casey Barton Behravesh, Veterinary Epidemiologist and leader of the response team investigating the contamination.

It seems that only one manufacturing plant is affected, but this particular plant produces quite a few different brands of dry dog and cat food. The brands being investigated are Diamond, Wellness, Chicken Soup for the Dog Lover's Soul, Canidae, Natural Balance, Apex Pet Foods and Kirkland.

Pet owners are being warned to wash your hands after handling pet food, beware of big wet sloppy kisses right after a meal, watch out for excreted feces, and pets that groom themselves can pass along bugs from their saliva when a family member touches them. Symptoms of infection in people and pets are similar such as nausea, vomiting, chills and fever, cramps, and diarrhea.

My family always play a silly game with me called "Poison". The idea of the game is they run around yelling "poison, poison" and I try and catch them. Whenever I get close they scream ewwww and try not to let me touch them! It is really a fun game but now it has a whole new meaning.....

So why does this happen. Dry pet food is susceptible to bacteria because it is very rich in protein, and treated with flavoring. The flavoring is often where the contamination occurs. West Lebanon Feed and Supply is our areas largest pet food retailer, and you can find a lot of helpful information and advice on their website about all the foods that are being recalled. The people at WLFS can help you find an alternative diet during this scary time, don't hesitate to stop in at 12 Railroad Ave., West Lebanon or give them a call at 603-298-8600.

To get more information and find out how to report suspected pet food related illnesses, check out the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website. Diamond's official recall website is Diamond Pet Food Recall, and they have listed production codes for those foods suspected of contamination. They can be reached for questions at 866-918-8756. They also show a map of the U.S. and where the pet food has been distributed. Our area is listed.
tata for now!

irene and rules, rules, rules

Everyone is talking about Irene.... a huge storm with winds that could sweep me away! They say it is traveling up the big waters of the ocean, and will even affect us in Vermont! Now that's a storm.

I don't really mind storms, the big claps of thunder make me want to chase petunia around. She on the other hand is soooo scared when a storm comes. I can't even imagine how she is going to survive Irene if she really makes it all the way over to us. My sister will wrap her up real tight in a blanket and give her some Composure, a natural supplement that calms her down.... I guess I will just have to wait and see but I don't think it is going to be pretty. Dad can always give her something stronger to make her sleep if it gets real bad.....

I have moved and I am not sure how much I like it. Living in a large town has it's ups and downs. Petunia and I have never had to wear a leash all the time.... poop in certain places..... this is all very new and strange. On top of that I am a lab with a sensitive stomach (me and about the whole rest of the lab population). Us labs, we like to eat everything and anything, our lives revolve around eating. Dad says you really know a lab is sick when it refuses to eat. My sister calls me Chumley after this chubby guy on a TV show. I'm not chubby but probably left to my own accord I would eat until I explode!

So back to the upset stomach thing. We moved and it upset my tummy. Between vomiting and diarrhea I am not sure what is worse. Dad says the first step to my recovery is 12 hours off food. 12 HOURS! Give me a break. Then he says a bland diet for a few days like boiled hamburger and rice. Sounds fine to me. He says since I have been de-wormed (what a terrible expression) regularly, up-to-date on all my vaccines, and have a history of upset tummies anyways,  I should recover just fine. If I start not being able to hold water down then it becomes more serious. I don't mind going to SAVES, I love the nurses, the doctors are so kind and the beds are pretty comfortable. But Dad says we can avoid an OFFICIAL stay (I am there every day anyways) if I take it easy, let my system rest, and stop being neurotic (what ever that means).

I meet so many labs each day at SAVES that have upset stomachs that either have eaten something they shouldn't have, drank out of a puddle contaminated with bacteria or just plain have a sensitive stomach. Sometimes they need intravenous fluids if they can't hold water down. Dehydration from vomiting can become very serious very quickly. Vomiting and diarrhea can be signs of so many different diseases. It is important that you differentiate between something like an allergy to food, a bacterial upset of the gut, or even more serious the start of a organ failure such as the kidney's or liver. Regular blood work and physical exams with your veterinarian can help catch things early so that diseases can be managed.

For me it appears to be a nervous type of thing. So many changes right now. My oldest sister is going away, way across the BIG ocean, we have moved, the summer is coming to an end, kids going back to school..... so many reasons I can think of that make me nervous sometimes. My mom thinks lots of exercise helps calm the mind, I think she is on to something. She has been taking me swimming and walking a real lot and I do feel so much better when I come back and lay down exhausted! Dad has added Fortiflora to my diet. Purina makes this nutritional supplement that helps keep the  "normal" bacteria in my intestines healthy (bugs in my bowels, ewww). It is a powder that they mix in my food (don't even know it is there because it is tasteless) and it provides some strong antioxidants, stimulates my immune system to fight off stuff, and helps me get through stressful situations without developing diarrhea. It is working! (Diarrhea is sooo embarrassing, especially when it comes on suddenly right when you meet a really cute girl dog, uggg)

tata for now! 

living on the edge

Today I hear is the first day of spring. Exactly a year ago I arrived in Vermont a small scared puppy. I cried a lot at night in the beginning, Petunia growled all the time when I came near her, and I almost drown in our pond!
Today I weigh 80 pounds, I snore instead of cry at night, Petunia LOVES me, and yesterday I accidentally almost drown my mom in our pond! Some advise, don't run up behind someone while they are standing by a half frozen pond and bump them..... not a good idea.
On the menu at S.A.V.E.S. this week was some pretty odd things. The first was Violet, a very (did I say very) pretty boxer. I wish we had met under different circumstances, I know she would have fallen for me. Instead Violet arrived with a strange appetite for razor blades.

Disposable Razor Blade

Violet was having a hard time keeping anything down, she wasn't eating and really felt awful. She came to S.A.V.E.S. because her veterinarian diagnosed  a foreign body in her stomach. Violet had eaten a disposable razor blade and it was stuck in her stomach. The first attempt to remove the object was performed by endoscopy. Endoscopy involves running a very small camera down into the stomach, locating the object and then retrieving it via the same equipment's "grabber" tool. Violet's razor did not want to come out in this manner.

Removing the Razor Blade

The next step was to surgically remove the blade. My dad took Violet to surgery and performed a gastrotomy. Once the stomach was located he made a small incision into her stomach wall and retrieved the razor blade.

Surgical Monitoring

It was pretty cool, I get to watch all the surgeries through the observation glass, someday I think I want to be a surgeon like my dad. My mom monitored the anesthesia with all sorts of machines that beeped and made funny sounds. Air kept filling the blood pressure cuff with a whoosh, the heart monitor showed every heartbeat on the screen, and another monitor showed how much oxygen was circulating in her bloodstream Really cool stuff. The table is even heated! Who would figure!

Violet Recovers From Surgery

After surgery Violet recovered in the recovery stall with Carm (that's what I call her but her real name is Carmelita) one of the nurses at S.A.V.E.S. She had lots of blankets and a big heating pad full of warm air. The nurses stay with the patients until they are fully recovered.

Violet My Love

Violet is home now and probably the only way I will ever get to see her again is if she decides to eat another razor. I know it sounds awful but I kind of hope she does so I can talk to her again! She was so pretty!

Appetite for Lingerie

This poor guy swallowed a bra! It also had to be removed with surgery! Think I will stick to my canned and dry food! Tata for now!

you are what you eat?

Is it true what they say, "you are what you eat"? What exactly does this mean? Originally this phrase  ( 1826-Anthelme Brillat-Savarin, Physiologie du Gout, ou Meditations de Gastronomie Transcendante) was meant  as statement that the food you eat has a bearing on what your state of mind is. Not until later (1942 EEnglish nutritionist Victor Lindlahr published, What You Eat: how to win and keep health with diet).  It is a common belief that if you eat badly you are much more susceptible to sickness. Now sometimes the line between healthy and not healthy is blurred by lots and lots of different views. For dogs some say the best diet is a brand name quality dog food that comes in a can or bag. But what about preservatives, I looked at my bag of food and it stays fresh (expiration date) for many, many months. Would my mom feed my human brothers and sisters food that stays fresh for years?

I Love Raw Eggs!

I love my food! Mom gets me Candidae, it is holistic, hypoallergenic and yummy. But if you read on the Internet with all the pet food recalls and such it makes you worry about the general health of the pet food industry! I know my mom and dad keep informed and with West Lebanon Feed and Supply next door to Stonecliff I have a never ending choice for dinner!
So this blog post is not for the squeamish! We are continuing to talk about things we pets will eat and not think twice about! One of the most common illness that the veterinary staff encounter at S.A.V.E.S. (Small Animal Veterinary Emergency Services in Lebanon, NH.) comes from our ability as pets to eat ANYTHING! Mom always says after a surgery to remove this or that from a pet's intestines, "can you imagine (she always emphasizes this word) swallowing this! So read on if you don't mind the site of gross stuff, remember, I warned you!

So we'll ease into this slowly, and please don't steal these photos from my mom. She doesn't know I am borrowing her food shots and she may get a little cranky if you take them and use them elsewhere since there copyrighted, what ever that means.
So last blog we talked about the evils of chocolate for us pets. Well I think we should all take a moment a think about all of the things we ingest in a day. This morning I ate horse poop, then cow poop, the squeaker to my new Christmas toy, part of my brother's sock, and some cat food! I am actually pretty proud of the score for the morning until I started thinking about my friends that I have met at the hospital.
A few days ago I met a dog that likes to eat sticks! Well so do I but I chew them up and spit them out! This guy swallows pieces of stick, like big pieces!

Well that took it's toll on this poor fellow. Unable to hold water or food down and a bad case of diarrhea, his people brought him into S.A.V.E.S. to find out what was wrong. Turns out a stick (pictured here) was lodged in his intestine. The only choice was to surgically remove the object and save the dogs life.

The surgeon (that's my dad!!) made an incision into the intestinal wall and removed the stick.

This poor fellow is going to be fine now. I hope he somehow realizes that dog food is for eating, sticks for chasing and the occasional chew. Not swallowing!

If you suspect your pet has an intestinal blockage timing is very important. If you pet is vomiting, not eating, and not passing stool or passing small amounts of watery diarrhea this may be a sign of an impaction or blockage. The longer the object remains in the bowel, the more damage can occur to the tissue. Don't wait, call your veterinarian right away.

 Leave you with something sweet. TaTa for now!