-
Dog Dies After Being Treated With Gabapentin, Exposing Flaws In the Divide Between Human and Animal Drugs
When Ronda Archangelo’s dog Mimi died after being treated with a gabapentin solution that contained xylitol, she wondered how such a tragic mistake could have happened. When she asked her veterinarian for answers, it became clear that her veterinarian was unaware that the gabapentin solution she prescribed for Mimi’s seizure disorder had xylitol in it. And the more seizures Mimi had, the more gabapentin was she was told to give her. It wasn’t until later that she discovered that one of the symptoms of xylitol toxicity in dogs is seizures. Still, Ms. Archangelo wondered how a prescription with xylitol could have been filled when the pharmacists knew the prescription was ordered by a…
-
How a Lethal Ingredient in Human Medicine Prescribed by Vets is Poisoning and Killing Dogs
Ronda Archangelo never knew until it was too late, that the medicine her veterinarian prescribed for her dog’s seizure disorder, would poison and kill her dog Mimi. She didn’t know that with every dose, she was slowly poisoning her dog with the very drug that was supposed to make her dog better. It wasn’t until her dog died that Ronda found out that the medicine she had been giving Mimi was made with xylitol – an artificial sweetener deadly to dogs. THE BLACK HOLE Every year millions of dogs are prescribed human drugs by veterinarians – drugs that might contain the lethal sweetener xylitol. Drug companies do not make public the volume of…
-
Raw Pet Food Maker Defies FDA and Refuses to Recall Contaminated Dog Food
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is cautioning pet owners not to feed their dogs a batch Aunt Jeni’s Home Made frozen raw pet food after a sample collected from a store in the District of Columbia tested positive for Salmonella Infantis – a multidrug-resistant strain that will leave veterinarians with few options to treat pets with severe infections should they become ill. The FDA took the unusual step of issuing the warning because the agency believed the batch of raw food represents a serious threat to human and animal health, and the manufacturer didn’t. Aunt Jeni’s took the ill-considered step of refusing – flat out – to cooperate with the agency or…
-
Gag-Worthy Conditions Found at Raw Pet Food Company; FDA Gives C & G Raw Two Weeks to Clean Up Their Act
Over the holidays, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) posted a 15-day Warning Letter to raw pet food maker G & C Raw, LLC following inspections the agency conducted on April 22-25 and May 17, 2019. What FDA investigators found were appalling conditions inside the raw dog food company, a list of violations so long I will only give you the condensed version, here: Dirty, wet boots: Employees were observed stepping over totes containing raw product as drops of water from their boots fell into the containers thereby contaminating the dog food, which the FDA noted, “with undesirable microorganisms or other contaminants, such as dirt or other foreign material, that may be…
-
Death Drug Found in One of the U.S.’s Largest Pet Food Ingredient Makers; Euthanized Animals to Blame
Valley Proteins, based in Winchester Virginia, one of the largest privately-owned rendering businesses in the United States – a company that processes slaughterhouse waste, rancid restaurant grease, and the occasional horse into animal feed and pet food – was sent a deeply disturbing Warning Letter published last week by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). In the letter – best described as scathing – the FDA warned the company for significant violations of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, explaining that during three inspections, the FDA found pentobarbital in the company’s animal fat products – a drug used to euthanize animals. The investigation found that the company failed to identify and…
-
J.M. Smucker’s Special Kitty Cat Food Recalled Over Serious Health Concerns, Including Death
UPDATE: December 10, 2019. After calling the JM Smuckers inquiring about the unnamed ingredient(s), they told me, “we do not have that information at this time.” Asked if I had a cat that was dying, would JM Smuckers be willing to give the information to my vet and the company’s consumer representative said, “not at this time.” It is absolutely unforgivable and irresponsible to keep to consumers and the veterinary community in the dark, particularly as the ingredient(s) has the capacity to cause death in cats. JM Smuckers is recalling selected lots of its Special Kitty canned cat for an as yet unknown reason. All the company revealed was…
-
Another Raw Pet Food Co Recall; Go Raw Brand Cat Food Found Contaminated with Salmonella
Another raw pet food was found to be contaminated with a pathogenic bacteria this week, this time from a company called Go Raw, LLC, of Cottonwood Utah. Go Raw is recalling some of its Quest Beef Cat Food after the company was notified by the Minnesota Department of Agriculture when a sample the state collected tested positive for Salmonella. However, the firm claims their tests did not show it was contaminated with Salmonella. But the company does admit in the recall notice that because Salmonella is not evenly distributed throughout pet food, that could explain why it could have been found on the sample that the Minnesota Department of Agriculture took. Bottom line?…
-
From Stable to Table: Horses Turned into Pet Food & Their Bones Sold as Dog Chews. In America. Right Now.
There have only been a few times in my career as a pet food safety advocate where I stood paralyzed – frozen in horror – when I witnessed something so terrible it was beyond my comprehension that such brutality against animals could exist. It was during the testimony of a whistleblower who recounted his experience at a place called Bravo Packing in New Jersey, a place he described as a “rat hole.” Then he showed me the photographs of the animals at Bravo Packing. Images of dead horses piled in a tangled mess of heads and legs, their manes soaked in blood. Emaciated horses and ones too weak to stand, starving. Cows crippled…
-
Raw Pet Food Found Contaminated with Multi-Drug Resistant Pathogenic Bacteria. Again.
A study out of Zurich that looked at raw dog and cat food raises concerns for animal and public health. The study aimed to evaluate commercially available raw meat pet diets about microbiological quality and the occurrence of antimicrobial-resistant Enterobacteriaceae. What the scientists found was alarming. They found that the majority of commercially produced raw foods on the European market contained high levels of harmful bacteria—including strains that could transmit diseases to pets and their owners alike. While the study was small, most of the raw meat diets sampled did not meet the microbiological standards for Enterobacteriaceae set out by EU regulations for animal by-products intended for pet food. And of the samples…
-
Maggot Infested, Rotting Carcasses and Euthanized Animals Are Key Ingredients in U.S.’s Largest Pet Food Ingredient Company
One of the largest animal waste disposal companies in the United States, Darling Ingredients Inc., is being accused of using carcasses from diseased, euthanized animals from the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine, many of which are euthanized with pentobarbital. DARLING INGREDIENTS DARK TIES TO BRAVO PACKING Darling Ingredients is also being accused of using animal waste from dead, dying, and diseased animals from one of the most notorious meatpacking companies in the United States, Bravo Packing, to make animal feed and pet food ingredients. Bravo Packing a company that has a sordid history of horrific animal abuse, where sick and wounded animals – including horses – are left to starve until…
