Salmonella can affect animals eating the products and there is risk to humans from handling contaminated pet products.

Healthy people infected with Salmonella should monitor themselves for some, or all, of the following symptoms: nausea, vomiting, diarrhea or bloody diarrhea, abdominal cramping and fever. Rarely, Salmonella can result in more serious ailments, including arterial infections, endocarditis, arthritis, muscle pain, eye irritation, and urinary tract symptoms. Consumers exhibiting these signs after having contact with this product should contact their healthcare providers.

Pets with Salmonella infections may be lethargic and have diarrhea or bloody diarrhea, fever, and vomiting. Some pets will have only decreased appetite, fever and abdominal pain. Infected, but otherwise healthy pets can be carriers and infect other animals or humans. If your pet has consumed the recalled product and has these symptoms, please contact your veterinarian.

No pet or consumer illnesses from this product have been reported to date. However, because of their commitment to safety and quality, Northwest Farm Food Cooperative is conducting a voluntary recall of this product.

The potentially affected lots of frozen raw Cat Food were sold from their facility located at 1370 S. Anacortes Street Burlington, WA 98233.

The affected products are sold in 50 pound blocks and cases of six 10 pound chubs; packaged in a white plastic bag labeled Cat Food. The products affected by this recall have the production code Jul12015B and have no UPC code. The production code can be found on the outside of the case (box).

The recall was the result of a sampling done by the Food and Drug Administration which revealed that the finished product contained the bacteria. The company has ceased the production and distribution of the product as FDA and the company continues their investigation as to what caused the problem.

This cat food recall is being made with the knowledge of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration

Consumers who have purchased the above lots of frozen raw Cat Food are urged to stop feeding them and return product to place of purchase for a full refund or dispose of them immediately. For further information about the recall please call (360) 757-4225 Monday through Friday from 9:00 am – 4:00 pm PST.

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The FDA publishes recalls as soon as they are aware of them and most brands and manufacturers take immediate action to remove these items from the market.  However, there can be delays in getting all the products pulled from retailers causing you to inadvertently purchase an already recalled pet food product and feed it to your pet.

A case in point:  On July 14, 2015,  I and love and you, a Boulder, Colorado pet food brand, expanded their voluntary recall of cow-boom! strips – beef gullet due to the potential of salmonella contamination.  Salmonella is the name of a harmful group of bacteria that can cause illness in your pet. It can also cause illness to humans just from handling the product.

On July 23, 2015, 9 days after the recall notice, we purchased this exact product, the same UPC code and lot #, through an online retailer and delivered on July 25, 2015.

This is why the Safe Pet Treats app is so critical for pet owners to have.  By downloading this app you can either scan the barcode or search by product to determine immediately if it is a recalled pet food product before you purchase.

The planned release date for the Safe Pet Treats app is currently set for 08/05/15.  To learn more about the app, click here and join our mailing list for the app release notification and updates.

We have  reached out to I and love and you to let them know of this, but have not yet heard back at the time of this post.  We will update upon their response.

Update 07/27/2015:  I and love and you has responded and are taking measures to ensure all products from all retailers are pulled!

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American-made jerky tied to illness in dogs
Cases of acquired Fanconi arise despite treat-market shift.

Dogs fed jerky-style pet treats labeled as made in the United States are turning up with a rare kidney disease that’s been associated with jerky made in China.

A U.S. Food and Drug Administration spokeswoman confirmed Friday that the agency is “aware of complaints related to ‘USA’ made products.” Siobhan DeLancey of the FDA’s Office of Foods and Veterinary Medicine said: “We have found some of these products may contain ingredients from outside of the U.S. FDA continues its investigation into these, as well as other, jerky treats potentially linked to illnesses.”

Dr. Urs Giger, director of the Metabolic Genetics Screening Laboratory at the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine, said his laboratory has diagnosed recent cases of acquired Fanconi disease in dogs that ate treats that ostensibly were not made in China or with ingredients from China.

Since 2007, the FDA has been receiving complaints of illness in pets, predominantly dogs, that ate jerky treats. The phenomenon became commonly understood as a Chinese-chicken-jerky-treat problem because most of the products were chicken-based and made in China. Until recently, virtually all chicken jerky for pets was imported from China.

FDA and other investigators have been unable to identify a contaminant in the implicated treats or other reason for illness. But public pressure led many companies selling treats to shift or establish manufacturing operations in the United States within the past year or two.

In February, the FDA reported that the rate of complaints it received involving jerky treats slowed between May and Sept. 30, raising hopes that the problem might resolve on its own. Whether that trend has continued since then is unclear; the agency has not posted an updated tally.

One thing is clear: Veterinarians still are seeing cases of jerky-related illnesses. Dr. Bonnie Werner, an internal medicine specialist at Animal Emergency Medical Center in Torrance, California, for example, is treating a 2-year-old Yorkshire terrier who was referred by her regular veterinarian. The dog was sick with vomiting and diarrhea for more than a week prior.

According to Werner, tests showed the dog had impaired kidney function and glycosuria — glucose in urine — which are signs that point to acquired Fanconi disease.

Werner said the dog’s owner was aware of the link between jerky treats and illness but thought that products made in the U.S. were safe. As a regular treat, the 5-pound terrier was given Spot Farms “all-natural chicken strips,” Werner said. The strips are described on the product website as made from “antibiotic-free chicken raised on family farms in Kentucky.”

The website also says that “all of the ingredients that we use in our products are certified fit for human consumption. Because all of the ingredients used in our treats are all natural, our treats are free of artificial colors and preservatives. You won’t find things like BHA, BHT, or any other chemical with strange abbreviated names in any of our treats.”

Werner said she called the company’s customer-service line the first day she saw the patient. “The representative just kept repeating that the chicken was raised in Kentucky and that all the other ingredients were sourced from U.S. companies,” Werner said in an interview by email. “She did not have any information on whether those companies use ingredients from overseas.”

A spokeswoman for Spot Farms, contacted by the VIN News Service on Friday, was unaware of the veterinarian’s phone call and the case of illness.

Julie DeYoung, a member of the media-relations staff for the chicken-producing company Perdue Farms Inc., which owns Spot Farms, said in a written statement: “We are deeply saddened to hear of this dog’s illness. We … (do not know) the circumstances regarding the dog’s illness or whether our treats were a factor. What we do know is that we have never received any reports of serious illness since we launched Spot Farms dog treats in 2013.”

DeYoung noted that the treats are not meant to be fed in large quantities. “Because we do not use any fillers in our chicken strips, our treats are very high in protein,” she wrote. “It is always important, especially with smaller dogs, to adhere to the feeding guidelines by dog size printed on the back of each bag.”

In a follow-up telephone conversation Monday, DeYoung said the company is trying to determine why Werner’s call to customer service wasn’t forwarded to managers as called for by the company’s “standard procedure if we receive a call relating to a sickness.”

DeYoung added that the company has since spoken with Werner as well as the dog’s owner. “We’re gathering information that will hopefully allow us to evaluate whether our treats are the cause of this illness. We’re highly motivated to understand what happened here, and what role, if any, our treats played,” she said.

On Friday, Werner said she intended to report the case to the FDA but had not yet done so.

She said the Yorkshire terrier requires intravenous fluids to bring her kidney function near normal. “Her kidneys have not repaired themselves yet,” Werner said, adding that the pet’s future is uncertain because her owners have reached their financial limit for treatment.

Not only are cases continuing to occur in the United States, instances of jerky-associated Fanconi have begun turning up in Europe, as well.

Giger, the metabolic genetics lab director at UPenn, said, “We have recently received samples from Europe where we confirmed an acquired Fanconi syndrome and associated it to jerky-treat consumption, and reversal (of illness) or improvement following withdrawal (of the treats).”

Only two years ago, during a talk with clinical pathologists in Berlin, Giger found that “they had not even heard or seen a case.”

Giger co-authored a report of the first jerky-related case of Fanconi in Europe to be recorded in a scientific journal. Involving a 5-year-old male border terrier, the case was published April 5, 2014, in Veterinary Record, the journal of the British Veterinary Association. Every day, the dog ate various beef and chicken jerky treats, some of which contained ingredients originating in China. His clinical signs improved four weeks after he no longer was given the treats. By 19 weeks after he first took ill, the owner reported that the dog was completely normal.

As a geneticist, Giger encountered the jerky-treat issue through his work on hereditary Fanconi syndrome. His laboratory has provided Fanconi screening for decades, he said. Historically, Fanconi in dogs was a well-recognized genetic disease in basenjis. Around 2007, Giger said, the laboratory began seeing cases of Fanconi-like syndrome in other breeds, mostly small-breed dogs and mostly related to jerky consumption.

Between 2009 and 2012, Giger said his lab identified 400 cases of Fanconi. He said he continues to see new cases weekly, amounting to about 100 per year.

Whether American-made treats are less suspect than or equally suspect as Chinese-made treats is impossible to say, Giger said, because labels tend to tell an incomplete story.

“When you’re looking at pet jerky-treat products, and I’ve checked shelves at stores, the label does not necessarily say where it came from,” Giger said. “It (identifies) the company but not where it was manufactured or where (all) the ingredients came from.”

If a marketer claimed a product was made from ingredients that originated solely in the United States, he said, “one would have to check on that very carefully, as manufacturers may have sourced ingredients through third parties.”

Asked whether jerky inherently might make some dogs sick, Giger said he thinks not, because he’s seen cases in which dogs ate homemade jerky without becoming ill, then became ill when fed commercially manufactured jerkies.

He speculated that homemade jerkies would be softer in texture than mass-produced treats, which he said likely are subject to any of a variety of processes, possibly including marination or irradiation.

Giger added that treats associated with illness aren’t necessarily identified as jerky, but may contain jerky and be called sausages or biscuits or something else.

In light of the ongoing mystery, Giger suggested that pet owners consider refraining from giving any commercial jerky treats to their pets. “While some may think pets cannot be without jerky treats, I do not consider them as part of a healthy diet or treat, even when labeled ‘all natural,’ and thus, currently do not recommend any,” he said.

See original article here

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I am also so very fortunate to have my husband David in my life.  He understands how important my “kids” have always been to me, and in turn, they have become just as important to him.  I think we all kind of snuck up on him, and before he knew it he was hooked!  He is so protective of all of us and does everything he can to ensure that we are safe and happy.  That protectiveness is where his initial ideas of Safe Pet Treats were born.

Right now we have just 3 little girls, so in my mind we have room to grow!  They are all beautiful Chihuahuas.

TRIXIE MARIE

Trixie is almost 10 years old and has her papi wrapped around her fingers! She was 7 when she came to us after much debate on whether our 14 year old ChiChiWaWa was lonely after losing her two senior sisters just months apart earlier that year.  It was love at first sight for these two – truly amazing to see. We had expected twith two older girls that we’d have to really work with them on Trixie’s transition into our home.  That turned out to be unnecessary.  ChiChi’s face just lit up the first time she saw Trixie.  She seemed to be letting us know we had made the right decision.  We were so relieved to see her happy again and not lonely for a buddy in her later years.  After almost two years of witnessing this special bond, ChiChiWaWa crossed to the Rainbow Bridge at 16.  We missed her so much and knew Trixie did, too.  We knew we would want and need to get her a little sister, but it was too soon.

It’s funny to see David, who thought he wanted big dogs, be so manipulated by this little Chi baby! She is definitely a daddy’s girl.  Trixie Marie loves belly rubs, and immediately rolls onto her back anywhere she is to let us know it is time for one. She will actually paw and sometimes kick David if he doesn’t do it how she trained him!  She’s a goofy, headstrong little girl who knows her own mind.  She behaves and listens very well…if she feels like it.  She is usually the winner in a stare contest, but if not, her tongue is lightning fast like a lizard and she’ll get your nose!

JOSIE JO

Josie is 10 months old and joined our family at 12 weeks old.  She is the most energetic and vocal dog-child I’ve ever known.  She’s not a barker, but she’s a “talker”!   Little did I know the first time I held her and heard her “speak” that it was not an anomaly or concern over a stranger picking her up, nor that she would rarely stop!  She makes sounds like a monkey when she wants your attention.   She gets almost overexcited at times and has to be held close and talked to soothingly to calm her down. For some odd reason (I have no idea where it came from) I started singing Bicycle Built for Two to her, with her name, and to our amazement (especially David’s because of my voice!) it calms her down. If she is scolded or told no, she groans and sounds like a child saying ‘Awe, man’.

We had planned to add to our family, but with the two girls already we wanted to wait a while.  We were soon concerned though because of the age difference – Josie was a bit much for Trixie to handle!  Josie needed a playmate closer in age to keep up with her.  She would start pacing and “talking” to herself; it sounded like she was saying “Ooh, I’m bored, there’s nothing to do!”, so we decided not to wait.  Yeah! I was so excited.

PIPPI SQUEAK

Soon we were off to pick up 7 month old Pippi Squeak!  They are a perfect match, these two little peas in a pod!  Like Josie, she has the extreme energy, is quite feisty and playful, and a wee bit bossy, but just kind of melts as soon as she is picked up.  I’ve never seen a tail shake so quickly and constantly!

She was so tiny we started calling her Pipsqueak just as a nickname before we picked her real name. But it turned into Pippi and just stuck! The name suits her in many ways. Usually, a squeaky toy might accidentally get squeezed once or twice, but Pippi finds that squeaker in a toy and goes to town on it!  If we’re watching a movie we have to pause until she’s done because you can’t hear a thing! And if she thinks she’s missing anything, she voices her concern with some very high pitched squeaks! The Swiffer also elicits this response. Early on she decided she would rule the roost! Though at first Josie seemed a bit perplexed at how this tiny thing could be so noisy and pushy, we noticed she is always a very patient big sister.  A nice surprise for us proud parents!

[Best_Wordpress_Gallery id=”6″ gal_title=”The Girls”]

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