Hollister
– Panting in the afternoon sun outside a Hollister Starbucks,
Gypsy – a Shih Tzu – looks happy and healthy.
Hollister – Panting in the afternoon sun outside a Hollister Starbucks, Gypsy – a Shih Tzu – looks happy and healthy.
But when Gypsy’s owner, Michelle Gutierrez, a 22-year-old Hollister resident, first heard about the nationwide recall of numerous brands of dog and cat food, she said she worried for the safety of her pet.
“I saw all the list of names (of dog foods) and I saw the kind I use, and I freaked out,” Gutierrez said. “She’s like my baby!”
Although Gypsy was fine, Gutierrez is one of many San Benito County pet owners who became concerned after hearing about the recall of 60 million containers of potentially deadly pet food.
Local pet store owners and veterinarians say they have been flooded with calls from concerned cat and dog owners.
“A lot of people are coming in and asking questions,” said Becky Butler, a manager at Pet World. She said the store did not carry any of the recalled products, but that she had been asked by several people concerned about which pet food brands had been affected.
On Safeway’s pet food aisle, eight shelves are now devoid of pet food, which has been replaced with a note from the management explaining the national recall.
“Everybody who has a pet, I definitely would check their food to see if it’s affected so they can rest easy,” said Mel White, a Hollister veterinarian. White said he has had calls from more than a dozen patients asking about the recall.
White said it’s best to be cautious and confirm the pet has not consumed the recalled food.
Cans and pouches of wet food manufactured by Menu Foods, which is sold under nearly 100 different brands of cat and dog food – including Iams and Nutro – were recalled March 16 following a nationwide outbreak of kidney failure in household pets that had eaten Menu Foods products.
The Food and Drug Administration has been investigating the Menu Foods products, and believes the illness may be linked to wheat gluten found in the food, although the exact reason for the kidney failure is unknown at this time.
At least one dog in Hollister has been taken to the veterinarian in the past week with kidney failure. Veterinarian Jerry Leroux said the dog had been brought in Monday showing symptoms of kidney failure. The dog’s owner had seen TV news reports about the recalled pet foods and realized her dog could have been affected.
“It was acute renal failure,” Leroux said. “The owner did know the food she was feeding it was on the list. There’s no way to prove it (was the food), but it just might be.”
The dog is safe now and back home with its owners.
Leroux said he has run blood tests on at least 15 other animals in the past week who have also eaten the pulled pet food.
“Some of them have been showing no signs, but (their owners) just want to have them checked because they’ve been on that food,” Leroux said.
The tests cost approximately $75 for complete blood work or $45 for a more abbreviated version, Leroux said.
“It might be worth it. If the owners are overly concerned, they can certainly have the blood tested,” he said.
But local veterinarians agree that if pet owners check their cat or dog food and watch for symptoms, the pet food scare should remain under control.
“At least here in this county there hasn’t been much of the product located at all,” said Gary Buck, owner of Pet World. “Our customers are probably safe.”
Alice Joy covers education for the Free Lance. She can be reached at 831-637-5566 ext. 336 or at
aj**@fr***********.com
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