P&G Expands Voluntary Recall of Specialized Dry Pet Foods

P&G Expands Voluntary Limited Recall of Specialized Dry Pet Foods Due to Possible Health Risk

The Procter & Gamble Company (P&G) (NYSE:PG) is voluntarily expanding its recall to include veterinary and some specialized dry pet food as a precautionary measure because it has the potential to be contaminated with salmonella. No salmonella-related illnesses have been reported.

The following dry pet food products are included:


Product Name Version -- "Best-By" Dates -- UPC Codes

Iams Veterinary Dry Formulas All dry sizes and varieties -01Jul10 – 01Dec11
All UPC Codes

Eukanuba Naturally Wild All dry sizes and varieties - 01Jul10 – 01Dec11
All UPC Codes

Eukanuba Pure All dry sizes and varieties -01Jul10 – 01Dec11
All UPC Codes

Eukanuba Custom Care Sensitive Skin All dry sizes -01Jul10 – 01Dec11
All UPC Codes


The affected products are sold in veterinary clinics and specialty pet retailers throughout the United States and Canada. No canned food, biscuits/treats or supplements are affected by this announcement. A full listing of UPC codes can be found at http://www.iams.com/.

These products are made in a single, specialized facility. In cooperation with FDA, P&G determined that some products made at this facility have the potential for salmonella contamination. As a precautionary measure, P&G is recalling all products made at this facility.

Consumers who have purchased the specific dry pet foods listed should discard them. People handling dry pet food can become infected with Salmonella, especially if they have not thoroughly washed their hands after having contact with surfaces exposed to this product. 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 have decreased appetite, fever and abdominal pain. If left untreated, pets may be lethargic and have diarrhea or bloody diarrhea, fever and vomiting. 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.

For further information or a product replacement or refund call P&G toll-free at 877-340-8823 (Monday – Friday, 9:00 AM to 6:00 PM EST).

Was She A Dog Breeder Or A Dog Punisher

A dog breeder named Patricia Gail Cathers from Georgetown County was charged with seven counts of animal cruelty after the local deputies had seized forty six dogs from her house.

The conditions were pretty bad for the dogs who had to live in what you would call hell. The report that said the dogs were drinking dirty green looking water and moldy dog food while living in their own mess. And to think that Cathers was supposedly a dog breeder, who in the right mind would have brought a dog from her.

Read the article here.

Find Out If Your Dog Is Over Weight

How Fat Is That Doggie in Your Window? Vets Release Pet Weight Translator
Pet Weight Translator Compares Weights of Portly Pets to Pudgy People

Vets concerned about the growing pet obesity epidemic want people to know that a 12 pound Yorkie is the same as an average female weighing 218 pounds and a 14 pound cat is equivalent to a 237 pound man. The Association for Pet Obesity Prevention (APOP) has created an online pet weight translator and tables of the most common breeds that compare those extra pounds on our pets in terms of love handles we can all relate to.

APOP Founder and President Dr. Ernie Ward remarks on why the group created these tools. “As a veterinarian I’m always looking for ways to demonstrate how serious even a few extra pounds on a pet can be. These tables and calculations put pet weights in human terms, making it easier to understand. For example, if I tell a client their female Lab is 20 pounds overweight, that doesn’t sound too bad. Owners think ‘It’s a big dog.’ If I tell them it’s the same as them weighing almost 190 pounds, suddenly the light bulb goes on. ‘My dog is fat.’”

More important than light bulbs flashing, Ward hopes to educate pet lovers about the dangers of pet obesity and poor nutrition.

“Over half the nation’s dogs and cats are now overweight making obesity the leading health threat of our pets. Largely preventable diseases such as arthritis and diabetes are being seen in record numbers costing pets their life and owners millions in medical bills. The reality most of these cases could be avoided simply by preventing weight gain and shedding excess pounds.”
So what can pet owners do to fight excess weight in their pets?

“The single most valuable tool a pet owner has in the fight against obesity is a measuring cup. Most pet owners don’t measure how much they’re feeding and even fewer know how much they should be feeding.” responds Ward.

To determine how many pounds on a pet equal those on a person, the group used average heights for men and women, 5 foot 9 inches and 5 feet 4 inches, respectively. They then used the normal range of the Body Mass Index (BMI), 18.5 to 24.9. These weights were then compared to a breed’s normal weight range.

Ward explains, “Our calculations were performed in the most conservative fashion. We used the upper range of ‘normal’ weights for women (145 pounds) and men (169 pounds) as well as the upper weight range for breeds as a starting point for our pet equivalents. When our charts state a 23 pound Shih tzu is equal to a 208 pound female, you can count on it.”

One of the key barriers to pet weight loss is owner’s denial of the problem which Ward calls the ‘fat gap.’

“Many owners incorrectly believe their pet is big. The reality is very few of us are the size of an NBA or NFL professional athlete. Those guys are large. By putting their pet’s weight in terms normal people can relate to, I can more easily explain why their pet is ‘fat,’ not ‘big.’”

Visit www.PetObesityPrevention.com for details.

Other highlights of the data include:

* 90 pound female Labrador retriever is equal to a 186 pound 5’ 4” female or 217 pound 5’ 9” male
* Every excess pound on a female Lab is equal to 4 to 5 pounds on a 5’ 4” female or 5’ 9” male
* 15 pound average DSH/DMH/DLH cat is equal to a 218 pound 5’ 4” female or 254 pound 5’ 9” male
* Every excess pound on an average DSH/DMH/DLH cat is equal to 14 to 15 pounds on a 5’ 4” female or 17 pounds on a 5’ 9” male
* 15 pound average DSH/DMH/DLH cat is equal to a 218 pound 5’ 4” female or 254 pound 5’ 9” male
* 105 pound male Golden retriever is equal to a 203 pound 5’ 4” female or 237 pound 5’ 9” male
* Every excess pound on a female Golden is equal to 4 to 5 pounds on a 5’ 4” female or 5’ 9” male
* 12 pound Pomeranian is equal to a 249 pound 5’ 4” female or 290 pound 5’ 9” male
* Every excess pound on a Pomeranian is equal to 21 to 21 pounds on a 5’ 4” female or 24 to 25 pounds on a 5’ 9” male

Elena Adams Designs Donates To Best Friends Animal Society with Necklace Proceeds

Jewelry Designer to Benefit Best Friends Animal Society with Necklace Proceeds
Elena Adams Designs offers a sterling silver necklace with all proceeds benefiting the Best Friends Animal Society.

Elena Adams Designs has created a sterling silver, smokey quartz and iolite necklace to be sold throughout August with all proceeds going to benefit the Best Friends Animal Society.

Owner, Elena Adams has always been committed to using her business resources to aid charities, and has previously worked to raise money for The National Alliance for Research on Schizophrenia and Depression, Wild Care and Child's Play. She also regularly donates her jewelry for charity auctions throughout the US.

Adams grew up around animals, and they have always played an important role in her life. With so many unwanted and sick animals being abandoned to high-kill shelters, Best Friends Animal Society is dedicated to saving lives and finding homes for pets that would otherwise be euthanized.

“It makes me so sad to think that every day, people abandon their pets because they either don't want them or can’t afford their medical needs," said Adams. "Pets are not designer products, and to think that so many perfect creatures are needlessly put down breaks my heart. I want to give people an opportunity to contribute in a way that still feels like they are getting value for their money.”

Elena Adams Designs specializes in one-of-a-kind, artistic wear, and has in the past focused on raising awareness through single, high-end pieces. With the economy in early recovery stages, most shoppers are not able to commit to large donations, and so, for the first time, Adams has created a necklace to help her customers contribute in smaller, yet still significant ways.

Smokey quartz and iolite on a sterling silver chain create a necklace that is perfect as a fine, single chain, or beautifully layers with other chain and beaded necklaces. Adams loves to pair delicate, sterling silver chain maille with semi-precious gemstones and designed this piece to reflect her signature style.

Retailing at $35, $20 of each sale will go to benefit Best Friends.

These necklaces will be available until August 31st or while supplies last. They can be found exclusively at http://www.elena-adams.com/bestfriends

About Elena Adams Designs
Elena Adams believes that timeless jewelry should be a part of every woman’s collection, and has been creating jewelry for nearly ten years. Specializing in chain maille, she strives to maintain the classic appeal of this ancient technique, while updating it for the modern woman, using gemstones and sterling silver to create richly feminine treasures that will last a lifetime. Her work is available at www.elena-adams.com

About Best Friends Animal Society (from their website)
Best Friends Animal Society is guided by a simple philosophy: kindness to animals builds a better world for all of us. Best Friends' No More Homeless Pets campaign created a new vision: A grassroots effort to place dogs and cats who were considered "unadoptable" into good homes, and to reduce the number of unwanted pets through effective spay and neuter programs.

Don't Miss The Third Annual Fido’s Festival USA

OctoberFETCH Marks Third Annual Fido’s Festival USA(R) One Of Country’s Largest Dog-Centered Celebrations
Fall, Halloween-Themed Activities Include Costume Contests, Entertainment, Performance Lure and Agility Courses, Training Demos, Dog Rescues/Shelters, Educational Seminars and More

The Third Annual Fido’s Festival USA®, the first ever all-inclusive dog festival, takes place October 9-10, 2010 at the Salem County Fairgrounds in Woodstown, New Jersey. This year’s theme, “OctoberFETCH,” brings many opportunities for families and their dogs to celebrate autumn with friendly fall-themed canine contests, health and training seminars, demonstrations on 64 acres of indoor/outdoor pavilions that can accommodate up to 30,000 attendees. The Festival also features a variety of dog products and services, seminars by veterinarians, and appearances by local celebrities and lots of fun for dog owners, too, including food, beverages, Oktoberfest dancers, and more.

Some of the Festival’s many exciting, fun-filled activities for dogs and their owners include:


Fall-Themed Contests
TV/Film Auditions
Dock Diving
Costume Parade, Contest
High Performance Lure, Agility Courses
Products, Services
Rescues, Shelters
Play Area
Vet Seminars

ABOUT FIDO’S FESTIVAL USA
Fido’s Festival USA® was founded to celebrate the joy and privilege of being a lovable dog, any dog, family, stray, or orphaned, and to acknowledge their unique gifts and talents, not just full breeds. It is the first dog-centered event to be all-inclusive to canines.

From Cooked Dog Books To Sad Dog News

Well the books didn’t work out for a Williamson County Animal Control Department in Franklin, Tenn. after an audit of the books found an employee named Kerrania Jensen had stolen over one hundred thousand dollars.

This is real low to steal from an animal shelter that could have used the money to help the shelter take care of the abandon pets.

The director of the Comptroller's Division of County Audit Jim Arnette said: There was a lot of trust put into Ms. Jensen. When you put that trust in an individual, it's very disturbing to find out they've been committing a fraud.

Read the article here.


In Pryor, Oklahoma the SPCA had rescued eight King Charles Cavalier Spaniels that were living in inhumane conditions at a Amish farm with no running water or electric.

Cruelty Investigator Wade Farnan said: Filthy, hadn't been cleaned in I don't know when. Some of them had water, some of them didn't.

Read the article here.

If you want to adopt one of these dogs you can go to www.tulsaspca.org


The Humane Society is offering a two thousand dollars reward to find out who is responsible for stoning the animals in Washington, DC . There have been some twelve animals killed in the past month by these reckless thugs.

Read the article by Malachi Constant here.


The Morgan Hill Police arrested a sick’o named Kevin Fitfield back on Tuesday for dragging what was reported as a terminally ill dog named Snowflake on the ground after someone reported this guy.

How could you do something like that to your dog?

Read the article here.


A guy named George Cochran had his pit bull tethered outside and due to the rope binding up which caused the poor dog to hang himself. The Lee County Animal Services had told George at an earlier date to use a better way to tie his dog up but now it’s too late for his poor dog.

I hope other people that tie their dog up outside think twice about how they tie up their dog, before their dog dies too.

Read the article by Linh Bui here.


Richmond, VA is reporting around five thousand calls this year just on animal cruelty which seems like a real lot for any one area.

Richmond's director of Animal Care and Control Jody Jones said: People are asking us to come out and investigate these types of crimes. And help them fix the crimes that are taking place in their neighborhoods. The increase in calls has led to some wonderful prosecutions here in Richmond.

Hopefully more people in all areas of the word will report any animal cruelty that they see to help put a stop to the abuse to our friends.

Read the article by Rachel DePompa here.

What Is A Parasite Called Leishmaniosis

New Advances in Understanding of Parasite Risk Showcased at CVBD World Forum

FirstCall/ --

- Studies Reveal Impact and Spread of CVBDs Worldwide

Fascinating studies giving new insights into the spread of leishmaniosis in the UK and France, the appearance of new CVBDs in Germany, the state of heartworm infection in Korea and the neurological impact on humans of long-term bartonella infection from the USA are among the papers now available for download from http://www.cvbd.org, as the proceedings of the 5th Annual Canine Vector Borne Disease (CVBD) World Forum are made available online today.

The recent changes in travel restrictions between the UK and continental Europe coupled with increases in average temperatures in the UK have potentially dramatically lowered the barriers to new CVBDs entering the UK. The risk of one of these diseases, leishmaniosis, has been studied by the team led by Dr Susan Shaw, University of Bristol, UK, who presented their findings at the CVBD meeting in New York. Dr Shaw reported on an in-depth study of 257 dogs diagnosed in the UK with confirmed leishmaniosis between 2005 and 2007. However, her laboratory has dealt with over 900 cases since 2000 when the PETS travel scheme was initiated. This is a significant increase from previous studies and a number which they believe to be underestimated based on lack of awareness of the symptomatology in clinical cases and the number of sub-clinically infected dogs entering the UK. According to Dr Shaw, "This increased prevalence raises the very real prospect of leishmaniosis becoming established in the UK if the sand fly vector appears in this country. Indeed, there is a worrying possibility that there is already transmission occurring in the UK, as a number of dogs in our study had no history of travel outside the UK at all." More information on Dr Shaw's study can be found at http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.vetpar.2009.03.025.

Further evidence of the risk posed by the movement of dogs within Europe was presented by Dr Torsten Naucke. Dr Naucke's study looked at more than 4,500 dogs imported into Germany, and found that nearly one in four (23.4%) were infected with babesiosis, and more than one in ten were infected with leishmaniosis (12.2%) and ehrlichiosis (10.1%). According to Dr Naucke, "Based on these findings the importation of dogs from endemic regions to Germany, as well as travelling with dogs to these regions carries a significant risk of acquiring an infection. We would recommend that pet owners seek the advice of their veterinarians prior to importing a dog from an endemic area or travel to such areas." For more information on Dr Naucke's finding, visit http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2857866/?tool=pubmed

Dr Jean-Pierre Dedet shared his group's work on developing the first risk map for canine leishmaniosis in France. Having studied more than 40 years of records, the group was able to establish the major areas of endemicity in France. The largest cluster was found in the southern slopes of the Cevennes Mountains and two regions of the Provence and Maritime Alps; a small reduced cluster was found in the North West of France around Tours. Based on the environment in which these clusters were found, the team led by Dr Dedet has been able, for the first time, to develop a model showing which areas of France are most at risk of leishmaniosis, allowing veterinarians and pet owners to better understand the risks faced by dogs, and to take appropriate preventative measures. For more information on the study and risk map, go to http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2857865/?tool=pubmed

Away from Europe, Professor SungShik Shin of Chonnam National University, Korea, led a study looking at the levels of CVBDs in both rural and urban dogs in Korea, an area that has been little studied in the past. This study looked at hunting dogs in the countryside, and found that more than two in five dogs (40.6%) tested positive for a CVBD. The most common CVBD among these dogs was heartworm (Dirofilaria immitis), with a remarkable 22.3% of working dogs testing positive. The other three CVBDs tested for were also notably common, with Anaplasma phagocytophilum, Ehrlichia canis, and Borrelia burgdorferi infection levels of 18.8%, 6.1% and 2.2% respectively. When they looked at urban dogs, the picture was markedly different, with only cases of heartworm being found; however the levels of heartworm were nearly as high in this population as in the rural population at around one in seven dogs (14.6%).

Finally, Dr Edward Breitschwerdt of North Carolina State University, USA, presented a case of bartonella infection in a father and daughter from the USA. This case involved a veterinarian who developed a number of chronic symptoms over a period of years, including arthralgia, progressive weight loss, muscle weakness and lack of coordination. His daughter had recently also developed headaches, muscle pain and insomnia. On investigation, the father and daughter were found to be infected with one species and one sub-species of bartonella which, after extended treatment were eventually eliminated, leading to complete remission of symptoms. "These two cases demonstrate the very real threat posed to humans by CVBDs. It's all too easy to forget that there are many of these diseases that, while not common in humans, can cause significant suffering and even death. It's in part because of this risk to humans that I would encourage all veterinarians to ensure they are educated on the symptoms of CVBDs in dogs, as it is only by protecting dogs that we can protect ourselves," said Dr Breitschwerdt.

The proceedings include all the presentations given at the 5th CVBD World Forum in New York, sponsored Bayer Animal Health, where leading experts in CVBDs from around the world met to share the latest research on these important diseases. Sarah Weston of Bayer Animal Health spoke of the CVBD World Forum, "The CVBD World Forum is another example of Bayer Animal Health delivering on our commitment to improving the understanding and treatment of CVBDs. As we have seen at this meeting, this is an area where knowledge is still rapidly expanding, and we are proud to play our part in helping to bring people together to share information and develop new approaches to the study and prevention of CVBDs".

About CVBDs

For more information about CVBDs, visit http://www.CVBD.org