Most pet food manufacturers buy ingredients from inexpensive overseas suppliers. And almost EVERY CAT FOOD manufacturer has had at least ONE recall in the last 5 years. That is a scary fact of the pet food industry. The reasons for recalling food varies from lack of essential vitamins, mineral levels at 10 times the safety level, food laced with toxic ingredients, salmonella-contaminated meat. Recently, Evanger recalled pet food that contained phenobarbital, a drug used to euthanize animals. Blue Buffalo canned food was recalled for containing pieces of metal!
Monitor all pet food recalls here:Current Pet Food Recalls
How can we protect our pets? What can we feed that is safe? Safety lies in ROTATION of brands. Chose at least 3-5+ reputable pet food companies (that are not owned by the same parent company) and rotate foods. Specifically, feed a different canned food every day. Rotate from one SMALL bag of dry food to another BRAND. Consider rotating in a home made diet, or balanced raw diet. Just rotating flavors from the same company is not enough. Most of the recalls have included a large percentage of foods from the same company. For example, Wellness cat food recall of 2012 included ALL their canned cat food (for lacking essential B vitamins) except their 2 flavors of Wellness Core.
What does rotation do? It reduces the likelihood that you will be feeding an unsafe food over an extended period of time. Remember recalled food has been on pet store shelves for months. The key is ROTATION and VARIETY. Some people are concerned about changing foods daily, as it might upset their cat's system. If your cat has a sensitive gut, consider a daily PROBIOTIC added into the food. A probiotic allows the gut to remain healthy during food changes. Food changes can be done gradually over a 2 week period, allowing the G.I. tract to better accustom to the new food, in the case of a sensitive stomach.
As always, discuss any dietary concerns with your veterinarian. I recommend bringing the bag/or cans of food that your currently feed, with you to your next wellness exam. That way, your pets nutrition can be evaluated during this appointment!
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Dr. Maureen Flatley
Fox Valley Cat Clinic
