Pet Food Recall Has Owners Worried

Menu Foods Produces "Cuts And Gravy" For More Than 40 Brands; Pets Suffer Kidney Failure

(CBS/AP)  For owner Elizabeth Krottinger, it's been a difficult week: All five of her dogs have been sickened.

"I've just been one big stress ball," she told CBS News.

Menu Foods, a Canadian company based outside Toronto that produces pet food, said Saturday it was recalling dog food sold throughout North America under 51 brands and cat food sold under 40 brands including Iams, Nutro and Eukanuba. The food was distributed by major retailers such as Wal-Mart, Kroger and Safeway.

An unknown number of cats and dogs had suffered kidney failure and about 10 died after eating the affected pet food, veterinarian and CBS News correspondent Dr. Debbye Turner reports.

Two other companies — Nestle Purina PetCare Co. and Hill's Pet Nutrition Inc. — said Saturday that as a precaution they were voluntarily recalling some products made by Menu Foods.

Many stores that sold the affected brands frantically pulled packages off shelves.

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Silviene Grzybowski's cat, Smokey, hadn't been eating for days.

"The vet told us to buy her her favorite food, but I'm going to call the vet right now," Grzybowski said.

Acute renal (kidney) failure is a serious disease, and if not caught quickly will be fatal, Turner reports. Some symptoms are: change in urination, vomiting, diarrhea, depression, listlessness, loss of appetite.

Ron Finegold of Boynton Beach, Fla., said he noticed about a week or so ago that his family's 3-year-old cat — who was regularly fed a variety of Iams cat food — had stopped eating and did not appear well. He quickly took the animal to the veterinarian, who determined she was in renal failure.

He said he heard about the recall on the radio Friday night. He checked his trash, and found out he had given the cat some of the affected food.

"That's when I realized (the illness) had to be related," Finegold said. "She won't be eating that stuff anymore."

A complete list of the recalled products along with product codes, descriptions and production dates was available from the Menu Foods Web site. The company also designated a phone number that pet owners can call for information — [phone].

Turner reports that the FDA said Monday it is focusing its investigation on a new supplier of wheat gluten, which Menu Foods began using around the time the first complaints surfaced. But it could be weeks before pet owners have answers.

Menu Foods' chief executive and president Paul Henderson told the Associated Press on Friday that the company was still trying to figure out what happened.