I was really hoping to NOT talk about the food recall issue again - in fact, I had some fun information to share with you about our staff's special talents outside of veterinary medicine (you'll be amazed at what a talented crew we all are)!  However, like many vets, I've had an uneasy feeling - since the recall started - that problems with pet food will be an issue that will be with us all for a long, long time.  The effects of the recall are continuing to become more widespread, too.  As we all learned last week (after someone got the bright idea to feed recalled pet food to pigs that were destined to become our food), a number of animal slaughterhouses that supply our grocery stores had to close down - but not before some of the contaminated pork was already in America's food supply.  The FDA is calling the risk to humans "small" - but as Lizzie pointed out in her column last month, if it happens to you or your pet, the impact is 100%.

As of today, Menu Foods has expanded their recall list by more than 200 new food items.  (Menu is the company in Canada that produced the contaminated food additive that has been found in so many pet foods.)  The newly recalled items do not necessarily contain contaminated glutens, but were processed in the same plant at the same time as were the contaminated foods - so there is a very real risk of cross-contamination.  Please, continue to check our website every few days to make sure that what you are feeding your pet is safe.

Please be very aware that not all stores have pulled contaminated foods - you absolutely cannot trust that just because a pet food is still on a store shelf, that it is safe.  Some of our major nationwide chain stores have elected to leave the issue of whether or not to purchase recalled foods up to the consumer.  Others have very delayed recall systems that allow contaminated foods to remain on shelves for days to weeks after an official recall.

And, please don't assume that the words "holistic" or "natural" or "veterinary-approved" on a pet food label necessarily means that the food is safe.  Many such foods have been recalled, among them several veterinary prescription diets and some so-called premium "holistic" diets.  You really DO need to check the recall listings frequently.  Look for not just your pet's main diet, but for treats, snacks, biscuits, rawhides, and jerky treats that may have been recalled.

If you haven't thought about it before, maybe now is the time to develop a backup plan.  Could you - would you - prepare a home-made diet, if it became necessary?  Would you know how to find a balanced recipe?  We are comfortable with the recipes in these books, among others:

Dr. Dorosz's Let's Cook for Our Cat

Dr. Dorosz's Let's Cook for Our Dog

Anita Frazier's The New Natural Cat

Dr. Pitcairn's Complete Guide to Natural Health for Dogs and Cats

If you don't cook, where could you go to find a safe and wholesome source of food for your pets?  The "Our Favorite Things" section of our website can help.  So can the balanceIT.com website, where you can download, for a fee, home-made diets developed by trained veterinary nutritionists.  For a limited time, this website will allow you to download a no-cost diet that is safe for healthy pets by using the code word "VIN."  VIN stands for the Veterinary Information Network, used by member veterinarians world-wide to communicate about animal-related issues such as the food recall.  All of our Doctors are VIN members.

Our plan at Knollwood is to continue to keep the food recall section of our website active as long as the recalls continue, and for at least 6 months after activity on the recall lists cease.  Our Webmistress Kelly has done an amazing job bringing new recalls to your prompt attention -- she sometimes finds them faster than I'm able to e-mail them to her!

We are fortunate that few Knollwood pets have died as a result of eating contaminated foods - but at least several times weekly, we talk to clients who are still feeding foods on the recall list.  Until we brought it to their attention, they didn't even know that they were feeding their precious pets something that could be life-threatening.  That's why we have our Nurses come into the exam room with you and ask you all the questions they do before you see one of our Doctors!  Sometimes, clients feel our Nurses are being intrusive or picky when we ask detailed questions about a pet's diet, supplements, medications, sleeping patterns, and personal habits.  Please be patient with them - the information they gain could save your pet's life.

By next month, I hope to be able to move onto more fun topics - like having you guess which of our staff members is an exceptionally talented karaoke singer with a better version of "Black Velvet" than the original recording…or which one took her one of her stable of 24 horses all the way to a State Quarterhorse Championship...or which one can eyeball your diamond and tell you how good it is...or which one used to "milk" copperhead snakes for their venom weekly as a grad school project...or which one earned a genuine rodeo buckle and went to college mainly to join a sorority (guarantee you'll never guess that one!).  There are lots more.  Like I said...we're a very talented bunch at Knollwood!