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TIPS AND GENERAL INFORMATION ON PET FOOD TESTING 1. It’s not always the food. This may sound like an odd statement coming from an organization dedicated in large part to independent testing of pet food. However, it may very well save your pet’s life to keep an open mind that something other than pet food may be causing a health problem. Here are some questions to keep in mind if a pet becomes ill: a) Does your pet have existing health problems which could account for a sudden illness? b) Is your pet of an age that could be classified as being a senior? If so, age related health issues may occur which may cause your pet to become ill. c) Is your pet allowed outdoors unsupervised? Things like antifreeze, insecticides, rodent poisons and slug bait are very toxic to pets. A free roaming pet may easily be exposed to these and other substances, and thousands die every year as a result of accidental poisonings. Ppfsa.org strongly recommends all pet owners take extra care to keep their pets in a safe, supervised environment to prevent accidental poisoning incidents. d) Do you live in an area where ticks are a problem? Ticks can carry diseases such as Lyme Disease, which can potentially be life threatening to pets. Symptoms of diseases carried by biting insects may sometimes be very similar to a reaction to toxins. e) Does your pet have any food allergies? Many common pet food ingredients may cause allergic reactions in some pets. Symptoms can range from fairly mild to severe, and can show up even though the pet has eaten that kind of food for long periods of time. f) Are there any household items potentially toxic to pets that your pet could have been exposed to? A dropped pill that’s safe for human consumption may be lethal to a pet. Plants, cleaners, and medications should always be kept out of reach of pets. Your veterinarian is your most important resource if your pet becomes ill. Work closely with your medical professionals in any type of medical emergency, especially if any of the above could be an issue. It may save your pet’s life. 2. If at any time you suspect a problem with pet food, STOP FEEDING IT IMMEDIATELY! You can always buy more food, but your pet is irreplaceable. Switch brands or home cook until you are sure the food is safe. 3. Do not throw the food away or return it to the store. If there’s any chance the pet food is contaminated, the samples you have may be the only evidence available to make it possible to identify the source of contamination. 4. Make notes of expiration dates and lot numbers. If you have a limited amount of the suspect pet food, you may want to make a visit to the store where it was purchased to obtain additional samples for testing purposes. 5. Notify the pet food company of any suspected problems with the food. Most companies list a toll free number on the packaging you can call to report problems. For legal reasons, we also recommend you follow up any phone calls in writing. Keep a copy of the letter for your own records and send the letter by certified mail, return receipt requested. 6. If a pet food company requests large quantities of your pet food to test, you may want to limit what you send. In general, one cup of dry food is more than enough if a pet food company is sincere about following up a customer complaint with actual testing. 7. Report the suspected problem to your local FDA consumer complaint coordinator. The FDA lists the local numbers by area at this link. 8. Your state Department of Agriculture is potentially an excellent resource if you suspect a problem with pet food. While the focus is generally geared more toward livestock and farming, much of what they do crosses over to pets. They are typically tied to a major state university and have state of the art feed testing facilities available. Testing fees for state residents tend to be at a discount to offerings by commercial laboratories, and cover the most common food contaminants such as mycotoxins, metals, pesticides and food borne diseases. Use an Internet search for the Department of Agriculture in your area. 9. When working with government agencies, as a general rule, we recommend against turning over all of your samples. This may not always be practical, for example if you have only one container of food. In any situation where you do have a good quantity of dry food, or multiple containers of canned food, you have a legal right to retain part of the samples under provisions of the Food, Drug and Cosmetics Act. 10. The more clinical information you have on the symptoms displayed in your pet the better. While the information is fresh in your mind, make written notes as to dates and times the symptoms occurred. How long after eating the food the first symptoms appeared, etc.. Work with your veterinarian to run standard blood and urine tests for kidney and liver values. Consult with your vet about running additional tests which may help in identifying a possible food contamination problem. Wherever possible, ask that samples be preserved in the event additional testing may be needed. 11. If the worst happens, and your pet does not survive, some thought should be given to performing a necropsy on your pet. This is a difficult decision to make while suffering the shock of the loss of a beloved companion pet. Like many tragic events, making plans and decisions on how to handle a situation are best made before it is ever necessary - then one hopes it never becomes necessary. In consulting with many pet owners over the last year, after the worst of the shock of the sudden loss of a pet has worn off, one of the most difficult concerns is not knowing what really happened to cause the pet’s illness. A necropsy may help answer that question, as well as potentially provide critical information if adulterated pet food was the cause. Ask that tissue samples be preserved in the event additional testing is necessary. 12. Pfpsa.org has worked with a number of independent commercial labs on testing pet food. We’ve had good experiences with all of them, and all of them will accept samples for testing submitted by private parties. One of the most difficult aspects of ordering lab work on pet food is deciding what to test for. As a general rule, most labs aren’t in a position to recommend tests for specific symptoms. It’s usually up to the person ordering the tests to decide which tests to order. ExperTox offers an unknown toxin scan for around $275. This is often a good place to start as the test covers a wide range of substances and it isn’t necessary for the person ordering the test to do a lot of guess work on what to test for. It’s important to keep in mind, however, that while the test does cover a lot of things, it does not cover everything. Heavy metals, mycotoxins and bacteria won’t be detected by this test, so if those are suspects, those will have to be ordered separately. Midwest Labs offers a variety of standard tests for pet food. You can download a fee schedule and a list of tests available in PDF format from their site. Before ordering a test, you may want to check with the lab to make sure the levels of detection on a particular test is adequate enough to meet your needs. Bodycote offers a wide range of testing services, including food, and will work with private parties. AccuTrace works with a large network of commercial labs. Their customer service is excellent and they are a great resource for helping you find a lab to do the work when it comes to special testing needs. Pfpsa.org welcomes inquires from pet owners suspecting a problem with pet food, and we’re glad to work with you in helping you find resources and information if you’re interested in testing pet food samples on your own. We’re not veterinarians or toxicologists, so we stress the importance of working with your medical professionals when your pet’s health is at stake. All of the above is intended as general information only and should not be considered medical or legal advice. It is based on our own experience in working on pet food issues and is intended as a good faith effort to share some of that experience with pet owners looking into pet food issues for the first time. Feel free to contact us if you have any questions or suggestions on how the above list may be improved. |