Nestlé USA’s Baking Division has been informed by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) that it has found E. coli 0157:H7 in Nestlé TOLL HOUSE refrigerated chocolate chip cookie dough bar. The product has a day code of 9041 and a “Best before 10 JUN 2009″ notation.

Over 70 people become ill after eating raw cookie dough, in which bacterial contamination was confirmed. The raw cookie dough is contaminated with a bacteria called E. coli, commonly found in feces. People in 30 states have been affected with severe vomiting and diarrhea as a result.

The feds are investigating Nestle’s Danville, Virginia plant that produced the refrigerated dough to to find the source of the deadly strain of the bacteria. According to the the Centers for Disease Control over the majority of people affected are under the age of 20.

Pets fed this dough are also at risk so please don’t feed any Nestles cookie dough, to your dog or cat this holiday weekend. Never feed raw cookie dough to dogs or cats as the raw dough expands in their stomachs and can lead to severe stomach upset, intestinal cramping and bloat.

Nestle is fully cooperating with the federal inspections and have provided a complete listing of the recalled products. For questions about this contact Nestle consumer services at 1-800-559-5025.

Bookmark www.carolonpets.com for the latest pet health news and information.

Holistic veterinarian, Dr. Carol Osborne, DVM, is available for pet health questions and personal pet consultations. Dr. Carol can be contacted email at drcarol@drcarol.com or call her office toll free at 1-866-372-2765.

The owners of a Nevada pet food company pled guilty in federal court to distributing tainted ingredients intended for pet food that led to a nationwide recall in and the deaths of countless pets.
Millions of pet owners were devastated by the pet food recall in 2007. The conduct of these defendants in violating federal health and safety standards caused the deaths and illness of thousands of family pets, as well as anxiety among dog and cat owners across the country and economic harm to many pet food manufacturers.”

The business owners, Sally and her husband Stephen Miller, of Las Vegas, pled guilty of selling adulterated food and one count of selling misbranded pet food through their company, ChemNutra.

ChemNutra bought food ingredients in China then sold them throughout the U.S. to food companies including the industrial component, melamine, used to make plastics and cleaning products, which contaminated the wheat gluten, giving it a higher protein count.

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Dear Dr. Carol,

We are now 10 days into the new feeding program necessitated by the twice daily dosages of your VitaLife cat supplement – and we have two kitties who are absolutely thrilled with their new early evening tuna treats and your AM/PM supplement. Thus the old feeding pattern in place for 10 years has been jettisoned in 10 days – by the unanimous opinions of both participating quadrupeds. My previous concerns have been overruled.

Impressive. So as Franny and Cleo’s two legged servant, it is time for me to negotiate as graceful a surrender as circumstances and my poor diplomatic skills permit. At this point, I cannot imagine discontinuing this program.

You are their unsung hero. To state that they enjoy this second daily meal/snack of tuna, VitaLife & usually a snack of kitty kissers or roasted chicken, pork, or ham would be a significant understatement. The more outspoken of the two usually starts her daily performance of the heartrending ’starving kitty symphony’ about an hour before the designated second feeding time. She’s neither shy, nor short in the enthusiasm department.

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Results arrived this week revealing toxic zinc levels in an unopened bag of Nutro Max Cat Adult Roasted Chicken Flavor food. The Nutro cat food bag stated it was best if used by June 7, 2010. The zinc levels were deadly coming in at 2100 parts per million. A cat eating this food would receive over 38 times the amount of zinc recommended by the National Research Council, or 175 mg of zinc a day. A 9 pound cat would ingest a lethal dose of this food in just over 2 days. Chances of any cat surviving after eating this food would be very unlikely. Signs of Zinc toxicity are similar to those of pancreatitis with severe episodes of vomiting and diarrhea. If the cats survived long enough liver and kidney damage could be possible consequences as well.

The receipt for the purchase of this food showed that it was purchased 1 day AFTER the Nutro Cat Food recall was announced. Apparently Nutro had not yet informed the retail store of the problem. Nutro didn’t seem to be overly concerned. Pfpsa.org is glad to work with clients and law firm’s interested in pursuing a class action against Nutro Pet Products.

Most of us remember the deadly pet food recalls of 2007. What few people realize, is that AAFCO aggressively lobbied for allowing non-protein nitrogen in pet food and was able to slip this allowance past numerous state legislatures, including Washington State. By AAFCO standards, melamine and cyanuric acid in pet food was nothing more than a labeling violation. AAFCO sees nothing wrong with including those substances in pet food at up to 1.25%. Using cyanuric acid, for example, by AAFCO standards, would allow 5,875 ppm cyanuric acid content in pet food, provided the label included a decidedly deceptive disclaimer of “This includes not more than 1.25% equivalent crude protein, which is not nutritionally available as protein”. What is the real value of the pet food safety guidelines offered by AAFCO? If pet owners purchase pet foods and products that comply with AFFCO guidelines, how would they impact the health of their pets? In one study, as little as 30 mg/kg day of cyanuric acid destroyed the kidneys of lab animals in just six months.

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Science has validated the fact that baby toys can effectively stimulate a child’s brain along critical parts of their developmental pathway. The brains of puppies can be stimulated and their level of intelligence enhanced with new designer dog toys, created specifically to challenge and stimulate their mind. Dr. Carol offers playtime tips and exercise ideas geared to meet your puppy’s specific needs and boost his brain at each of the 4 critical stages of development from day one through 18 months of age.

Dr. Carol’s Tip: Regardless of which developmental stage your pup is in, safety and supervision are a must!

Stage 1: Basic Survival Skills

Weeks 0-2: Pups learn about taste and touch
Soft, snuggly plush scented toys are ideal.

Weeks 2 to 4: Puppy’s baby teeth begin to erupt, they learn to walk, and their eyes open and vision improves. Provide toys that aid teething discomfort. Toys should be approximately twice the length of the distance from the top of their head to their chin so that they are small enough to fit into their mouth but large enough to prevent choking. Many natural homemade toys are great.

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Feeding candy licorice to your dog – or any kind of confection, for that matter – is a definite no-no. But the herbal form of licorice is a time-tested remedy for gastrointestinal upset and skin problems such as allergies. And some veterinarians use it as an anti-inflammatory for problems such as itching in the place of powerful drugs like steroids.

“The most important thing for people to understand is that the effects of licorice are slow and cumulative, as opposed to a steroid injection,” says holistic veterinarian, Carol Osborne, DVM, of Chagrin Falls, Ohio, author of “Dr. Carol’s Naturally Healthy Dogs” (Marshall Editions, 2006). With the latter, “about four hours later the animal is in great shape, which lasts for about 10 days, but then you have the side effects of steroids, like stress on liver and kidneys.”

As with any herb, it is important to discuss licorice use with your veterinarian. The active ingredient in licorice is the nearly impossible to pronounce chemical component glycyrrhizin, which stimulates the adrenal glands and produces an anti-inflammatory response similar to that of corticosteroids such as prednisone.

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Holistic Veterinarian, Dr. Carol Osborne, DVM., is featured on the cover story for the June/July 2009 Issue of:
Dogs for Kids Magazine: Help My Dog Stinks Pages 28-32; By Donna Martin.

HI DR. CAROL,

THANK YOU, I DID RECEIVE THE VITALIFE CAT VITAMINS FOR ARNIE,

AND HAVE READ YOUR NATURALLY HEALTHY CATS BOOK, AND FOUND IT TO BE VERY HELPFUL.

I HAVE ALSO RECOMMENDED YOUR PRODUCTS TO MY FRIENDS WHO ALSO HAVE PETS, AS I HAVE FOUND YOUR VITALIFE CAT PRODUCT TO BE OF EXCELLENCE.

MANY THANKS ONCE AGAIN FOR YOU KINDNESS IN HELPING WITH ARNIE’S ILLNESS, AS YOU CAN TELL I LOVE HIM VERY MUCH AND WILL DO ANYTHING TO HELP HIS INFLAMMATORY BOWEL DISEASE (IBD) ILLNESS.

MANY, MANY THANKS!!

MARIA W.
UNITED KINGDOM

This past week, we saw two more food recalls of concern. First, about 96,000 pounds of ground beef were recalled in Ohio, Illinois and Pennsylvania after several people became ill because of contamination, with a bacteria, commonly found in fecal material, called E. Coli. E-Coli bacteria cause severe diarrhea in people and pets. The recall included meats produced by Valley Meats, LLC.

Next, Nutro Pet Products announced the recall of two brands of their dry cat foods (Nutro Max Cat and Nutro Natural Choice Cat). The foods were deficient in potassium and had too much zinc.

Nutro Products recall is for select varieties of NUTRO(R) NATURAL CHOICE(R) COMPLETE CARE(R) Dry Cat Foods and NUTRO(R) MAX(R) Cat Dry Foods with “Best If Used by Dates” between May 12, 2010 and August 22, 2010. The cat food is being voluntarily recalled in the United States and ten additional countries. This recall is due to incorrect levels of zinc and potassium in our finished product resulting from a production error by a US-based premix supplier.

Two mineral premixes were affected. One premix contained excessive levels of zinc and under-supplemented potassium. The second premix under-supplemented potassium. Both zinc and potassium are essential nutrients for cats and are added as nutritional supplements to NUTRO(R) dry cat food.
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Over the last decade advances in veterinary medicine have nearly doubled the canine life span. The technological innovations we now offer for pets, parallel those available for people, reaching far beyond our previous expectations. What are the factors limiting longevity in pets? What impact do anti-oxidant supplementation and dietary intervention have on lengthening healthy life spans for pets? Successful techniques for rejuvenating the body and lengthening life spans in people have been documented. Would similar strategies prove effective for dogs?

George, a 7 year old Dalmatian not only suffered from severe arthritis, he was also paralyzed, due to a spinal injury. Surgery cost was estimated at $4000, with no guarantee of success and little hope of him ever walking again. George’s owners, Don and Pam Brennan were devastated and sadly carried George out of the office that day on a stretcher. He couldn’t even stand up to go to the bathroom. With tears streaming down their faces, they knew it was the end. They spent that night together saying their final goodbyes.

The next morning a friend told them about ongoing clinical trials of an anti-aging pet product. This was their last chance. They had nothing to lose, so they gave it a try. Within 30 days, George was out in the front yard playing with the other dogs. He was back to the way he used to be, playful like a puppy. George enjoyed several healthy, happy years thereafter. Pam and Don were thrilled-they got their dog back!

Anti-Aging medicine, although not yet formally recognized by the American Veterinary Medical Association, is the newest clinical medical specialty offered to human physicians. So, why wouldn’t this be applicable for veterinarians as well?
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