There have been numerous headlines recently regarding Salmonella in various types of pet food. Merrick Pet Care recalled one lot of its Doggie Wishbones — chews made of dried beef tendons. Two raw food producers – Bravo and Primal – had products recalled for Salmonella.  Then there were the pig ear incidents:  Bravo, Boss Pet, Blackman Industries, Keys Manufacturing, and Jones Natural Chews all announced recalls of dried pig ear chews due to Salmonella contamination. (I suspect strongly that after one company’s pig ears tested positive for Salmonella, the FDA started testing every pig ear chew they came across – and most are contaminated. Random tests for salmonella of dried meat chews are very likely to produce positive results – unless the products have been irradiated or treated in some other way to kill all bacteria.)

A tad more surprising were the recalls by Nestle Purina Petcare in June and July, for three different dry foods for adult cats. The mainstream pet food industry has tried for years to discredit raw diets by pointing out that raw foods frequently return positive tests for Salmonella – the “glass houses” analogy seems apt here. The industry has long promoted the myth that the high temperatures used to cook dry foods kill Salmonella and other pathogens, but since dry foods were rarely tested for the pathogen, it was rarely found. The more that dry foods are tested for Salmonella, the more it will be found. And it would appear that the FDA has been increasing its surveillance of the pathogen in pet food at the manufacturing level.

I doubt seriously that Salmonella is suddenly taking over the pet food industry – or even that it only recently invaded the human food supply. I think it’s been in the human food supply for decades – and of course, anything that’s in the human food supply will be present in greater amounts in pet food ingredients. The pet food industry receives most of its ingredients from the lower-quality castes of the human food supply. Anywhere the investigators look and test animal protein products in the mainstream commercial food industry, they will find Salmonella. 

Salmonella can be quite problematic for humans, but most dogs can ingest it without suffering any symptoms whatsoever. Theoretically, dogs with compromised immune systems are most at risk, but the fact is, Salmonellosis is rarely reported in dogs. The greater public health risk is for humans who may get sick from handling contaminated pet food.But how much of a risk is this, really? 

Interestingly, the FDA’s Center for Veterinary Medicine (CVM) just announced a “request for applications” from investigators who would like a grant to “evaluate potential risk of Salmonella-contaminated feeds on human and animal health by testing diagnostic samples from pets.” It would appear that now that they know it’s everywhere, they want to know what the scale of the risk actually is . . .

From the FDA CVM website:

(http://www.fda.gov/AnimalVeterinary/NewsEvents/CVMUpdates/ucm266645.htm#.TkUyh-_KrlU.email)

In recent years, there have been an increasing number of human Salmonella outbreaks attributed to pet treats and pet foods. Salmonella infections can cause gastrointestinal disease in humans and animals. The occurrence of Salmonellosis in dogs and cats has not been adequately characterized. CVM is seeking applications that will provide information on the prevalence of Salmonella in fecal samples from both symptomatic and asymptomatic dogs and cats brought to veterinary clinics in order to gain further insight into the frequency of Salmonella infected companion animals. Bacteria will be isolated, identified and serotyped by the participating laboratories and the isolates will be submitted to FDA. Further DNA analysis will help CVM determine if the Salmonella strains isolated from pets are genetically similar to the strains previously isolated from humans or animal feeds. The data from this study will help CVM prioritize our investigations of foodborne diseases which adversely affect both animal and human health. The data will also help us rank future surveillance efforts.

Is it just us, or is this the worst year for fleas in a long a time? Or should we say, “best” year for the fleas, and worst year for cats and dogs?

Just about everyone we know is suddenly battling flea infestations, and several dogs we know have been tortured by enough bites that they’ve chewed or scratched themselves raw, instigating some awful secondary infections or “hot spots.” And this is in an area not usually plagued by that many fleas.

We’ve been quizzing our friends about what they use for protection from fleas, and the answers have included every spot-on topical we’ve ever heard of, and some low-budget knock-offs we haven’t. Almost everyone who has complained of a flea problem has mentioned that sometime between week 2 and week three after application, the fleas seem able to return to the dogs (and cats) with impunity.

We’re fighting the battle, too. We’ve been attempting to introduce our two new kittens to our old cat slowly. Shadow is 14 or 15 years old, and has never had to live with another cat; she’s not taking it that well. The kittens are the last two of the litter of former fosters, who are now part of the family. We’ve been keeping them at our office building, but want to move them home with us full-time. To keep from sending the old cat off the deep end, we’ve been bringing them home in a carrier for short visits – and I think we’ve been unwittingly transmitting fleas around the neighborhood this way, too! We’ve used a monthly spot-on product on Otto for the past three months, and other products for cats on all the rest of the gang – plus we vacuum constantly, but we’re still seeing fleas.

In our youth, it was common to see dogs whose teeth were worn down from near-constant chewing – self-mutilation due to severe flea bites and flea allergies. As adults, we’ve been lulled into a false sense of security that the flea problem has been solved by modern chemistry. Intellectually, we know better; no insect can be controlled forever by a handful of chemicals alone. It takes a true, multi-faceted integrated pest management program, including indoor and outdoor treatments, as well as constant cleaning and vigilance, to control fleas – especially if you have cats (feral or not) who come and go, wildlife vectors (rats, raccoons, skunks, foxes, etc.) in close proximity, or lots of visiting dogs.

We have to ask again: Is it just here in Northern California where the flea population seems to have exploded this year?

The stars backstage at my local shelter are the six Basset puppies (and their doting mama) that the staff saved from coccidiosis (an illness caused by a nasty single-celled parasite). A guy brought the two-week-old litter to the shelter, signing over the whole lot, saying “they were just pooping too much.” Well, they were pooping so much because they had diarrhea; one puppy died within minutes of arrival. But our brilliant vet tech whipped into action and saved those dang puppies – mama, poop, and all. And they have just gotten cuter and cuter and cuter.

They’ve been the delight of the staff, but now that they have finally tested clear of the parasites and have put on weight, they are nearly ready to go up for adoption. We volunteers and staff are all asking our friends who might want a Basset hound; we try not to actually say the word “puppy” – at least at first. Because we know from experience: even people who don’t really want a dog, or who aren’t really in a good place to have a dog, are going to want one of these pups on sight. They are just TOO CUTE.

We know that babies are cute, in part, to help their parents remember to like them, especially when said parents are exhausted and at the ends of their ropes. But the “cute factor” works against puppies in a shelter; all sorts of folks bring them home – only to return them to the shelter eight or so months later, when the cute has worn off and left a pile of chewed shoes behind.

I think I’m biased, but in my experience, when someone adopts an ill-mannered, gawky teenaged dog; or a dowdy middle-aged dog; or a bleary senior with bad breath, I tend to feel more confident about the placement. Those adopters can’t help but see the flaws, and are still ready to take the dogs into their hearts and homes. But people who are fixated on puppies make me nervous.

See Whole Dog Journal’s Facebook Page (http://www.facebook.com/wholedogjournal) for video of the puppies referenced in this blog.