The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is on a mission to pinpoint a mysterious illness and a multitude of deaths recently found in pets that consumed jerky treats.
This illness has effected 3,600 dogs and 10 cats in the past six years – 580 of those pets died.
Even after conducting over 1,200 tests, investigating Chinese pet treat manufacturing plants, and working with both researchers and foreign governments – the cause of illness still has yet to be determined.
Head of the FDA vet medicine center, Bernadette Dunham stated that, “This is one of the most elusive and mysterious outbreaks we’ve encountered.”
Pets suffering from this specific illness will experience a decreased appetite, diarrhea, vomiting, and decreased activity within a few hours of consuming jerky strips or tenders made from chicken, sweet potatoes, dried fruits, or duck.
The most severe cases have included kidney failure, kidney disorders, and gastrointestinal bleeding. – Other cases involved collapse, convulsions, and skin issues.
Most of the treats are believed to have come from China. However, manufactures of pet foods are not required to disclose the country of origin for the ingredients in their products.
This isn’t a new issue. The FDA has previously issued warnings regarding jerky pet products, and many Chinese pet treats were actually removed from the market in January of this year. There were traces of six different types of drugs found in these jerky’s, according to the FDA. Although the numbers of related illness have declined since January – this is only believed to be so due to the decrease in available jerky pet treat products.
The FDA is advising that consumers avoid giving jerky treat products to their pets. If illness occurs after the ingestion of jerky treats, immediately stop treating the animal, seek our your veterinarian, and save the remaining treats/packaging.
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