KraMar Dog Food Recall
December 9, 2008
Filed under Dog Food Recalls
The importer of a Chinese-made chicken dog treat has today voluntarily recalled the product, after reports of kidney damaging illnesses in dogs around Australia.
The company KraMar has withdrawn Supa Naturals Chicken breast strips, which it says is one of Australia’s highest selling dog snacks.
A statement issued by KraMar says the withdrawal is a precaution.
It says testing has been conducted on every shipment for bacteria and for the poison melamine, which has been connected with cases of kidney malfunction in pets overseas.
KraMar’s chief executive Brian Fouche say a link has not been scientifically established.
“It is a mystery to us, but in the interests of animal welfare we have decided to take this decision,” he said.
KraMar says it is considering moving the manufacture of the chicken strip to Australia.
The Australian Veterinary Association earlier warned dog owners to immediately contact vets if their dogs show symptoms of kidney problems.
Association president Mark Lawrie says dogs may be drinking and urinating a lot, be unusually lethargic or vomiting.
“We certainly think that there’s some indicators perhaps that there may be some linkages with some dog-treats,” he said.
The symptoms are similar to those seen after poisoning with the toxic chemical melamine.
There was a mass recall of melamine-contaminated pet food containing Chinese ingredients in the US and Europe last year.
Mr Lawrie says the extent of the problem is not yet clear.
“There’s been some reports of a thing called Fanconi syndrome, which is where there’s glucose in the urine. But the blood levels are normal, indicating that there’s some renal tubular damage or some damage to the kidneys,” he said.
“There are some reports out there, but it’s hard to quantify at this point.”
Research shows link
Researchers from the University of Sydney earlier connected a kidney damaging syndrome in dogs to the chicken snacks.
Dr Linda Fleaman says there are a lot of cases around Australia of the normally rare acquired Fanconi syndrome.
“The one thing that is common with all of the cases, is that the dogs have among other things, eaten a certain chicken treat that has been sourced in China,” he said.
“Although we have no idea what the cause of this problem is, we are concerned there’s a link between the feeding of the treat and the emergence of this clinical syndrome.”
Source:http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/12/09/2441919.htm
hi my name is kim and i had a pure bred $1500 chihuahua that i was feeding this product i’m very angry because my 10 month old pup died of kidney problems last month…
I’m so sorry Kim! I would consult a solicitor and start proceedings against KraMar. If you could find the other dog-owners, maybe you could start a class action.
I have fed these strips to my pugs briefly (one was a 17 y.o. who had to be PTS for other reasons) but thankfully there were no ill effects.
I think we should all avoid buying ANY food sourced in China – everyone read the labels of ALL food we buy and if it is from China, even if it’s packaged here, put it back on the shelf!
So sorry Kim! My five month old pug was fed Kramar chicken strips, as was my Staffordshire Bull Terrier. She weighs in at over 20kg and suffered no ill effects. However, my little 6kg pug’s kidneys failed in just a few weeks. He spent 10 days in intensive care with a bill of AU$4000! He still requires expensive tests every month. Before we knew about this recall I had fed him the strips when he returned home from hospital. His subsequent blood tests showed an increase in creatinine, which meant his kidneys had deteriorated again. I have since stopped feeding commercial dog food (I now make my own from human grade ingredients) and hope to see an improvement in his kidney function.
Hi Kim
We’ve just had our Rottweiller to the vet and she has been diagnosed with Fanconi Disease, the only store brought product she has eaten is the Kramar chicken strips as treats!!!
If anyone is considering a class action count me in!! Our “girl” will continue to require treatment for the rest of her life.
Hi Everyone,
I’m so sorry to have something like the deaths and illnes of our little “babies” bringing us all here instead of something more joyful. Our 2 yr old shih tzu fell ill a few weeks ago and has now tested positive for glucose in her urine. She was of course on the Kramar chicken strips. Further testing will be done over the next few days but it’s still heartwrenching to know that you think you are doing the right thing only to have things go horribly wrong because someone hasn’t checked their product. I would be interested to know if all the dogs are young dogs as our 9 year old wasn’t affected.
We stopped oour dog taking the chicken strips but continued feeding other Kramar products. She is still experiencing all the symptoms of Fanconi-like syndrome so I would advise to stop giving your dog ALL products such as the withdrawn strips
My 38kg Dobermann has also been effected by these treats. He has had all types of tests and ultra sound. He is still unable to concentrate his urine and is drinking excessively.
I would be very interested in joining any class action, as these people have to stop this – profit at any cost attitude.
These types of treats have been on the FDA warning list for the past 2 years! We may not know this info unless we seek it out, however it is a pet food companys responsibility to know that the product they are importing is safe!