February 7, 2019
This week we learned of a recall of select canned dog foods by the Hills manufacturing company. The complete diet list can be found at the Hills website. The affected diets were manufactured between late-August 2018 and October 2018. The voluntary recall was initiated because of excess Vitamin D levels in the food.
Excess Vitamin D levels in the diet may cause no symptoms at all, but high levels and chronic exposure can result in signs of lethargy, increased thirst and urination, vomiting, diarrhea, decreased appetite, weight loss, discolored urine, excess drooling and weight loss. With very high levels of exposure, or chronic exposure, kidney and heart failure are also possible. We do not know what levels of Vitamin D are in the affected diets so it is not possible for us to calculate your pet’s risk of developing these signs even with very limited exposure.
All recalled lot numbers have been sent back to Hills Company. Hills has offered a full refund for all recalled product in your possession. Additionally, if your dog has had an ongoing exposure to the affected diet and is exhibiting clinical signs of Vitamin D toxicity, Hills has offered a $250 stipend for us to screen your dog with an examination, blood test and urinalysis for indicators of exposure. If results of this testing indicate your pet may be affected by Vitamin D toxicity, additional testing covered by Hills up to an additional cost of $250 has been approved to confirm the diagnosis. Treatment, if indicated by the second round of testing, will be approved and reimbursed by Hills on a case by case basis.
We at Croton Animal Hospital take this recall very seriously and have sent letters to those clients who have purchased the affected diets from our hospital or Internet Pharmacy. Our first priority is to your pet’s health and as such we will make every effort to be transparent in disseminating information to you as we receive it from Hills.
