Puppy Lovers Salmonella Risk

[Burkes]

Article

Brisbane Times, July 20 2011

Pet food salmonella warning

Do you feed your cats and dogs in the kitchen? Do you wash their food bowls and water bowls in the kitchen sink?

A report in the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) warns you're putting your family and the family dog at risk for salmonella infection.

Many reports of salmonella outbreaks tied to pet foods and treats have been reported in recent years. Is the pesky bacteria increasingly prevalent, or is everyone becoming more vigilant?

"That's a hard question to answer. We do have better reporting mechanisms," said Christine Hoang, a veterinarian who also has a master's degree in public health. She's the assistant director for scientific activities at AVMA, and educating the public is part of her job.

No one should panic about any of this, she said, because "no one is at huge risk", although "salmonella is everywhere". The good news is, there are many tips to prevent the spread of salmonella.

Pet water bowls, food bowls and the scoops used to fill them should be washed "routinely with hot soapy water in a sink other than in the kitchen or bathroom", says the report written by Kate S KuKanich, a veterinarian at Kansas State University.

Here are more tips from the JAVMA article:

- Wash hands with soap and water before and after handling pet food and treats.

- Discourage young children, the elderly and the immuno-suppressed from handling pet food and treats.

- Avoid raw-food diets for pets.

- Make sure the packaging of all pet-food products is in good condition when you buy the items. Return products that appear tainted, discoloured or have a bad odour.

- Follow label instructions for food storage. Dry foods and treats should be stored in a cool, dry place.

- Many people transfer food from bags and boxes to "better" storage containers. That's fine, but hang on to the original packaging, especially the date and product codes, so that if there's a product recall for salmonella, you'll know whether your pet's food was affected.

If your infection-control safeguards have failed, salmonella symptoms can range from mild to severe in people and in animals. Look for gastrointestinal symptoms, Hoang said.

In animals, it's usually diarrhoea. In people, it can be diarrhoea and vomiting. Bloody diarrhoea is never a good sign, and should prompt a call to the doctor or vet.

Go online and read the comments!!

Edited July 20, 2011 by Burkes

[Keira&Phoenix]

Avoid feeding raw food to your pet?? Why? How do they think that will help?

Another way to scare the public into feeding processed foods. What a load of trash.

This article seems like a backlash from the pet food companies after the Sunday Mail's article about pet foods containing sulfer dioxide and being bad for your dog and then advising raw feeding.

Just read the comments - Seems most people agree with what I have said.

Edited July 20, 2011 by Keira&Phoenix

[Linda K]

load of pish posh

[GeckoTree]

Well I was my dogs bowls in the sink, stainless steel in hot soapy water, however not with my dishes, it's done seperatly.

[Atanquin]

What a load of cr$@p avoid raw!! I agree with kiera&phoenix just a way to scare people in to feed there dog commercial dog food

[WreckitWhippet]

I prepare my dogs food in the kitchen and wash their bowls in the sink. They are fed and their bowls are picked up immediately and washed up. I use the dishwasher when there's room in it, otherwise it's the sink.

I've been doing this for nearly 20 years and I rarely have a stomach upset and can't remember the last time I vomited, the same with my child and OH. If it was going to kill me or make me sick, it would have happened long before this.