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IMPORTANT: IAMS Canned Cat Food Recall
Proctor and Gamble (who owns IAMS) is voluntarily recalling Iams Canned Cat (wet) Food because of insufficient amounts of vitamin B1 (also known as thiamine).
(Really not that big of a deal to me — it’s not like your cat could die because of this. I give IAMS props though for recalling a cat food simply based on the lack of one little nutrient…)
Here are some important points about the issue:
** P&G is voluntarily recalling specific lots of its Iams canned cat food in North America as a precautionary measure. Diagnostic testing indicated that the product may contain insufficient levels of thiamine (Vitamin B1), which is essential for cats.
** This recall is limited to only Iams canned cat food distributed in North America. No other Iams pet food is involved.
Affected Products:
Product Name/Date on Bottom of Can
Iams ProActive Health canned Cat and Kitten Food: all varieties of the 3 oz & 5.5 oz cans marked: 09/2011 to 06/2012.
** Cats that were fed these canned products as their only food are at greater risk for developing signs of thiamine deficiency.
** Early signs of thiamine deficiency may include loss of appetite, salivation, vomiting and weight loss. In advanced cases, signs may include ventroflexion (downward curving) of the neck, wobbly gait, falling, circling and seizures.
**Contact your veterinarian immediately if your cat is displaying any of these signs. If treated promptly, thiamine deficiency is typically reversible.
** Consumers who have purchased canned cat food with these codes should discard it. For further information or a product refund call P&G toll-free at 877-340-8826 (Monday – Friday, 9:00 AM to 7:00 PM EST). 
A representative from IAMS told me: “We are very sorry that this has occurred. And we thank you for your help in sharing accurate information pertaining to the Iams Canned Cat Food recall.”
So obviously they want to get the word out. Please Tweet and spread this post around where ever possible okay? The more kittehs who know, the better.
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Thx SO MUCH for this info. I feed IAMS to the strays in my barn…
Thanks for the info – Ill Tweet this for sure. Im a major cat person and so are most of my friends. Ive never used IAMS but it cant hurt to spread the word, right?
Thanks again for the heads up. Thats why I love this blog — you always have the latest and greatest on EVERYTHING in “Pet-Land”
Bethee
Wow-Im surprised to hear that they are recalling simply bc of lack of a vitamin. That’s a pretty big deal and shows HOW MUCH COMPASSSION IAMS HAS FOR THE CATS OF THIS WORLD. Kudos to IAMS.
And JL-I agree with Beth — u are always keeping us informed of the latest. GREAT blog and as always, great posts this past week.
Jimmy Z
Thanks for the info Jaime. I feed IAMS to my cats too but only the dry food. That is still okay right??
How come IAMS doesn’t have anything about this on their site?
Thanks for the heads up. Good info to have and I will send this along to some friends who are cat-owners.
Juliette
We don’t feed Iams but I respect them more than I used to. I read a book (“Pet Food Politics”) a year or two ago about the 2007 pet food recalls. It was a fascinating story and it turns out that Iams and P&G are the ones who forced Menu Foods to start doing the recall, because they figured out why animals were dying before anyone else did and basically put a gun to Menu’s head over it. But they didn’t want their part publicized for fear of losing customers. P&G comes out of the book looking like one of the more responsible parties involved and yet they took a big hit in market share by the time it was all over.
I used to eat Iams canned food, but they changed the recipe on my favorite flavor and I didn’t like the new flavor. Thanks for the information.
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“Really not that big of a deal to me…” you say? What a ridiculously-irresponsible comment for you to publicly make to cat owners, many of whom don’t understand the seriousness of this issue! Perhaps you should re-read your own list of complications that cats SUFFER from eating a thiamine-deficient diet. This IS a big deal, particularly for cats that have been eating the thiamine-deficient food for a long time. You are not a vet, so you should not make such uneducated, haphazard comments! Keep your opinions to yourself and stick to publicizing the facts! (Signed, Mark–An educated owner of 9 cats & a cat rescuer)
Mark-
If you are going to come here and attack me BASED ON MY OPINION, then I suggest you go to a therapist to release your inner anger first before being so rude in a public forum.
How do you know I DID NOT consult a vet AND A REP AT IAMS about a thiamin deficiency? For a short period of time — it’s just fine.
By the way — no one cares if you have one, three or fifteen cats. We’re all cat lovers, rescuers and volunteers so don’t go show-boating on my blog.
You just made a TOTAL FOOL out of yourself in front of 50,000 readers — not to mention whomever Tweets this or reads it on Facebook.
If you have such a big problem with somethiing you read on here in the future, I suggest you contact me on the About Us page instead of leaving rude and judgemental comments in this section.
Its only b/c of the 1st Amendment that I kept your shameful comment up and posted.
JL SMITH, ADMINISTRATOR/AUTHOR/OWNER
thoughtsfurpaws.com
JL Smith
Mark is right though; in an elderly cat who is fed only Iames, a thiamine deficiency can be very serious. Doesn’t “essential for the health of the central nervous system” sound serious to you? For an underweight cat who can’t afford weight loss, loss of appetite, and vomiting, it could die!
I have a 16 year old cat that was loosing weight and starting to not be able to jump on the counter. He ran out of his food I went all over looking for it and I found out it was recalled. That’s all I have been giving him because the vet said start feeding him wet only. I now think the food was making him sick I started him on a grain free by wellness doing much better now. So I do think this recall was a serious one.
Helen
Jenn,
AGIAN, if you read the WHOLE post, it says thiamine deficiency IS REVERSIBLE. Meaning, it’s treatable – it wont kill your cat.
Iams kill and torture thousands of dogs and cats every year in horrendous experiments. Please never buy their product.
Oli, with respect, what you’ve posted is not true.
I’m an employee at Iams, and a pet lover too. A very high percentage of our employees share their lives with dogs and cats. Our love of our own pets is fundamental in how we work as a company. I wouldn’t work at Iams if the information you’ve posted about us was representative of our policies or practices.
We do not fund studies that require the loss of life of cats or dogs. We conduct studies in just three kinds of locations: pet owners’ homes, our Pet Health & Nutrition Center and locations where dogs and cats are already living (like assistance dog organizations, kennels, etc). We test our foods with healthy pet cats or dogs in their homes or with pets who already have specific diseases or conditions.
If you are interested, more information can be found at http://www.IamsTruth.com. We’re also happy to talk with you about animal welfare at 877-546-9581.
You might also be interested in reading what a couple of bloggers had to say about their tour of our Pet Health and Nutrition Center in September of 2009:
http://blogs.catster.com/the-cats-meow-a-cat-and-kitten-blog/animal-testings-happy-healthy-test-subjects/2009/09/14/
http://lovemeow.com/2009/09/the-truth-about-iams-pet-health-nutrition-center/
Lastly, as animal lovers one of the things we support is Iams Home 4 the Holidays. For the past 10 years we have worked with shelters and rescues to help get orphan pets adopted into forever homes. Our most recent adoption event ended on January 4 and helped get nearly 1.4 million pets adopted in a 3-month period. We will do it again starting on October 1, 2010. More details are at http://www.animalcenter.org/home4theholidays/.
I hope you will be able to take some time to look at the links I’ve offered to you, and maybe do some additional research into this issue.
[...] IAMS Recalls Proactive Health Canned Cat Food | Thoughts Fur Paws [...]
[...] IAMS Recalls Proactive Health Canned Cat Food | Thoughts Fur Paws [...]
Hi, ok i get it that this product is being recalled because an ingredient was not up to standarded amount. but i am having a very hard time explaining this to CoCo. Cats are very picky eaters and i would have bought the food anyway. A simple notice to the public would have allowed us to choose.
I felt the same way until I noticed how sick my boy was. The store manager a pets mart helped me by looking at the label a selecting a food very close to the recalled food and my cat had no trouble with the change and is much healthier now. I have been feeding him IAMS is whole life this was a major change but is doing well. I must say I was very scared with his weight loss and his walking in circles.
just came from Big Lots store in ft. lauderdale fla apparently they have all the stock of this product…my Petsmart store had empty shelves and a note about the recall..curious that recalled item would find its way onto another stores’ shelves..Is Iams aware????
Thanks DF. I work at Iams and I will make sure the right people hear about this.
For everyone leaving comments about how this wasn’t a big deal- my cat eats this food everyday and I buy it in 24 packs of cans. After his last 24 pack he started vomiting after dinner and then in the AM after breakfast and then seemed to lose his normally voracious appetite( this was before I even knew of any recall)When I went to pick up a new 24 pack I noticed the store was all out… a week went by and the food was still not being offered in the store so I began to wonder if there has been some kind of recall…I looked into it and sure enough there had been. Because I was unable to find the food in stores I began offering my cat a different brand of food and now he seems to have regained his appetite and is fine. I want to thank Iams for recalling the food.
This is also my story my 16 year old boy doing much better now eating a gaining weight it was very scary. The store said that it was no big deal just missing a vitamin but if that is all you feed it is avery big deal.
Helen
great article, i just finished bookmarking it to read later. i would love to check on new articles. how can i configure the rss reader again? thanks!
Keep posting stuff like this i really like it
I found that to be more helpful well let me know how it turns out! I love what you guys are always up too. Such clever work and reporting! Keep up the great works guys I’ve added you guys to my blogroll. This is a great article thanks for sharing this informative information.. I will visit your blog regularly for some latest post.
Interesting article I totally agree with the comments above. Keep us posting
I love your website! did you create this yourself or did you outsource it? Im looking for a blog design thats similar so thats the only reason I’m asking. Either way keep up the nice work I was impressed with your content really..
i’ll tweet this one. awesome!
I have been checking out a few of your stories and i must say pretty clever stuff. I will definitely bookmark your blog.
Thank you for sharing this kind of recall information. It’s a very important service you’re providing!
Thank you for the warning of that cat food recall. Really kind of you.