health

3. FDA Launches Pet Food Recall Site

http://www.petage.com/news120906.asp

http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/newpetfoodrecalls/ (click this link to go to the new FDA Pet Food Recall site)

A workman’s hard hat, mold and thiamine deficiencies all led to pet food recalls near the end of 2009. Now you can access a new Web site to find out about all pet food recalls—almost as soon as they are announced.

Launched recently by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (Silver Spring, Md.), the pet food-specific site lists recalls as they are announced as well as recalls dating to Jan. 1, 2006. Users can click on more than 100 brand names listed to find recall numbers and additional information. In addition, they can search by brand name, pet type—cat, dog or horse—or combinations of those.

Users also may download a list of all recalled products in an Excel spreadsheet.

Nearly 1,000 entries had been posted at press time.

Food recalls, which can be voluntary, may be related to a variety of incidents. For example, Nutro Products Inc. (Franklin, Tenn.) in early October announced a voluntary recall after an employee’s plastic hard hat was sucked into the production machinery. Later in the month, Diamond Pet Foods (Meta, Mo.) voluntarily recalled some of its cat foods because of a lack of thiamine, also known as vitamin B1, which can lead to neurological problems in felines. And Wysong Corp. (Midland, Mich.), which makes natural and holistic pet foods, announced a voluntary recall in October because of batches that contained “above acceptable moisture levels and may contain mold.”

Find the FDA’s searchable recall list and more information at http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/newpetfoodrecalls/.

In addition, you can find consumer-friendly information from all federal agencies that deal with food and food safety, including alerts on food recalls, at www.foodsafety.gov. [December 2009 PET AGE]

4. If you have a dog who maybe could help this cause just by submitting
> samples, please
> consider it.
>
>
> Permission has been granted to crosspost:
>
> The Van Andel Research Institute, a world class human
> cancer research
> institute, recently received a Federally fund grant through the
> National
> Institutes of Health/National Cancer Institute, to study five
> types of
> cancer that occur in both dogs and humans. The ultimate goal
> is to develop
> improved diagnostics and more individualized therapies for
> both canines and
> people.
>
> We are requesting the help of purebred dog owners, who may
> own a dog
> affected with one of these cancers. The five initial cancers we
> are studying
>
> are:
>
> 1) Hemangiosarcoma
> 2) Lymphoma
> 3) Osteosarcoma
> 4) Malignant histiocytosis
> 5) Melanoma of the mouth or toe
>
> We are requesting fresh (NOT in formalin, NOT frozen) tissue
> samples from
> tumors, when pets have biopsies, surgeries such as
> splenectomies, or are
> euthanized. Samples may be collected post mortem, as the
> euthanasia
> solution does not affect the DNA in either the dog's blood or in
> the tumor
> cells.
>
> Additionally, if you have a dog with one of these cancers who
> has already
> been treated (splenectomy, chemo, etc), we would still
> appreciate a blood
> sample along with a histopath report confirming the diagnosis.
> We need 3-5
> mls of whole blood in an EDTA (purple top) tube. It can be
> sent priority
> mail, and blood can be shipped at room temperature.
>
> If the pet is scheduled for surgery or, sadly, euthanasia, if you
> or your
> veterinarian contact us ahead of time, we can FedEx a
> collection kit which
> includes an overnight FedEx return shipping form, along with
> collection
> media and containers.
>
> Owner consent forms and veterinary info pages can be found
> on our website,
> at:
>
> http://www.vai.org/helpingdogs
>
> I will be happy to answer any questions I can, as well. Owners,
> veterinarians and researchers working together will help us to
> unravel some
> of the mysteries of these nasty diseases.
>
> Roe Froman, DVM
> Senior Veterinary Research Scientist
> Van Andel Research Institute
> 333 Bostwick Ave NE
> Grand Rapids, MI 49503
> 616.234.5556
> roe.froman@vai. org
> www.vai.org

1. CANDIDATE GENE SEARCH FOR DCM GENES IN THE GREAT DANE:

Drs. Oyama & Meurs, recognized leaders in the field of canine cardiology research, are looking at some candidate genes in the Great Dane they believe may well be vitally important to the disease known as dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM). You can help. The researchers not only need to have direct contact with any Danes diagnosed with DCM, they need DNA samples from OLDER VETERAN DANES who are healthy and not affected by heart disease. Data will be shared with the LUPA cardiology project for the breed (an ongoing commitment of Drs. Meurs & Oyama). See the form at the H&W section for details.

Questions? Email or call the H&R Chairman (contact info directly follows).

Permission to repost granted.

Best regards, JP Yousha
Chairman, Health and Research Committee
Great Dane Club of America
http://www.gdca.org/healthandwelfare.htm
danehealth@gdca.org
432-684-8940 (TX)

Great Dane Dilated Cardiomyopathy Study
We are looking for DNA samples from adult Great Danes without dilated cardiomyopathy to serve as controls (the unaffected group) to advance our study to identify a gene for Great Dane dilated cardiomyopathy.
 For the technique to work well, we need DNA samples from affected and unaffected dogs.
 We have DNA samples from many affected Great Danes however we are looking for samples from unaffected Great Danes at least 9 years of age. They do not need to have been evaluated by an echocardiogram (cardiac ultrasound) to participate but if they have been and you have that information it would be helpful to us!
 Ideally the samples would be from dogs with a pedigree but we can take samples from non-pedigreed rescue Danes as well. If you do have a pedigree and can include a Xerox copy that would be VERY helpful as well!
 If you have a sample from an affected dog, we would be happy to take that as well, but we are in greatest need of samples from unaffected Great Danes at this time.

 Please return the form on page 2 with your sample and mail to:

VCGL – WSU
Post Office Box 605
Pullman, WA 99163-0605

Sample collection
Please ask your veterinarian or a veterinary technician to pull a blood sample into an EDTA tube. Most veterinary hospitals have these readily available.

1. Blood drawn into a Standard EDTA Tube does not need to be refrigerated.

2. Blood draw volume should be 2 to 3 ml, if possible.

3. Please label tube well, with animal’s call name and family last name and send the samples to our lab via the address above.

Blood drawn does not need to be mailed back with ice packs or be shipped overnight. However, if possible please try to send the sample within a few days by standard mail. Until the blood can be mailed, it is a good idea to refrigerate it (i.e., if the blood was drawn late Saturday and cannot be mailed until Monday, it’s a good idea to refrigerate it between Saturday and Monday).

Questions? Contact Info: Email: meurs@vetmed.wsu.edu Phone: 509.335.6038

Great Dane Dilated Cardiomyopathy Study

Dog Name:

Gender:

Birthdate:

Owner Name:

Complete Address:

Phone Number:

E-mail:

Date (if ever) of Last Echocardiogram:

Has this dog been diagnosed with dilated cardiomyopathy?

Has this dog ever been diagnosed with a cardiac arrhythmia (atrial fibrillation or ventricular premature complexes (called VPCs). ?

Do you know of any family history of dilated cardiomyopathy for this dog?

If possible could you please include a Xerox copy of a pedigree and any echocardiogram information ?

THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!