It might be that with Ardith's run of the product the company used to
manufacture it put in the wrong proportions since she is noticing one
type of pellet in it being possibly questionable. It certainly makes
sense to alert the company. Maybe at some time that company will stop
fighting recalls tooth and nail (which would be a positive change to
applaud if or when it happens), keep and check sufficient retained run
samples (which may be the case after they did not find the high D3
levels others found a few years back), and readily do recalls without
being forced by overwhelming long publicity (the D3 a few years ago)
or governmental announcement of problematic ingredients and sources
(melamine in 2007)...

This is a reply I wrote earlier today to the FHL. As you will notice,
as I found more I learned that my recollection of the finally concluded
cause of the hypervitaminosis D3 and therefore of the hypercalcemia was
wrong and I put in the links to the found cause of those problems:

When Blue Buffalo foods were causing kidney failure a few years
ago, with many reports on VIN, they were studied at Michigan State
University Vet School DCPAH by a team lead by veterinary professor
Dr. Kent Refsal. The company was not only adding D3 but also was
adding an ingredient that bioconverts to D3 which is what caused
the hypercalcemia and from that also kidney failure cases due to
hypercalcemia since it causes calcium deposits in organ such as
kidneys and hearts (but usually kidneys first and more).

The numbers were at least over 8 because specimens from 8 were used
in the MS work. Remember that many people do not have sufficient
specimens, do not have specimens saved after initial work, etc. By then
it was already known and well publicized on resources like VIN that
such animals healed once the involved foods were no longer used so
many probably had nothing more than initial testing and food dropped,
or even just the food stopped due to the symptoms being present.

I do not know if the original article on that is still up. I read a
report on it in a Michigan State publication back then. Let's see what
may be up still since others also will have read the reports:

<http://msutoday.msu.edu/news/2010/msu-researchers-link-pet-food-dog-illnesses-nationwide/>

<http://www.goldenretrieverforum.com/golden-retrievers-main-discussion/85973-blue-buffalo-wilderness-linked-excess-vitamin-d.html>

http://bluebuffalo.com/news/vitamin-d-voluntary-recall.shtml

Okay: here are DETAILS:

http://animalhealth.msu.edu/Misc/WEBCD.GEN.REF.026.pdf

Arrrgghhhh, it does not seem to mention the ingredient that was
bioconverted in addition to the D3 which was added to the food and I
don't find that one in my notes here, but i recall that combination
problem (and I do not think that I am misremembering and that BB just
added way too much D3 itself for safety)...
<http://truthaboutpetfood2.com/more-worrisome-news-on-blue-buffalo-dog-food>

Ahhhhhh, maybe it was just too much D3 itself (mea culpa):
<http://www.aahanet.org/blog/NewStat/post/2010/10/18/315374/MSU-uncovers-dog-food-problem.aspx>

>According to the FDA recall announcement, a manufacturing scheduling
>error caused the elevated >levels of vitamin D in the food.

http://www.fda.gov/Safety/Recalls/ucm228986.htm

<http://www.fda.gov/AnimalVeterinary/SafetyHealth/RecallsWithdrawals/default.htm>

Refsal has some other hypercalcemia abstracts in PubMed, BTW.

You already found the 2007 melamine stuff, I think, when companies like
Blue that used food ingredients made in China wound up with people's
animals dying. The links on that include things like

http://www.fda.gov/Safety/Recalls/ArchiveRecalls/2007/ucm112182.htm

Melamine was added to those ingredients in China because it fools the
easy protein content testing and makes it appear like more protein is
present than actually is. In fact, a few years later either babies were
dying in China due to it being added to formula or children were dying
in China due to it being added to milk or both. Okay:
<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/subjects/m/melamine/index.html>
[subscription policies may apply]

Meat and poultry sources that track back to China have also been a
problem, for example, the pet jerky treats linked to health problems
in recent years. China is an example of what occurs with minimally
regulated food sources. Many things are used on plants and soil, given
to animals, and added to foods that simply are not legal to use here.
Some test like/as banned substances so before international
competitions their elite athletes are given specially grown foods which
do not contain such substances. That means that when a pet food source
has used ingredients with that origin there sometimes are scary
surprises.

What worries me is when a company fights recalls tooth and nail, as
happened both times with BB, and also when a lot is spent on expensive
advertising but then the ingredient sources or manufacturing locations
(when info comes out) are worrisome... Hopefully, they are learning
from past mistakes which is the best thing that anyone or any company
can do, and that the lessons learned result in safer product rather
than more refusal to recall and change.

BTW, it is a standard industry practice to keep back bags of each
manufacturing run to check if a problem is found so if that was being
done then the high D3 levels should have been spotted faster and recall
done faster rather than it dragging on and on with reports in VIN
before anything was done. With melamine the recall went in a different
direction with the origin of the ingredients causing problems known
before the melamine itself and it's mode of action being uncovered, but
with hypercalcemia it is very obvious that you look at the D3 levels
pronto.

For those who want to follow VIN news which is excellent or use their
sadly very bad search engine:

http://news.vin.com/VINNews.aspx?catId=3D0

Sukie (not a vet)  Ferrets make the world a game.

Recommended ferret health links:
http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/ferrethealth/
http://ferrethealth.org/archive/
http://www.miamiferret.org/
http://www.ferrethealth.msu.edu/
all ferret topics:
http://listserv.ferretmailinglist.org/archives/ferret-search.html

"All hail the procrastinators for they shall rule the world tomorrow."
(2010, Steve Crandall)

A nation is as free as the least within it.

[Posted in FML 7780]