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]