Original article updated after receiving additional information from Premium Edge Cat Food representative…
A spokesman at Diamond Pet Food, manufacturer of Premium Edge Cat Food, relates information regarding problems with Premium Edge Cat Food; the food has been withdrawn from retail outlets.
I received a tip that there was a potential problem with Premium Edge cat food; follow up information provided to TruthaboutPetFood.com stated that Dr. Susan Hubbard of Stone Ridge Veterinary Hospital in Rochester, NY has treated “13+ cats eating Finicky Adult Cat or Hairball Formula” Premium Edge cat food. Symptoms have included; decreased appetite prior to neuro signs, vomiting, vestibular-like ataxia, dull mentation, a subtle positional ventral nystagmus, dilated pupils, decreased to absent PLR and menance, blindness, seizures, head & neck weakness with ventral flexion, postural rigidity, circling, increased respiratory rate, hypothermia.
A Diamond Pet Food company spokesman confirmed the above to me late this morning (10/2/09 11:50 AM ET). The Diamond Pet Food representative related that testing proved no contaminants were discovered in the cat food; the only issue discovered was the cat foods were deficient in Thiamine (the level in the tested food was only >1.5 ppm – should be >5 ppm). Diamond tracked the vitamin premix lot number that was utilized in these particular cat foods and have performed testing on another lot of Premium Edge cat food that used the same vitamin premix. That food was not deficient in thiamine.
The Diamond Pet Food company spokesman relayed the following theory to TruthaboutPetFood.com regarding this issue with Premium Edge Cat Food:
Diamond pet food time stamps each product manufactured (date and time food was manufactured). The time stamps for the first calls logged of affected cat foods were manufactured within a twelve minute time frame. The speculation is some type of manufacturing error during those twelve minutes resulted in these cat foods becoming deficient in Thiamine.
The company stated there have been no other complaints from pet owners or veterinarians regarding Premium Edge Cat Food except from the Rochester, NY area (location of Dr. Susan Hubbard, Stone Ridge Veterinary Hospital). Premium Edge contacted all retail outlets asking them to pull the product from the store shelves. The retailers were also asked to contact their customers via email or telephone requesting them to check the date code of the food.
Although it was recommended to the company spokesman (from me), no press release information has been posted on Premium Edge website as of the writing of this article. The affected date codes are RAF0501A22X 18lb., RAF0501A2X 6 lb., RAH0501A22X 18 lb., RAH0501A2X 6lb. If you or anyone you know has these date codes of Premium Edge cat food, please return them to your retailer for a full refund. http://www.premiumedgepetfood.com/
