Salmonella concerns have prompted Procter & Gamble to pull a limited number of bags of cat food off store shelves.
P&G Sunday recalled a small number of Iams Proactive Health Indoor Weight & Hairball Care dry cat food bags, which were recently sold in one or two Loveland, Colorado, stores.
The company said the cat food has the potential to be tainted with salmonella, a bacterium that can cause food poisoning. P&G, however, said it has not received any reports of illnesses linked to the pet food.
The recall is limited to Iams Proactive Health Indoor Weight & Hairball Care cat food sold in blue 6.8-pound bags, with a code date of 02304173 (B1-B6), and a UPC number of 1901403921.
P&G has worked with its retailers to remove the affected product from stores in the area, the company said. P&G believes that only three bags may have been purchased recently by consumers in the area. Yet, as a precautionary measure, the company is initiating this retrieval.
Pet owners who purchased the recalled cat food should discard it and contact P&G at 800-862-3332 for a replacement product.
Sundays action is the latest in a string of salmonella-related recalls the Cincinnati-based pet food maker has issued this summer.
In July, the company pulled two lots of its Iams Veterinary Formulas Feline Renal dry food off the market because of possible salmonella contamination. Less than two weeks later, the company expanded that recall to include some of its Iams and Eukanuba dry dog and cat food products.
P&G said it has not received any reports of illnesses linked to those recalled products, which were sold in veterinary clinics and specialty pet stores in the United States and Canada.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA), however, warned pet owners they can become infected with salmonella if they handle any the recalled foods especially if they dont wash their hands after touching surfaces exposed to the products.
Symptoms of salmonella infections in healthy people include nausea, vomiting, diarrhea or bloody diarrhea, abdominal cramping and fever, the FDA said. In rare cases, salmonella can cause arterial infections, arthritis, muscle pain, and other serious health problems.
Pets with salmonella infections may have decreased appetite, fever and abdominal pain, the FDA said. If the infections are not treated, pets can become lethargic and have diarrhea or bloody diarrhea, fever and vomiting.
The FDA also warned that infected -- but otherwise healthy -- pets can spread salmonella to other animals or people.
Consumers with dogs or cats that ate the recalled food should contact their veterinarians if their pets experience any of these symptoms, the FDA said.
