At Westmount Animal Clinic we carry Medi-Cal pet food produced by Veterinary Medical Diets (VMD) here in Canada. As you are aware, a cow in the USA has tested positive for BSE. As a precautionary measure, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) has imposed interim import restrictions to limit the range of products eligible to be imported from USA. These import restrictions include packaged pet foods, and many pet food ingredients. The following is information forwarded by VMD with respect to Medi -Cal diets.

Introduction-History

BSE (Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy) is a fatal blood-borne infection of cattle, which has received considerable media attention. BSE is a transmissible neurodegenerative disease, which results in extensive vacuolation of the brain. BSE is caused by the intake of a modified protein structure called a "prion". The prion is very resistant to protease destruction or degredation in the animal. It is this BSE prion, which has been the route of all of the infections.

The past practice of making cattle feed out of remnants of slaughtered cattle and other ruminants not fed to humans is now thought to be the cause of this epidemic. This material or mechanically recovered meat (ruminant protein) is the basis for the feed ingredients, meat meal (MM) and meat and bone meal (MBM). Both MM and MBM have been used as protein and mineral sources for decades in ruminant feeds, particularly in Britain and Europe. Cattle can become infected with BSE by eating an amount of infectious agent as small as a peppercorn (<10grams). Thus the only solution to avoid BSE is a complete ban on the practice of incorporating MM and MBM into ruminant feeds. The BSE infectivity of cattle or ruminant tissues is not widespread throughout the animal. The prions are concentrated in the brain and central nervous systems. Avoidance of the brain and central nervous tissues is imperative to eliminating BSE. The difficulty appears to be in the killing methods of slaughterhouses and the contamination of brain and central nervous tissue with other tissues, particularly during mechanical meat recovery operations. It is for this reason that mechanically recovered meats (MRM) are now being banned in human and other domestic animal feeds in Europe.

BSE infection in Companion Animals

A BSE type disease, Feline Spongiform Encephalopathy (FSE) has been diagnosed in cats from Britain and France. At this time, there have been 91 confirmed cases of FSE in domestic cats and 22 cases in captive wild Felidae. However , there is some uncertainty as to whether any of the domestic cats were fed exclusively commercial cat foods. Nevertheless, the incidence of FSE in Europe has declined from a high of 15 cases in 1995 to just one case in 2001. In contrast to cats, there have been no BSE type disease reported in dogs in Britain and Europe and absolutely no BSE type diseases reported in either cats or dogs in North America. The absence of BSE type diseases in dogs is interesting and may indicate a genetic resistance or species-barrier to this disease in dogs.

BSE and Pet food Safety in North America

The use of MM, MBM and MRM in cattle feeds is not nearly as widespread in North America. Moreover, both Canada and the United States have placed a ban on "any" by-product meals from Britain and Europe that have not been approved or shown to be free from any potential cross-contamination. BSE has been a reportable disease in both Canada and the United States since 1988. There has been a ruminant-to-ruminant feeding ban in place for ruminant feeds in North America since 1996.

Medi-Cal Pet Foods

Veterinary Medical Diets launched the Medi-Cal line of therapeutic pet foods in Canada in October 1990. 100 % of Medi-Cal products are being formulated, manufactured and warehoused within Canada. We would like to highlight the following points with respect to Medi-Cal products:

No Medi-Cal diet formulation has ever contained, MM, MRM or MBM. Thus the potential for BSE infection in cats and dogs consuming Medi-Cal diets is virtually nonexistent.

The majority of ingredients in Medi-Cal diets are Canadian-based, however, VMD has historically sourced some ingredients from the United States. VMD is working diligently to locate alternative Canadian sources to mitigate ingredient restrictions.

VMD has established a strong inventory of packaged products through the holiday period. While there are reasonable levels of inventory based on market demand and growth, VMD could not have anticipated the BSE occurrence. They are increasing production levels to help maintain adequate supplies of Medi-Cal diets.