If you’re a pet owner, listen up. Earlier this week, Purina Animal Nutrition issued a recall of many different food brands, including Purina Rabbit Feed, Purina Turkey Feed, Country Acres Rabbit Feed, and DuMOR Chick Starter/Grower Feed. The recall was issued after the company received numerous customer complaints that the food was making their pets sick. 

Rabbit eating; image courtesy of Alexas_Fotos via Pixabay, www.pixabay.com

When commenting on the recall, the company admitted to finding “elevated calcium levels in the food, which could cause severe health issues in rabbits and young chicken and turkeys, and in some cases, death.” The U.S. Food and Drug Administration chimed in and said:“The elevated calcium carbonate levels can cause health issues and mortality in rabbits. Continued feeding of these products may result in death as a result of feed refusal. Elevated calcium carbonate levels in young chickens and turkeys can lead to leg abnormalities and kidney calcification."The federal agency added that animals exposed to the recalled products may exhibit symptoms like “pinkish urine and lethargy due to decreased feed intake in rabbits…Chicken and turkeys up to 6 weeks of age may show leg abnormalities associated with excessive dietary calcium carbonate.”According to the notice, the specific products affected by the recall were sold in the following states: Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Mississippi, New Jersey, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Wisconsin, Nebraska, South Dakota, Florida, Virginia, North Dakota, North Carolina, South Carolina, Colorado, California, West Virginia, Texas, Hawaii, and Arizona. A full list of the recalled products can be found here. For now, customers are being urged to discard the products or return them for a refund.

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Purina recalls 4 different food brands sold in 32 statesPurina Animal Nutrition Voluntarily Recalling Select Lot Codes of Purina®Rabbit Feed, Purina® Turkey Feed, Country Acres® Rabbit Feed, and DuMOR® Chick Starter/Grower Feed