A high-end pet food brand has initiated a recall following dozens of reports regarding suspected eye problems in dogs.
Years, a subscription service offering fresh dog food “tailored” to an animal’s needs, emailed customers on Monday night to say that it had identified a “potential link” between its buckwheat ingredient and a dry eye condition.
The business, which boasts that its fresh meals are prepared by chefs, urged owners to stop feeding Years’ products to their pets or any other animal.
Years said that by Sunday, it had received reports of 57 suspected cases of dry eye.
The company said on its website: “This follows a small number of reports of dogs having a potential adverse eye reaction to buckwheat, a common and approved ingredient, which we include in our meals.
“As of 16 August, this has affected 0.1% of our customers.”
Yearsadvertises gourmet dog meals including pork shoulder and apple stew, turkey thigh and cranberry fricassee and a steak and kidney hotpot.
David Felton, from Edgware, north London, said his dog Cookie had developed eye issues in April after eating the food for two-and-a-half years. He estimated he had spent around £1,500 so far on treatment and vet bills.
The PR consultant said his spaniel cross had been in “a lot of pain” and had received several different treatments after he and his wife had noticed her eyes were “getting really gunky”.
He took Cookie to a vet, who initially diagnosed her with a corneal abrasion – a scratch on the eye which could be caused by an irritant getting stuck.
After two weeks of treatment, the six-year-old dog was showing no signs of recovery so was referred to a specialist who diagnosed bilateral dry eye disease, he said.
Cookie’s eyes are being treated twice a day with a steroid paste as well as over-the-counter drops and a gel to ease her discomfort.
Mr Felton stopped using the Years food immediately after receiving the company’s email on Monday.
Asked how he felt about Cookie’s illness, he said: “Extremely worried because this sort of came out of nowhere and it’s been so unexplained as to the causes of it, and obviously with your pet you don’t want to see them suffering and in a way they’re like a member of family.
“You love them to bits just like you would your own child so anything that causes them pain and discomfort is quite upsetting for everyone involved.”
He added: “Never did it occur to us that it could be a link to the food because the crazy thing is people buy Years because they want to feed their dog like high quality foods.
“If I just wanted to buy a cheap, readily available dog food, I would have just like gone to the supermarket and just got a kind of a cheap kibble.
“It’s just incredibly disheartening because obviously people that buy fresh food like Years buy it because they’ve kind of bought into the idea that feeding their dog a fresh, healthy food made out of fresh, healthy ingredients is going to do them well.”
The 39-year-old said the situation was “mind-blowing”, adding: “I think everyone, all of the customers right now, are just reeling from this news.”
On its website, Years said it began receiving “multiple reports” of dogs experiencing sudden dry eye in both eyes in late July and launched an investigation on 1 August.
Years said symptoms could include redness, cloudiness or dullness in the eyes, excessive blinking or squinting, pawing at the eyes and thick discharge as well as general discomfort around dogs’ eyes.
The company urged its 40,000 customers to contact their vet “promptly” and to mention the Years product recall if they spotted any of the symptoms.
Years told customers that their subscription will be paused for an initial period of six weeks while the company makes fresh meals using quinoa in place of buckwheat and apologised for the “worry and disruption” caused.
The firm said it will publish the investigation’s results.
