Product Re-calls and Us

Gus (right) and Belleville

For the first time that I remember I am experiencing the absence of three re-called items – items that we use regularly:

The first product that “went missing” was Eukanuba’s lamb and rice dog food that we feed our two Miniature Schnauzers. I found out years ago that lamb and rice was good for dogs with sensitive skin – no more dry, flaky, itchy skin. I bought a 30 lb bag last fall (I prefer 16 lbs bags) but the store owner had received word from the company that it expected to get its product back on the shelves in December. Not so. I bought another 30 lb bag in January. My conversation with the store owner went differently this time. He said “I don’t know when or if they will start providing this food again. Give them a call. But in case they don’t, I can recommend a better, cheaper food for your dogs.”

This wouldn’t be that touchy if our younger Schnauzer Gus hadn’t had liver problems as a 4 month old puppy. He’s now three. We’ve had his liver function tested over these years and are getting normal functioning results with the Eukanuba lamb and rice diet. When/if this food is no longer available we will have to gradually switch him and our other doggie onto a new food and begin testing again.

The second product we noticed missing was the Tylenol cold medicines. Signs on the shelves apologize for any inconvenience. Then I noticed empty shelves and more signs apologizing appeared the Mylanta antacid should be (the third missing product).

A few weeks later we read an article on about Johnson & Johnson in the NY Times. It was about upgrading their plants and quality assurance personnel. Maybe by the end of the year we would see their products show up on the shelves again. Will consumers buy them again? I guess we’ll cross that bridge when we get to it – depending somewhat on whether we find replacement products.

We like all three of these products because they are effective for us. Not being able to purchase them forces us to purchase and try other brands in hopes we can find effective replacement products. (Ah change – such a pain at times).