Guide to veterinary recalls and adverse event reporting

We're always watching out for the latest recall information to publish on dvm360.com. Because keeping up on the latest recalls and product-related health issues makes you a trusted voice in helping clients keep their pets safe. (anakala/stock.adobe.com)

Pet owners get pet health care information from friends, family, store employees and online bloggers-just the way we all get information when it comes to food, money and everything else in our lives. And, of course, sometimes clients also come to your veterinary practice for your expertise on what they should feed their pet.

Sometimes their questions center around calorie counts, species- and life-stage–specific nutritional needs and homemade recipes. Or they may have heard about a defect or nutritional deficiency in a pet food. It helps to be up on this news. Maybe it's been a while since you've had to report an adverse event or product problem in your practice that might affect more than one vaccine vial, drug or bag of pet food.

Here are the places to learn about the latest recalls that affect pet owners with regard to nutrition and everything else veterinary-medicine related as well as the latest links to report adverse events to government agencies to help folks recognize the size of a problem.

I can't keep track of all this stuff!

Do you have a team member who loves being in the know about the latest product announcements and changes, and what pet food and product myths and misinformation are floating around? Maybe that person is already close to the products, with a hand in inventory management. Why not task that person with keeping you and the rest of the team up-to-date on the latest product recalls?

A super-curious team member could be your new client-pleasing superstar. (Just make sure they run any medical questions by you first.)

Where can you go for the latest recall information that affects veterinary practice?

• The U.S. Food and Drug Administration keeps a list of ongoing recalls and withdrawals.

• dvm360.com maintains an ongoing list of voluntary and mandatory recalls that might affect you.

• The AVMA maintains ongoing lists of pet food safety recalls and alerts as well as product alerts and recalls.

Where do I report a problem with a pet food, animal drug or device, vaccine, parasite preventive or other veterinary product?

• First, always report the issue to the individual seller, distributor and/or manufacturer. Reputable animal health and pet food companies have support staff who can help you with product problems.

• Next, if a problem needs to be reported as part of a potentially larger veterinary health concern or as a growing number of recalls surrounding a product, these are the government agencies that want your help:
• For pet food, report a complaint online with the FDA here.

• For animal drugs and devices, report problems and concerns with the FDA instructions here.

• For animal vaccines, report adverse events to the Center for Veterinary Biologics with the USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service here.

• For flea, tick and other parasiticides, report incidents to your state's pesticide regulatory agency.

Your practice should be the center of the circle of pet care for your clients. Keeping up on the latest recalls and product-related health issues makes you a trusted voice that helps anxious clients keep their pets safe.