You should seek the advice of your veterinarian if your pet is ill as only he or she can correctly advise on the diagnosis and recommend the treatment that is most appropriate for your pet.

There is a lot of concern about the risks of disease being transmitted from foods to humans - but are there risks  for pet animals ?

There is always a very slight risk that food can be contaminated but fortunately diseases in pets due to eating food are very uncommon. Modern food processing techniques help to sterilise food during the preparation of both canned and dry types of food. Raw foods (eg
uncooked meats) present the greatest risk.

There are some things you can do to minimise any risks :

1. Always buy foods prepared by reputable companies
2. Do not feed foods that are not suitable for human consumption
3. Always feed foods before the expiry date
4. Never feed food from a dented can
5. Never feed raw foods - especially raw meats
6. Never leave food down for more than 24 hours
7. Store foods as recommended by the manufacturer - eg keep dry food clean, dry and cool
8. Never store foods in rooms where they could be contaminated by rodent urine.
9. Feed a prepared COMPLETE pet food
10. Don't try to make up your own homemade ration - you are very unlikely to get the formulation right.

In pets the greatest risk of developing a disease from foods comes from bad feeding practices including :

1. Overfeeding - obesity is a REAL problem
2. Feeding a fad diet - eg fish or meat only
3. Feeding an imbalanced ration - eg containing an abnormal calcium:phosphorus content
4. Oversupplementation - eg excessive vitamin A

Despite these precautions it is possible that pets can contract disease from some foods - for example 

• Feline Spongiform Encephalitis (or FSE - the feline equivalent of BSE ) is thought to have developed in cats following eating infected beef products...although this has not been proved. 
• Feeding dried dog chews in Canada and the USA has also been shown to be hazardous because they may be contaminated with Salmonella. 
• Feeding peanuts contaminated with aflatoxin to birds and small mammals may also be a problem.