In the early part of 2007, pet food from China was reported to be tainted and causing illness and death in pets. Well, another pet food scare is rearing its ugly head and it involves China again.

The issue this time is jerky treats made in China. Specifically, veterinarians are reporting an increase in cases of dogs being sick after eating certain jerky treats. The symptoms of the sickness include vomiting, diarrhea and severe lack of energy. Fortunately, no pet deaths have been reported as of yet although veterinarians are only becoming aware of the problem on a large scale now.

Given the unpleasant, but hardly unique symptoms, one might wonder how the veterinarians are noting there is a problem. Apparently, the combination of symptoms is rarely seen more than once or twice a year and is very similar to Fanconi’s Syndrome.

Fanconi’s Syndrome is a disease of the kidney. With Fanconi’s, there is a renal cell failure in cats and, in the present case, dogs. Symptoms differ by breed, but include loss of appetite, weight loss, dehydration, lack of energy and depression. The disease can lead to death.

Although the issue of infected jerky is just starting to play out, it appears the primary products in question are non-brand name chick jerky treats. The FDA has announced it is aware of reports regarding a problem and is in the process of investigating them.

At this point in time, one has to wonder how more infected pet food products could have made their way from China to the United States. Chinese officials certainly took a public relations beating last spring when the first infectious food stories broke and can hardly afford to go through the process again. One must wonder if this is a one off situation or an indication of a system wide problem in China.

The ultimate determination of whether this new scare is a serious problem is going to take a while to figure out. In the meantime, it is probably wise not to feed your pup any chicken jerky treats.