A premium dog food brand used by thousands of Brits has issued an urgent recall after some pets developed an eye condition.
The brand Years, which provides ‘tailored’ meals on a subscription basis, said owners should stop feeding their pups its chef-prepared fresh meals ‘immediately’.
They also should not be fed to other animals, sold, or donated.
It comes after the company received reports of approximately 192 cases of suspected dry eye.
While ‘unverified’, the eye issues – keratoconjunctivitis sicca, or KCS – could have a ‘potential link’ to the brand’s buckwheat ingredient.
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In a message on its website, Years explained of the recall: ‘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.’
One customer who noticed a change in his dog was David Felton, who claimed his dog, Cookie, had been eating Years for two-and-a-half years when she developed eye problems in April.
The PR consultant from Edgware, north London, estimated that he had spent £1,500 on treatment and vet bills after Cookie suffered ‘a lot of pain’, leaving him ‘extremely worried’.
His spaniel cross’s eyes became ‘really gunky’, which was initially attributed to a corneal abrasion, aka a scratch on the eye caused by an irritant getting stuck.
But six-year-old Cookie’s symptoms did not improve after two weeks, resulting in her referral to a specialist and an eventual bilateral dry eye disease diagnosis.
She must now be given a steroid paste twice daily and over-the-counter drops and gel.
Can dogs eat buckwheat?
Many healthy dogs can eat a small portion of plain buckwheat, thoroughly cooked. It can be toxic if not cooked properly.
Buckwheat can provide useful fibre and slow-release carbohydrates.
However, it must be introduced to their diet ‘gradually’ and should not be paired with salt, butter, onion, garlic, sauces or seasoning.
You should consult your vet for nutritional advice beforehand if your dog has conditions such as diabetes, pancreatitis, allergies, or digestive problems.
Upon receiving an email from Years on Monday, David stopped feeding Cookie Years’ food right away.
‘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,’ he said.
‘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 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.’
He added that all of Years’ customers are likely to be ‘reeling’ from the discovery.
The brand started receiving reports of dogs suffering from eye issues in late July, triggering the launch of an investigation on August 1. The findings are due to be published.
Years, which has around 40,000 subscribers, has implored people to contact their vets ‘promptly’ if they notice any symptoms and to mention the recall to them.
Subscriptions will be paused for six weeks to allow the company to make fresh batches of meals, this time replacing buckwheat with quinoa.
Years apologised for any ‘worry and disruption’ caused.
Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.
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