Years dog food recalled after reports of pets losing their sight

A premium dog food brand has urgently recalled all of its fresh meals after reports that a recipe change may have caused some animals to lose their sight.

The brand Years, which provides personalised meals in subscription-based service, said owners should stop feeding its fresh meals to their dogs “immediately”.

The announcement comes after reports from dog owners across the UK of bilateral dry eye in their pets.

The eye condition, if left untreated, can lead to sight loss.

Dog owners in Scotland have spoken with STV News about their concerns.

Denise Lees, from Stirlingshire, says her dog Alfie has been in pain suffering from severe dry eyes.

“Alfie is in constant pain and discomfort right now,” said Denise. “He’s on antibiotics, eye lotion at night, lubricant drops for during the day and immunosuppressant medication and two different kinds of pain killers.”

Alfie had started eating Years food products in April of this year. Denise says he started to itch and “seemed a bit off” a few weeks later, eventually leading him to be taken to the vet as his conditioned worsened and he appeared to suffer greater discomfort.

“The vet thought it was conjunctivitis and they gave us eye drops for him,” said Denise. “It didn’t get any better, so we took him back and that’s when they did a tear test and found he had zero tear production in both eyes.

“Our vet was puzzled to see it in both eyes. They put a referral into an ophthalmologist and we’re due back tomorrow to find out if Alfie will need invasive surgery.

“This would mean redirecting his saliva glands to his eyes to give lubrication.”

Alfie had started eating Years food products in April of this year STV News

Denise did not know there were any concerns or possible links to Alfie’s food until Monday night when Years sent an email to their subscribers warning them of the product recall.

Years said that as of the early hours of Wednesday, it had received 192 reports of “potential, yet unverified, eye issues” out of roughly 40,000 customers. It previously said that as of Sunday it had “57 suspected cases” of the condition, known as sudden bilateral dry eye.

Dry eye in dogs – also known as keratoconjunctivitis sicca, or KCS – occurs when a dog is unable to produce tears, making their eyes very sore. Bilateral means it affects both eyes.

The brand Years said owners should stop feeding its fresh meals to their dogs “immediately” and also told them not to feed them to any other animal, or to donate or sell them.

They said their investigation has identified buckwheat as a potential contributing factor, and they are now investigating a potential contamination within the buckwheat supply.

STV News has also visited a Pets at Home store in central Scotland who are advertised as stocking Years fresh products.

Staff told STV News that all the Years meals had been recalled and removed from their stores.

The Years company said some symptoms to look out for include excessive blinking or squinting; continuous pawing at the eyes; thick discharge; general discomfort around the eyes.

“I’ve gone through a lot of emotions, from being upset and angry to totally bewildered, “said Denise. “It’s incredible to think that something so small as an ingredient change could be doing this amount of damage.”

Other dog owners in Scotland have also come forward to share their experience with cases reported in Stirling, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Dunfermline and Perthshire.

One dog owner told STV News that their dog has already had to undergo eye removal surgery within the last 24 hours. Their second dog is now also being rushed in today for treatment.

STV News has approached Years for comment.

The current guidance to dog owners from the company is to contact their vet “promptly” and to mention the Years product recall if spotting any of the dry eye symptoms in their pets.