Salmonella poisoning is the reason for the recent pet food recalls that include many well-known, premium pet food brands. According to the CDC, a total of 14 people in 9 states have become ill as a result of the recalled pet food. Five of those people were hospitalized and no deaths have been reported.

“We have taken corrective actions at our Gaston, SC facility and voluntarily expanded the recall out of concern for our customers and their pets,” Diamond reports in a release.

Active recalls:

Diamond Pet Foods has expanded its voluntary recall of dog food and brands affected now include:

- Apex                            - Diamond Naturals
- Premium Edge              - Professional
- Country Value               - Diamond
- 4Health                        - Taste of the Wild
- Canidae                       - Kirkland Signature
- Chicken Soup for the Pet Lover’s Soul
- Kirkland Signature Nature’s Domain

To determine if your pet food has been recalled, check the production code on the bag. If the code has a "2" or "3" in the 9th position and an "X" in the 10th or 11th position, the product is affected by the recall. The best-before dates for the recalled products are Dec. 9, 2012 through April 7, 2013.

This is another part of our in-depth look at hairballs in cats. We are also offering a huge giveaway from Hills Pet Food. That's right - we've got 10 bags of Hills brand special solutions cat food to give away this month and information on how you can enter is at the end of this post. And now, we have the Top 15 Things You Probably Didn't Know About Hairballs:

1. The average cat spends 1/3 of their waking life grooming themselves. Let’s do the math:

• Most cats sleep an average of 13-14 hours per day
• Most cats groom themselves for 3-4 hours per day
• That only leaves 7 hours per day to play, demand food, stare at you in a condescending manner, and vomit hairballs on to your Persian rug for you to study, wondering what it is that’s on your floor.

2. The average person spends 1 hour per week staring at a regurgitated hairball and wondering what it is. (Okay, we made that stat up, but the rest of the stats in this article are true).