original post date 03/18/07
This blog has been created in order to make a centralized site for people to report illnesses or deaths of pets as a result of eating tainted pet food. Add your story by commenting on this post. (click the comment link below, word verification has been added to decrease any SPAM posts)
Please report your case to the FDA
The phone number to reach the Food and Drug Administration is 1-888-INFO FDA and the webpage is http://www.fda.gov The AP is reporting to throw out the food, however the FDA has suggested hanging onto the unused food, in case testing is needed
A link to Pet Connections website has been added to the list at the right. They are creating and maintaining a database of pets/owners affected by this recall, but please still leave your story with us, as well.
Check the front page of USA Today on Friday 03/22/07. They told us that our story would be on the front page.
3/31/07 this blog was mentioned in The Chicago Tribune
Additional posts will be made as information is gathered.
149 comments:
My Lil Fella died from kidney failure March 9th, something my vet told me was extremely rare for a cat not quite a year old. He had never been sick a day in his short little life, so I took my Lil Fella in when he first began vomitting. My vet put him on antibotics, a medicine for the vomitting, and a special diet for three days. In that time period, he seemed to improve but then I began feeding him the Special Kitty Gourmet Food again and in three days he had to be put down.
I have two other cats. Buddy seems fine, but Maks has been vomitting off and on since this same time period. It may not be related. I'm seeing our vet tomorrow and hopefully will have some more answers then.
On March 12, our cat Max died after sudden renal failure. One week prior, we had purchased a new supply of Eukanuba Cuts with Savory Chicken in Gravy, a mainstay of his diet. (This product has since been recalled.) Shortly thereafter, he became very sick. We took him to the veterinary emergency hospital on March 9 and to our regular vet the following day where we discovered his kidneys had begun to fail.
Only two weeks prior to his death he had been a happy, healthy cat chasing snowflakes outside our window. We deeply grieve for our lost companion and are troubled to believe his end was anything but natural.
My family lost our baby Sidney to this on Feb 15th. She was having trouble eating hard foods so she ate the special kitty food. She went from fine one day to gone the next due to this food.
This company has to be held responsible for their not giving pet owners a fair warning. From what I have collected on the internet they knew in December they had these issues. Now there are alot of families without their baby that could have been warned in time.
My (otherwise healthy) four-year-old male cat, Tyson, is currently undergoing treatment for kidney failure related to consumption of three pouches of tainted 'Special Kitty' Duck & Wild Rice food. I purchased the food as an afterthought Wednesday night, thinking it'd be a nice treat for the cats, who generally only receive premium dry foods. (Was I ever wrong!)
Tyson began vomiting on Thursday. I figured the food just hadn't agreed with him.. but when he stopped eating and was still vomiting (small quantities of foamy liquid) the next day, I started to become concerned. That night, the local news ran a report about the recall. When I heard that Wal-Mart's food was among those suspected to have been contaminated, I had a bad feeling. When they mentioned that the symptoms included vomiting and kidney failure, I knew we had a problem.
Saturday morning I rushed Tyson to the vet, where bloodwork confirmed my fears- that he'd been poisoned by the food. At this point he appears to be showing signs of improvement. Tomorrow, he is going in for more bloodwork, which should hopefully give us some sort of idea as far as how he's progressing.
Two of my other cats also ate the food. However, unlike Tyson, they pretty much refused to consume it after the first feeding. Both appear to be healthy at this time. Five-year-old Nicholas ingested a significant amount (entire pouch) at the first feeding, as well as much of the gravy from another pouch at the second, so I am planning on having his renal values checked tomorrow if the vet is willing. If evidence of kidney problems is apparent, I will have eleven-year-old Alex (who ate only about 1/3 pouch and appears fine) checked as well.
The food in question is Special Kitty's Duck & Wild Rice, with a sell-by date of 12/22/08. This particular batch was not initially implicated in the recall, but appears to have been added to the Menu Foods site as of this afternoon. I purchased the food at our local Wal-Mart Supercenter on the evening of 3/14.
Our dog Morgan had to be put to sleep on February 24 at the age of almost 17 years because she was in renal failure. Thinking of her age, we just assumed this was a natural course for her. Now we find out that it was due to the 'Ol Roy pouches of dog food that she ate. She was at the vet for several days to get fluids, but not with positive results. After not eating for two days, we decided it would be best not to let her suffer as the vet said it was not a very comfortable way to go. It troubles me to think that all this was caused by dog food.
We are sad to report that our 7 yo Toy Fox Terrier “Pedro” has been at the vet since 8am 3/15. He has Acute Renal Failure. He ingested about (6) 5.3 oz packages of affected “Hill Country Fare” dog food. His second set of tests Saturday showed some improvement, but the results remain toxic. We’re hoping that we have better news in the morning, but our vet is not optimistic. After calling the Menu Foods Recall hotline I have this to report: They are only “Taking Messages for Menu Foods” and cross-referencing the “list” Menu Foods provided them. BTW…that list has changed several times since it was first released late Friday but the date on the lists still show the original 3/16 date (which wasn’t posted until 3/17). It just seems the have moved way too slow to diagnose the cause of this and are providing absolutely NO information to pet owners. I think it’s too little…too late.
Also pet owners BEWARE…they are saying if your pet’s food is not on the list then to continue using it. Well that list has changed so much that we have unopened food that according to the list for over an entire day it was “ok”. Today’s list shows they are on the recall list! If you’re feeding your pet “wet” food made by this company you are at risk…they seem to be clueless. Switch to dry food or one of the few (Purina is one) that have their own plant.
Karen and Brian, I am deeply sorry for your losses. My mother's cat, who was at least 16 years old, died of kidney failure a month ago and we assumed it was his age.
My wife and I have four cats and we have been feeding them Iams as we were under the assumption that it was the best out there. So far, they are still healthy. Not only do I discover that I was potentially putting them at risk, but also that I have been paying double for what is probably the same cat food as a store brand.
I am disgusted with the heartless, capitalistic society we live in.
hi karen - my beloved and very healthy cat red went into sudden renal failure - the vet was surprised and confused until we saw the news - he has been eating packets of Nutro Natural Choice within the affected dates - have no idea if he will make it - he is my baby - we have spent $2000 in the past four days. i am anguished and i want answers...
I bought 10 pouches of Ol Roy from Wal-Mart between 1/12/07 and 2/03/07 and fed them to my Cocker Spaniel, Freedom. She became deathly ill, stopped eating and wouldn't stop shivering. She had to be hospitalized for 5 days. Her kidney enzymes went through the roof. My vet gave her massive amounts of fluids and antibiotics but the antibiotics didn't seem to help at first. We have paid over $2000 to save her. Freedom also lost part of her tongue due to the kidney problems. It died and fell off.
My heart goes out to all pet owners who have been affected by this tragedy. Please contact the FDA with your story. I did and plan on emailing them a timeline of what happened along with all Freedom's records. Please contact the FDA! They need to know how bad this really is.
2 out of my 6 cats were vomiting & lethargic for 4 days last week.They did recover I think because I only fed them "Special Kitty" brand food from WalMart once and some of the cats didn't eat it. I only realized it was the food when I heard about the recall a few days ago. BUT the Special Kitty they ate is NOT on the recall list and I think it should be. It was "Prime Entree Dinner" not a gravy dinner. I wouldn't trust ANY of Special Kitty canned cat food. The bottom of the can is dated Dec. 12 09 which is in the time period of the other recalled products. My heart goes out to all those whose pets were sickened and died. Kris
Our dog, a Mini Pin, got sick all of a sudden last week. He was vomiting and had diarrhea. In one day he got from being healthy to being extremely thin and sick. Three days later, he was taken to the vet where they presumed it was Parvo. We knew it wasn't that because we have had dogs die of Parvo and the symptoms weren't all there. By the end of the week, he was taken to a different vet where he was given vitamins and antibiotics. He was tested for worms and came out negative and they ruled out Parvo because he was consuming some food and the diarrhea was gone, it was only vomiting. The vet did not understand what was wrong with the dog, who is just 3 months old. Now he is back to his normal self and today we find out that it was indeed the food that got him sick, he was given Eukanuba meet cuts with gravy. Now, with the vitamins he is back to his normal self and now we know that it was the food. He won't be eating that for a while.
Petconnection is asking that those animals who have been affected by the food to put their names into a database at their site.
I'm so sorry that your animals have passed due to this. My sincerest condolences to you all.
Well, I'm back from the vet with my other 2 kitties. Just like I thought - Buddy is fine (he shunned the food), but Maks is having kidney problems. The vet has kept Maks and is going to flush his kidneys 2-3 days. His prognosis will depend on how Maks responds to the treatment.
Please keep us in your prayers as you are all in ours.
To Karen and all those who have animal's suffering...our prayers are with you.
Jordan our dog of 17 years had been in fairly good health considering her age. She had become sick on 2-20-07, and had been eating Ol' Roy Gourmet brand from Wal Mart. After taking to the vet and discovering she was suffering with kidney failure,and because of her age had to be euthanized on 2-24-07
Much like Shawn's comments on this, we also thought it was nature taking its course, but after researching the list of recalled UPC codes from Menu Foods website, it is apparent that the food she ate was part of the recalled packets, as I still have the packets here that were left over.
I will be contacting the FDA with my story and urge all others affected by this terrible mistake to do the same.
My 9 month old puppy, Lucy died on March 9th of renal failure after two excruciating weeks in ICU at the best veterinary hospital in the region. I suspect with strong evidence of support that the renal failure was the result of the dog having consumed dog food which has been recalled. I have contacted the company, but I was treated rudely and they took my phone number saying someone would call me back. They have yet to contact me. My dog was a purebred Toy Fox Terrier who I purchased from a highly respected breeder in July of 2006 for $1200. I am now in debt over $5000 in veterinary bills as a result of trying to save her life. I feel I have a right to be compensated for my losses because this company failed to ensure the safety of their product and because they waited 3 months after they received reports of deaths before issuing a recall. I purchased the tainted food just 4 weeks ago. Had the manufacturer acted with more urgency in recalling the product, my dog would still be alive. Lucy was my baby and my best friend. Losing her was the most difficult thing I have ever experienced. I want for this company to pay severely for what they have done to our pets.
We had a puppy that died, but she ate Pedigree food in a pouch. We have no explaination as to why she died. Is there a possibility that this food is included in the recall?
I wanted to let you know about some additional information we've been
uncovering on itchmo.com about the Menu Foods pet recall.
http://www.itchmo.com/go/tagged/safety/
We did some legwork to figure out that:
1) The mortality rate is anywhere from 14% to 25%. A staggering number considering that the FDA estimates the recall affected 1% of all pet food supply in the US
We think tens of thousands of pets could be dead since early December from this problem
2) The company may have been not forthcoming about the true first date (early Dec) it learned about problems with its food. It was actually more than 2 months before what Menu Foods claims (Feb 20).
3) The company acted very slowly in announcing the recall. To the tune of more than 2 weeks after clear evidence that there was a fatal problem with the products.
4) The company could ill-afford a recall of this magnitude.
Feel free to draw your own conclusions about our analysis.
My Bob got sick a month ago - he stopped eating entirely, and was vomiting repeatedly, and when there was nothing left in his system, he was having dry heaves. I took him to the vet right away, because he's never sick, and has never vomited so much as a hairball. The vet ran a complete blood panel on him and found elevated levels of Creatine, along with other things that I don't remember the names of, and told me that he was suffering from kidney failure, and, from what she could see, it looked similar to a cat that's been eating antifreeze. I was mystified - this is an indoor cat that's never been anywhere near any antifreeze.
Since then, he's been on three medications taken twice daily, and he went to the vet DAILY for a system flush (read, "kitty dialysis") for two weeks, and then three times a week since then. On Friday, the vet told me that he can cut back to a monthly flush, which he'll need for the rest of his life, and he will need to be on a prescription cat food diet for the rest of his life.
Now let me tell you about Bob - he's not even three years old. Until now, he's never been sick, not ever. And his favorite food was the Natural Choice in the pouches.
He's such a sweetheart, and I can't even describe how FURIOUS I am about this - I'm beside myself that because of this company's negligence, I've fed him what amounts to POISON. Every time I think of how this wonderful pet has looked to his human to take care for him, and I wasn't able to protect him from this, and now he has permanent kidney damage. I'm in tears over this.
How "wonderful" that this company wants to monetarily compensate the owners of the pets that died - as if money's going to ease the pain of the families that lost a dear friend. I've seen nothing where they're offering to help those of us who are left with years of major veterinary and dietary bills ahead of us.
My Lily had been my best friend for 16 years. She had actually been doing well and had just started to regain some of the weight she had lost due to the stress from a recent move and seemed healthy and happy in our new home.
On March 8th, I bought a case of Iams Salmon in Sauce and Tuna and Ocean Whitefish in Sauce. After eating five cans, she threw up, and stopped eating. She lost weight,even though I tried to tempt her with everything, and when she started to hide in the back of the closet we called the vet and took her in as fast as we could.
He diagnosed her with kidney failure, and we thought, ok, she's older, maybe it was just something that was going to happen eventually anyway, though it did seem rather sudden. We did try to rehydrate her and get her toxin levels down, but by then it was too late. We put her down on March 16 when it became clear that her toxin levels were still sky high and unlikely to come down. Neither the vet nor myself had seen the recall notice at that point.
When I did see it the following day, I checked the remaining cans in the case and the used cans. All of them had the recall numbers, and I was horrified. I started caling all of my friends with pets, many of whom had not seen the recall notices. The word is spreading.
Lily had been a wonderful cat for 16 years. She was always there for me, a half siamese cross with rabbit-soft fur, and china blue eyes. She had seen me through so many things, and my fondest wish for her was that she could go peacefully in her sleep. Instead, she has died due to some unknown ingredient in a brand of food that I have trusted for years.
Menu Foods has stolen her remaining years away. Had they posted this recall when they first became aware that there was a problem with some of their foods, she would still be alive today, purring contentedly by the heater. Instead, I am waiting to get her ashes back from my vet, and am stricken by the loss of my beloved Lily.
A note about the Menu Foods Hotline. They provide a number for someone to contact at Menu Foods, and that number directs you right back to the hotline number.
The people at the hotline number (they are an outside group hired to do this, so you can't really yell at them) DIDN"T KNOW that the number they had been given out all day directed people right back to them. Isn't it great that Menu Foods is taking such responsibility for their mistake?
The people at the hotline were surprised to find this out. they thanked me for the info and suggested that I give them a day to try to get another number, and were very apologetic in the process. I felt bad for them. Menu Foods set them up as the fall guys, and is not returning calls to the hundreds if not thousands of irate customers trying to get some recourse for their losses, which are, in some cases, tragic.
Lily was a good cat. Her [resence added something to the home. At first we hated each other when I moved inot the apartment in Lowell 11 or so years ago but we came to respect and befriend each other.
She was a bright cat that was capable of the occasional limited bit of speech. I kid you not: Once when Deb was away for three days Lily looked at me and said "Home Now" , granted not super clearly, almost sorta spooky as her throat wasn't built to say it but when I replied "WHAT ?!" she struggled on and repeated "Home now", I told her somnething along the lines of "don't worry Deb was going to be home later that night or really early in the morning go wait on the bed and it'll seem like no time at all" and she trotted off to the bed.
For a time we had 4 cats and the food bowls could be enptied in seconds and a more gentle and elegant cat like lily could miss out . She however learned to remedy this sissue by stanidn by the bowl and saying "Food...Food Now?". Again in a strained I really shouldn't be doign this sort of cat voice but the message was of course pretty clear.
She was a sweet old cat who survived a couple of boughts of really bad health over the course of her long kitty life. She was a member of my home for years and I take small comfort in knowing she is no longer in pain and much more knowing that she was loved to the end.
My dog Mitch had to be put down on Feb.19 due to kidney failure. We only had him for 4 years, but he was about 13-14 years old, and had a history of kidney problems, but never anything serious, we just had to watch his diet. He had been on Nurto senior dry for the last couple of years and was doing fine. On Jan. 31 he had to have 2 teeth pulled, so we began mixing some wet food in with the dry to make it easier for him to eat. He had several different kinds of wet food because I was trying to find something he liked. He had at least 2 of the kinds that are on the recall list. On Wed. Feb. 14, just a few days after he finished his antibiotics from his tooth extraction, he began vomiting. It wasn't unusual for him to vomit from eating too fast, so we didn't think much of it at first. On Thursday, he didn't eat much at all, so on Friday, my husband went to buy some Prescription Diet at the vet. We were already concerned at that point that he was having kidney problems, but we thought it was just because of giving him too many different foods, and we thought switching the Prescription Diet would take care of the problem. He never really ate more than a few bites of that food because he was already too sick. By Saturday afternoon, I was pretty sure he was dying. He vomited at least once an hour, and didn't eat anything on Saturday or Sunday. I took him to the vet on Monday morning and had him euthanized. The vet said from his clinical symptoms that he was in kidney failure. I declined blood tests and supportive care because it was obvious that he was suffering and I didn't want to see him suffer anymore. I'm so glad I kept my cats away from the dog's wet food that they were trying to eat. They eat only dry Prescription Diet and are fine, but I will be watching the recall info very closely for any additions to the list just in case.
We brought our Bengal cat, Frasier into the vet back on March 2, 2007 because he was lethargic, not eating, losing weight, and vomiting (bile only and I thought this was due to hairballs).
Frasier had lost about 2 1/2 lbs. since his last check up 1 year ago and was severly dehydrated. Vitals OK and gave him an IV to rehydrate and took blood sample. Blood tests showed acute renal failure and the vet thought they could try to treat and subsequently worked on this for 3 days but in the end recommended euthanasia. Frasier was put down on March 7, 2007.
We were heartbroken as all of you who have posted are but did not think too much of it as Frasier was almost 12 and we were simply chalking it up to "old age" although he, and his sister Lileth, have always been very robust. Comments from our vets over the years typically have been "whatever you are doing, keep doing it".
Well, we found out about the recall on Saturday March 17 and to our horror found that the food we have been feeding our cats was on the list - Special Kitty pouched varities from WalMart. We had been feeding them this food for years...literally and never would have suspected. Frasier loved that stuff and it was the only cat food he would eat. Fortunately, his sister Lileth preferred dry food and would only eat a little of the wet.
Well, rushed our remaining Bengal cat, Lileth, to the vet on Monday March 19, 2007 for a complete physical including blood and urine tests. Lileth has lost about 1 1/4 lbs. since here last check up or about 10% of her body weight.
Overall her behavior and condition seems to be OK. However, the urine was very clear and our vet immediately expressed concern although primarily for diabetes. Just received the blood results and it shows eleveated kidney functions. Our vet recommended change in diet to a special dry food "KD" for cats with kidney issues and to return for more blood work in a month.
I'll keep the post updated should there be any changes good or otherwise to our remaining cat's health.
Our thoughts and parayers are with all of you who have lost a loved one.
I have no idea if our cat's death was related to the pet food recall, but you never know. It's just too coincidental.
Our Peugeot had to be put to sleep in late January from acute renal (kidney) failure. She was only 4.5 years old. Our vet was dumbfounded as to why she had this when she had been so healthy. At x-mas time she was an energetic cat, leaping around the house with her new toys, and by Jan 7, she wouldn't leave the bathroom, she was vomiting, and she lost weight and she wouldn't eat. We had her hospitalized, put her on fluids, nothing could be done.
Her sister, Mini Cooper, seems to be fine. We got her checked out just in case and so far so good. She's eating Iams hard food. should I continue that?
Sorry for writing so much, but she was our baby and we miss her tremendously. I am so sorry for everyone who's had to go through this, our hearts are all breaking.
My own blog has what happened to our cat: http://crazyrosie.typepad.com/crazy_rosie/feline_friends/index.html
Our 12 year old mixed breed dog, Lady, had to be put to sleep on Thursday, December 14th, 2006 due to complications from liver failure. We did not know what caused the problem then, but we suspect that it is related to the current pet food recall.
Just by chance, we still have six cans of the Iams dog food left over. We bought 6 cans of the "Chunks with Chicken in Gravy" (product code: 60834197w2) and 6 cans of the "Chunks with Beef & Vegetables in Gravy" (product code: 61824197w2). We have three cans of each remaining, which means we feed Lady three of each flavor before she stopped eating. (These product codes are before the currently listed recall codes.)
The interesting thing is that we also have the sales receipt for the purchase of the dog food. (It was in the same plastic store bag as the dog food cans.) We bought the dog food on December 3, 2006. I wanted to point this our because this would suggest to me the problem ingredient was in the dog food before the currently listed recall dates.
In summary, I have six cans of Iams dog food left from a 12 can purchase. My dog died after just six cans. Probably because she was an older dog. These cans are from just before the recall dates. This leads one to conclude that the new supplier of the wheat gluten is not the cause of the problem. If these cans would be of any use to find a resolution, please let me know.
Reed Peters
pethen2@yahoo.com
Sonoma, Ca
I am writing this as concern to a food that is NOT listed on the current recall list. It is unknown to me whether or not Purina Moist & Meaty is produced by Menu Foods and I have had no luck trying to reach either of them.
Last week my 3 year old Chihuahua was acting strange, as well as vomiting, and not eating. After taking her into the vet, I was informed that she was very near kidney failure. I was told that her kidneys were 75% not functioning, and her levels were 140, when normal ranges from 6-20. After 5 days of hospitalization she was finally sent home. The vet was unable to give me reason to what had caused this. I was also told that it is very rare for such a young dog to experience kidney problems like this.
I now come to hear of these pet food recalls which are causing kidney failure. Due to the fact that all the products on this list are either canned or pouched foods, my concern has grown that this product should immediately be looked into further, in order to confirm whether or not it could have been the cause of the problem with my dog. If this product is toxic and not safe, pet owners should be notified as soon as possible.
On February 28, 2007, I had my cat, Mao, of 9 1/2 years put to sleep after sudden severe renal failure. I was heartbroken, but felt it was the best option as the vet felt the situation presented was too severe for him to survive much longer.
I fed Mao Iams Select Bites in Gravy daily along with hard food. I thought that by purchasing this higher priced brand, I was taking good care of my cat. Anger replaced grief when I heard about the brands and symptoms involved in the pet food recall on Saturday.
I am an art student and artist as well. I began working on a painting of my cat, but was motivated this weekend to make something more activist in nature. It may be viewed on my blog at the following link:
http://www.maryjeanmassie.com/wordpress
My condolences to everyone whose dear companions and families have had to suffer through this.
I just spent 177.00 at vet to check my dog for this as she has been fed 3 of these brands in the last two months. Anypone filing a class action law suit?? I will join.
Bob
bbrown@tnics.com
One of the lawyers who is discussing a class action suit...
Michael David Myers
1809 Seventh Avenue, Suite 700
Seattle, Washington 98101
1(206) 398-1188 ex 101
They are looking for owners who have lost animals or whose animals have gotten sick
I am quite sad to report the deaths of both my cats within the past week. They were elderly cats (17) and the first to die, Sistercat, was ailing for some time. She had trouble keeping down her dry food, so I did what I thought would be a kind thing and bought her the Iams Select Bites. Neither cat liked the food much, and pretty much just licked the gravy off...but I refused to switch thinking they were just being fussy. Imagine my guilt now.
Sistercat tanked within days, wasting away before our eyes and thinking it was just old age, we put her down humanely on Friday March 9th. Her brother Vasco was doing relatively well at the time, but did vomit once before she died and seemed out of sorts, but I attributed it to grief, actually, as naive as that may sound.
I left Vasco with my ex-husband for company when I left for vacation on the 14th, and upon my return discovered that he had passed away in our absence sometime around Friday. The speed with which he died shocked me until I heard about the recall.
I spent some time digging through my trash to find a pouch, which matches the recalled codes.
What a rotten way to die. I hope whatever lessons are to be learned from this experience keep other best friends from dying prematurely in the future.
Our 14 yr. old cat, Zelda, ate "Special Kitty" brand wet pouch food every day, and was in perfect health. On Wed., Feb. 7th, she lost her appetite quite suddenly. By Sat., Feb. 10th, we had her hospitalized for a kidney failure diagnosis, as tests strongly indicated. By Tues., Feb 13th, we faced the painful decision of having her euthanized. She died of renal failure. We spent over $1,000 on tests, hospitalization, etc. Only six days had elapsed between the day she lost her appetite and her last living day on earth. It was devastating. We loved her so much, and she was my son's best friend. I am still in possession of 38 pouches of "Special Kitty" brand food, with codes and dates that match ones on the recall list. I have no doubt in my mind now that this food is the cause of her death. Now it all makes sense. I'm still waiting for a call back from the PA state FDA complaint coordinator's office. I still cannot get through to MenuFood's posted phone numbers to call, and I have tried several times already. I purchased this food from Walmart in Erie, PA.
Last week I had to put my dog down due to what the vet called as kidney failue. I was extremely upset because he was perfectly healthy and within a months time became very lethargic, wouldn't eat and kept urinating around the house which was very unusual for him. I tried to take him for a walk one day and he his stool ended up being mostly blood so we took him to the vet to have him checked. The vet advised us that his kidney's had most likely failed, judging by the yellowness of the gums and he was put down. I wasn't aware of this recall until I came upon the story on a news site today and upon checking out left over dogfood we discovered that we were feeding him a batch of Ol'Roy dog food that was contaminated.
If anyone has any information on a class action suit taking place here in Canada let me know because I would very much like to be a part of it.
Jon. C
jmcarter04@hotmail.com
Most people choose their feline friends. Our Basti chose us. He was under our dumpster as we were remodeling. He was little and skinny, thought he was just a kitten. However, he was about ten according to the vet. He was declawed and so what could we do? We took him in. He became part of our family. He has been our little companion ever since,,, until now, he is just not well... he is dying...I know. I did not know about the recall for IAMS until my friend told me about it. I changed my food right away. My vet had warned us about the quality of Iams and such. But I thought Iams had to be so much better than Friskies or other food. My beloved pets deserved the best. I didn't think that I neeedd to go to a "human grade" food. Now unfortunately, I learned the hard way. I know better now. Basti has been to the vet twice in two days to get an IV, blood work, special food to feed him in a syringe. I plan to take him tomorrow. If he makes it. I want to hope, but there he lays on the floor with blankets around him to keep him warm. He has no strength. He can't walk or balance. I keep by him to remind him that we love him and he can get through this... I keep hoping. Life is not fair... he was abandoned and no one wanted him,. He found us and we were blessed. How awful I feel that we may have contributed to his ill health and perhaps his death. How sad there is so much pain in each one of these messages. A pain that we all share. A loss so great. I only hope that this is not in vain.
Please go to the FDA with your stories. It's so important that they find out how big this really is. Here's my story about my dog, Freedom. My name is Ann and I'm posting this everywhere I can in hopes that it may help someone else.
It's long but you may want to put a timeline together on your pet's illness. Also keep any receipts that show that you bought the tainted food.
Timeline for Freedom’s Illness
1/12/07 Purchased 4 foil pouches of Ol’ Roy chicken and turkey from Wal-Mart. (I have Wal-Mart receipts showing all of these purchases and the receipt shows the lot numbers and these lot numbers are among the ones that are recalled.)
1/21/07 Purchased 2 more foil pouches of Ol’ Roy from same Wal-Mart in Plano, TX.
2/03/07 Purchased 4 more foil pouches of Ol’ Roy from the same Wal-Mart.
Week of March 5, 2007, I feed Freedom 3 pouches of Ol’ Roy.
2/09/07 Freedom becomes very sick. She is weak, shivers constantly and won’t eat. My husband takes Freedom to our vet, Dr. Mitchell. He runs a variety of tests, trying to find out what the problem is. Her kidney enzymes are high. He gives her fluids and antibiotics. Dr. Mitchell keeps her overnight.
2/10/07 Freedom’s kidney enzymes are down enough that Dr. Mitchell let’s us take her home. I continue to administer Clavamox twice a day.
2/12/07 Jay takes Freedom in for a re-check. She is given more fluids. Dr. Mitchell runs more blood chemistry and urinalysis tests.
I feed Freedom more of the tainted Ol’ Roy, not knowing it is what’s making her sick. By the time Freedom is hospitalized the second time on March 26, 2007, she has eaten all ten pouches of Ol’ Roy.
2/26/07 Freedom becomes deathly ill again. She won’t eat anything. She shivers constantly and is weak, lethargic. I take Freedom into see Dr. Mitchell. He states there is blood in her urine. Her kidney enzymes have sky-rocketed to 150. He gives her fluids and runs all kinds of tests on her, including ultrasound. Freedom continues to weaken despite the antibiotics. Dr. Mitchell receives results from a urine culture and sensitivity tests and tells us that Freedom has an infection of a strain of E Coli that is resistant to Ampicillin and Clavamox. Freedom is hospitalized at pet clinic. until 3/1/07, when Dr. Mitchell has to go to a funeral and has us transfer her to an Emergency Pet Clinic.
3/01/07 Freedom is transferred to Emergency clinic at 4:15 PM. Kidney tests show her enzymes are finally dropping but they are still high and Freedom is still not eating.
3/03/07 Due to financial constraints, Jay and I decide to bring Freedom home so we can care for her ourselves. Her kidney enzymes are still dropping. Jay and I begin caring for Freedom around the clock. We are giving her 7 different medicines and administering fluids under the skin. I am feeding her chicken broth and water with a plastic syringe and do so every 3-4 hours, even through the night.
3/05/07 We take freedom back to Dr. Mitchell who says he thinks she is recovering. We continue giving her medication.
3/06/07 As I’m feeding Freedom with the syringe, I notice that her tongue is turning black and the tip of it keeps flipping up and sticking to the back part of her tongue. I have to manually pull her tongue down with my finger each time I try to feed her with the syringe. She’s having trouble eating and drinking with her tongue this way. Dr. Mitchell keeps her for the day while I am at school. He tells us that part of Freedom’s tongue has died due to the kidney problems and that she’ll lose this part of her tongue. He also tells us that she can only lose one third of her tongue to be able to keep eating. If she loses more, she may have to be put down. Dr. Mitchell feels sorry for us at this point and doesn’t charge us for the stay for the day or the fluids he gave her. He only charges for the pain meds he gives us for Freedom.
3/09/07 I take Freedom in to see Dr. Mitchell. She is having a terrible time trying to eat and still can’t drink water. Dr. Mitchell (a very dedicated vet) proceeds to feed Freedom a can of Hill’s Prescription canned food by using his fingers and a tongue depressor. It’s the most I’ve seen her eat in weeks. He also gives Freedom fluids again. He tells me to up the dose of pain medication to help Freedom with the extreme pain she is experiencing.
3/10/07 Freedom is in terrible pain, despite the pain medication I’m giving her every 6 hours. She can’t drink and foams at the mouth. The dead part of her tongue is stuck to the back part of her tongue. She has trouble swallowing food and can’t drink water. I give her chicken broth and water by the syringe every 3-4 hours. It is a struggle just for her to eat. Toward the end of the day, Freedom begins to lose pieces of her tongue. I am up at 4AM giving her pain meds and water.
3/11/07 Freedom wakes up and seems to be feeling a bit better. I’m still giving her pain meds every 6 hours. Finally, at the end of the day, Freedom begins eating and drinking on her own again.
3/12/07 After over a month of this nightmare, Freedom licks both my husband’s and my hand. We know she will make it. She is one tough little dog. I take her in to Dr. Mitchell, who tells me the dead part of her tongue has all fallen off and it won’t need to be scraped. Freedom regains appetite and energy. Still, after learning of the pet food recall, and knowing what it did to Freedom, I have to wonder about long-term effects on her.
Has anyone's pet had any problems with any of the dry food from these manufacturers?
Dry food, everyone is asking about dry food. I have something to share about that. I had a mixed lab dog named Buster. He was my child, my companion, and my friend. I loved my dog with all of my heart. I took him to the vets in Sept 06 for annual testing and all was good (his kidneys were functioning normally). But on Dec 17 he became lethargic and sick, I took him immediately to the vets that monday and on Tues they got the results back and he was in kidney failure. 80% of his kidneys not functioning. The vet was shocked and began the conversation with 'Chris, I didn't expect this and don't know how to tell you but...' Buster died that Saturday, December 23rd. As I write this, I am crying. So, you are wondering what he ate? Beneful dry food. You can't tell me there isn't more to this story! Coincidence? Maybe, but I don't think so. My dog was running around Dec 16th and one week later he died. If ANYONE has any info regarding this, please let me know...it's tearing me apart.
My 10 month old cat is at the vets undergoing treatment for kidney failure. We took her in on Sunday March 18, she had vomitted and had a terrible odor coming from her mouth . When the vet examined her he said she was dehydrated and needed to stay in the hospital. He also was going to take blood and x-ray her. The next morning he called and said her kidney's were enlarged and he asked if she had been on Iams or Eukanuba(this is the first time I hear about the recall). I had been feeding my two cats ( the other girl is 8 months old) Iams wet food twice a day. When her blood work came back on Monday it showed acute renal failure my vet said these were the worst numbers he had seen in an animal. Though her numbers were that bad she still was alert and urinating so with the vet we decided to keep her in the hospital another night. Then yesterday which would be Tuesday,my vet called in the morning to say her numbers are going down even though they are still way above normal. She did start to eat so last night we decided still to keep her in the hospital. Today, Wednesday her numbers have come down again the vet wants to keep her another night because she is making some progress. We are praying she is going to continue making progress, we also want her to have a good quality of life. The cost of this is right now in the ballpark of $600-$800 just for this stay in the hospital. My pet is defintely worth it, but with a family on a very tight budget this is devastating.
MY DOG, ABBEY BECAME ILL ON FEBRUARY 14 AFTER A STEADY DIET OF MIGHTY DOG POUCHES ESPECIALLY PRIME CUTS OF BEEF AND BEEF AND GRAVY. AFTER A HARD FIGHT , SHE GAVE UP ON MARCH 6,2007, I AM DEVASTATED AND WILL BE A VERY LONG TIME. WAHT NOW????
indoor cat - regular checkups
Sharing 1 pouch per day of IAMS SELECT BITES as a supplement to dry food (purina)
About early feb - her companion cat stopped eating the wet food - she thought this was great and started finishing up his portion as well
Week of 2/18 - small cat voilently vomits bile like fluids - I immed take her to vet
her renal chemistry is off the charts
Vet shakes his head - I say lets try something to give her a chance
she is hosptialised for 3 days - not much change - he suggessts maybe another couple of days on intense fluid treatments & antibiotics - we leave her in for 4 more days -
Her chemistries start to improve.
At home now for 2 weeks - on subcutaneous fluid therapy twice daily & special diet.
Vet says he is not sure how much of her kidneys are permanently damaged without more invasive procedures - but could be as high as 75% based on her intial test results.
Good news is her chemistries were almost completey normal this week - plan is to take one more set of tests and back her off to fluid therapy 1xday with a phosphorus binder and see if she can remain stable
I have bagged up all the IAMS boxes I still had left and she is now on a special diet.
I am exploring other diet options for my older (but apparently wiser) cat - although now that things are stable for the little one - he is going in for precautionary testing this Friday anyway.
Sidenote: the little cat has shown a enlarged lymph node in its submandibular area now - - it was tested and from that sample there were no cancerous cells, but the lymph node is reactive to something. Vet thinks it could possibly be as a result of all the blood draws from her neck area. So we have to keep an eye on that now as well.
P.S. Oh & Thanks Iams and MenuFoods for being such outstanding corporate citizens and reaching out to help all the victims of your negligence. Oh and by the way - I have not been able to get through on any of your phone lines to make any report! Knowing that in this day and age you could use technology on your website to gather data - but that would be taking accountability - - oops my mistake.
My cat bubba died on Nov 6 2006 from kidney failure. He had always tested negative for kidney malfucntion. Until I feed him pouches of the Nutro Max Cat. It took him quickely. Menu Foods are bullshitting with the dates that they are claiming detection of this contamination. They new long before that this was going to kill animals and they still did not order a recall. Animals are dying as you are reading this. Spread the word. Death to Menu Foods please.
IMPORTANT NOTICE TO ALL.
I thought I would mention this today I have been to 3 stores which still have recalled foods on the shelves, apparently they pulled the IAMS but nothing else. I told my local grocery store they had PAWS on the shelf that had UPC's that we on the Menu Foods site as being recalled and they were very nice and pulled them immediately and said "Oh that brand too? I thought it was only IAMS." So apparently they are only pulling IAMS I went to another store and found that FoodTown canned cat food was also still on shelf, but again they had pulled the IAMS. A local drugstore that has a small selection of pet food said they were not notified to pull anything off the shelves. So I urge you if you look at the recall list and remember seeing any of those brands check your local stores ASAP and get them off the shelves, enough animals have died and become ill let's save the ones we still can. I find it appalling and disgusting. They haven't mentioned specifically what brands are recalled on the TV and I think they just keep mentioning Ekanuba and IAMS when there are more. I told the store today when I pointed out the PAWS, that there were 53 brands of dog food and 42 brands of cat food..It is a big problem at least to me. I have been working and am working on making a printer friendly version of menu foods list including the UPC's and date codes/expiration dates or whatever so that it can be downloaded by anyone who wants, printed and distributed to your local grocery stores.. PLEASE help save as many pets as we can.. it's heart wrenching to think this crap is still on the shelves.. Thanks to all.
Printer Friendly List Available. I am looking for a free file host to make it available for DL to all but until then I will gladly E-mail it as a .doc or .rtf file to anyone interested just e-mail me @ Shandornm@wmconnect.com and put "List" in the subject line. Thank you and I Will post link as soon as the file is available.
I have my family around the computer reading the tribute to our Basti. However it is with sadness in our heart that our Basti passed away this evening. We said our goodbyes. We kissed him. See you in heaven Basti. We love you!
We are hoping and praying for the other pet owners who are going through what we just went through. I just watched Nightline and they had a short story on it. Am glad that it is still getting media attention.
Dear menu foods,
( Your name will not have capitals because I show you no respect!)
This is NOT going away and we will not allow you to carelessly poison our family pets.
We had to put our 7 year old cat (boss) to sleep on 3-21-07. Acute kidney failure do to tainted food from menu foods. We feed him special kitty from walmart. He was in perfect health until he started getting sick over the weekend. We thought it was just another hairball. Monday evening when we say the report of the recall we knew something was wrong. Took him to the vet and he wasn't getting any better. The vet told us he couldn't do anymore for him and that he was suffering. All of us that lost or is losing a Family member need to stand up and make this company feel our pain.
Our Pomeranian dog Bubbles, nearly 18yo, got sick on Feb. 15th. After 3&1/2 days in the hospital, I brought him home; his kidney #'s were about as good as they could get. We hoped being home would help him, but it didn't. On Feb. 20th, we had him put down. His kidney #'s had been perfect at his last checkup on Jan. 21st.
I first heard about the recall on the 16th. I read it with some interest, but not thinking it applied to me/us. I checked the list. All of Nutro's products except Ultra (he'd been eating that) were listed. I started to get that sinking feeling. The dates were right. I checked Nutro's website and they did list the Ultra. We have nine cans left. I have registered a complaint with the FDA and entered Bubbles into Petconnection.com's database.
Bubbles was our (dh's and mine) first baby. He may have been old and arthritic, but he still had so much spirit. He was a tough old guy, a fighter. Our kids (3y7m and 6y4m) were there when we had him put down (they wanted to stay), and this has been tough on us all. Now we wonder what age he would have lived to if not for the food...19?...20?
Our other dog, a Papillon who turned 1yo on 3/9 seems fine, but I took her in for tests yesterday to make sure...she finished the last can we had opened for Bubbles. Her Nutro Ultra is from November 2006, so we hope it's okay. She had surgery a week before Bubbles got sick and we were feeding her canned food early on in her recovery. We have three cans left over from her case. They are not going anywhere until this is all figured out.
Innocent Victims:
I live in Burlington, MA. We have also experienced a very unfortunate and unlucky set of circumstances for a beautiful 8 week kitten we adopted on Monday, March 5. I first bought a bag of dried food and 4 cans loose off the shelf when we first brought her home. On Saturday, March 10, I purchased a case of Eukanuba Kitten 3 oz. cans for my kitten. We started feeding her that on Saturday, March 10th. Within 3 days she was showing signs of illness, by March 14th she was gravely ill. Wednesday, March 14th, it was determined she was in acute renal failure.
We were faced with the horribly upsetting decision to euthanize our 9 week old kitten. At that point, it was unknown what had caused her to become so ill. I heard about the recall on Monday, March 19th. So approx. one week after I bought this food and fed it to my kitten the very same was being pulled off the shelves. Of course, when they released the codes on the tainted batch, I checked the case I had been feeding her from and discovered they were from those codes. I can’t express enough how much sadness this has brought to my family. Thank goodness we have pictures to remember a happy week with her. The last image I had (which has brought tears to my eyes and loss of sleep since that time) is her motionless body, glazed over eyes and helplessness as I had to turn her over to be euthanized after holding her and sobbing thinking “I don’t want to leave her – why can’t I just bring her home and everything be alright”. It was the most difficult decision I ever had to make for my pet.
That grave day I came home with that case of food that poisoned my kitten, I had also purchased a case for my 1 ½ year old cat (but adult food Iams) which was not on the recall list fortunately. I also bought them each the same toy
(a mouse like thing w/feathers). I couldn’t wait to get home to see if they would like them. They loved them – it was really enjoyable watching the two of them playing with them in the same manner, pouncing, rolling around with them (my 10 pound 1 ½ year old and my new 1 ½ pound kitten). That same day is the day I started poisoning my adorable little kitten with the food I bought.
It all seems so senseless, but like I started out saying this was a case of bad timing, unfortunate and unlucky circumstances. If the food had been pulled a week earlier we may not have been part of the many families who have lost pets or who are trying to save very sick pets.
I hope the full extent of this is honesty and accurately accounted for.
Has anyone heard any stories of animals becoming sick from Authority Dog Food. Its on the list and Ive been worried sick.
our friends were feeding their dogs purina dog chow, dry kibble. they had a pug and a pug/boston mix. he works as a vet tech. on march 17, both dogs suddenly became ill. shaking, foaming at the mouth, vomiting, and eventually passes away less than 16 hours later. they of course rushed them immediatly in when they noticed something was wrong, sat with them all night, but there was nothing they could do. both of the dogs were FINE just hours before symptoms showed. they had started leaving some food in their bowls, but hadn't had anyother 'obvious' changes. they got the tox report back today from the vomit...an isecticide...they weren't feeding any canned food. dry kibble only...i've heard a few others have sworn that their pets only ate dry kibble and have passes in the same manner. we also feed purina (purina one) and our great dane was sick the weekend of march 10th. he finished up the bag of food, and we bought him a new one. same brand...but he no longer is showing any signs of being sick...can't help but wonder if there's a link...if the problem is the wheat manufacture...then the chances of dry kibble being effected only stand to reason...maybe the kibble making process broke the chemical down, or kibble doesn't digest as quickly as the soft food, so more goes out than stays in...but over a period of time, who's to say damage isn't being done?
It was my 2 dogs that died Sunday, Mar 18. My son was outside playing and ran inside to tell me that one was throwing up and foaming at the mouth and convulsing. I called my vet and he said to wait a little while and see if it passes, if not to bring her in. Well, a littlt while later my other dog, a boston terrier, not a pug, started to show signs of not being able to walk and stumbling around and convulsing. We took them both in to the vet and all of this took effect in about 2 hours time. Just because your pets may be doing well doesnt mean they cant be affected by this recall. It happens suddenly, my two dogs, a boston terrier and boston/pug mix, didnt have a chance. Im sorry to say. I stayed with them all night, checking on there progress every 30 min, never improved. Your pet food may not be on the list yet, keep watching and get immediate help. Yes, they were being fed Purina Dog Chow Dry. The cause of death was an insecticide, pyrethrin. It looked like sand or fine dirt. Please beware. Dont let this happen to your loved one.
So sorry to hear about everyones loss. I believe this is a direct result of todays political climate and lack of oversight by our federal Government. As with pets, it is with humans. Most of these brands of pet food are full of poison, by products and preservatives anyway. Good opportunity for people to research Independent alternatives like Flint River Ranch ( http://www.f-r-r.com ) or Life's Abundance . 2 foods NOT affected by the Recall.
Our first cat with its digestive problems made it through, thankfully, but our slow metabolism cat is about to die. I started filming her last night, as her situation was worsening. We brought her home from the vet the day before. She had been there for three days receiving IV fluids, but her creatinine level only dropped down to 9.6. For those of you that don't know, the level shouldn't be any higher than 0.8.
Just a little while ago, I gave her some calcium carbonate to try to increase her blood alkalinity. The AVMA had a comment on their site that the crystals that clog up the tubules in the kidney are dissolvable in alkaline solutions. Normal human blood is already alkaline, at 7.35 to 7.45, and anything higher than 7.45 is deadly. In any case, it looks like it may be too little, too late.
We lost our Doggy Sky to this pet food incident. He had vomiting lost of appetite. My family cried and cried for days for our lost family member.And our other dog was taken away because the vest thought we had poisened ou OWN dogs.But i found out about this a couple days earlier and i will fight for my justice to get my other campinion back.We lost both our dogs on the day of Feb.18,2007.Why!?bacause of this.Our family lost two family members that day and our house was filled with tears and frowns.I miss my pup and hopefully i can get back my other dog taken away from me.My babys in a better place now i just hope he lived his life happy. I wish i could have saved him earlier.I had no idea the food i was feedin him caused him to pass away.Sadly we had to put him to sleep.But he still remains in our memories as the puppy that stood from the crowd.I member the day i picked him out,with those eyes im SUPRISED no one else took him home.And Lady with that perky and wet black nose.Gosh to think they were running around the day before and the next day sick slowly dying.I miss thosee pups.ALOT.
XoXo.
We also lost are Cocker Spaniel. Great dog and a great friend
My heartfelt sympathy goes out to everyone who has lost a pet during this tragic pet food recall. I have been providing shelter to many healthy felines since hurricane katrina hit the south and fortunatly none were consuming the foods on the recall list. I know if you have just lost a pet it is hard to consider adopting another so soon ,however if any one is interested in giving a new cat a permanent loving home i would love to e mail pics of the cats i have and even arrange to get the animal to its new home. i have had some luck placing some of the cats through local pet stores in my area, all of the no kill shelters in my area are still suffering from the storm and are still so full. again my thoughts and prayers are with you all may god give you strength and comfort at this difficult time. If any one would like to see pics of cats i have for adoption or would like to send me an e mail my e mail address is rosettirebel@aol.com may the memories comfort the sadness Sincerely Raegan
We were feeding our dogs Pinnacle dry food when they seemed to develop a sudden aversion to it. The male would eat and immediately go out to vomit. He was also having problems with bowel movements and was having accidents in the house. Soon they both just didn't want to eat. This was "before" news came out about the recall. I am so glad my husband suggested that we change food, which we did. They gobbled up the new food and are doing fine.
I just learned yesterday that the chicken formula we were feeding is made by Menu Foods. Think the investigation might need to be expanded! I had taken the food to the dump, otherwise I would send some in for testing.
A Wake-Up Call to Pet Owners about Pet Food
(What you need to know about pet food and what most pet food companies will not tell you)
With increasing reports of pet illnesses and even deaths related to pet foods, pet owners are concerned over what they’ve been feeding and worried about what is safe for their animals. A more scrutinizing eye is being turned towards the ingredients and additives of pet food and for those who do their research, their findings are going to be unsettling. This article is written to help educate pet owners about the basics of what they should be looking for and looking OUT for when choosing a pet food.
“The Industry”
The Pet Food Industry is one of the largest markets in the world and the choices of products available can be overwhelming. With any industry this large, the demand is already present, and so two of the most common tactics that pet food companies use to become successful are Marketing (to increase brand name awareness) and Corner-Cutting (to increase profits per unit). The former is essential with any product that wishes to increase sales and is for the most part harmless though sometimes misleading, but the latter is a direct reduction in quality of the product itself and when that product is something as pivotal as your pet’s everyday diet, the results can be devastating.
Every pet owner should be aware that the federal regulation of pet food quality is NOT the same as with human foods. In fact, most of what is rejected for Human consumption is filtered directly into the pet food industry. These “By-Products” which are defined by the American Association of Feed Control Officials (AAFCO) as: "...Secondary products produced in addition to the principal products." include necks, feet, undeveloped eggs and intestines just to name a few, and are up to 20% cheaper than Human-Grade ingredients. While by-products can display nutrition percentages similar to a whole food source, there is definitely question as to whether it is as healthy or digestible.
Many pet food companies use by-products, fillers, additives and low-quality ingredients because they can make more profit due to reduced costs.
“Scratching the label surface: What to look OUT for”
A by-product, by law, has to be labeled as such on the ingredient list, and most educated consumers will know to leave these foods on the shelf, but as people begin to pay more attention to the ingredient list, pet food companies are re-formulating their brands so that their continued Corner-Cutting tactics are less evident. In addition to by-products, there are also low quality ingredients and derivatives which are much harder to notice.
“Fillers” are ingredients that take up physical space but provide little or no nutritional value; they are used to “fill” the food. Fillers are not as apparent on an ingredient list because the name of the filler is often preceded by what appears to be a healthy ingredient. For instance, while Human-Grade ground corn is proven to be one of the most nutrient-rich grains, you will find that many foods use corn derivatives such as “Corn Gluten”. A general rule of thumb for determining fillers is to look out for any ingredient that ends with “-gluten”, “-flour”, “-hull”, “-pulp” and/or “-bran”.
Chemical preservatives should be avoided at all costs; overexposure to these chemicals has been linked to kidney disease, blindness, pancreatic disease, allergies, hair loss, immunodeficiency and even cancer. The 3 major chemical preservatives are “Butylated Hydroxyanisole (BHA)”, “Butylated Hydroxytoluene (BHT)” and “Ethoxyquin”. There is no reason to even consider a food with any of these preservatives.
“Behind the Label. Beyond the Package: What to look FOR”
A good analogy for remembering the importance of ingredient quality is to think of two apple pies. One pie is made with apples picked fresh from the orchard, while the other pie is made with apples that have long since fallen to the ground and are decomposing. The ingredient lists on each pie will read “Made with apples”, but one of these pies will likely make you sick. Unfortunately, while corner-cutting foods are using labeling technicalities like this to their advantage, the quality foods are limited in what they can say to set themselves apart.
So how can you determine quality if not on the ingredient list? Start with marketing materials. Grab a brochure, check out the website, and call the main office. Marketing is not subject to the same restrictions that ingredient lists are, and so if a pet food has anything worth being yelled from the rooftops, it will be found in their marketing.
The most important descriptions to look for in pet food marketing materials are the quality of ingredients, balance of ingredients, palatability and digestibility. The best foods will always include key phrases such as: ‘Human-Grade’, ‘All-Natural’, ‘Holistic’, ‘Completely Balanced’ and ‘High Digestibility’. Just be sure the term is being used to describe the food, as there are tricks some companies use to imply that these qualities apply to them even though they really do not, such as including them as part of their brand name.
“Human-Grade” is the most significant and valuable phrase a pet food can use to describe its quality. However, because the end-product is not designed for human consumption, AAFCO does not allow for the term to be listed in a pet food’s ingredients. Still, any pet food that is made with ingredients acquired from Human-Grade food suppliers will be proud to recite “Human-Grade Ingredients” in their marketing as it is a sure-fire way to pronounce their excellence.
“Back to Basics: Honesty… Simplicity… Perfection”
Back to Basics doesn’t concentrate on informing the public about these issues because we hope to get ahead by putting the competition down. We do it because we put the health of our pets above all else. Do your own research, check the facts, don’t take our word for it… We gain customer loyalty precisely because our customers KNOW that Back to Basics is the best, not because we tell them it is.
And of course, our pitch would be worthless if the following statement wasn’t understood for what it truly is:
Back to Basics is a Holistic, All-Natural Food for Pets that is made with 100% Human-Grade Ingredients. Our Human-Grade food suppliers are the same that provide ingredients to recognized human food suppliers such as Kellogg’s, Uncle Ben’s and Bell & Evans because quality is at the forefront of our formula. There are no by-products, fillers, chemicals or artificial preservatives in any of our foods and we are one of the most digestible pet foods on the market. Back to Basics is available and affordable to everyone.
Please contact us directly with questions and comments by calling 1-800-219-2558. You can request free samples and literature, find a local retailer or place an order directly through us. You can visit our website at www.backtobasicspetfood.com and a copy of this article can be viewed at: www.attentionpetowners.com
Beowulf Natural Feeds, Inc.
Back to Basics: The Ultimate Food for Pets
“We Supply the Nutrition, You Supply the Love”
My dog died February 21, BEFORE the recall was issued. I checked my records and I did feed her the cans on the recall list. I'm mad as hell, I can't believe this happened. My husband gave me "Maggie" on Valentine's day nine years ago and to watch her suffer tore me up. I want some answers and not let the goverment slip it under the rug. If anyone in Arizona is having a problem with their animal, please log on. Wisconsin and California are alrerady fighting for our rights I think Arizona should also jump on board!
My heart goes out to all of you who have lost your beloved friends. My sweet Pearl won't eat canned food, so I hope her crunchies aren't affected...she still seems okay.
Although Anonymous on March 29th is obviously marketing their pet food, the information given is so right on that I can't be offended. I am most surprised and concerned to learn how many brands of pet foods, in all price ranges, have been affected. Call me naive, but I had thought Iams and other premium brands were actually more premium in their content...not just in their marketing and pricing. This has been very eye-opening to realize that so much of our pet's foods come from the same big vats.
I sincerely hope that pet owners start seeking out small manufacturers who care about their products. This event is so like the infamous hamberger recalls involving hundreds of pounds of meat, shipped to multiple states, which came out of processing plants who mixed the meat from multiple cows in big containers then packaged it. One or two bad animals can infect the whole batch.
Perhaps this event will compel more of us to turn to local providers who use less processed ingredients to make pet food, something like the organic/sustainable revolution occuring in human food production.
And, since the likely source of contamination is wheat gluten from China, I hope that we, as a country, will re-think our reliance on cheap goods from that country; Wal-Mart couldn't offer the "fantastic deals" that they do without relying, in a large part, on goods made by an underpaid and mistreated workforce. Although the foods themselves were made in Canada, we see that Menu tried to cut costs by sourcing overseas.
My thoughts are with all of you, sorry to sound preachy, and thank you for this forum.
Ouch-after investigating the PETA website on Iams, I found this page concerning Menu Foods and their teasting lab here: http://www.iamscruelty.com/
otherAnimalFoodIssues.asp
Please check it out.
On Feb. 12 our 8 year old cat started showing signs of what we later found out to be acute renal failure. She was on the verge of death before spending a week at the vet. She had creatininelevels higher than they had ever seen, yet is now recovering. Stella ate nothing but Iams dry cat food her entire life before this incident. Is the timing of this merely coincidental, or does anyone else out there think their pet has been poisoned by the dried food??
Has anyone else made the connection yet that China issues a huge ban/limitation on dog ownership in their country late last year, and all of a sudden our pets are dying on products imported from their country???? Anyone reading about the protests there, the slaughter of pets there... and NOT questioning perhaps that they did not contaminate the food supply for pets for a reason? We need to stop importing food supplies (people and pet) from countries outside - too risky. WHY do we import wheat from the outside - when we have PLENTY here - so much that we EXPORT our own??!!!!!!!
www.usatoday.com/news/world/2006-11-12-china-...
I think the FDA should check the tankers that brought the gluten over from China. If they were previously used to deliver chemicals for plastic or fertilizer manufacture in China, and not properly cleaned, that could explain the contamination.
Also, I emailed Hill’s Pet Nutrition, Inc. Consumer Affairs my comments about this tragedy and the email below is their "canned" response. Clearly, they still don't get it!
"Thank you for contacting Hill’s Pet Nutrition, Inc. Consumer Affairs. I apologize for the delay in responding to your email. This is a blanket email. Please do not respond to this email. If you have additional questions, please revisit our HillsPet.com website which contains the latest information on the current voluntary market recalls and withdrawal activity.
Also, if your email is about topics other than the voluntary market recall and withdrawal related topics, we plan to respond to your original email over the next several weeks. You do not need to forward another email. We apologize for the delay in answering your original request.
If you are writing about the voluntary recalls and withdrawal, please read this email in it’s entirety to find pertinent information.
Our voluntary recall and withdrawal activity involves Prescription Diet® brand m/d® Feline dry food and all Science Diet® brand Feline Savory Cuts® canned formulas only.
If you are feeding one of these products and have noticed any adverse symptoms, please contact your veterinarian. If you have any of these products in your home, please do not feed them to your pet. Please return them to the place of purchase for a full refund of your purchase price.
Prescription Diet m/d feline dry product
In accordance with its over-riding commitment to pet health and well being, Hill’s Pet Nutrition is voluntarily recalling Prescription Diet m/d Feline dry food from the market. Hill’s is taking this precautionary action because during a two-month period in early 2007, the ingredient, wheat gluten, has been found to have contained a substance called melamine.
Melamine is a compound totally foreign to wheat gluten. Hill’s tests for foreign compounds that are a potential risk and tests are tailored to a specific ingredient type. In this particular case, melamine does not reveal itself in this testing regimen. The FDA has confirmed that melamine could not have been found through regular testing procedures.
To eliminate any confusion over products which were made during the two-month period and outside of the two-month period, we are recalling all Prescription Diet m/d feline dry products.
This product is sold in 4 pound (sku 4277) and 10 pound (sku 4279) sizes.
Both are voluntarily recalled.
All other Prescription Diet® foods including Prescription Diet m/d Feline canned wet food are not included in this recall. No other Prescription Diet brand food contains the ingredient wheat gluten. Please see your veterinarian for assistance in locating another food for your pet. Hill’s Pet Nutrition has several therapeutic formulas available.
Hill’s expects to resume shipment shortly of a reformulated version of this highly beneficial product, which will not contain wheat gluten.
Science Diet Feline Savory Cuts products
In response to the recent Menu Foods Incorporated nation-wide recall of wet pet foods, Hill’s Pet Nutrition has announced a voluntary precautionary recall in the United States of a small number of canned cat products that are co-manufactured by Menu Foods. This involves less than ½ of 1% of Hill’s total product line. Hill’s is taking this precautionary step to ensure the health and well being of your pets. Additionally, Hill’s is not doing business with Menu Foods.
All other Science Diet® foods including Science Diet canine wet and dry foods are not included in this recall. All Science Diet feline dry products are not included in this recall. (Note: If you are feeding Prescription Diet m/d Feline dry food, please read the above section of this email.)
If you have these products, please return them to your retailer for a full refund.
All Science Diet® Savory Cuts® products involved in the recall/withdrawal and sold in the USA are as follows:
Kitten Life Stage:
Science Diet® Ocean Fish Dinner in Sauce Savory Cuts® Kitten, 3 oz. (sku
4457)
Science Diet® Ocean Fish Dinner in Sauce Savory Cuts® Kitten, 5.5 oz. (sku
4601)
Adult Life Stage:
Science Diet® Ocean Fish Dinner in Sauce Savory Cuts® Adult, 3 oz. (sku
4401)
Science Diet® Ocean Fish Dinner in Sauce Savory Cuts® Adult, 5.5 oz. (sku
4414)
Science Diet® Chicken Dinner in Gravy Savory Cuts® Adult, 3 oz. (sku 4411) Science Diet® Chicken Dinner in Gravy Savory Cuts® Adult, 5.5 oz. (sku
4414)
Science Diet® Beef Dinner in Gravy Savory Cuts® Adult, 3 oz. (4412) Science Diet® Beef Dinner in Gravy Savory Cuts® Adult, 5.5 oz. (4416) Mature Adult Life Stage:
Science Diet® Chicken Dinner in Gravy Savory Cuts® Mature Adult 7+ , 3 oz.
(sku 4600)
Science Diet® Chicken Dinner in Gravy Savory Cuts® Mature Adult 7+, 5.5 oz.
(sku 4603)
Products Available in Canada only:
Science Diet® Ocean Fish Dinner in Sauce Savory Cuts® Adult, 3 oz. (sku
4401C)
Science Diet® Ocean Fish Dinner in Sauce Savory Cuts® Adult, 5.5 oz. (sku
4414C)
Science Diet® Chicken Dinner in Gravy Savory Cuts® Adult, 3 oz. (sku 4411C) Science Diet® Chicken Dinner in Gravy Savory Cuts® Adult, 5.5 oz. (sku
4415C)
Science Diet® Beef Dinner in Gravy Savory Cuts® Adult, 3 oz (sku 4412C) Science Diet® Beef Dinner in Gravy Savory Cuts® Adult, 5.5 oz (sku 4416C)
When shopping, please look for our complete line of Hill’s manufactured, non-Savory Cuts, feline wet products for pets of all ages and for pets with special needs. More information about these selections can be located on our HillsPet.com website."
As things are now, with more and more pet foods slowly being added to the recall list, with more and more pets dying as time goes on, I believe it is responsible and prudent for all Americans to stop purchasing pet food. This is not panic; it is seeing what is/is not going on to protect our pets and choosing to think for ourselves. It is not that difficult for us pet owners to obtain safe, healthy recipes to feed our pets temporarily, and possibly save pet lives! I propose that we Americans boycott all pet food sold in America -- until and unless the whole truth is "discovered" and told about this mess that is killing our pets, until the mess is cleaned up, and it has been PROVEN to us that all pet food sold in America is safe for our pets! I am willing to start a boycott. Is anyone interested in supporting this boycott which will undoubtedly save pets not yet affected by this poisoned food mess??
wow I didnt know that pet food had such issues. This should be made more know to people I think I will make a section on my website Pet product supply store
I have two cats that seem healthy... nothing out of the ordinary. I plan on taking them to the vet to get tests done since all of this is making me extremely nervous. My cats normally eat Fancy Feast chicken feast, 9-lives Chicken Slices and Beef Slices, and Friskies dry Chef's blend.
The other day they had Friskies mixed grill. With this particular can I noticed the expiration date and plant code matched the recall on the Alpo products. I know Friskies is not on the recall list, but seeing this has made me freak. Del Monte (makers of 9-lives) has added their dog products to the recall as well.
I believe this contamination is being severely down-played and that Menu obviously knew about this well before they broke the news.
I plan on throwing out all the food I have and finding alternatives.
My heart goes out to all pet owners that have lost their loved ones or are worried sick.
My cat Cami, died on March 12, just before all this came out. He was only 3 years old. I had to watch him die, as I went out of town on the weekend and when i came home on Sunday, I knew he was going. It was not a peaceful death, and this memory will always be with me. He was a healthy boy! Now what I know is that, I never used Special Kitty, I always fed him Friskies. My sister had bought me Special Kitty just to be nice. He became ill immediatly. Then the recall.... I have contacted the FDA and they are emailing me and keeping in touch. I told them what bothers me is that on Menu foods website, they do not show Special Kitty cans, only pouches.... This is not true, I know it in my heart, and they have not changed it. Anyone else out there have a sick kitty or cat die from cans of special kitty? My heart goes out to all of you.... I know my loss is great, I cannto forget him, and every night, I see him taking his last breath. He was my baby.
Deborah
Please support me and yourselves by visiting my website and spreading the work that dry dog food is killing our animals!!!
www.webchrissy.com
I am working w/PETA, they are pushing for a recall-please check out their website as well.
I have the distinct impression that things are going to get *much* worse before they get better.
My relatively young cat was diagnosed with chronic renal insuffiency last summer. He's the little angel of the family and well-loved. The cause of this condition has not been pinpointed, but when I asked my vet if it could possibly be related to his diet, the opinion was that it was highly unlikely. We continue to treat him for this progressive condition and hope to extend his life by a few years, but know that it is eventually fatal.
We will never know whether or not something we fed him... something less lethal but toxic enough to send him down this road, was the cause of his condition. Until the massive recall, I didn't even seriously consider that possibility. Now, with the obvious delay in recalling tainted foods, I would give you odds that this has been going on for much longer than anyone's admitting to.
The FDA is just beginning to look at wheat gluten in foods meant for human consumption. I have no idea whether they have been looking at commercial livestock feeds. Now, both humans and livestock are pretty hefty creatures, and if we were being fed mildly toxic foods chances are we wouldn't recognize it. We'd think we were coming down with the flu or something on those lines.
I'm seriously concerned about the possibility of toxic wheat products in livestock feed. If we find that this is indeed the case, what does that mean? Does the toxic element infiltrate the tissues of the animal and end up as a component in the meat we buy? Is anybody even going to tell us about it?
Also, I just read that Purina opened a pet food manufacturing plant in *China* last Friday. Funny nobody mentioned that to me when I spoke to one of their representatives yesterday.
I don't know if this information has been posted yet -- but after experiencing all of the frustrations many of you have trying to make contact with Menu Foods and/or Nutro (the food my cat ate before entering renal failure), I finally made progress by contacting the direct line # for the CEO of Menu Foods, Paul Henderson: (905) 826-3870. I reached his secretary who sai dshe would contact their insurance company. Today I received a call from the insurance company -- they took some basic information and said they are sending out a claims package to recover my vet bills. This is the most progress I have made since the recall began -- and I wanted to share. Please pass this on!!!
This past Sunday we became victims of the pet food recall. Travis was a 10 year old cat, loved very much, well cared for and in perfect health. Everything changed on March 29. On that day my husband took him to the vet who began to try to save his life. For the last two days my husband & his mother visited Travis who fought to survive. That fight ended Sunday morning. He leaves behind his very loving owners (my inlaws) who are now living with the memory of a very vibrant & playful creature which inhabited their hearts and home. As you can imagine this is an extremely difficult loss for all of us. My mother in law recently had neck surgery & my father in law is living with a terminal illness and the love & comfort they thrived on from Travis is now gone. Travis will never be coming home. Travis had always eaten Fancy Feast up until a few weeks ago when he got a little finicky & was given Iams instead. The most devastating part about this is it didn’t have to happen.
ok so can someone tell me is there a dry food that isn't tainted my 7 yr old son has me boiling burger and rice for out border collie he's afraid she will get sick i alomost wish they would tell what is ok to use rather than what not to use but thre again you need trust ????? any suggestions
Does anyone know is the dry cat food called Chefs Blend is one of the foods that are bad? Also my dog eats a dog food called Moist & Meaty by Purina. does anyone know if that is a food that was recalled.I am having trouble finding out.
melinda in Maryland
I am writing this as concern to a food that is NOT listed on the current recall list. It is unknown to me whether or not Purina Moist & Meaty is produced by Menu Foods and I have had no luck trying to reach either of them.
Last week my 3 year old Chihuahua was acting strange, as well as vomiting, and not eating. After taking her into the vet, I was informed that she was very near kidney failure. I was told that her kidneys were 75% not functioning, and her levels were 140, when normal ranges from 6-20. After 5 days of hospitalization she was finally sent home. The vet was unable to give me reason to what had caused this. I was also told that it is very rare for such a young dog to experience kidney problems like this.
I now come to hear of these pet food recalls which are causing kidney failure. Due to the fact that all the products on this list are either canned or pouched foods, my concern has grown that this product should immediately be looked into further, in order to confirm whether or not it could have been the cause of the problem with my dog. If this product is toxic and not safe, pet owners should be notified as soon as possible.
UPDATE:
My dog got sick from Purina moist & meaty, was fine for 3 weeks eating Prescription Diet K/D recommended by the vet, Last night she started vomiting again! She is back at the vet again, having tests done & being flushed with fluids...
With either food being on the list, what other foods are you feeding your pets that BELONG on the list. Vets have anonymously stated that preparing homemade meals for you pet is very very wise until all of this is figured out.
My two cats were made sick by tainted food that is not on the recalllist as of yet, they both need to go back to the vet on April 16 to have blood work to check if any kidney damage.On March 23,2007 Two cans into a new case of Fancy Feast Elegant Medley Chicken Florintine, my youngest cat refused to eat start gagging ang drooling at the site of food. The older cat started showing same symptoms aout a day later, the youngest proceeded to projectile vomit hide from me want to eat but walk away, hardly used the litter box, seemed to have problems with her hind legs and did a lot of lip licking. Please be aware of any food at this point Purina has yet to recall this product.
Sharon in Plano, Texas
Every day my prayers are with all those affected by this contaminated cat/dog food. I had to euthanize our 12 year-old black cat, Pete, on March 19, 2007. He had kidney failure and was severely dehydrated. I also have two labs and two other cats. I am 61 years old and have always fed Hill’s Science Diet Dry food to my animals successfully. We always thought we offered a healthier, safe and more controlled food source to them.
After reading many web sites and owners’ experience with loss and sickness of their beloved cats and dogs, I do wish we could have a total count from all sources of all animals affected in our country (and of course those who do not have computer access may never have a voice or even the knowledge of this contamination).
I switched to a natural dry food that is produced in Muenster Texas (I live in Texas) after I lost my cat. I discontinued all animal treats. But every time I open a new bag of ANY dog/cat food I will feel paranoid that the contamination could be present no matter what food source it is?
I played phone tag with the Texas FDA and still have not talked to them. I would like an email address to relay our personal experiences to them but they do not have one. They offer an email address for other concerns however. I still have some of the Hill’s Science Diet Light Dry food the deceased cat ate in case someone would be willing to run tests on it.
There are many deaf ears regarding this problem. Some pet owners who have not experienced a loss either believe they were wiser in their selection of pet food or refuse to recognize the problem so it won’t exist in their own reality. Also deaf ears may belong to anyone who can help us solve the problem, either for economical reasons or believing they are protecting us somehow.
The bottom line right now is a deepening thought that because of the overwhelming number of animals affected in the country presently, it could continue until we know all the reasons. Maybe we need to consider a discussion of possible intentional contamination. Americans are very vulnerable when we experience loss of children and family pets. At least knowing the uncovered truth behind all these losses would enable us to find a solution, and finally some control and peace of mind.
We had our cat Sasha Swiftshadow euthanized March 7, 2007 after she stopped eating and drinking. We tried force feeding her but she threw up what we fed her. Unfortunately, the brands we used are the ones (Sophistacat, 9-Lives and Friskies) that killed her. She weighed under four pounds when she died and had been sick for almost a week.
David Spiselman and Andrea Brown
Salinas, CA
In January 2007, my little 3 pound 3 year old chihuahua "Tiki" became critically ill and was admitted to the NC State Veterinary Teaching Hospital. She spent 6 days in ICU and was admitted initially with an elevated liver enzyme-ALT. She endured many unnecessary tests checking for a Porto-Systemic Shunt. While she was there she was diagnosed with Fanconi's Syndrome-an irreversible kidney disease. It is caused by poisoning. She would surely have died if we had not taken her to the hospital. Her liver problems have seemed to have resolved but she will be on medication the rest of her life due to her kidney damage. She ate O'Roy and Natural Choice dog food, both of which are on the re-call list. I suggest if your dog has been poisoned and displaying symptoms, you have them checked for Fanconi's syndrome. It is not curable but is treatable by replacing the elements lost in the urine (Potassium and sodium bicarbonate mostly). My total vet and hospital bills are in excess of $5000.00 and she will never be the same.
As a fellow pet parent, reading all of these comments is heartbreaking. I am a long-time pet lover and I represent a company that goes above and beyond what is necessary in order to insure that our pet food is healthy and safe. We have been around for several years trying to get this message out. Since the beginning of the mass produced-commercial pet food industry, standards that we as consumers in 2007 believe would be in place are sadly just not there. The catch phrase is “pet quality” and as far as quality goes it is pretty much the bottom of the barrel. Our product is considered “human quality” and so is our production standard. I encourage you to go to my website www.petsourcedirect.com to watch the video regarding these standards and to read about our product and its ingredients. Hopefully, this information will be helpful to you. And again, my sympathy goes out to everyone whose beloved companions have been lost to or sickened by this horrible tragedy.
Kim I couldn't agree with you more. I went to your site to see the video WOW! Powerful information. I ordered some of your cat food for my furkid Wilson.
Thank you for introducing me to a company who seems to have the welfare of our babies first on the priority list. I plan to dial in to that call with the vet Dr. Jane Bicks on Thursday evening. I did some digging to see if I could come up with some of her accomplishments and it seems she is highly regarded. Thank you again. A little peace of mind on this recall tragedy is long overdue.
For anybody that missed it her website which is also posted in her blog, www.petsourcedirect.com Check it out. Good luck to all of you. This has been a really confusing and scary time.
My 8 year old dog is currently hospitalized with a fever and liver function issues. I know the recall has only mentioned kidney failure but after 48 hours the vets still have no idea what has cause my previously healthy dogs liver problems. She was eating Eukanuba wet foods that was added to the recall list on April 5th. If anyone else has seen liver issues please comment. Thank you!
Our beloved Allie was such a big part of our family. She was only 5 years old when we lost her, February 16, 2007. Allie woke up as she always did with us. She seemed fine to me, although days before she had some diarrhea. I thought she had a simple stomach bug. She had also been excessively thirsty. My husband and son went to get their haircut. I was cleaning and I noticed Allie had thrown up her food. It was a beautiful cool morning, so I let her out side while I cleaned it up. Minutes later I went out to get her and I couldn't find her. I began to panic. At first I thought she was digging in the dirt, when I saw her I realized she was having a seizure, which she had never done before. I grabbed her in my arms and got my 8 year old daughter. I knew it was bad. I realized it was Saturday and the vet would be closed. We ran to my neighbors to help me. By the time my neighbor answered the door, Allie stopped shaking and her eyes were fixed. I knew she was gone. My daughter was screaming for me to do something. It was horrible. In just minutes she was gone.
This happened days before the dog food recall. My good friend is a vet and saw Allie frequently. One of the first things she asked when we talked about how Allie died was could she have gotten into rat poisoning. We knew our house and knew she had not gotten into anything. We were devastated and had no answers of how she died. Days went by and we heard of the pet food recall. We had only given Allie dry Iams. It was not in the recall but in our hearts we feel this was some how tainted. That very week, we heard of 3 friends who lost their pets suddenly.
We miss our sweet Allie so much and nothing can bring her back. My daughter still breaks down in tears missing Allie. She is scared to be by herself after since seeing Allie die in my arms.
It has been 5 weeks since she passed away and we still light a candle every night over her little grave. It is hard enough losing a pet of natural causes or even an accident. Now reading that the food we were giving her was tainted scares me to death and the dog food companies are not being held responsible. I feel this is a much bigger problem than the media is reporting. Our pets are a part of our family. My heart feels for all the pet owners who are going through such similar situations with their beloved pets.
All we have are the cherished memories of the short time we had with Allie.
http://www.imagestation.com/album/pictures.html?id=2095308848
Tomorrow I need to bring my 1.8 year old cat, Luke, back to a specialized veterinary hospital for blood work and I am so scared about what the results will show. Late Thursday night he was released from the same hospital after almost a week of sub-q fluids to treat his acute renal failure. His brother, Bo, who is also 1.8 years old, was released earlier during the week after undergoing 4 days of sub-q fluid treatment.
I adopted Bo & Luke in October 2005 and fed them Nutromax canned food, exclusively. For a "treat" my mother bought them the Nutro pouches, which were recalled, after Christmas. When the initial recall was announced, I checked the website to ensure that their food wasn't listed. It wasn't. Yet, last week I noticed that both my boys were drinking and urinating excessively -- then they began vomiting their entire meals up several hours after eating. Blood work confirmed my worst fear -- both were in acute renal failure as of last Friday.
While he is home now, Luke was released with elevated BUN & Creatinine levels -- if it continues to rise, he will be in chronic renal failure, which is progressive and fatal. Bo responded better than Luke, but his BUN & Creatinine levels were also much, much lower (they both eat the same food, but Luke is a big boy who enjoys his food more than his smaller brother...).
I am outraged at the pet-food industry. I believed I was feeding my cats healthy, nutritious food and now I am fearful that they may not live to see their second birthday. I am also wary about what food to trust -- an e-vet at the hospital recommended Innova, but their canned food is processed at a MenuFoods plant (albeit one that does not manufacture the cuts 'n gravy style foods).
I am more outraged by the fact that Nutro and Menu asked me whether I retained the cans of food -- does anyone do that normally? I don't usually even save receipts...
For fellow pet owners whose animals are now suffering, I hope that your pets respond to treatment and recover... and my sympathies to all who have lost a beloved pet.
My dog Toby is now in the hospital with kidney problems. The only thing I fed him that is on the list is Jerky Treats. My other 3 dogs seem to be fine.
I read somewhere about a human kidney med that was being used on dogs with some success. It was somethingn like Levornquin (sp). Does anyone know anything about it?
I have been feeding my dog Life's Abundance Dog Food for several weeks due to the pet food recalls...he loves it and his coat looks better than ever! My thoughts and prayers go out to each and every one of you animal lovers that lost their pets. This is a sad time and very scary...the place where I get my organic food is now offering free samples of dog and cat food...take advantage of it if for nothing else...peace of mind! check it out at www.precious-pets-paradise.com
FYI: Nutro just expanded its recall to include a host of canned 3 oz. cat foods... WEEKS after the initial recall. Maybe if they told me this from the get go, I could've saved my kittens from acute renal failure, catheters, sub-q fluid therapy and $6k (and increasing) in vet bills.
I lost my 2 birds today. They have been happy, healthy family members for 3 years. I am going to get to the bottom of this!
Here you can find a good summury and somo cnn videos reporting the pet food recall of these days.
http://lovelyandfunnypets.blogspot.
com/2007/04/more-than-100-brands-recalled-due-to.html
Regards.-
I lost my two dogs within a day of each other - 3/19 and 3/21. When the pet food recall initially announced their list, I was relieved because what I fed my dogs was not on the list. Then my beagle Penny started vomiting; I took her to the vet and they said she had liver & kidney disease. I was stunned - I had to put her to sleep. I remember telling my keeshond, Max, that I still had him. The following day, Max started panting and his tongue turned blue. The vet told me that was a sign of a lack of oxygen. I brought him -they took xrays, and his lungs were filled with fluids and other matter they couldn't identify unless they took a biopsy. The clinic sent me to the vet hospital because he needed round the clock oxygen. I saw how miserable he was with that tube in his nose and the mounting vet bills and I had to give up on him. A week later Alpo posted their recall of the can food I had been feeding them for the last ten day. They had consumed 10 of the 16 cans I had bought. I had been feeding them Pedigree and switched to Alpo when they were put on sale - a nickel less than the Pedigree. I have been beating myself up ever since. These were my companions and I failed them.
From the minute these companies get the first complaint, they should post a temporary recall until they can clear the problem - not allow people to continue buying while they are testing the product. They had been testing since December and they posted on March 30th. Amazing what people do for profit. This country is going to the pits. I hope the eventual class action suits put them all out of business.
I also have a beef with these vets and the enormous charges that keep us away until the very last resort. Some of the comments I've read indicate how hard the choices are. I'm elderly and on a fixed income and incurred $1800 on my two dogs, just to be told what they had and on one of my pets they were extremely vague. I can't even imagine what the ultimate cost might have been had I tried to save them. I decided not to because I could see their suffering and not because of the money. I chose to deal with the pain of their absence rather than see them go through another day of what they had experienced. My little dog had lost 16 lbs. and they weren't making any promises. Pet care is sailing through the roof and that is so wrong. They make it so only the rich can afford to have an animal - and keep them healthy.
Did anyone else see the NBC News tonight. It was the very last piece of news, "that they had held hearings today in DC and that there is still the possibility of poison food being on the shelves of stores."
Give me a break - what are we suppose to feed our animals and what's it going to take to get these people to be diligent in what they are supposed to do. I suggest that we may have to take matters into our own hands. Print the recall list and make copies and tape them up on shelves wherever and whenever we run into recalled tainted food cans. Hopefully, customers see them and pass them by. Maybe it will help someone save their pet.
To anonymous - April 1st
You're absolutely right about taking matters into our own hands and boycotting pet foods. We are connected in our grief but how do we connect together to accomplish this and get our stories heard. I think the FDA is trying but I wonder how soon will it be before everyone just forgets about it. It's already starting at the news media level. A sign of the times. The people in the Washington hearings are correct - there are still recalled brands on the store shelves. The problem is huge and they don't seem to know where to begin. Very sad.
I pondered about offering this information in light of all the concerns and grief many of us are sharing these last few months. My prayers and thoughts are with all of you that have lost family pets and still do not have the knowledge you deserve to acquire peace of mind.
I am an old fashion and die-hard consumer (I am 61). I only bought Pontiacs, Tide laundry detergent, Dial soap and Hill’s Science Diet DRY pet food. After having to euthanize my 12 year-old black cat, Pete, because of kidney failure and severe dehydration on March 19, and being aware of the pet food contamination (mainly through the internet), I decided to take my dentist’s advice and buy a natural dry food through a milling company in Muenster, Texas.
Just a few weeks earlier we brought into our home a 7 week-old black Labrador to be a sister to our 2 year-old yellow lab, Sandi. My 9-year old cat, Jordie, was crying and mourning from the loss of his brother, so a friend offered us a kitten to help Jordie heal. But now I am the mother to four beautiful animals. What an awesome responsibility (but love them so much!).
For two years I thought my fate each weekend was to clean up yellow lab hair all over the floor and around her crate (not to mention, clothes and furniture). I thought it was normal for cats to shed hair over everything. All our animals seemed to like the Muenster dry foods I change to (I always had problems getting Sandi to eat during her two years with us, I thought she was just holding out for treats). After eating the diet for a week I began to relax in my choice of food. I also began to notice Jordie’s hair/coat was looking softer and had more shine. But the biggest difference was when I cleaned house this weekend. Sandi’s yellow lab hair was no where to be found. Not behind the recliner, not under the chairs or around her crate. The activity levels have definitely increased with her having a sister to play with now?
If Jordie’s and Sandi’s coats are healthier, then what are the unseen, less obvious positive changes from their new diet. Jordie about twice each year would lose patches of hair on her body, and we attributed it to allergies. Sandi has the chronic ear problems and we attributed it to allergies. Well, it may be too much to hope for, but time will tell if these problems get better too? In my wildest dreams I never had hoped for such an obvious blessing from “finally” making a change in their diet and I am very thankful.
Does anyone else find this disturbing, or am I just hallucinating????
ChemNutra info, the company that imported the tainted wheat gluten from China:
http://www.reviewjournal.com/lvrj_home/2007/Apr-04-Wed-2007/news/13571149.html
Also, upon further investigation on Wilbur-Ellis - they are among other things a fertilizer company??? (They imported the rice gluten that is found tainted now too, from China)
http://webprod.wecon.com/WECOWeb/WECO/corp_overview.htm
Puerto Rico, South Africa have also now been affected. As many as 8800 pets in the US estimated deaths and 39,000 injuries as of April 10th. Why in the world is it not being discussed on the television when they will even give minutes to little baby duckies crossing a major highway is anybody's guess! rrrrrr!!!
Shelly
On February 7, I purchased a Variety pack of Iams Select Bites 5.3 oz Pouches for my 6 month old West Highland White Terrier, Nicholas. He was teething and having a hard time eating his dry Nutro dog food, so I thought the food with gray would be easier to chew. He immediately got sick, throwing up, was lethargic,refused to eat and had diarrhea. I stopped the food after 3 packs, thinking it was too rich for him, but he continued to not eat and was vomiting white foam. This went on for 4 days and then he got better. Then on March 7, I bought 10 packages of Nutro Natural Choice pouches. We were going on vacation, and leaving him at the PetsMart, Pet Hotel. I gave him one package that morning, and left instructions with the PetsHotel to mix the pouches with his regular dry food if he was not eating.On Sunday March 20th we were in the airport waiting for a delayed flight; so I bought a newspaper, and found out about the pet food recall. I called the PetsHotel, and they said they removed all recalled pet food from the pet's kitchen cupboards. However, they could not tell me if they gave him the pouches or not. When we got there Sunday evening, they couldn't find the pouches, and they didn't have a record of whether they gave him the pouches or not. But, they did indicate he had diarrhea for several days. I assumed they gave him the food since they couldn't find it. We took him home, and he was vomiting, lethargic, refusing to eat etc. In my trash I found the empty pack of the food I gave him the morning we left, and it was the recalled food UPC code. The next morning I took him to his vet who ran a fecal test, and did blood work, no urinalysis since it was thought to be the rat poison. His kidney function was normal but his fecal had white blood cells, so he went on antibiotics. He seemed better for two weeks, but started drinking alot, and urinating often, as many as 25 times a day. Back to vet and had urinalysis done, and it shows high bacteria count. On antibiotics again. Also has runny nose with tinges of blood. Waiting to see if these antibiotics work.
I lost my 8 yr old Bichon on March 2, 2007 to this poisoned dog food. We had used the mighty dog packets and still have some of the tainted food left. My bichon had just been to the vet within 30 days and was in perfect health. Then for no reason, she was drinking gallons of water, vomiting and having bouts of diahrrea along with being so lethargic. She would whine from the pain. We took her to the vet and she was put in the hospital for IV fluids and meds. It didn't help. Within 24 hours, she was dead. This was on March 2, which was almost a month before the manufacturers allowed anyone to know that there was anything wrong with their food. They tested in January and February and 16 pets died in their testing. They still do not admit to any deaths other then the sixteen in their tests. How much money did they make from getting the products to make their food from China? How much money did they make while their private testing went on and their product was being purchased during that three months? The manufacturer should be shut down for their lack of concern to the public that uses their product. We should also start checking as to why Homeland Security did not test this product when it came into our country to be used in our economy. They can let illegal aliens come into our country, and now the products coming in are not being checked. When will it happen that the product coming in poisoned is for human consumption?
Kim thank you for your recommendation to a wonderful website. I took your advice and watched the video then I ordered some of your food. To my amazement My dog Korky's skin rash has completely disapeared. She loves the food. I wondered what makes your stuff any different from all the rest and I found out the secret to your products are the vet. that develops it. Yesterday I heard there were even more recalls and I am so thankful I found Life's Abundance when I did. For those of you still wondering what to feed your precious pets take Kims advice and check her stuff out! www.petsourcedirect.com you will finally be able to find peace of mind in this horrible pet food crisis.
To Whom it May Concern:
My aunt uses Natural Balance's weight control formula and has never used their Venison and Brown Rice Formula. She has 7 chihuahuas, two have died, and the other 5 have all had to be hospitalized and treated for food contamination. The disturbing part is that Natural Balance has not recalled the food that my aunt used to feed her dogs. I fear that more animals out there will die. I think that a word of caution needs to be send out to all users of Natural Balance that it is probably best to stop using the product all together until this whole contamination problem is taken care of.
Hi. I just stumbled on your blog and found it very interesting. I wanted to let you know that I found a website that is giving away free samples of a pet food that is made by Life's Abundance. It's derived from organically fed animals and has no wheat or wheat by-products. The site is http://www.precious-pets-paradise.com and you can get it from there. I just went ahead and bought the small size bag and was glad I did, my dog loves it and I feel much safer giving my pet something that is so natural and is not on the recall list! I've already got more and will continue to use this product. Thought you might want to know! - Bob Knuck
On March 24, 2007 our purebred
2 1/2 year old Ragdoll Sapphire Twilight Sky died from complete renal failure. Sapphire was eating Hill's Prescription Feline Z/D Low Allergen Dry Cat Food, the first ingredient is rice protein concentrate.
I have spoken with the FDA 4 times, including Dorothy Miller of the FDA. I have been asked by the FDA to keep samples of Sapphire's food for testing.
Dorothy Miller of the FDA gave me some very good question to ask Hill's/Colgate. I have phoned Hill's/Colgate investigation 7 times. This is the conversation I had with them on April 17th, 2007.
I spoke with Michelle of Hill's/Colgate. I did inform her I had spoken with Dorothy Miller of the FDA who said I had the right to ask these questions and receive answers to my questions.
I asked Michelle who was the supplier of the rice protein concentrate? Michelle of Hill's/Colgate said "this is confidential and competitive information and I cannot give this out." I replied "Michelle do you think my cat is going to spread the information around, she is dead, Hill's has already killed her, and I have the right to know what the country of origin is of the rice protein concentrate is, as you do have the batch numbers of Sapphire's Z/D food too!" Michelle repied "I cannot give this out at this time"
I said to Michelle "so you are refusing to give out this information even though the FDA says I have the right to this information?" Michelle replied "I cannot give you this information at this time." I asked "Why? According to the Hill's website you do not have any rice protein concentrate with melamine in it nor did you receive any shipment from that distributor, if you have nothing to hide what is the problem in giving this information out?" Michelle said " I cannot give this out at this time" I replied "Why Michelle?"
Michelle responded "because the investigation is on-going!"
(Oh really !!!)
I then said to Michelle of Hill's/Colgate "Michelle your website states you have already investigated, so you either have or you have not, so what you are saying is opposite to your website, so your site is lying?"
Michelle responded "our investigation is on-going like everyone elses!" (OH REALLY!)
I asked "Michelle I want a document that guarantees Hill's batch of my Sapphire's food was not contaminated with melamine! Will you email me this batch report please?" Michelle said " I cannot do this." I said "Why?"
Michelle said (now freaking out big time) "someone from Hill's will phone you"
I said "Michelle this is the 7th time I have called Hill's/Colgate and I have never received a phone call back despite you having the complete file on my cat Sapphire!"
Michelle responded "You are welcome to call Hill's as many times as you wish"
I said "Michelle what you said today is revealling enough. Hill's is still investigating, you refuse to give me documents the FDA said I have the right to have and what you have told me is not what your website says even." Michelle said "If you are dealing with the FDA continue dealing with them." I said "Michelle thank you very much for your revealing conversation."
The above information was given to the FDA.
Hill's/Colgate refused to provide me with the documentation the FDA said I had the right to have.
On top of that Hill's/Colgate are lying, because they are still investigating, totally contrary to what their website says.
Please there are other reports of cats dying from eating Hill's Prescription Feline Z/D Low Allergen Dry Cat Food. If your cat has gottten sick or died from this food it is of the utmost urgency that you report it to your local FDA office!
Thank you for reading this.
Regards,
Joanne
On 4-4-07, my husband accidently picked up a bag of Natures Balance Venison and brown rice instead of the Duck and Potato us usually feed.
After feeding our dogs Natural Balance Venison and Brown rice for less than a week, our Jack Russell of 8 yrs died with kidney failure. Our Shar-Pei has been hospitalized receiving continious IV therapy for the past 96 hours with no improvement in renal functions.
A very sad and frustrating and expensive experience!
Just read a comment on April 20 of a pet owner feeding their dogs Natural Balance reduced calorie formula dry dog food. This raises concerns on our Boston terrier that suddenly got sick and died he was 13 years old. We had just switched him over from Natural Balance Premium which we feed our other 2 dogs. This raises questions for all Natural Balance Foods.
Has anyone used PhD pet food and/or know where it is manufactured? I e-mailed them to ask, but haven't heard back yet. I won't feed their products to my pets without knowing. Thx!
Just writing dog owners affected by the Pet Food Recall about a product called milk thistle plus that detoxifies the dogs system including their kidneys. This is an all natural product and is having great results. You can find this product at www.thehealingbarn.com
If you are looking for a good, "safe" dog and cat food, try Canidae.com. CANIDAE does not use Glutens in any form, and they do not import any ingredients from China or overseas. The cat formula is called Felidae. It does cost a little more, but my dog eats less due to fact there are no fillers. My daughter has two cats, and started feeding this brand and has noticed a big difference in their temperments, and the one that was overweight has lost 1 1/2 lbs. Her vet was ecstatic and is going to research these products. I am very satisfied. See the web page and decide for yourself.
My heart aches for all of the people that have lost their pets due to this contamination of our pet foods! I encourage everyone to view the video on my website before feeding your pets! The video is very informative and will help you determine what ingredients to avoid when choosing a pet food. Please take a couple of minutes and learn the truth about what we are feeding our pets www.lovemyhealthypet.com
Wimpy, our small Chihuahua Queensland mix of 14½ years, passed away on Feb 13th. He had been eating Mighty Dog for almost 5 years straight. Occasionally the pouches with gravy when Wal Mart was out of his favorite Mighty Dog CANS - ROASTED chicken, pork and beef in gravy and the NEW SIRLOIN stuff. We bought it by the box since he ate 2 a day. He loved his Might Dog!
He went to the vet on Feb 2nd because he had stopped eating that week refusing all snacks as well. This was not like him at all! He was a very hyper dog. His little eyes were sad and cloudy. He stayed with his doctor through the weekend. They called to say he was doing ok but were still baffled as to what was going on. He was not urinating well and his pancreatic enzymes were all over the place, he was still on his IVs and catheter. By the 8th he finally had eaten once for them, Pedigree, so they sent him home with antibiotics and pain meds.
We were so happy but it did not last long. He still refused to eat for us that night. Of course, I was still trying to feed him his Mighty Dog! The next day, Feb 9th, we found him so sound asleep I was sure he passed away. We got him to stand up and he tried to urinate. All that came out was blood. We immediately took him right back to the vets. He stayed another weekend with his doctor, but this time he got worse. Refusing to eat or drink anything. She put him right back on his IVS and catheter.
On Feb 13th we knew he was not going to get better. He still had not eaten again since the 8th. his doctor said he could stay with her indefinitely but it would not do him any good. So we went up to be with him while she put him to sleep. While we were waiting with Wimpy he crawled in my husbands lap as if to say he understood and it was okay. Our hyper baby was so calm do to all his pain.
After Wimpy was gone his doctor cried. We have had to put a few animals down with our vet, but I had never seen her cry until that day.
Wimpy is missed greatly everyday by his family (his parents, brother dog Bandit, and his 15+ feral cats). We brought him home and buried him next to his girlfriend (Rotweiller) Sydney who died in August 2006 of cancer.
After the recall on the food came about we contacted our vet again. When told his food was on the list she looked like the characters on the cartoons where the light bulb turns on! She is currently going over all Wimpy's files and tests.
To this day, May 2nd, we have not received our claims packet from Menu Foods. If anyone knows where we can download it off the internet please email the URL to us @ jenn_durand@yahoo.com . It will be greatly appreciated! ♥
PET OWNERS PLEASE READ-
Please contact the FDA if your pet is sick from foods NOT on the recall list.
I contacted the FDA by phone and someone took down my information regarding Hills C/D formula. They were very friendly and serious about this matter and are taking further action.
I have two cats, Baby and Ms. Kitty, they have been eating Hills C/D dry formula 4lb. bag for several years and they got sick around the same time the pet food recall started. I contacted both vet. and manufacturer regarding this. Neither of them had any complaints about the C/D formula. I have since switched to Whiska's ground chicken & or tuna (wet). Please post a blog (only takes a few minutes) and let me know if you or someone you know has had problems with the Hill's C/D formula or the Whiska's.
My condolences to all of the pet owners and their pets that have suffered from this. We need to stick together and fight for the sake of our pets.
My Dog Max,
My dog max was the best companion a person could ever want. He wasn't the best behaved dog or the smartest but he was unique. When I would pet my dog before bed he would always make strange sighs like he was crying and it was the cutest thing. He loved going outside. Enjoyed being lazy and loved to eat. He would always take his food one piece at a time from the kitchen to the living room to eat it on his blanky. I called it him burning the calories before eating them. I could write a book about all the things I am going to miss about my dog. Two days ago a grown man of 33 cried like a twelve year old boy. This man who is me thought he was incabable of crying since the last time he shed a tear was sixteen years of age. Since my dog so loved the outside I spent the last three hours of his time with us in a comfortable outdoor setting that he loved. I fought for my dogs life since easter.
Food consumed: purinas beneful dry food and alpo wet food.
Symptoms: 1st increased thrist and urination 2nd Vomiting 3rd loss of appetite 4th lethargy and shivering
5th upper respiratory infection
6th mucus 7th swollen lymph nodes
Reason for having him put down: His kidney values didn't improve and I couldn't stand to see my child suffer anymore.
I will post any other findings that come in about max he was a black lab mixed with sharpie weight was 104 healthy and 89 at the end.
Thank you for listening
05-07-07
Please Pass it On!
Hello All,
I don’t want to sound alarmist but I have some important info about chicken livers.
1st background info: My mom unknowingly fed our dogs treats and canned food from the recall list. (Both were added after she had bought them.)
All four dogs were sick: diarrhea, vomiting, drooling, lethargic. Three recovered, one we had to put to sleep.
Very recently she bought chicken livers and gizzards to add as treats to their dry food. (from a major chain) They all got bad diarrhea again. No observed vomiting yet.
I reminded my mom, livers and gizzards filter the body of poisons. They could easily be retaining the Aminopterin (oops, I mean Melamine… [Ha!]).
Say a prayer we don’t lose another of our beloved dogs…
Thanks,
Scott
Dear Garren - you'll find my story posted under Rachel. The same combination of foods killed my two dogs, Penny and Max. Purina has yet to admit there's anything wrong with their Beneful product. I fed them both equal parts of the Alpo wet & Beneful dry food. Penny being a beagle and smaller died on a Monday 3/19 of liver & kidney damage. My keeshond, Max developed a respiratory problem the following day, couldn't breathe and I had him on oxygen but was forced to put him down because the vets at the hospital were at a loss of what was causing the fluid buildup in his lungs. Alpo had not yet posted a recall so they didn't know what to look for. I had trouble tying the symptoms together because nowhere was there a mention of respiratory stress until I read your story. I am so sorry for your loss...and everyone else's. It's almost two months and I still can't shake the gloom I feel.
In answer to Rebecca from Vancouver, I feed my cat Vivian Whiskas and she's fine, in spite of the fact that I lost my two dogs. I noticed going on the internet that if you go to the websites of these pet food companies, the ones that haven't had any problems are very happy to advertise that they are not part of the recall and that their food was not packaged at any of the five suspect plants. They will tell you that all the ingredients are USA grown and some even offer free samples. I suggest you check your labels to make sure the brand you've chosen isn't packaged at plants who rec'd their gluten from China. Pet Food Tracker gives you that info. I have learned from reading articles on this subject since this problem started that China doesn't do any food inspecting, especially for animals. They don't even want our inspectors going over there. Go to petconnection.com; petfoodrecall.com; petfoodtracker.com and look for the articles.
May 2nd had to put my 3 year old bullmastiff bella to sleep. She ate a can of olroy cuts and gravy every morning. I have 4 other dogs that all eat different kinds of foods. All started with blood in the urine vet did blood work thought it was urinary tract infection. Had one prior in the past. Sent home on antibiotics told to bring back in a few days to recheck the urine. Her specific gravity numbers were still low told to stay on antibiotics for 6 to 8 weeks. She was a large dog 125 pounds Vet said it may be a severe infection in the kidneys. Over the weekend was fine. Monday morning wasn't moving didn't look well took her back to the vet. More blood work determined her levels for her pancreas were off the charts. Vet thought maybe it was pancreatitis. She had lost 12 pounds. Vet suggested hospitalizing her for 3 days if no improvement he said the prognosis was poor. On the second day the vet called to say her stomach had swelled up really bad and she was in alot of pain crying even being on IV pain meds. Made the hardest decision of my life to put this beautiful 3 year old sweetest nature dog to sleep. Never thought about the dog food because it wasn't on the recall list.
Information for those concerned on what to feed their pets.
http://www.thepetfoodlist.com has lists and lots of info on brands from A to Z - what's safe and what's on recall and why. There are 3 pages involved. Hope it's helpful to you.
Dear anonymous with Penny and max - I am sorry to hear about your dog max. My vet is trying to see if Purina will pay for my dogs necropsy to find out if their food did cause his death. It was my belief at first that max may have gotten kidney failure some other way due to the fact that I have a healthy 12 year old Collie who eats the same food. Then I learned that some dogs aren't effected from the tainted food and our Collie skipped alot of meals which left double for max to eat some nights. Anyways my dog max was taken to two seperate vets and they both seemed baffled from his combination of symptoms. It was fustrating having to give a bunch of different pills all times of the day and try to feed him baby food with a syringe only to watch him get sicker and sicker. I light a candle for my max every night.
P.S. While I am rambling dog food has the highest markup of any product. You think they could of invested some of that money into product testing.
I hope the findings they find on my dog will help you know what happened to your max so stay tuned I will post later.
My dog who is a border collie began vomiting violently one day last February. I was over at my fiance's house and she vomited about 7 times that day. I had no idea what was making her sick so I cut off her wet food(Alpo cuts and gravy) and only gave her dry Iams. She became better. I left the next day-leaving the Alpo at his house. She was fine until 2 weeks later when I went back. She got the same wet food-I assumed it was spoiled. Back again to just dry Iams and she was OK. The next Monday I found her Alpo on the recall list-it had just been placed there. ALL of the cans at my fiance's had been recalled. Because they waited-I fed her posioned dog food again.I gave her wet food to take her medicine in and she always gobbled it up. She has been to the vet and is OK so far. The people at Sedgwick(Purina's insurance handler) were initially very nice but that didn't last long. I complained to Purina and actually spoke with someone who cared. It does not make me feel better, but more calm. Until I found this blog I felt all alone-like who are the other owners dealing with this crap? I feel betrayed by dog food companies and their crappy websites proclaiming how much there care about animals-where is PETA? What celebrity will take on this cause-no one so far. All of you have my sympathy and love. Hang in there-at some point we will get justice
Beth of May 8 - read my story under Rachel said....my pets were usually fed Pedigree but I bought ALPO that week because they put it on sale. Within 6 days my beagle was throwing up bile in a coppery color and the smell from her mouth was awful. My other dog was under respiratory distress with a purple tongue. I put them to sleep within a day of each other because they were suffering and the vets couldn't give me anything conclusive. They couldn't identify on the x-ray some spotty substance in the lungs of one of my pets without a biopsy. Ten days later Alpo posted their recall and I now believe those flecks may have been melamine crystals that I have read were found in some of the pets. I now wonder why the ALPO was put on sale. I went to the PETA website and they are trying to do something. Google some pet food recall websites and you'll get a lot more truth than on the media. I thought the same thing about getting through to some of these TV personalities like Ellen Degeneres or Martha Stewart who are always expressing their love of animals but haven't gotten through or received any answers to my e-mails. How could they not know how bad this is. Also, I included a short message about this catastrophe in answer to mailings I received from animal orgs for donations. I am stunned at the amount of pets that have been poisoned and the difference in the numbers being reported. It truly sucks!
Petition to Require Pet Food Companies to be Held Accountable for Damages.
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/231907158?z00m=9422055
Please sign it and email all your friends to sign
My pet has been gravely ill for two weeks. He was finally diagnosed with salmonella, which will enable us to save his life. He only ate one type of food, Nature's Variety Frozen Raw Diet. It took days to find the manufacturer because there is no name nor address on the bag. This is an FDA violation.
Once contacted, the manufacturer expressed little concern and was trying to suggest that the dog ate something else or that samples they tested didn't show contamination. It only takes one tiny amount....and sampling does may not pick it up.
One of the things that I have mentioned to my readers is to err on the side of caution with regard to any dog food on the recall list. if you are unsure if your specific type of food is impacted , don't feed that brand to your dog until you get verifictaion that it is ok from your veterinarian.
The 2007 dog food recall is not the first to claim the lives and health of dogs as this topic explains. It's sad that so many have placed trust in the dog food companies who have misused that trust by selling low quality and unsafe products touted as safe and healthy dog food.
You can find more information about previous dog food recalls and the terrible price of trusting dog food manufacturers at :
http://www.dogs-4life.com/dog-food-recall-not-a-first-to-kill-dogs.html
The problem with dog food from many companies, and this includes many premium brands as well, is that due to almost non existent regulation they can put almost any trash in a bag, call it what they want, and sell it to a trusting publc.
The consequence is a world of dogs whose health is impaired and lifespans shortened.
If you are curious as to what toxins and unhealthy items are regularly added to dog food go to:
http://www.dogs-4life.com/dog-food-that-kills.html
Be well-
Dogs-4Life.COM
AN ENDEAVOR FOR AN AMERICAN TRUTH
CALLING ALL PURINA CAREGIVERS
WOULD YOU PLEASE TAKE A POLL?
http://itchmoforums.com/index.php?topic=441.0
Once, and if, the Poll has amassed enough statistics, my plan is to send the examples to Purina and the FDA, with the hope that the food would be examined, and a recall made, instead of the "withdrawal" of selective foods. There are far too many American dogs, cats and small animals who have become ill and passed, and in my opinion, there are far too many NEW cases of pets BECOMING ILL while eating food products, which have NOT been RECALLED. And, it appears THIS is NOT random, as the timing is just too coincidental with the recent contamination fiasco.
Initiating this Poll is an endeavor to see if numbers will step up, so I can print out conclusive examples to forward, along with my name only, unless you want your name included, to Purina and the FDA.
A second goal is to find out about the food, i.e. gluten, flour, nutritional supplements, etc. and if it could possibly be contaminated, as Purina sources "important nutritional supplements" and "wheat gluten" from China. http://www.purina.com/recallFAQs.asp
Please, help this cause for RECALL. One is such a lonely number against such a huge conglomerate.
Sincerely,
Donna
Hello:
My name is Michael. I wanted to come by and tell you that I have incorporated a lot of information and videos on a new site called hubpages.com
I am trying to get the word out about all this and would love to have you come by and check it out. I have a lot of information about the recalls and information about the "good" dog foods I have come to discover.
I cannot believe that all this is going on...and continues to get worse everyday. What makes it hurt even more is that the press is not picking up this story at all!
So here's the link to my page: Dog Food Recall List
I appreciate any support.
In December 2006, my 12 year old miniature schnauzer, Newman, suddenly began drinking 3x as much water as normal. Because of the excessive drinking and itchy, dry skin, the vet suspected Cushings Disease. Bloodwork showed elevated liver enzymes, particularly the ALK (at 2170!!).
Throughout this period I continued to feed him Iambs dry mini chunks mixed with the Iambs chicken and rice entree. I also noticed that the Iambs chicken and rice had a funny smell and a slightly thicker consistency. I thought perhaps it had been reformulated to include more salt and maybe that's why he was drinking more.
An ACTH Stim test came back normal, so Cushings disease was ruled out. Liver disease was still a possibility so Newman went for an Xray and Ultrasound, which only showed he had sludge in his gall bladder. The vet didn't believe the sludge would have 1. raised his liver enzymes that much or 2. caused excessive drinking, but it was something that needed to be treated nonetheless. We started Newman on Actigall and feeling more and more suspicious about the Iambs, I switched him to Ultra Performatrin (wet and dry) for one meal and Dry ultra performatrin with cottage cheese for the other meal. Within 3 days his drinking returned to normal. A month later, his ALK dropped from the whopping 2170 to 547!! I believe that the sludge in Newman’s gallbladder was a separate issue. However, I think the drinking and elevated liver enzymes were a direct result of tainted food. Fortunately it was not fatal. My heart goes out to all of you who lost your beloved pets.
I was wondering, did anyone else have an issue like we did with elevated liver enzymes (especially ALK Phosphatase) and excessive drinking? Did anyone else notice a change in the smell or consistency of the Iambs?
I just visited the following website
http://petfoodtracker.blogspot.com/and I invite all of you to do the same. It contains a 5/25/07 news article that is of interest to all of us. The death of our pets may not have been in vain as it now seems to have spread a bright light and wide focus on imports coming in from China. Read it to the very end. It hasn't solved our problem, which is part of a bigger picture but nonetheless, it's not being swept under the rug. It also draws attention to our imcompetencies in monitoring the problem.
If Menu foods is contacting claimants who are represented by counsel, they are handling claims in bad faith and this could bring punitive damages, on top of any monetary awards.
However, if Menu foods is contacting claimants who have not informed Menu of being represented by counsel, or their attorney has not contacted Menu, then Menu should receive a “release of all claims” in exchange for any payment made on the claim. This would indeed waive customers right to future claims, which is standard in most settlement agreements.
Keep in mind that this is a property damage claim. Therefore plaintiffs are not entitled to emotional distress, missed time from work, etc. By law, this claim is the same as having a windstorm rip the roof of your house. You may have it replaced or have it paid at actual cash value, depending upon your home policy.
I find it interesting that Menu lists the different “Class Action Attorney’s” on their website! Menu would rather you obtain a lawyer because the payout will be much less. And ofcourse, the lawyers will get all the money and the plaintiff’s will most likely not see a penney. Remeber the class action asbestos lawsuit years ago? Enough said….
Bottom line, if you can settle a claim with Menu directly, you will fare much better than participating in class action suit.
Keep in mind that maybe 3-5% of all these claims are related to contaminated food. Dogs and Cats go downhill very fast for many reasons.
I picked up my 6 week old kitten about Feb 2007 I started feeding Callie and my other older kitten Pet Pride wet food and possibly Special Kitty. Callie has been to the vet and had blood work and urinalisis tests and the Dr still cant figure out why she crys when she uses the litter box. Both when she urinates and when she has a bowel movement.
It's always difficult to hear an animal cry for some reason. Unfortunately as they can't talk we are helpless in these situations
My 1 year old daschund is very very sick. He went from a very robust, feisty little ball of energy to not being able to walk in 3 days. He went to the Vet this am, and I carried along a package of Meat Blast Pork Twists and I thought they were suspect. The vet, in a hurry, kind of blew me off, saying never to feed those to the pets and choose rather, hooves or sterilized bones. Then, he administered an iv to hydrate (hump of water) and two shots for vomiting and severe bloody diahrrea. He didn't really say what he thought caused my dog to be so sick.....but he did call later saying he saw whipworm and to come back on Monday for the pills. There were no blood tests taken or xrays. He never even looked at the package. I threw it away in his office, but have the receipt. I purchased them at Walmart last week, thinking surely to God, they have emptied their shelves. Well, it's evening, Saturday night, after midnight actually. My dog seems to be in very dire straights. I went online in a panic, and found this:
http://socalmuchacha.wordpress.com/pet-food-recall-infoposts/#comment-3905, mentioning the same product.
It was Meat Blast Pork Twists, China, Wheat Gluten. I don't have the money to pay for today's visit let alone get this product tested. Is there anyone that might be able to do this independently for free? Please, I fear for everyone's pets and would like to have this product put on some suspect list, separate from the FDA, which btw, I will call tomorrow. You can't email in complaints, I guess. Thank you so much-
Berni Aziz
Has anyone heard of any dogs having problems with a Canine Potato and Duck formula that I believe is made by Royal Canin foods.
Thanks, Sue
My dog Molly died of kidney failure as well. She was 10 years old and i had her since i was 9. A toy poodle and had amazing health. Acted like a puppy. Suddenly we noticed her having accidents all over the house. THis lead to weakness. My dog who had been so peppy suddenly couldn't jump onto my bed or couch. THen she was afraid to jump off. The accidents started getting worse and went from about 1 a day to at least 10. Eventually she just layed and couldn't stand or get herself up. Her body smelled like she was rotting from the inside out no matter how much i bathed her. Finally we had to have her put down as she in such terrible pain. We had taken her to the vet over and over and had tried everything he gave us. ANYWAYS NOW I'M JUST WONDERING IF ANYONE KNOWS OF ANY CLASS ACTION LAWSUITS IN VANCOUVER B.C. THAT I COULD SIGN UP WITH. I miss my poor molly
I have fed my two cats IAMS canned and dry food, but recently decided to just feed them the dry stuff to see if the throwing up they have been experiencing would lessen. The cans I have weren't on the recall list, but the vomiting made me hesitate to give them the canned food at all. Anyway, it has been a few weeks since I stopped giving them the canned food. They are still throwing up, at least a few times weekly. It's not hairball throw-up either...so in response to those of you who asked if anyone thinks the dry IAMS is contaminated, I certainly do. I'm going to switch from this brand altogether. There is something wrong with it, I'm sure.
I had my good dog, I’m not sure what kind of a dog it was, I believe it was Miniature English bulldog. Yes, Puppy was a Miniature English Bulldog.
www.txtapic.com/blog
I filed a claim for my vets bills to be paid by Nutro insurance carrier (The Hartford), my claim was denied. I phoned the Hartford after I received my denial letter. I was told I had to speak with Chubb Insurance. I phoned Chubb about the denial of my Nutro claim, Chubb Insurance paid my vet bills. The only thing I had show them was proof of purchase.
My name is Donna, and Gene and I just lost our 9 year old female Akita Meiko. She was murdered. Murdered by Wal-Mart who continued to sell the Bestro Chicken Jerky even though they knew it was tainted with Melamine. She became ill June 15, 2007. She began vomiting everything we fed her. The vet came to the house to draw blood and take urine to see if he could determine what was causing her illness. She was in renal failure. Her creatine had gone from 3 to 14. We started an IV on her. We had IV poles and pumps on every floor in our home. We ran 54 liters of ringers through her in 72 hours. They retested her blood and her creatine had gone back down to 3, but her kidneys were permanently damaged and she would be on an expensive K-D diet the rest of her life. But we were still at a loss as to how Meiko came down with acute Kidney Failure. Within a couple of days of bringing her back to some level of normality a chief executive from Tyson Foods who spends a great deal of time at our home called to see if we were still feeding our pets chicken jerky from Wal-Mart. We said yes it is their favorite treat. He said to stop immediately that it was tainted with melamine and that was what was killing her. We thought we had her on the mend when she began vomiting again in September. The vet once again came and drew blood and took a urine sample. Her creatine was 15 this time. The damage that was done from continuing to feed her the chicken jerky was too great, we were not able to save her life, but we are still desperately trying to save the lives of our other 2 pets Yoshi and Chopper because they all ate the same damn jerky and the other two are both peeing whole blood. Had they pulled the jerky from the shelves and made a public recall, Meiko would still be alive today.
Our beautiful baby daughter is buried in our garden. Beware of what Wal-Mart sells and what they import and the country it is imported from. They do not care about you or your pets, they only care about the almighty dollar and their bottom line. When we contacted Wal-Mart about Meiko, they sent us a letter stating that “Claims Management, Inc. manages claims on behalf of Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. and that they were very sorry to hear of the incident which involved chicken jerky. At this time we would like to share some information with you regarding the claims handling process. Upon reviewing your claim, CMI tendered the claim to the product supplier; Shanghai Bestro Trading. If you do not hear from the supplier in the next 10 days, please feel from to contact them directly 011-86-21-5848-6661. This is an overseas phone number.
This is your great Wal-Mart at its best, they don’t want to take responsibility for what they imported and sold at their stores. It may cost us more, but we no longer shop at Wal-Mart or any of its subsidiaries.
My name is Tina. We live in Louisiana. We bought all our cat food at Walmart due to lower prices. 3 weeks ago, my dear Smokey died a horrible death. He lost 60% of his weight in 3 months. The Vet blamed it on age yet we tried to make him understand that he would not eat,would not drink, was vomitting, was very weak. Our Smokey was seen by the Vet on a Thursday evening...received a vaccination, flushed him. Smokey suffered a severe diarrhea that weekend & died the next Tuesday Morning. :-(. There was nothing we could do. It happen so fast. Our 5 year old Pompon has been experiencing the same symtoms. The Vet is keeping him over night yet it does not look very promising. Please hold us in your prayers.
I prefer to buy my dogs food from Petco and PetCare stores on CouponAlbum
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My beloved cat was euthanized a couple of months ago. In retrospect, I believe he got sick from the cat food which were not on the recall list. His diet consisted of Fancy Feast Ocean Whitefish & Tuna, very rarely Savory Salmon or the green can, I think it may have been shrimp. Also, he ate various Science Diet dry foods. When he became more ill it was more apparent the wet food was making him throw up. Removed it from his diet but it was too late. Also, I must include at times I gave him small amounts of dry treats from a can and a very little bit for a short time cat vitamins. His diagnosis was eminate. He was dying of cancer. I haven't interpreted the lab reports to its entirety and now wished I would have done an autopsy on him to determine the real cause. In the future, if I decide to adopt other animals, I will be more educated and probably will make him his meals myself after thorough research of what is good for felines. After all, he was like my son and I would not feed my son canned foods as his primary meal. Would you?
You be the Judge.
Good article, you make some interesting points.
Veterinary Clinics data
This is awesome article and you give very good information this will help for every one. But we should take care when you adapt the pet because we may have faced some health problems because of these pets. so if we take the proper steps defiantly we will enjoy with our pets.
Here are some information about pet and our health: Pets and our Health
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I have to admit my dog generally eats similar to me I give her canned dog food and biscuits but a lot of the time if I am having anything with meat she shares it even when I have friends around for a barbecue I always put out a plate for my dog. Reading blogs like these are quite scary as all of us love or dogs and cats and that they could get sick from foods that are made by so called experts is frightening.
Isabella started getting sick slowly not eating much to eventually not eating anything at all and drinking a lot of water. She started having loss of bowels and urinating everywhere, but just a little at a time ... I called the Vet they had me to watch her for a couple of days... I took her in to the vet she stayed through the weekend where they gave her IV liquids and antibiotics... They did several tests and said her kidneys were not functioning like they should be for a 1 1/2 year old cat and they really didn't know what to do other than give her antibiotics to maybe see if that would help her. All this was before the vet and everyone else knew about the tainted food. She came home and acted ok for a couple of days then she started throwing up and slowly dying !!! It was the most excruciating thing to watch something you love DIE and knowing that there was nothing you could do !!!!! Her kidneys were failing and so she eventually died on Sunday March the 25,2007. I kept calling Menu Foods and they have yet to return my calls they kept saying I am on a List ... This experience is like a loss of a family member unnecessarily. I just had to post this I know the pain of all the people that have lost their friends (PETS).
Carla in Alabama
Isabella started getting sick slowly not eating much to eventually not eating anything at all and drinking a lot of water. She started having loss of bowels and urinating everywhere, but just a little at a time ... I called the Vet they had me to watch her for a couple of days... I took her in to the vet she stayed through the weekend where they gave her IV liquids and antibiotics... They did several tests and said her kidneys were not functioning like they should be for a 1 1/2 year old cat and they really didn't know what to do other than give her antibiotics to maybe see if that would help her. All this was before the vet and everyone else knew about the tainted food. She came home and acted ok for a couple of days then she started throwing up and slowly dying !!! It was the most excruciating thing to watch something you love DIE and knowing that there was nothing you could do !!!!! Her kidneys were failing and so she eventually died on Sunday March the 25,2007. I kept calling Menu Foods and they have yet to return my calls they kept saying I am on a List ... This experience is like a loss of a family member unnecessarily. I just had to post this I know the pain of all the people that have lost their friends (PETS).
Carla In ALABAMA
Hi.
Just thought you may be interested in a new recall information source.
www.totalrecallinfo.com
Take care.
Looking for the best natural dog food? Here are 6 tips to help you find the best natural dog food for your pet.
1. READ the labels and especially pay attention to the first 5-7 ingredients on the list. These ingredients make up the majority of the the food. These ingredients need to be whole foods and preferably more protein than grains.
For more tips visit the above link
My dog Pepie was exposed to the Melamine through Natural Balance Venison and Brown Rice back in April of 2007. She tested positive for the Melamine in her urine. Ever since then she has been sick non stop with infections and health problems. I have taken her to the doctor 41 times in the course a of a year and four months. I am asking if there is anyone out there who is experienceing the same thing. I would like to discuss it.
It does, however, include mandatory recall authority for the FDA as well as increased ability to inspect facilities where food is handled and the records of food manufacturers.
Hello,
Nice Post on ""Pet Food Recall"..thanks for sharing this post and keep posting such post here in future too.
Pet grooming
I love cats. They are so cute and really adorable. Nice blog !
My pet and I share the same food. Nice post. Thank you for sharing.
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