Lincolnville cat death, kitten illness attributed to tainted pet food

[Maine-ah]

http://knox.villagesoup.com/Community/story.cfm?storyID=89216

In February, Barlow and her veterinarian were mystified why Mikey, an otherwise healthy cat, suddenly died from acute renal failure. At that point, Menu Foods had made no indication that animals consuming the food had fallen ill and died.

Now veterinarian Bjorn Lee, at PenBay Veterinary Associates, in Rockport, believes Mikey died from the food, especially since a kitten who was eating the extra cans of Special Kitty that Barlow purchased last month is now in the animal hospital hooked up to intravenous fluids.

"Now that we know about this food, we’re pretty clear what’s been causing it," said Lee on Wednesday.

After Mikey died, Barlow gave the extra cans of Special Kitty to her son, who had just acquired a new kitten, Smokey. This past week, after Menu Foods began its extensive recall of pet food, Barlow suspected that Mikey’s illness might have been caused by the tainted food. She urged her son to take Smokey in for a blood test.

But when Smokey arrived at the vet’s, Lee could immediately tell by feeling the kitten’s swollen kidneys that he was also suffering. A blood test indicated elevated kidney values, said Lee, and Smokey’s kidneys are now being flushed out.