ABC News: Doctors Caution Thousands More Pet Deaths Expected

[piesRsquare]

http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/story?id=2974319

Kidney Failure Noted in Growing Number of Animals

March 22, 2007 — As investigators look for a cause behind the 15 confirmed pet food deaths, doctors at New York's Animal Medical Center suspect there will be a much larger rash of cases after learning of an additional 200 cases of kidney failure in animals.

More at above link...

Updated pet food recall information at http://2blackcats.wordpress.com

[piesRsquare]

1. Also, please note...

Menu Foods has changed the recalled-foods list several times over the last few days, but has not changed the date on their website.

PLEASE REMEMBER TO REGULARLY CHECK THE LIST OF RECALLED PET FOOD!

Here: http://www.menufoods.com/recall/index.html

or here: http://howl911.com/#foods

[Arkansas Granny]

16. It's also important to go ahead and click through on any food on

the list to see the information specific to that product. For instance, Mighty Dog pouches have been voluntarily recalled by Purina as a precaution. Like you, I have visited the site on several ocassions and had noticed that the list keeps growing. Due to that I have decided to suspend feeding my girls any wet food and stick with their usual dry food only.

[Raine]

49. Posted in wrong place...self-deleted nt

[Lasher]

18. Thanks for the links

Looks like my 2 kitties will be OK.

[Hekate]

2. That's so frightening -- many hearts are going to be broken...

...over the unnecessary deaths of these innocent companions.

Hekate

[Bluebear]

3. I cannot even imagine the heartache being caused & that to come

Especially since the bastard company knew about it before making the recall public, allowing more people to keep poisoning their furry kids.

[MonkeyFunk]

4. ugh

what a nightmare. So much heartbreak.

[roguevalley]

42. the worst part is, you poisoned them by your own hand. I can relate.

i still cringe over nearly killing my Andrew because of the shit pill, Rimadyl.

[intaglio]

5. Our family have cats and many

have died of "kidney failure" over the years - I wonder just how long this has been going on

BTW I am in the UK

[izzie]

6. I guess I am now happy I have these very fussy cats.

They seem to be OK and I found one small can on sale of one of these on the list which I have feed them. Split 4 ways I hope all is OK. I can hardly pay for my one sick cat as it is and she is on pills daily. She is old but so far they all seem fine so guess the one small can was OK. Besides that, since it was not their fussy food, they ate very little of it. It as always sad to see a pet die. In the last two years I have lost old pets and I still miss them.:cry:

[tbyg52]

15. I know what you mean,

having also lost quite a few old ones in the last few years. It's great to have them, but hard to lose them.

:hug:

[Arkansas Granny]

20. A friend of mine says that when you decide to bring a pet into

your life, you are taking on a heartache, too. The chances are that you will outlive your pets and will face losing them, eventually. It's hard to lose them, even when you know they've lived a good life and that you have done everything you know how to make it that way. It would be really heartbreaking to lose them through someone else's negligence and greed.

[tbyg52]

46. So true. eom

[EFerrari]

7. Thanks for staying on top of this, pies!

K&R

[piesRsquare]

10. You're very welcome...

:hug:

[lligrd]

8. I Had A Young Dog Die Suddenly, 3 Years Ago

at the Vet, from a fungal mass that they could not explain. Then, 2 years ago, my other dog started bleeding extensively from both ends. He made it (happy to say and $3000 poorer) but it was real touch and go. They never could find the cause but I was feeding the same pouched food that is now on the recall list (obviously older recall numbers) back then. I changed the food as soon as the second one returned from the hospital and he has been fine ever since. I can't help but wonder if this hasn't been going on a lot longer than they say.

[piesRsquare]

9. A number of people...

...have been wondering the same thing.

[blossomstar]

17. I am also wondering...

I lost my dearest friend 2 years ago, a bulldog named "Toad". He had heart problems, but I had them under control with meds and he had heart by pass surgery that had changed his life. I was feeding him the Mighty Dog... All of a sudden about 2 years after his surgery he just started going down hill and fast, lost his appetite and wouldn't eat. Thank God, I was there when he passed on, I was holding him in my arms when he took his last breath. I still cry when I think of him. He was my boy. I understand the pain and loss these people are going through. I am wondering if I shouldn't stop the commercial dog foods all together for the rest of my dogs. They are like my children and I don't think the industry has any oversight. Maybe I can just make their food myself. Dogs used to live on just table scraps!

[Rockholm]

24. I feed my two dogs Solid Gold with Merrick mixed in.

My dogs have "issues" with chicken. They eat Wolf King with salmon and bison. They love it. I mix in various flavors of Merrick wet food. Boy, am I happy that I did not give them any of the so-called premium brands. Nice to see that Iams is just the same as a store brand. Sure to bring them down a peg or two.

[lligrd]

38. I've Been Considering That Too

Funny thing is, I am the one who keep telling family members not to feed the dogs scraps because it isn't healthy for them. The industry has us convinced that the only way to get proper nutrition for your dog is with their food made of gawd only knows what even though dogs survived the centuries eating raw meat and scraps.

[blossomstar]

43. They used to live longer too

12-15 years was not unheard of for a family dog. ALL they ate was table scraps. I am cooking for mine one meal a day and just letting them free feed if they're still hungry on the dry dog food Purina One Lamb & Rice... If I hear of problems with dry dog food, then I'll stop that too and just give them fresh food. It's actually cheaper to buy fresh food and cook it than the dog food anyway, Purina One is over $20 a bag. Chicken livers, hamburger, whole chickens and beef when on sale for variety along with rice, pasta and fresh frozen vegetables. I can probably get fresh venison during the hunting season too. If I give them a multi vitamin daily, they should thrive. These dogs are like my children and I just can not trust them completely with the very lives of my dogs after this.

[lligrd]

45. Mine Eat Purina One Lamb and Rice Dry Too

and get a small Cesar each day. Think I will quit the Cesar and try your tactic.

[barbtries]

11. thank you

for keeping this out there. i had no idea it involved so much pet food.

how can you tell if your cat or dog is suffering form kidney failure?

[femmedem]

22. Feline kidney failure symptoms:

lethargy, loss of appetite, increased thirst. These early symptoms can also be signs of diabetes or heart trouble.
When it gets worse they start vomiting, they get dehydrated, and they might sit in a sphinx position, not looking at anyone.

[aquart]

29. If a cat with good box habits starts pissing on your bed...

that was the first indicator I got. Some cats will give you warnings that something is wrong.

[OneBlueSky]

12. thankfully, my guys have been on Alpo and Pedigree all their lives . . .

I can't imagine the horror of knowing that you fed your pet something that killed him . . . the guilt and pain would be enormous . . .

[Raine]

50. Mine's been on Pedigree too

THANK goodness...so far so good.

[demnan]

13. I have always thought my cats threw up a lot

mainly because Pad Thai eats too fast. Now I'm wondering if it isn't a good thing they throw up. I had a can of generic cat food on the shelf, it wasn't on the list, but I threw it out anyway. They don't like the generics much and maybe there's a good reason for that. I'll pay a little more to make sure they're safe.

[Marrah_G]

25. I recently adopted a 6 month old kitty who threw up alot too

I spent a little extra on some cat food from the pet store for kittens with sensitive stomachs and he's pretty much stopped. It has the word Natural in the name. I'll have to check when I get home from work.

[tblue37]

32. My Lila is a puker.

She is 14 1/2 and has always been a puker. I adopted her at age 2 from a family nextdoor and changed her dry food from star-shaped Friskies to round Meow Mix. That helped a lot. She was very thin when I got her, because she didn't keep anything down, but she gained weight on the Meow Mix and now she is actually a bit tubby.

But she is still a puker. I grow indoor grass to help her and the others with their necessary puking. I have just accepted that I will need to clean up after Lila several times a week. It's OK. She's worth the effort, though I do wish she wouldn't puke on my bed right after I have just washed the bedding--LOL.

[Maraya1969]

14. Do they know what in the product is causing the problem?

[Cobalt Violet]

21. I don't think they do yet.n/t

[Blue Diadem]

31. According to this article in LBN..rat poison on imported wheat

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x2778351

[hang a left]

39. rat poison from wheat sprayed in China

[Kolesar]

19. This is like Katrina again with the 85% pet mortality rate...eom

[catgirl]

23. I recommend switching to natural pet food

I feed my cats and dogs PetGuard. Excellent quality food that can be found in
co ops, natural food stores and some grocery stores (perhaps Whole Foods).
You can go on their web site and find out where to buy it in your area. Also,
Paul Newman's organic pet food is excellent!

[otohara]

34. Tiki Cat

I recently found this brand at a very hip pet store, my Kiko loves it - especially the Sardine Cutlets.

[bdamomma]

26. oh god, as a animal lover this is disgraceful, now they are

targetting innocent animals. this is terrible.

[WiseButAngrySara]

27. .. n/t

[piesRsquare]

28. kick...

Signs of kidney failure, link to list of recalled foods, lists of safe foods, etc can all be found here:

http://2blackcats.wordpress.com

No commentary, no BS...just the info.

[SheilaT]

30. Makes me very happy

that we only feed our cats dry food. One gets Science Diet, the other two Nature's Own. At least I think that's the name of it. First cat is a real lady who never overeats, and we put her food dish up on a counter the other two tubbies can't quite jump to. One of the other two tends to do what we call "scarf'n'barf" because she'll just gobble down more food than her stomach can hold. But they are all in excellent health, and I feel a lot of anger towards the company that made the poisoned food.

I was visiting a friend in Colorado over the past weekend, and she told me that about three years ago she'd given one of the suspect wet foods to her little dog and he'd been sick for a week. She switched to a different kind of the same wet food (from chicken to beef or some such) and it never really occurred to her that the food was tainted. She said she might simply switch to making up her own doggie food. Probably not a bad idea.

When you consider that in general what's used for canned dog or cat food is generally not fit for human consumption (at least that's what I've always thought) then you need to figure out why you should feed it to your animal.

[MedleyMisty]

33. Oh man, Purina's on the list now?

I cry every time I think about this.

I hope whoever's responsible pays for it. A lot. Personally, I wouldn't mind seeing someone in jail for life over it. Do you know how much suffering and pain this has caused?

Oh God, now I'm all worried about our cats. They're fine and healthy and I thought we were okay with Purina Pro Plan. Dry mostly, but they do very occasionally get wet food.

Where's the list of safe foods? I can't find it.

And I need to tell my mother but I don't know how - she never checks her email and I wouldn't be able to make her understand it over the phone (she's very hard of hearing).

Maybe write her a letter?

[ProfessorGAC]

35. I Just Checked The List. I Didn't See Purina!

I checked for both dogs and cats. (We have both.)
The Professor

[GreenPartyVoter]

36. I just got purina kibble. That stuff is ok, right?

[REACTIVATED IN CT]

37. Only the wet fiood with gravy has been implicated

Apparently wheat gluten is the problem ingredient

[dysfunctional press]

40. where did you see that? btw- i don't think that there are lists of "safe" foods.

those kinds of lists would be way too long- the way to determine the safe foods is to make sure it's not on the recall list. and i don't see purina listed as one of the fatal foods anywhere.

[piesRsquare]

44. There ARE lists of safe foods

One of them is here: http://2blackcats.wordpress.com

You may have to scroll down to find it. But it's there.

[dysfunctional press]

48. do you have a link to the list of safe foods?

i scrolled down, but i didn't find it.

my point is that there are probably many thousands of different pet food products that are NOT affected across the country. that's why recall lists concentrate on the tainted food- the lists are much more manageable.

[NorthernSpy]

41. DEATH to globalism!

Poison wheat from a foreign country that many of us never wanted anything to do with in the first place: what joys the sacred Global Market brings to our shores!

:nuke:

[HeeBGBz]

47. My boss's cat had to be put down yesterday

Kidney's were shut down.

[opihimoimoi]

51. The news said 3,500 complaints were received...and only 15 deaths???

15 recorded deaths that they know of...

I think it would be in the 100's ...if not 1,000's