Pet Food Recall After Pets Die
Thanks to Anne Madison for barking in this pet food recall on Yahoo News.
Pet deaths prompt recall of pet food
By ANDREW BRIDGES, Associated Press WriterWASHINGTON – A major manufacturer of dog and cat food sold under Wal-Mart, Safeway, Kroger and other store brands recalled 60 million containers of wet pet food Friday after reports of kidney failure and deaths.
An unknown number of cats and dogs suffered kidney failure and about 10 died after eating the affected pet food, Menu Foods said in announcing the North American recall. Product testing has not revealed a link explaining the reported cases of illness and death, the company said.“At this juncture, we’re not 100 percent sure what’s happened,” said Paul Henderson, the company’s president and chief executive officer. However, the recalled products were made using wheat gluten purchased from a new supplier, since dropped for another source, spokeswoman Sarah Tuite said. Wheat gluten is a source of protein.
The recall covers the company’s “cuts and gravy” style food, which consists of chunks of meat in gravy, sold in cans and small foil pouches between Dec. 3 and March 6 throughout the U.S., Canada and Mexico.
The pet food was sold by stores operated by the Kroger Company, Safeway Inc., Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and PetSmart Inc., among others, Henderson said.
Menu Foods did not immediately provide a full list of brand names and lot numbers covered by the recall, saying they would be posted on its Web site early Saturday. Consumers with questions can call (866) 463-6738.
The company said it manufacturers for 17 of the top 20 North American retailers. It is also a contract manufacturer for the top branded pet food companies, including Procter & Gamble Co.
P&G announced Friday the recall of specific 3 oz., 5.5 oz., 6 oz. and 13.2 oz. canned and 3 oz. and 5.3 oz. foil pouch cat and dog wet food products made by Menu Foods but sold under the Iams and Eukanuba brands. The recalled products bear the code dates of 6339 through 7073 followed by the plant code 4197, P&G said.
Menu Foods’ three U.S. and one Canadian factory produce more than 1 billion containers of wet pet food a year. The recall covers pet food made at company plants in Emporia, Kan., and Pennsauken, N.J., Henderson said.
Henderson said the company received an undisclosed number of owner complaints of vomiting and kidney failure in dogs and cats after they had been fed its products. It has tested its products but not found a cause for the sickness.
Follow this link to read the rest of the article.
PETCO has posted some additional information about the recall at NEWS ALERT: Dog and Cat Food Canned and Pouch Recall and will be trying to keep any new information updated throughout the weekend.
PETCO has informaiton posted on its website. I work for PETCO and we took it very seriously and reacted immediately to protect animals. If you want more info I copied the petco info and posted on my blog as well.
My cat has been eating Nutro Natural Choice Weight Management food in pouches and is now suffering acute kidney failure for no obvious reason. The vet had been asking if the cat could have eaten something poisonous. Could it have been cat food?
don’t use crappy food for dogs!
use organic raw meat diets
grain causes adverse reactions in many dogs anyway, avoid junk with corn, wheat gluten, and other suspect ingredients.
Rio
Yes it could be the food. It sounds like your furbaby is experiencing some of the same symptoms.
BTW, I spoke with my pet store owner today and he had NOT been contacted by his NUTRO rep to tell him about the food recall. He was horrified and immediately came to the blog to find the MenuPet link. Every dog and cat parent MUST be proactive and tell their pet store owner just in case they have not been alerted by the companies.
NUTRO canned food and packets ARE on the recall list! I was shocked–all the news stories state the recalled food was “store brands” (which I don’t buy) and mentioned foil packages. I almost ignored this story!
The list at the manufacturer’s website contains ALL Nutro canned food types:
Nutro
Nutro Max
Nutro Natural Choice
Nutro Ultra (included in Nutro list)
I almost didn’t read the story because I don’t buy “store brands”. My Winston’s Ultra Weight Management canned was on the list, but luckily the date on the can wasn’t a match!
My local Petco has already pulled all Nutro canned food. A knee-jerk reaction, because only certain dates are affected, but they are playing it safe. Only problem is, if noone releases cans with unaffected dates, I’m going to run out of food in a couple of days. And abruptly switching dog foods almost ALWAYS results in diarrhea…
Thank you Joy for alerting our store about the recall. Of course, we still had not heard from the NUTRO rep. by the end of the work day so Dad and I definately thank you!
I just returned from leaving my 14 week old /8 lb. Pug in intensive care at a local Veterinary Emergency Hospital. His kidneys are just starting to shut down…he has been on IAMS (wet) puppy food (yellow foil pouch) since I got him. I checked the contaminated coded packages w/what I have and the case I bought a week ago contains the contaminated food. Tomorrow I pick him up and take him to his vet where the care will continue. Just this first night in the ER is costing me $781.00…
I understand ‘things’ happen but as of today (3/18) there isn’t any word as to exactly what the contaminate is…so vets can’t treat it w/meds until it is identified. Instead they simple use ‘ringers’ to flush the kidneys w/the hope of getting the kidney’s functioning until there is identification and the proper med can be given…before it’s too late!
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 (5) 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.
Ken
I am so sorry to hear about Pedro’s suffering. M thoughts are with you and your family and all those who have been hurt by this company’s actions.
I hope that the families who have been affected are considering legal measures. I would not normally suggest legal measures but this damage is so extensive I can’t help but wonder if there is not some company systemic problem that needs to be recognized and brought to court.
Once again, I and my pack send our thoughts to you and Pedro.
If you have experienced a pet death go to:
http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/MenuFoodsClassAction/
[...] According to pet parents at the Dogster dog blog, Menu Foods has changed the list of affected foods since it posted it on Saturday, leaving questions as to what wet foods have been affected. We visited All The Best Pet Care’s Queen Anne location today and one store employee told us that they removed all Nutro-branded wet foods regardless of the date of manufacture just to be safe — seems like a smart move to us. [...]
I found out today that my coworker’s 3yr old dog ate the recalled Iams and is now in renal failure – this just seems huge – i am angry – i want to know what caused this – i want answers – i want my healthy cat back – saw him today – he is still not out of the woods – can’t reach menu foods – don’t feel like there’s a real outreach to the people and companions affected…just sad beyond words…
I just started buying the Iams canned food from Walmart for my dog, who is a 10-1/2 year old lab/chow mix, probably about a month ago. About 2 weeks ago he got sick out of nowhere and was throwing up and wouldn’t eat for 3 days. But for some reason all he did want to eat was grass and dirt and would run straight for it if let outside. He was eventually even throwing up just the water he had drink since he wasn’t eating. He also looked so lethargic and I felt helpless. I took him to the vet and he gave him nausea pills. The vet said he might have a sore throat and that’s why he was trying to eat grass and dirt. I heard about this on Friday night when my Mom called and told me they were going to release the particular brands, sold at Walmart, the next morning. I was pissed to find out that it was the brand I had been buying and even more pissed to see the #’s on my cans matched the #’s of the recalled cans. There is no excuse for such as this. First peanut butter and now this. Walmart better step up to the plate and do something and stop being so cheap (and I don’t mean in prices). Walmart is skimping on quality and the cost of people’s and animals lives. I think I am done shopping with them. I will fare much better at my local target and don’t have to worry about purchasing potentially deadly items from them. One thing I am thankful for is that my baby is ok so far and for that, I am lucky, unlike 10 others who have lost their pets. I have 10 cans of that contaminated stuff that Walmart will be reimbursing me for as well as paying my vet bill!
My heart goes out to anyone whose pets have ingested contaminated food.
I have been reading about Milk Thistle for kidney and liver detoxification. It has the capability of saving beings from Amanita mushroom poisioning, so maybe there is possibilities of its use here.
My 6 year old yellow lab has been eating Nutro Ultra Adult for for the past year because of allergies. She recently became incontinent and was treated for a kidney infection/chance of beginning stages of kidney disease. She then began vomiting and ended up in a specialty hospital receiving around the clock care for kidney failure. She then went into liver failure and had to be euthenized. Neither of the vets treating her found anything definitively wrong. She died on March 8th. Since we have heard of the recall, we are confident that she died because of her food. It has been devastating to our family and hope that there will not be many more that experience the same as us.
On March 9 my 4 1/2 month old Pekinese passed away. Same story – vomiting, diarhea, lethargic. Four days! That’s it…4 days and my baby was dead! I held him in my arms and watched him slip away after being told that the doctor could not find a reason for his illness Now I find out about the recall. We were feeding him Nutro Ultra Puppy. We checked with our local store and the UPC’s match the recalled food. I am devastated. I consulted with our vet today, he is 99% sure that it is related. I am having a Necropsy peformed to be sure. I can’t even begin to explain what this loss means to us. We have no children. This was our baby! To lose Zipper to something so completely out of our control – -
I am sad to hear of all the stories now coming out about sick loved ones. There is no doubt in my mind that each is related to this poisonous food. I wish each of you the best. My heart cries for you, too.
In my frustration and heartache I am angry about this company’s lack of accountability, their lack of response, and their denial of a problem. It would be way too huge of a coincidence to not be related to their food. I am curious if anyone else is having a Necropsy done or if anyone is planning course of action outside of the class action suit? I would love to hear from other grieving owners of pets who have been poisoned. I appreciate the information everyone has posted. This has been the only website to have any real information.
my cats have been eating soft can food, whiska brand , i know it isnt; on the list but my oldest cat has been throwing up and diarhea for 3 days, he won;t eat or drink, it must be the same thing….
To the person who just posted the info regarding Whiska, please check the serial numbers on the back of the wet food ASAP and if you suspect anything have your vet run a blood test for Renal Failure. The food effected is Chunks and Gravy. My cat started getting sick March 7th and has been either to emergency or the vet’s office 5 times in one week. We currently have him on Sub-Coetanious fluids to try and reverse the kidney damage and I am hopeful we caught it in time. But you have to stop feeding that food immediately and take action if you want to save your cat. I too am frustrated with Menu Foods lack of information on their website and want them to pay all my vet bills. It has been a stressful and expensive week. I have all my empty cans of Eukanuba (7 I fed to my Bene) and they all match the numbers of the contaminated food including the one’s I didn’t feed him. You can also report this to the FDA 1-800-535-4555 as they are tracking the recall. Good luck everyone and if your pet is exibiting any of the signs of illness listed (vomiting, lethargy, loss of appetite) get them to the vet immediately. It may not be too late for you or them!
Around Jan. 27 my dogs got severe Diarrea but they were not eating none of these foods at this time they were eating pedigree wet pouches I dont see them on the lists but they were the gravy and meat pouches also I didnt have to take them to the vet they seem fine so far I hope there is no long term damage to them.
They are saying these foods out since Dec. 3, how do we know if are dogs ate it we don’t keep the cans laying around since then. My dog has not been acting like she is feeling good for a couple of wks. I thought she had caught the flu from my husband. But how do you know? How long does it take for the symptoms to show
A five month old kitten I have been fostering for the past four weeks urinated blood one week ago. It was frightening and he was hospitalized for 5 days. There was concern he has ingested a human medication, but his blood work didn’t sustain this idea. The vet couldn’t explain the blood, thought maybe he injured his kidney. Tonight I found a receipt for three pouches of Nutro I purchased on 2/19 and wonder if this is the cause; the UPC numbers match PETCO’s list.
My cat passed away in early February from acute kidney failure. He had had a blood test only two weeks before that that showed no kidney problems. The vet could not figure it out. I had not gotten rid of the Iams foil packets of food so I checked them. They were part of the recalled batches. Now I know. It sucks. I had lost his brother to a progressive kidney condition only two months before. Now I have neither. They were two of the most affectionate cats there are and neither deserved to die that way, but the second one for someone else’s stupidity? I’m just really angry right now.
Wilma,
According to the reports I’m reading, symptoms show up fairly quickly.
For all pet parents, if you see any suspicious symptoms, please see your vet immediately. Dogs and cats can survive this poisoning (which now seems related to a wheat gluten food filler) if you catch it very early.
In the meantime, I would avoid any canned or foiled brand coming out of Menu Pet. That may sound drastic but if its a toxin due to a filler, it could be in any brand coming out of the affected factories.
My sweet dog of 14 years passed away on 2/26/07 from kidney failure.
I started feeding him Iams varity/foil pouch moist-gravy type select
food in approx. Nov/December ‘06 initially mixed in with his dry food and then just the wet food only when he became ill around x-mas time. He began throwing up, drinking lots of H2o and in general not doing well at all. The vets blood/tests came back: kidney failure as to why my dog was sick and after trying from Jan/Feb 07 to get him better, it seemed the damage was done and he never really improve and passed at home. I heard about this food recall but, not until Monday 3/19/07 did I find out that the food I was giving my dog was involved in the recall. I’m so sad that this maybe why he died. I called the vets, asked to set an appointment to talk and requested a copy of my dog’s chart as well as I looked up receipts of places I purchased his food from, Target, Wal-mart, Albertson’s and Vons that I can remember. I just don’t know what to do?
I was able to get in touch with Nutro, Menu Foods, and the FDA on Sunday. Menu foods was very rude and asked for little information, telling me that someone would call me back for further information. I have not heard a word from them since. We picked up our dog’s ashes yesterday and will bury her this week. Regretably, we are unable to have any additional testing done. We can only rely on medical records for any information to prove that she ate contaminated food. Nutro and the FDA want samples, but we only have food purchased after our dog got sick. I am disappointed that the news is still saying that only 10 animals have died!!!
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
My dog started developing severe allergies in October of 2006, he had been eating one of the now recalled brands all along… I thought it was just an allergy (he never had any before) well he just keeps getting worse, and we tried switching brands to try to find a food he could eat subsequently we ended up feeding him some Ol’ roys, Caddilac, Iams, and Mighty dog pouches which were ingested by him between December and just before this recall…Now keep in mind October 06′ he first develops some allergies… Now the second to last vet appointment which was early January I believe the vet discovered my dog had an irregular heartbeat (keep in mind I had been feeding him tainted foods) Just before this recall he had another vet appointment for his allergies which are getting more severe, and to top it all off he is becoming more and more lethargic like I wouldn’t say he is 100 percent lethargic but as days go by he seems to be becoming more and more lethargic… so far those are the only symptoms of he is having and I hope they don’t continue to get worse… but…I am angry… there is a class action suit trying to get started for people who lost pets… what about the people who didn’t lose a pet.. but incurred vet bills… or the people who may have shaved years, months, weeks, or days (who knows how much or how many) off of their pets life expectancy by feeding them this crap? What about the long term effects? Ongoing treatment? Now you tell me what am I supposed to do I have no empty cans/pouches to prove he ate this “tainted” food because number one I am not a garbage hoarder and number two I have been switching his diet so many times between December and the present It’s unlikely I would have the empty cans/pouches around. I might get lucky and have some receipts but that is not going to provide the batch number and such. I mean I definitely think the people who lost pets should get compensation but the people whose pets are suffering and will suffer for the rest of their probably now shortened lives should too. These companies deserve to pay for this my dog is like a child to me.. he is not just a pet but a part of my family and my life. If there is a class action suit I want in and I am not waiting till my dog dies to do it.. this should not have happened and if your pet got sick and did not die I urge you to make a stand and boycott these companies and make them pay for what they have done. I will NEVER trust these companies with the life of a loved one again EVER..from now on if I wouldn’t eat it my dog isn’t going to either. My heart goes out to all of you who had a pet die or become ill, and if you have a bet that exhibited similar symptoms make it known.. I fear this may have been going on longer than menu foods would like to admit.
ATTENTION CONCERNING TAINTED CANNED PET FOOD.
You are not being told the full truth.
This meat in these canned foods is not what you think it is.
This meat comes from many types of downer animals stricken with tumors and other diseases as well as having large amounts of chemicals residues still in the tissue such as phenobarbitol, used to euthanize animals.
These animals are brokered by companies that collect them from the vet, both cats and dogs, zoos, road kill from highway departments and more. It was cited in the article that even a police horse had been disposed of this way.
Animals are put into carbonic acid vats and dehyded, then bulldozed onto large bone crushing meat grinders. All residues from countless vet drugs pass with the meat along with infected and tumored tissue.
This is why this same thing happened last year. Organ failure. Just google it to find out.
Many animals are injured and alive when they reach these places. It is a sick and evil industry.
It is an industry that not many know about or how it works.
This meat is BIOLOGICALLY, CHEMICALLY AND HORMONALLY CONTAMINATED.. NEVER FEED THIS TO YOUR PET.
If it does not kill an animal it will create many other problems such as autoimmune disorders, cancers, organ problems, chronic skin infections and neurological problems.
We must spread the word about this. Animals do not deserved to be treated this way or forced cannabalism of their own kind with disease and chemically ladened “meat” when hungry. That is cruel.
Please read this article from an undercover operative into the workings of this industry and what she found out.
Midway through the article notice the list of experiments on dogs that the IAMS pet food company performed to “test” its food.
This is an outrage to do this and then promote their name on dog show circuits advertising as a company of care.
Contact the organic consumers.org they are 1million members. Write to the campaigns manager and tell them to boycott IAMS and others citing the reasons in this article you will read along with their experiments.
http://www.nexusmagazine.com/articles/petfood2.html
Shirleys wellness cafe.com has an entire section on healthy feeding and care for your pet.
Spread the word about the truth of this food. Animals need our voice.
Our beloved and darling pom Cassie died from an unexplained kidney failure on February 28 and it was so fast, we are still in shock. The vet was shocked as were we because she was fine and healthy up until then. She was only 7 and died just days before her birthday. We were so devastated my hubby got rid of everything that would remind us of her including the food! And it is on the recall list, so now what? Either way nothing can bring us our CASSIE BACK….
If anyone hears anything please post, thanks for listening…
Get rid of the Swifer if you love your pet
I just got this from friends and was shocked:
Please read re Swifer Wet Jet danger to animals. Thank you.
Swifer-Wet Jet Danger
> I recently had a neighbor who had to have their 5-year old German
> Shepherd dog put down due to liver failure. The dog was completely
> healthy until a few weeks ago, so they had a necropsy done to see
what
> the cause was. The liver levels were unbelievable, as if the dog had
> ingested poison of some kind. The dog is kept inside, and when he’s
> outside, someone’s with him, so the idea of him getting into
something
> unknown was hard to believe. My neighbor started going through all
the
> items in the house. When he got to the Swiffer Wetjet, he noticed,
in
> very tiny print, a warning which stated “may be harmful to small
> children and animals.” He called the company to ask what the
contents of
>
> the cleaning agent are and was astounded to find out that
antifreeze is
> one of the ingredients. (actually he was told it’s a compound which
is
> one molecule away from anitfreeze).
>
> Therefore, just by the dog walking on the floor cleaned with the
> solution, then licking it’s own paws, and the dog eating from its
dishes
>
> which were kept on the kitchen floor cleaned with this product, it
> ingested enough of the solution to destroy its liver.
>
> Soon after his dog’s death, his housekeepers’ two cats also died of
> liver failure. They both used the Swiffer Wetjet for quick cleanups
on
> their floors. Necropsies weren’t done on the cats, so they couldn’t
file
>
> a lawsuit, but he asked that we spread the word to as many people as
> possible so they don’t lose their animals.
On Feb. 19, 2007 we lost our dear sweet papillon that was only 5 years old just before this dog food recall occurred. Like many of you, I thought she had a simple upset stomach. She was on the Iams mini chunks. Although this is not incuded in the recall, how she died is so similar to the others. She was always a healthy dog, my best friend is a vet. That morning I was cleaning, my son and husband left to get their haircut. Earlier that morning I noticed how much water she was drinking. She ate her Iams food, which was a new bag, she maybe had 2 or 3 days worth. I noticed she threw up a good amount. I let her in outside as I cleaned it up. Minutes later I went out to get her and I couldn’t find her. She was down in a bush having a seizure. I grabbed her up. Her tongue was hanging out and her eyes fixed. I yelled for my 8 year old daughter and ran to the neighbors, realizing I needed help. Within minutes, she stopped shaking and I knew she was gone. I tried to give her mouth to mouth but I knew it was too late. My daughter was crying begging for me to help her. I have never been so hysterical. It has been 4 weeks and I still cry thinking about this. My son and husband came home after my neighbor called them. Allie was such a part of our family. Not a night went by that she didn’t sleep with us. The first thing people asked was, “did she get in poison?� I knew our house and knew she had not been in anything. Her only symptoms were a few days before she vomitted and had diahrea and the excess thirst and lythargy. I too thought it was an upset stomach. My friend that was the vet asked if we had rat poisoning. We did not do an autopsy, she is burried in our back yard. The first thing my husband did after she died was threw out her food. We won’t have any proof that this caused her death. I just don’t want anyone to go thru the heartache my family did. My daughter is still afraid something will happen. For weeks, she would not be by herself in the house. I am afraid this dog food recall affects many more types of food than they are releasing. My heart goes out to all the pet owners that have gone thru this. It is hard enough losing a pet of natural causes.
I have registed for a teleseminar to be held the Wed, 3/28. The person who is being interviewed is Sandra Bailey, who has a website and has written a book about better food for your dog. I bought her book, and she really has good information. If you are interested in the teleseminar, you have to register at http://www.TheNaturallyDog.com/?id=28
Her website is http://www.TheNaturallyHealthyDog.com and her book is “Real Dog’s Don’t Eat Kibble!�
This has really been a scary incident and hopefully so new legislation can come out of this. How can we make the government understand that our pets are family members and are just as important and valuable as our children.
Toni
Thanks for barking in. I want to put your mind at ease about Swiffer. I checked the rumor on Snopes and they say it is false. Here’s the link to Snopes page regarding the Swiffer story.
http://www.snopes.com/critters/crusader/swiffer.asp
Late last year I purchased a large box of individual foil packages of Pedigree (meat and gravy) dog food for my dogs. As I opened the first package I smelled a strong formaldahyde odor. I opened the other packs thinking maybe just one pack was affected. All the packs had the same strong odor. I contacted Pedigree immediately and NEVER heard back from them again. I researched dog food and found the ingredients to be disgusting. I buy Royal Canin Natural Sensible Choice dry food. In addition I also buy frozen ground turkey at the grocery store for 99 cents per package(cheaper and better than dog food)…boil it in water and use 2-3 tablespoons with the dry food. The dogs love it and they don’t have any more upset stomachs, etc. No more junk food for my dogs!
If you’re looking for homemade diets, go to Balanceit.com. They have recipes developed by board certified veterinary nutritionists. You can get a FREE recipe by entering the promo-code “homemade” at the checkout.
In response to the person whose dog began developing severe allergies in October, 2006, my dog also began having severe allergic symptoms and then became sick in November 2005, after I first started feeding him Nutro. He got better, but in late September 2006 his allergies started to come back. After a sudden decline that began the first week of October, my dog died on October 14th, 2006. The last week, he had gastroenteritis, had stopped walking and eating, had diarrhea and vomitting, and a large sore appeared on his side. He was totally lethargic towards the end. The 2 vets I brought him to could not identify the cause, but the vet who saw him the day before he died said his body seemed to be trying to get rid of some kind of toxin. Bloodwork done a week before he died showed elevated liver enzymes, after being normal just a few months before. A necropsy could not identify the cause of death, but I might submit his saved tissues for further analysis, if further tests will help me understand what happened to him. I was devastated by losing him so suddenly, and for the last 5 months have not been able to get the mysterious circumstances or the shock of his sudden death out of my mind. I felt so helpless, and no one could answer my questions.
Now that this pet food recall has happened, I checked the recall list, and realized that Nutro Natural Choice Senior Chicken and Rice Chunks with Gravy is on it and I had a case of the recalled cans, which I had been feeding my surviving dog. I regularly fed this to both dogs. So now I am really wondering, like the person whose dog had allergies back in October, ,just how long the food has been toxic. I have read that in addition to kidney failure, liver problems have also been reported. My departed dog was sensitive to toxins, so might have been more susceptible. In 2002, he had a severe allergic reaction to a pyrethrin based flea and tick shampoo at Petsmart, and I kept him away from any kind of chemical product after that. It never occurred to me that his food might have poison in it.
My heart goes out to all of you who are still heartbroken and searching for answers.
i can,t belive that the dog food got posined with rat poison thats just awful i feel bad for the peoples whos pets got posined i dont feed my dog the mushi dog food because it,s not good for big dogs.
I feed my dog Science Diet R/D. She had blood work done in February for her yearly checkup. Her BUN level was extremely high. I was told that she would probably be gone within the next 6 months.
If I find out Science Diet R/D is one of the recalls, I will sue their pants off!!!!!
We all have to stick together!
[...] Pet Food Recall After Pets Die [...]
swiffer…
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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.
Gene Reed,
I am so sorry for your loss. It is hard enough to lose a furbaby but when its a situation like this, the pain must be even worse. My deepest sympathies to you and your family.
Thank you for sharing your experience with others. I hope that the information helps others understand why we must stand together against this kind of callous injustice.
I too am sorry for your loss, however I do not believe that Wal-Mart would intentionally import tainted dog treats. Wal-Mart is a company that works everyday to bring value into the homes of middle class america. It is my understanding that the Bestro Chicken jerky was being purchased by a lot of consumers at Wal-Mart because it was cheaper than buying similar products elsewhere. This was not a new product on Wal-Mart shelves, how were they supposed to know that it all the sudden contained toxic chemicals.
As far as Wal-Mart tendering the claim to the supplier of the product, this is a common practice in product liability claims. It would be impossible for Wal-Mart to pay every single product claim that they receive, get real, they sell millions of products. I think that if you bring a claim against a company you need to understand how things are handled in the real world.
It is always a painful experience to loose the one that you love, but try and keep things in perspective as a rational human being.