IMPORTANT - Recalled Pet Food

[Pepper]

My vet determined that this is what killed my dog last week. I assumed it was that she was old with heartworms, but he said no, it wasn't that. She died of kidney failure by the food (It was Old Roy brand from Wal Mart.) The thing that kills me is seeing that only a "handful" of pets died, they keep reporting - but just in my town, my mother has a student whose cat is under intense treatment and might die, and a colleuge whose cat died. If my Mom (who doesn't get out much) knows three people affected by this, there is no way that only a handful of pets died. It has to be thousands. :-(

Glitch, I am so sorry about your dog.

I think there is going to be a HUGE class action lawsuit over this. If I were you, I would get your vet to put the cause of death in writing - then when you hear of an attorney filing a class action, ask to be a part of the suit, and you will have the vet's letter to substantiate your claim.

I know this won't bring back your pet, but at least you will know you are fighting on his behalf.

 

[KrisNine]

I agree with you, Pepper! It won't bring back anyone's beloved pet, but these people at Menu Foods need to be held accountable! Period!

We deserve to have the labeling changed on our pets food. We should know what we are feeding them!

 

[Nova]

Thanks all. I personally witnessed a roommate whose grandmother and father die. He was temporarily upset and that was it - but when his blind-since-birth 18 year old cat died - it took him a YEAR of crying about it and talking about his cat before he finally met a lady and she got his mind off of it. Some people love their pets more than their family - and it's THOSE people that are hurt the worst in this.

Glitch, I think we feel particularly strongly because we love our pets, yes, but also because we know we are responsible for them.

I lost an oldish cat to diabetes after a grueling, 2-year struggle to get her meds right. I still feel terribly guilty when I think about it. And that was 9 years ago!

You know you aren't to blame here. I hope you'll let yourself off the hook sooner rather than later.

 

[angelwngs]

Thanks all. I personally witnessed a roommate whose grandmother and father die. He was temporarily upset and that was it - but when his blind-since-birth 18 year old cat died - it took him a YEAR of crying about it and talking about his cat before he finally met a lady and she got his mind off of it. Some people love their pets more than their family - and it's THOSE people that are hurt the worst in this.

Glitch, Animals show such unconditional love and acceptance. They could care less if we are fat or ugly. They understand when we've had a bad day and offer even more support when we have. They are often much more loyal to the people who they love than humans are to each other.
Personally, I can live without millions and millions of people in my life, but I do not want to have to live a day without my beloved animals. With the exception of a handful of deeply loved people in my own life, animals have brought more happiness and love into my life than all the other humans who have walked into my life and then walked away, combined...

Can you tell that I am much less a people person than an animal person!

My family says that when they die they want to come back as one of my pets....... :angel:

 

[Buzz Mills]

Glitch, Animals show such unconditional love and acceptance. They could care less if we are fat or ugly. They understand when we've had a bad day and offer even more support when we have. They are often much more loyal to the people who they love than humans are to each other.
Personally, I can live without millions and millions of people in my life, but I do not want to have to live a day without my beloved animals. With the exception of a handful of deeply loved people in my own life, animals have brought more happiness and love into my life than all the other humans who have walked into my life and then walked away, combined...

Can you tell that I am much less a people person than an animal person!

My family says that when they die they want to come back as one of my pets....... :angel:

Ditto here aw, I couldn't possibly ask that my cats, have any better, caring, loving, friend, than me. I love 'em to pieces.

My ex girlfriend fairly well stated how I feel about my two cats, when she said that, when she comes back, as in second life, she wants to come back as one of my cats.

My cats can do no wrong. I know that whatever they do that is wrong, was a harmelss accident. I never treated either of my two sons that way; when they screwed up, they got a stern lecture. I wish I would have had all of this great training before I had my children, and I'll just bet that, both of my sons, feel the same way. LOL

 

[FLMom]

First of all, Glitch, I'm so sorry that you're having to pretty much go through this mourning period twice. *hugs* to you

First of all, let me say that I'm a semi-retired vet tech, and the last place I worked was at an animal ER.

I've read the recent reports that say that these animals died from wheat gluten that had been mixed with rat poison. I've also heard that some of the animals had been very ill, then put on IV fluids and some improved enough after a few days to go home. Right?

What's puzzling me is that I know from my vet tech background that the only way to heal an animal after they've eaten rat poison is by giving the animal Vitamin K injections, then sending them home on Vitamin K tablets. You have to give these tablets for weeks in order to make sure that the pet has no long term kidney or liver damage.

I have a friend whose dogs have gotten into rat bait TWICE over the last year or so. The first time they horked up the food at her feet and she saw the pellets in the vomitus, and the second time she had no evidence, but was highly suspicious. Even when you're just suspicious, you still go ahead with the entire routine of Vitamin K, because it won't do any harm to the dog or cat if it's not needed, because the body will just excrete what it doesn't use.

What I'm getting at is. . . .


WHY THE blankety-blank-blank am I seeing that this is suspected, but NOWHERE am I seeing ANYTHING on the news about the urgency of Vitamin K??!! :banghead:


So, if you know anyone that's been affected, call your vet and ask them, please! I know that drug companies can only ship so much so fast, and I'm hoping to hell that the drug companies don't end up with a shortage of Vitamin K from so many orders. I'm lucky with mine (they eat dry food), but if it was me I'd be at the vet's office toot-sweet getting a presciption since this is so widespread.

FLMom
(fur, feather and reptilian mother of 10)

 

[Pepper]

Ditto here aw, I couldn't possibly ask that my cats, have any better, caring, loving, friend, than me. I love 'em to pieces.

My ex girlfriend fairly well stated how I feel about my two cats, when she said that, when she comes back, as in second life, she wants to come back as one of my cats.

My cats can do no wrong. I know that whatever they do that is wrong, was a harmelss accident. I never treated either of my two sons that way; when they screwed up, they got a stern lecture. I wish I would have had all of this great training before I had my children, and I'll just bet that, both of my sons, feel the same way. LOL

Oh how I agree with you! I have an only cat, but she is purrfect and can do nothing wrong! Sometimes I think I love her more than I did my kids when they were young. (Don't tell my kids that!) My kitty has really taught me how to love unconditionally.

 

[LionRun]

Hi FLMom. Warfarin, the active ingredient in many rodenticides in the US is a blood thinner. In certain small doses it is used as a clot buster and preventive in humans. In larger doses it causes massive hemorrhages in cats, dogs, humans, etc... The only treatment for toxicity resulting from the ingestion of warfarin in rat poison is massive amounts of Vitamin K. This is because Vitamin K induces the growth of blood clotting factors, which over days can stop the bleeding.

The chemical in the rat poison that got into our pet's food is called, aminopterin, a protein based substance that does not cause blood thinning, which can lead to hemorrhage. We do not use aminopterin as an ingredient in rodenticides in the US anymore. However, aminopterin is used in small doses to treat cancer, psoriasis, and other autoimmune diseases in humans. It can have severe side effects and seems to tax the liver and the renal(kidney) system. It is toxic even at low levels in humans, and I am guessing that it may be even more toxic to our pets(cats more so than dogs). In the cases of aminopterin toxicity Vitamin K will not help because the problem is not bleeding, but the liver and kidneys, instead.

I speculate that one reason that it is affecting cats more than dogs is because cats have an even more difficult time processing aminopterin than dogs because their livers lack a key enzyme(s) required for that function. The enzyme theory is not fact, it is just my theory.

What saved Angel, my cat when she was in almost complete kidney failure(she didn't urinate for days, then it was a very dark brown) was force feeding her 1/2 teaspoon of Hills Science Diet A/D (not on the list, thank goodness) mixed with water, every one and a half hours, eighteen hours per day for over three weeks. I am ever grateful and so happy that she made it through and is doing very well. She gives me lots of love bites, cute kitty faces, and meows--just like her old Angel self. I feel so very sad for all of the pets who didn't make it, and I feel equally sad for those who loved them.

I hope Menu Foods follows through and evaluates for a major overall in their production and in who they get their ingredients from. Why on Earth would we be importing wheat from China when we have so much surplus wheat in the US we could about feed the world with it? That, I would like to know.

Lion

First of all, Glitch, I'm so sorry that you're having to pretty much go through this mourning period twice. *hugs* to you

First of all, let me say that I'm a semi-retired vet tech, and the last place I worked was at an animal ER.

I've read the recent reports that say that these animals died from wheat gluten that had been mixed with rat poison. I've also heard that some of the animals had been very ill, then put on IV fluids and some improved enough after a few days to go home. Right?

What's puzzling me is that I know from my vet tech background that the only way to heal an animal after they've eaten rat poison is by giving the animal Vitamin K injections, then sending them home on Vitamin K tablets. You have to give these tablets for weeks in order to make sure that the pet has no long term kidney or liver damage.

I have a friend whose dogs have gotten into rat bait TWICE over the last year or so. The first time they horked up the food at her feet and she saw the pellets in the vomitus, and the second time she had no evidence, but was highly suspicious. Even when you're just suspicious, you still go ahead with the entire routine of Vitamin K, because it won't do any harm to the dog or cat if it's not needed, because the body will just excrete what it doesn't use.

What I'm getting at is. . . .


WHY THE blankety-blank-blank am I seeing that this is suspected, but NOWHERE am I seeing ANYTHING on the news about the urgency of Vitamin K??!! :banghead:


So, if you know anyone that's been affected, call your vet and ask them, please! I know that drug companies can only ship so much so fast, and I'm hoping to hell that the drug companies don't end up with a shortage of Vitamin K from so many orders. I'm lucky with mine (they eat dry food), but if it was me I'd be at the vet's office toot-sweet getting a presciption since this is so widespread.

FLMom
(fur, feather and reptilian mother of 10)

 

[FLMom]

I hope Menu Foods follows through and evaluates for a major overall in their production and in who they get their ingredients from. Why on Earth would we be importing wheat from China when we have so much surplus wheat in the US we could about feed the world with it? That, I would like to know.

Lion

Thank you so much for your reply! I hadn't read where they listed that active ingredient---I just buzzed over it all. What you said is correct. I guess I got into a tizzy, just because between antifreeze and rat bait I've seen some awful sad cases---one of the reasons I'm semi-retired.

I'm glad to hear your Angel-baby is going better! A/D is some awesome stuff. I have a cat that went into vestibular then crashed into a coma, and I syringe fed her A/D watered down around the clock for about three weeks. Although she still walks with a head tilt and is about as smart now as a box of rocks, I credit A/D for helping her get through alive.

I too hope that company does what they should do to make changes. China? Sheesh. Don't we still have to do FarmAid here yearly?

 

[LionRun]

You are welcome FLMom. And, I am glad that your kitty is recovering from vestibular syndrome, too. A/D rocks! Doesn't it? And, it is for both dogs and cats.

Duh. Which way did he go?:crazy: . I just recalled that the company, Menu Foods is a Canadian Company based in Ontario. So, it is understandable why they would get their wheat from China. I would not have understood; however, why we would have done that.

Lion

Thank you so much for your reply! I hadn't read where they listed that active ingredient---I just buzzed over it all. What you said is correct. I guess I got into a tizzy, just because between antifreeze and rat bait I've seen some awful sad cases---one of the reasons I'm semi-retired.

I'm glad to hear your Angel-baby is going better! A/D is some awesome stuff. I have a cat that went into vestibular then crashed into a coma, and I syringe fed her A/D watered down around the clock for about three weeks. Although she still walks with a head tilt and is about as smart now as a box of rocks, I credit A/D for helping her get through alive.

I too hope that company does what they should do to make changes. China? Sheesh. Don't we still have to do FarmAid here yearly?

 

[Shadow205]

For some reason I cannot access the list of brands. Could someone please tell me if Whiska's is on the list.

 

[pjop]

I buried my beloved cat Feb. 20. He died from kidney failure. Came out of nowhere. He was 9...so not that old. And, of course, he was crazy about one of the wet foods on the list....so much so that we buried him w/ a package of it because it was his "one true love." Little did we know we were burying him w/ the very thing that likely killed him.
We miss him very much.
I tried calling Menu Foods and sometimes got the "fast busy signal" and sometimes a "all circuits are busy" message. I'll keep trying.

 

[pjop]

For some reason I cannot access the list of brands. Could someone please tell me if Whiska's is on the list.

I just checked and I do NOT see that one on the list. Someone else hopefully can double check in case there's something I'm overlooking.

 

[Shadow205]

Thanks pjop. I am so sorry about your dear kitty.

 

[Sundayrain]

I buried my beloved cat Feb. 20. He died from kidney failure. Came out of nowhere. He was 9...so not that old. And, of course, he was crazy about one of the wet foods on the list....so much so that we buried him w/ a package of it because it was his "one true love." Little did we know we were burying him w/ the very thing that likely killed him.
We miss him very much.
I tried calling Menu Foods and sometimes got the "fast busy signal" and sometimes a "all circuits are busy" message. I'll keep trying.[/quote]
Isn't this so sad......sorry Pjop and Glitch......so sad about your pets!!!
What I wish is....I had the corporate letter that was on a site, saying "Do not release this information to MEDIA"......it was a warning to stockholders. I may have saved it back in SC I will check when I get there.
Oh.........my..........the BIG dollar sign ..........coming before our pets. Insane!
Plus there was information that this was a known fact in November!!!!
A statement about" being sorry to have not gotten it( the message) out over the holidays."
I was thinking"what holiday is right now?"........hummmm.........and then I see it was going back to the CHRISTMAS HOLIDAY.
What I am very upset about is do they think we are accepting the fact that it involves 16 animals.?I think we have 16 animals between us here on WS and our friends or people we know of!
The Menu Foods people sounded like fools today. The small chance I had to hear them. We are all educated people.......we understand the corporate talk. The condensending, pacifer.....lawyered up wording.............I know it has been many, many more then 16 animals.
We are not fools.........add up the ones your vets are seeing....times all the vets in America.......
There is a plant in SC also.......I am forgetting the town, for this company.
Wheat.........from China.........we are a land of wheat. Somethings wrong with the picture.......and this woven tale.
Sundays sorry to rant.......I am so upset that our pets have to die over the lack of caring from a PET Food company. A company who knew........and did not tell........" all for the sake of shareholders and Money".......Thank you Cornell for your dedicated work, and for finding answers so we can save our pets.I hope we loose no more........
Too many tears for our lost pets......

 

[LionRun]

Pjop, I am so sorry about your dear cat. I just don't even know what to say because there is nothing I can do to make it better for you. My heart goes out to you. May your kitty rest in peace.

Lion

I buried my beloved cat Feb. 20. He died from kidney failure. Came out of nowhere. He was 9...so not that old. And, of course, he was crazy about one of the wet foods on the list....so much so that we buried him w/ a package of it because it was his "one true love." Little did we know we were burying him w/ the very thing that likely killed him.
We miss him very much.
I tried calling Menu Foods and sometimes got the "fast busy signal" and sometimes a "all circuits are busy" message. I'll keep trying.[/quote]

 

[KrisNine]

Pjop....I'm so sorry about your kitty You and your dear kitty are in my thoughts

 

[Pepper]

I buried my beloved cat Feb. 20. He died from kidney failure. Came out of nowhere. He was 9...so not that old. And, of course, he was crazy about one of the wet foods on the list....so much so that we buried him w/ a package of it because it was his "one true love." Little did we know we were burying him w/ the very thing that likely killed him.
We miss him very much.
I tried calling Menu Foods and sometimes got the "fast busy signal" and sometimes a "all circuits are busy" message. I'll keep trying.[/QUOTE]

I'm so sorry. I hope this *&#$#@ company goes out of business, and I truly hope that anyone who has a sick or dead pet because of this, joins in the class action lawsuits that are sure to follow.

 

[lululove1996]

My kitty started urinating outside her box, having terrible skin problems, vomiting, stopped eating her food and starting eating the dog's food, starting drinking so much water (it seemed as if she was dying of thirst)....peeing on my lap, peeing on top of the dining room table...which she has NEVER done. I took her to the vet the first few days of Jan 07 and the vet tested her for diabetes, but it was negative. They tested her urine and found out that my cat was dying of chronic renal failure. Her BUN and creatinine levels were out of this world. The Vet was SHOCKED that my 5 yr old kitty was slowly dying. She wanted me to give fluids to my cat subcutaneously for 5 days then 1-2 times weekly thereafter. My cat was like HELL NO! I tried three times...but to no avail. So, I decided not to torture my cat with the fluids. So, we changed her diet from dried IAMS (once and a while some IAMS moist) to a prescription cat food bought at the vet's office. She has been on that for 2 or so months and my cat is back to her normal self. No more peeing, no more lethargy, no more drinking water non stop, no more dog food, she is playing normally again and her skin feels great!! I TRULY believe that this food recall has caused my cat's problems. BUT, can chronic renal failure be reversed?? Can my cat heal from this?? Can I get my medical bills paid from all of this? I spent hundreds and I am a single mom that LOVES her kitty. So, does my daughter. So, I would have spent the money anyways, but Menufoods should be held accountable!!!! What do y'all think??

 

[pjop]

For all your kind words.
As you know...a pet can never be replaced, just like humans. They all have their own distinct personality traits, funny ways, etc. I still see him running up the yard to the house and still hear him meowing at times. I guess that will happen for a while.
What would any of you do as far as the next course of action? First I guess I should contact Menu Foods and see what they tell me. And if they aren't responsive I probably should contact an attorney. I would at least like to have the vet bill paid.