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Urgent :: Pet Food Recall... Urgent!!! - TOXIN FOUND
- Thread starter gingersmom
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- May 11, 2006
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I love my furbabies too much to NOT take them to the vet at least annually. I think that the every 6 month "wellness" visits now being promoted by some vets is excessive and a nice way for the vets to pick up extra $$ to pay off their student loans with.
But I think that if I don't take my babies in for an annual that I am not doing my job to take care of them as well as I promised them I would.
But I think that if I don't take my babies in for an annual that I am not doing my job to take care of them as well as I promised them I would.
It was on our local news last night that the manufacturers have known FOR OVER A MONTH that these products are causing problems.
So...fortunately mine are all okay, but for those of you who are affected.. this was posted on the link that dara678 posted. There appears to be at least two class action lawsuits.
CLASS ACTION SUIT: I just talked to the attorney in New York and he is most interested in pursuing a class action lawsuit against Menu Foods. He gave the okay to post his name and e-mail address. I would ask that ONLY those whose animals' illnesses/deaths REALLY are most likely attributable to the recalled foods (and have some sort of documentation to make that connection -- be it veterinarians' statements, lab work, left-over packages of the food with the correct "identifiers") contact him. His name is Alan Sash; e-mail [email protected]. Obviously, he will be inundated with e-mails; I would suggest you include your name, address, and telephone numbers and a SHORT synopsis of what happened to you. Also, he told me that there will be a segment on ABC News tonight regarding the whole issue. Again, PLEASE only contact him if you really believe you have a case against Menu Foods.
Yes, cats need checkups, indoor or not. My two are indoor, I've only had them a year last december, and I've had them to the vet a number of times. Granted, I may have over reacted on a couple of occasions (they are my babies), but I would rather err on the side of caution and take them if I'm uncertain. My vet is recommending twice a year checkups, since cats age so much more quickly than humans. The theory is that if they can catch a problem early enough, they can be more successful in treating it.
I take KArma in once a year, unless she seems like she need it more then I will go more. She and I both get our yearly doctor visit in the sam week, its just easier that way. However, I know many people who never take their cat to the vet and the cats have lived long 12 years plus and healthy lives.
What I want to know is there a way for the vets to test and know for sure that the cat got sick from the food? Even if this woman never took her cat to the vet if there is a way for them to test and see if it food related then maybe she does have a case no matter what.
At least she is doing something. I am sure ther are people out there who are just going, well the cats sick but they will get over it, the are cats. Well yea thats good untill the cat dies.
What I want to know is there a way for the vets to test and know for sure that the cat got sick from the food? Even if this woman never took her cat to the vet if there is a way for them to test and see if it food related then maybe she does have a case no matter what.
At least she is doing something. I am sure ther are people out there who are just going, well the cats sick but they will get over it, the are cats. Well yea thats good untill the cat dies.
i would like to contact him about stoli's illness in january but i don't have any of the wellness can's from then AND they're not on the recall list yet.......i still suspect them. . . .his illness was absolutely inexplicable.
I think blood tests for sure. And I will take my cats to the vet if they are thowing up and it isn't food, infections that aren't healing, stuff like that. Some vets are better than others, I think mine is pretty good. It's a cats only clinic.
If I remember correctly, Wellness was on a list, but don't quote me on that. I've seen so much on this now that I can't remember what is what.
I'm so sorry for all of you who are going through this. This is awful. I'm *so* mad at this company.. it's one thing to make a mistake but it's completely another to make it and then LET IT GO when they know and have known that it's killing animals. Unbelievable. Absolutely unbelievable. This beats the person that dropped Chloe in a bin to die.. but only because it's so horrific. I thought that was unbelievable.
to you all and I'm sending warm wishes and healthy positive vibes to all of you.
I'm so sorry for all of you who are going through this. This is awful. I'm *so* mad at this company.. it's one thing to make a mistake but it's completely another to make it and then LET IT GO when they know and have known that it's killing animals. Unbelievable. Absolutely unbelievable. This beats the person that dropped Chloe in a bin to die.. but only because it's so horrific. I thought that was unbelievable.
god, this is scary.. a couple weeks ago R and I were out doing errands and I told him "lets stop at Petco and get some diet food for Wonton.. maybe some Iams or something". We didn't end up going cos the other things we were doing took too long..and since then we haven't' thought of it just cos we're both so preoccupied with other things at the moment.. I've never been so glad of our procrastination. We probably would have bought the Iams - that's what I was leaning towards getting.. I thought it was good for cats :/ *shudders*
I feel so bad for all the people who fed the bad food to their animals.
I feel so bad for all the people who fed the bad food to their animals.
I just made an appointment to have Tailer's blood checked. I took him in to the vet a couple weeks ago because he seemed a bit sluggish and wasn't eating as well. They didn't find anything wrong, but they didn't do bloodwork. DH and I were commenting earlier this week that it seemed like the cats were drinking more than usual. He's the only one of my three that got Nutro pouches. I didn't find any around that were from the affected dates, but who knows if he had some before we knew about the recall. I'm probably being a bit paranoid, but it'll at least put my mind somewhat at ease.
Thankfully, both Harvey and Forest have been strictly on Purina Pro Plan cans (Forest's vet feels that the urinary formula is necessary for him, and it's the only thing I can get Harvey to eat regularly)...which are not affected. They do contain wheat gluten, which concerns me, but they both have a really hard time with dietary changes so I'm waiting to see what new information develops.
Thankfully, both Harvey and Forest have been strictly on Purina Pro Plan cans (Forest's vet feels that the urinary formula is necessary for him, and it's the only thing I can get Harvey to eat regularly)...which are not affected. They do contain wheat gluten, which concerns me, but they both have a really hard time with dietary changes so I'm waiting to see what new information develops.
I got back from the visit to the Vet. Blood work showed dramatic improvement but still not out of danger. Bad levels down about 50%. Urine test showed kidneys functioning but not where they should be. He's going to give her subcutaneous fluids for the next couple of days but he believes she'll recover. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.Originally Posted by gooned
Out Vet called with the results. He was concerned with the numbers showing a very sick kitty. He wanted to know if she was eating and drinking. She is, but not what she usually does. This is a good sign but he wants to run the blood work again today to see if the numbers have dropped since the initial test 48 hours ago. He also wants to run a urine test to determine the specific gravity.
According to our Vet, the AVMA still has very little information about the cause. Their recommendation is to monitor closely for Acute Renal Failure and treat it symptomatically. When asked how long does toxin take to work it's way through the system, he told me about a week. It has been 5 days and my cat seems to be improving but the test results have me very concerned.
I'm glad someone is going after Menu Foods' pocketbook for this. If the blogs are correct, and they knew about this last year, they deserve it. If you follow the stock price of the company, investors are punishing them already. Down 50% since the recall.
I'll post a follow-up.
I've switched to Fancy Feast for her. I hope this is safe for I have not been able to get through to Purina.
I asked why dogs are more tolerant to this than cats. He said, cats usually have more kidney problems due to limited fluid intakes. Dogs, on the other hand, are more tolerant as they are scavengers.
Another web site to check is the AVMA (www.avma.org).
Wellness is not on the recall list but it is on the list of foods made by Menu Foods. I don't know which Menu Foods facility it is made at. It does not contain wheat gluten and is supposedly "safe". I am not feeding my cats Wellness until the source of contamination is definitely determined.
On another note, I was at Pets Discount today buying Natural Balance food. I noticed that there was a *lot* of Nutro pouches still on the shelves. I would hope/assume the dates and codes for these pouches fell outside the recall window. I did ask the clerk if they had received inquires about the recall. She said they had and were accepting returns from customers even if the food was not included in the recall.
well, i was at a grocery store that still had EVERYTHING up on the shelves. ugh, i hope they are outside of the recall too.
i'm not feeding wellness anymore either.....
this is what happened to stoli - we woke up on thursday morning and he was really lethargic, didn't want to eat and didn't use the bathroom much. that night wasn't any better so we took him to the vet on Friday and they took blood work that showed extremely low white blood cells, gasses in his intestines and debris in his urine.
we had to syringe feed him and by monday he was almost back to his old self - we still took him to the vet to get a bone marrow sample which came back normal. and his blood cell count has gotten back to normal since then.
i'm not feeding wellness anymore either.....
this is what happened to stoli - we woke up on thursday morning and he was really lethargic, didn't want to eat and didn't use the bathroom much. that night wasn't any better so we took him to the vet on Friday and they took blood work that showed extremely low white blood cells, gasses in his intestines and debris in his urine.
we had to syringe feed him and by monday he was almost back to his old self - we still took him to the vet to get a bone marrow sample which came back normal. and his blood cell count has gotten back to normal since then.
I'm fed up with Menu Foods, in some of the tv interviews lately they come off apathetic in my opinion. On Tuesday, they issued a statement claiming that, "All cat and dog food products on store shelves are safe" How can they make such a statement when they don't know what is killing the pets !!!!
also
"....the recall shouldn't be blown out of proportion as the recalled food accounts for less then 2 percent of the overall market"
I don't CARE about 2% of the pet food market, I care about 100% of my cats !
I get the feeling Menu Foods is trying to calm down their stock holders.
also
"....the recall shouldn't be blown out of proportion as the recalled food accounts for less then 2 percent of the overall market"
I don't CARE about 2% of the pet food market, I care about 100% of my cats !
I get the feeling Menu Foods is trying to calm down their stock holders.
Maybe the current administration has made me a little paranoid, but it just crossed my mind... what if this is happening not because of a contaminant in the wheat, but because the wheat they used was genetically-altered?
I'm just speculating here, but... it stands to reason that a genetically-altered product might be tried first in pet food (perhaps secretly, illegally), since food production for humans is more tightly regulated. And maybe the reason we aren't getting any information on this is that, if it is caused by genetic tampering, it's the well-deserved death knell for an entire industry that a lot of companies have invested in pretty heavily.
And we all know that whenever corporate America's profits are threatened, nothing else matters much to the political powers that be... not even lives.
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EDIT: Apparently I worded this poorly and gave a wrong impression! Please read my clarification several posts down...
I'm just speculating here, but... it stands to reason that a genetically-altered product might be tried first in pet food (perhaps secretly, illegally), since food production for humans is more tightly regulated. And maybe the reason we aren't getting any information on this is that, if it is caused by genetic tampering, it's the well-deserved death knell for an entire industry that a lot of companies have invested in pretty heavily.
And we all know that whenever corporate America's profits are threatened, nothing else matters much to the political powers that be... not even lives.
_____________________________
EDIT: Apparently I worded this poorly and gave a wrong impression! Please read my clarification several posts down...
Please folks..don't take this to politics! Something has gone terribly wrong, but until we know what, we have NO sure clue yet that it even is wheat gluten (and if it is, from which supplier and whether or not it is the same quality wheat gluten used in human foods) No, I do not think this is a case of tests being covertly run on our pets.
