Pet-food recall: Follow the money
By Gina Spadafori
March 19, 2007
Shout out to Itchmo!Seattle for this gem of a post:
The financial situation for Menu Foods (and its parent company) is spelled out in this article. In a nutshell (all dollars Canadian):
The trust scraped out a profit of $6.4 million for all of 2006 on sales of $356.2 million, after a 2005 loss of $54.7 million.
The recall came as the trust, which has not paid distributions to investors since December 2005, was showing signs of health after being hit hard by rising costs and the strong Canadian dollar.
The median estimate for the cost of the recall (USD $30 million) would have been roughly six times their 2006 profits (USD $5.4 million).
There’s more, and Itchmo has it. I bet the Iam’s lawyers are trying to figure the company’s way out of this contract now.
***
On a personal note, this is one of the worst days I have ever had in 20-plus years of writing about pets. To read the database entries and e-mails, to take in the pain and the loss … I have had to step away in tears several times today. To all of you who have lost pets, are struggling with sick pets, are worried about seemingly healthy pets, and to the veterinarians and veterinary technicians who have been dealing with this massive tragedy, I can’t tell you how much my thoughts and prayers are with you all.
We have been on the phone all day … Dr. Marty, Christie Keith and our PetConnection Director of Photography, Morgan Ong, who went out to take pictures of empty shelves and talk to pet-lovers. We have spent the day on the phone, talking to veterinary schools and colleges, veterinary professionals, grieving and angry pet-lovers and, finally, with each other for moral support. The PetConnection team is are feeling the effects tonight.
We are sad, shocked and angry, and I cannot imagine tomorrow will be any better. I just know I can’t do any more tonight. I’m exhausted, and utterly worn down and spent. I think we all are.
Tomorrow, though, we will pick it up the fight again, and get the information you need to know.
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I am so upset hearing about this. My cat, who would have been 14 in April, died Feb. 16 and I am not sure if it is because of this or not. He ate Friskies which is not on the list — yet — but he ate the chunks in gravy kind. He was fine until Jan. 29 when he made an odd noise and then threw up. He did the same thing the next day and became lethargic so I took him to the vet. I had several visits to a regular vet, several visits to a specialist, a visit to the emergency vet and he was hospitalized at the end. He had to be euthanized. I was at his side and he tried to fight the effects of the drugs. The most horrible thing I’ve ever gone through.
Comment by Gina — March 19, 2007 @ 11:00 pm
Gina, I read yours, Dr. Marty’s, and Christie’s posts on here quite often. I had the pleasure of meeting Christie last week here in Austin. And although her knowledge and passion for animals comes across loud and clear online and on the phone, meeting her drove the point home. I can’t imagine you and Dr. Marty are any different. I know all of you must be totally drained, angry, and frustrated…along with feeling many other overwhelming emotions right now. The passion you all have, and the willingness and drive to sort this tragedy out will help save many pet’s lives…of that I have absolutely no doubt. So, I’d just like to say thank you for caring…and more importantly thank you for taking action…for doing a very difficult job for so many cats, dogs, and people you’ll never meet.
I hope you’re all able to get some rest and re-energize for what, I’m guessing, will be another tough day tomorrow.
On a side note…I just got back from helping someone get her Golden Retriever to the ER. He’d had surgery earlier today and after 8 hours was still not waking up. I have no idea whether it’s related (I know they have fed some of the recalled brands), but it’s painful thinking about the possibility her dog may not make it. And…to think that many other people are going through such needless and senseless pain with their pets makes me extremely sad and angry.
Comment by Therese — March 19, 2007 @ 11:05 pm
I too am very distraught over this recall. My cat Snuggles had to be euthanized after a sudden onset of complete kidney failure after eating one can of Iams. When I checked the remaining cans they are in the affected code range of the recall. I had no idea it was the food and have been feeling incredibly guilty over his death. Not only did he die… but I had to sign his life away. There is not a day that goes by that I do not cry myself to sleep at night over the decision to have him euthanized. I am looking into a class action lawsuit against them for everyone who lost their pet due to the negligence of this company.
Comment by Chrissy — March 20, 2007 @ 11:41 am
Dear Chrissy,
My heart aches for you. I know you feel guilty, but you know in your heart of hearts youd never do anything to hurt your animal. My cat has eaten Special Kitty for over 3 years and yesterday I checked and his food is on the recall list. I did take him to the vet this morning and so far no problems. I wont get his test back until later this week. Im so very worried, but Im so sorry for how you are feeling. Im so very angry..I feel so helpless.
My cats are just like my kids.
Cheri
Comment by Cheri — March 20, 2007 @ 12:03 pm
My sympathies to all of you who have lost their beloved pets! My cat was 14 years old and healthy and had just been to the vet at the end of January for his shots, and weighed in at 11 lbs. He died on Feb. 17th of kidney failure. THe day he died he kept falling over, and wasn’t his self at all. At the vet, he weighed in at 9 lbs, his blood count was down to 10, he was jaudniced and his kidneys were failing. We had no idea that the cat food could have been the reason. Some tests were ran to rule out normal causes for a cat to be ill. It makes me sick and sad that I fed my pet the killing food.
Comment by Cami — March 20, 2007 @ 12:40 pm
I read this post about how everyone feels guilty and I know if my cats die over this Im gonna say..Why did I feed them poison food? But we didnt know…how could we have known?I just feel so bad for every pet owner that is going thru this. Im so mad at the companys that I have just cried all day long. I wanna leave work so bad and just go home and love on my cats.
Cheri
Comment by Cheri — March 20, 2007 @ 3:25 pm
I feel for all of you who have lost their beloved friends unnecessarily. I myself purchase Iams, thinking that it is one of the best foods I can feed my three cats. Luckily, I rarely feed them wet cat food - only as a treat - which could have killed them. I mourn with you. Please don’t feel guilty for feeding them the tainted food. How could you have known? It is so hard to lose a pet. I have had to have two of my cats euthanized. One had pancreatic cancer, the other one complications from diabetes (she was 17). It’s hard to lose them, because they are our babies. I just hope people are all aware of this food issue now and no more pets have to die because of the carelessness and greed of large companies.
Comment by Carmen — March 21, 2007 @ 11:34 am
Dear Chrissy and all:
I too mourn as my wife and I decided to euthanize oru 14 year old cat named Abby on 3/10/07 dut to kidney failure. She did not eat for several days which is what prompted us to take her to the vet. Then I heard about the food recall on Monday 3/19/07 (was away from major sorces of news all weekend. Much to my dismay, I found 12 empty cans of recalled Iams food. Now I was worried and mad as my wife and I started feeding our second cat, Zoey whom was on a different diet due to a weight issue, the left over stock from Abby. Now Zoey is in an ICU unit at a local Animal Emergence Center. Now what? Where does one go from here. I have not yet contacted Menu Foods or Iams but we have started seeking legal advise over this. The medical bills have already reached $1500 and I minus one cat with the other in an ICU unit. What have others done?
Darin Umlauft
Comment by Darin Umlauft — March 21, 2007 @ 12:48 pm
I just wanted everyone to know how I feel.
I FEEL FOR EVERYONE THAT HAS LOST A PET TO THIS. I have had lost a cat to renal problems before. The cat I have now I am scared for her right now becaues I don’t know if I should trust the food I give her.
Comment by jill — March 21, 2007 @ 7:10 pm
My 3 kitties are okay and I don’t use anything on the list, but just reading the posts and seeing stories on the news is so, so heartbreaking.
Gina, I can’t imagine how hard this is to deal with for hours and hours a day. Thank you so much for the work you’re doing. I know it will make a difference.
Pet owners and website staff, you are all in my thoughts and prayers. And know that all of us whose pets are okay are thinking about you…and holding our little dear ones closer.
Bless you all.
Comment by Denise — March 21, 2007 @ 7:25 pm
Why is it that Menu Foods or FDA is not telling us how many pets have been violently ill but lived? I suspect the number is a very large one from what I’m reading on the messageboards at the news sites. I also believe more animals have died. Please go on all the boards and tell your story so we can really find out what’s going on. And PLEASE post your info to the Pet Connection database so we will know how many pets really have become sick or died from the tainted food. I’m posting the timeline of my dog, Freedom’s, illness. It may be a good idea for you who have pets who suffered or died to make a timeline yourself. Get all your records from the vet office. Look through your receipts. I found the affected lot number of O’l Roy on a Wal-Mart receipt because they use the lot numbers as stock numbers! The main thing is to keep telling or posting your story to all who will listen. They want to sweep this under the rug. We can’t let that happen. My heart goes out to all who have pets who suffered or died. Let’s speak up for those who have no voice!
Timeline for Freedom’s Illness
1/12/07 Purchased 4 foil pouches of Ol’ Roy chicken and turkey from Wal-Mart. (I have Wal-Mart receipts showing all of these purchases and the receipt shows the lot numbers and these lot numbers are among the ones that are recalled.)
1/21/07 Purchased 2 more foil pouches of Ol’ Roy from same Wal-Mart in Plano, TX.
2/03/07 Purchased 4 more foil pouches of Ol’ Roy from the same Wal-Mart.
*Week of March 5, 2007, I feed Freedom 3 pouches of Ol’ Roy.
2/09/07 Freedom is weak, shivers constantly and won’t eat. My husband takes Freedom to our vet. Her kidney enzymes are high. He gives her fluids and antibiotics and keeps her overnight.
*I feed Freedom more of the tainted Ol’ Roy, not knowing it is what’s making her sick. By the time Freedom is hospitalized the second time on March 26, 2007, she has eaten all ten pouches of Ol’ Roy.
2/26/07 Freedom won’t eat anything, shivers constantly and is weak, lethargic, foaming at the mouth. I take Freedom back to vet. He states there is blood in her urine. Her kidney enzymes have sky-rocketed to 150 and there’s blood in her urine. He gives her fluids and runs all kinds of tests on her. Freedom continues to weaken despite the antibiotics. Freedom is hospitalized at the pet clinic until 3/1/07, when Dr. Mitchell has to go to a funeral and has us transfer her to an emergency pet clinic, where she stays until 3/03/07.
3/03/07 Due to financial constraints, Jay and I decide to bring Freedom home so we can care for her ourselves. We are giving her 7 different medicines, administering fluids under the skin and feeding her chicken broth and water with a plastic syringe every 3-4 hours, even through the night.
3/06/07 I notice that Freedom’s tongue is turning black and the tip of it keeps flipping up and sticking to the back part of her tongue. I have to manually pull her tongue down with my finger each time I try to feed her with the syringe. Vet tells us that part of Freedom’s tongue has died due to the kidney problems and that she’ll lose this part of her tongue. He also tells us that she can only lose one third of her tongue to be able to keep eating. If she loses more, she may have to be put down.
3/09/07 I take Freedom in to vet. She is having a terrible time trying to eat and still can’t drink water. Vet proceeds to feed Freedom a can of Hill’s Prescription canned food by using his fingers and a tongue depressor. He also gives Freedom fluids again and ups the dose of pain medication to help Freedom with the extreme pain she is experiencing.
3/10/07 Freedom is in terrible pain, despite the pain medication I’m giving her every 6 hours. She can’t drink and foams at the mouth. The dead part of her tongue is stuck to the back part of her tongue. She has trouble swallowing food and can’t drink water. I give her chicken broth and water by the syringe every 3-4 hours. Toward the end of the day, Freedom begins to lose pieces of her tongue. I am up at 4AM giving her pain meds and water.
3/11/07 At the end of the day, Freedom finally begins eating and drinking on her own again but she still doesn’t have all of her energy back.
3/12/07 After over a month of this nightmare, Freedom licks both my husband’s and my hand. We know she will make it. She is one tough little dog. I take her in to Dr. Mitchell, who tells me the dead part of her tongue has all fallen off and it won’t need to be scraped. Freedom regains some of her appetite and energy. Still, after learning of the pet food recall, and knowing what it did to Freedom, I have to wonder about long-term effects on her.
Comment by Ann Jackson — March 21, 2007 @ 7:44 pm
Because of my high energy bills this winter I stopped buying cans of Ol Roy dog food and just feed my three dogs dry Ol Roy dog food from Wal Mart .
About a month ago my dogs started throwing up I gave them one dose each of amoxicialin (which was all I had ).My dogs are spayed and nuetured with their shots but believe I coud nor afford to go to the Vet this winter with the high home heating bills. After I gave them what little antibiotics I had I started feeding them alot of Yogurt and Pedi alite.
They did get better to a point but my Dasher still seems a little down. I know the dry dog food is suppose to be safe but I am wondering what made them all so sick then so suddenly. I am on a fixed income and a widow. This is very frightening .
Comment by Christina Atteberry — March 21, 2007 @ 9:34 pm
My 15 year old lab died last month. Why? The vet claims fluid in the chest. But he stopped eating and drinking water. Didn’t move. He was eating Nutro dry dog food. The vet claims it came on “suddenly.” No warning. We then gave him gravy dog food to get him to eat. So we’re unsure why he died. In fact, no one will know until we hear more, or as I say, the real facts will come out. I will bet every dollar I have that there is MORE contamination with this recall. Why did it take three months to hear about this poisoning by CHINA? The food was contaminated since Dec. 2006. My family now has a new lab. We paid $850 and are training her again. Keep in mind, families with pets, especially dogs, give them training. This is costly. A good dog, requires special care, food and training. Imagine if our dear lab was a service dog? What would the cost be to replace him then? These dogs cost $50K up to replace. It is not like going to the pound and getting a replacement.
I am so upset. Now I hear on my local news (not national) as well as international (Canadian) that it “might” be in the human food supply? They can’t rule this out? Let’s see. Where is our Homeland Security dept? Where is our Dept. of Agriculture?
I read last week that one of the US processing plants for dog food which was part of this recall was located in Kansas. Apparently, this same plant was fined years ago for contaminated cow food, and the FDA or dept of agriculture had to intervene and warn them not to mix certain feed in their product for cattle.
Mad cow?
There is definitely more to come from this CHINA poisoning.
I don’t believe anything they tell me.
My otherwise healthy lab is gone and I’m now left wondering who is watching out for Americans!
Angela
Washington, State
Comment by Angela — March 24, 2007 @ 9:49 am
Thanks to the people who have posted the events they’ve experienced in trying to nurse their pets back to health. My cat ate Iam foil packs was diagnosed 3/17/07 - just hours before I heard of the recall.
It is encouraging to hear that some pets are doing okay after diagnosis. My cat was on IV at the vets 6 days, took her back yesterday for sub-q fluids - and I’m giving her cryproheptadine to try to stimulate her appetite. She actually ate well last night after getting the fluids - she ate 4+ oz of boiled chicken breast. Today - she’s not eating again, so I’m going to try force feeding her. I wonder about her longterm prospects - but it sounds like some pets have recovered and are near normal.
Thanks to all for sharing their information.
Comment by Eileen — March 24, 2007 @ 10:48 am