Comments on: Pet-food recall: Where were you a year ago?

By: Pamela J. Betz-Baron

Pamela J. Betz-Baron — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 00:23:54 +0000

We had lost our quite healthy ~18yo Pom, Bubbles, from sudden kidney failure, on February 20th. We were feeling a tiny bit better by the middle of March. I heard about the recall, but only that it was Iams and some store brand.

A couple of days later, I saw an article and read it, as I am always interested in news about pets. That article said that several/many brands were involved. I started to get that sinking feeling, and I checked Menu Foods’ website. Nutro Ultra wasn’t listed yet, but Nutro’s other brands were, with the dates that our cans had. I sat there in disbelief that our dog was a part of it.

Suddenly, we weren’t feeling at all better; in fact, we felt much worse. It was a nightmare.

Our story, in a nutshell and in detail, is in earlier comments on this blog. I want to thank everyone at petconnection.com (and Itchmo, etc.) for the work you did, as well as the people who wrote comments about their own research into the companies and melamine/cyanuric acid. It was amazing.

By: The OTHER Pat

The OTHER Pat — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 20:06:54 +0000

I was just at the grocery store buying my stuff for the monthly batch of dog food. As I reached for a carton of yogurt, the guy standing next to me said “That’s my dog’s favorite kind!”

Well - I wasn’t going to let THAT go by of course (G!) and I told the man and his wife that I was actually buying the yogurt for my homemade dog food, and asked them if they remembered the pet food recalls. They did, and I told them that this week marked one year since it all started. They told me they were buying their dog food from a local company that assured them that all the ingredients were obtained locally, and I encouraged them to take nothing for granted, but follow up and research, research, research. I reminded them that the pet food companies had lost the right to our automatic trust.

Yup - I don’t let those opportunities pass without taking advantage of them . . . . . .

By: Lilly and Lucy's mom

Lilly and Lucy's mom — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 19:24:17 +0000

I’ll never forget those terrible days that stretched into weeks and months. I was home sick with the flu and my daughter had just gone out and bought some more “poison” food for our dogs. They only ate a bit of the pouches each day to make their kibble taste better. They loved the poison gravy. For those couple of days before the news broke my little Lilly wasn’t eating good but she’s picky so we didn’t realize she was sick till we heard the news. I was in shock but still didn’t realize the magnatude of the situation. I cooked the dogs some chicken and thank God none of our cats ate any of the foods that were recalled. My little dogs visited the vet and both were sick for weeks but did recover. One is on medication because her liver enzymes are elevate and she is still doing well. We still cook for the dogs and they have done well on ground turkey or boiled chicken with either pasta or rice and veggies. They had their checkup last week and have maintained their weight well on what they are eating (a concern of ours and the vets that they would either gain or loose weight) they take a vitamin everyday. I feed the cats dry food that wasn’t ever a part of the recall and occassionally friskey’s canned but never one that has gravy or cuts.
I want to add my sympathy to everyone who lost a beloved animal.

By: Cathy Z.

Cathy Z. — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 12:57:17 +0000

I am all for anniversaries; as my mother said, “That which is buried in the ground is forgotten.” Please remember and read the labels on whatever you buy to eat yourself or feed to your children and your dear pet friends. I’m so lucky that my beautiful cat, Nemerah, wasn’t part of this horror.

By: Gina Spadafori

Gina Spadafori — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 22:42:33 +0000

Hello all: Please note that as indicated above, further off-topic insultings of a political nature will not be tolerated here.

I’ve just deleted a couple of them in the moderation queue, and will be happy to vaporize more.

There are plenty of other places on the Internet to insult each other over presidential politics. So go find them.

By: VJ

VJ — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 21:58:55 +0000

I’ve waited all day to allow the parents who have lost their dearly loved pets to have their say. God bless each and every one of you and your family who has passed on, those who are still suffering from the poisonous foods effects and the pets who were left without their companions. When I woke this morning, the first thing I did was light a candle for 2 of my pets who passed on years ago, not in this month, but on this day, and another candle for everyone of you and the pets who suffered so needlessly. My heart cries out for you. Namaste

By: Alasandra

Alasandra — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 18:47:56 +0000

I was at the oral surgeons with my eldest son who was going to have his wisdom teeth pulled. His cat, Whiskers (who was beloved by the whole family and loved us all), had died March 9th, 2007. Whiskers had been healthy until a few short days before his death, when he was diagnosed with 75% kidney failure. Imagine my dismay when the recall was for the cat food (Special Kitty) that I feed him. I still feel responsible for my beloved friends death. If only I had chosen another cat food to feed him. I blogged about it at The Last Meow http://thelastmeow.blogspot.com/

By: Marcy

Marcy — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 18:26:28 +0000

Reply to: Attention Animal Lovers-Bad lot of Friskies Seafood Supreme
Comment by Bill Craine — March 16, 2008 @ 5:19 am

I wouldn’t feed Friskies anything, even if they gave it to me for free!

In reply to a comment above, as to if it’s still going on?

My boss told me that she knows of several animals that have died lately of kidney failure. And a co-worker’s friend’s dog just died of the same two weeks ago.

Coincidence? Hmmmm… Be careful of what you are feeding your pets.

By: Kim

Kim — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 18:16:03 +0000

I see that Christie and I were thinking along the same lines in our focus. My piece will be up on MSNBC.com tomorrow morning.

By: Gina Spadafori

Gina Spadafori — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 16:26:19 +0000

Bernie writes:

“THAT is why I will not vote Republican or tolerate the opinions of anyone who does.”

Now, Bernie … you can be intolerant of anyone you choose, but not here.

Remember the rule on PetConnection.com: If *I* can’t discuss politics, nobody can. :)

So let’s move away from this line of discussion, OK?