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Reports of Dead Animals Increase as Word of Recall Spreads

Missouri Family Loses Both Pets to Tainted Food

By Lisa Wade McCormick
ConsumerAffairs.com

March 22, 2007

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A Smithville, Missouri, family has lost two of its beloved pets in the past six weeks -- their nine-year-old dog, Angus, and their two-year-old cat, Zoey.

Both animals, the family says, were healthy. And their sudden illnesses -- and eventual deaths -- initially came as a surprise. And a mystery.

Not anymore.

During an interview with ConsumerAffairs.com, pet owner Mike C. discovered the Special Kitty food that his family fed Zoey is included in the massive recall of more than 60 million cans and pouches of wet pet food made by Menu Foods of Canada.

The Food and Drug Administration has confirmed that 14 pets -- 13 cats and 1 dog nationwide -- have died after eating the company's tainted food.

ConsumerAffairs.com gave Mike the UPS codes and dates of the Special Kitty foods involved in the recall -- including the specific flavors Zoey ate.

"My goodness, every single one is on that list," Mike told us as we read the codes for Special Kitty's Chicken and Liver, Duck and Wild Rice, Beef, and Filet Mignon with Shrimp pouches. "Every single packet we have. Now we know what killed our cat. We've just confirmed it."

Kansas Plant Involved

Menu Foods has recalled all of its "cuts and gravy" style dog and cat food produced at its Emporia, Kansas, plant between December 3, 2006 and March 6, 2007.

The March 16, 2007, recall came on the heels of consumer complaints that dogs and cats who ate the company's food developed kidney problems.

Menu Foods launched its own internal tasting trials in mid-February-reportedly within days after it received it first complaint about kidney failure in a pet. In those tests, the company fed its food to 25 cats and 15 dogs. Nine of the 25 cats tested died.

And signs of kidney failure in the animals surfaced within days after they ate the food.

Zoey

In early March, Mike says his family's cat, Zoey, showed what he's since learned are classic signs of kidney failure.

"She wouldn't eat and she couldn't get enough water," he says. "She'd even hop up on the sink and lap water from the tap. And she was constantly in her litter box.

"After four or five days, my wife took Zoey to the vet. We thought maybe she had feline leukemia." But the family's veterinarian discovered Zoey didn't have leukemia. The young cat was in renal failure.

"Our vet told us it looked like her condition was caused by some type of poisoning," Mike says. "But we told her that Zoey is a de-clawed house cat and she's never been outside. Our house is also baby-proofed because we have a two-year-old granddaughter. So there's no way that Zoey could have been around anything poisonous."

Mike says their veterinarian gave Zoey IV fluids for two days. "But she was getting worse ... we finally had to put her down."

That happened on March 7th -- exactly six weeks after Mike's family had to put their dog, Angus, to sleep.

"All we're thinking is we've lost two animals," he says. "We didn't connect the symptoms until we were watching the news on March 16th and there was a blurb about a pet food recall and ten animals had died from kidney failure.

"I remember looking at my wife and saying, 'Make that 11.'" Or maybe 12.

Angus Gets Sick

Angus

Mike says Angus, a Rottweiler-mix, had the same symptoms as Zoey.

"Angus didn't have any previous health problems," he says. "But in January, we noticed he wasn't eating any more and was drinking a lot of water. He was also in a lot of pain, was real sensitive in his back haunches, and was whimpering. Now this was happening long before we knew anything about the recall. And we never for a second thought it was kidney failure -- we thought he had hip dysplasia."

Mike says Angus' condition worsened over the next few days.

"It was excruciating to watch him," he says of the dog that went from weighing 135 pounds to 101 pounds in less than two months. "We finally took him to the vet and he had to put Angus to sleep."

Mike says he fed Angus one of the 53 brands of dog food included in the recall -- Ol' Roy.

During our interview, we checked the UPS codes on the cans of Ol' Roy in Mike's pantry. None matched the dog food included in the recall.

"But these cans were in the bottom of our pantry and Angus still could have eaten some that were in the recall," Mike says. "I can't prove that Angus died from this dog food, but he had the same symptoms that Zoey had."

Mike says losing Angus and Zoey has devastated his family.

"It's been tough, particularly for my wife and daughter. They've cried every day for the past six weeks. And now it's starting to hit me. I blame myself. I feel guilty because I fed them this food. I'm the one who put it in them."

He adds: "Our pets are members of our family. I've got three kids and a grandchild and our pets are an extension of our kids."

Mike's Advice

What's Mike's advice to other -- worried -- pet owners?

"Watch your pets closely and don't disregard symptoms like not eating, drinking a lot of water, or lethargy. Watch them for any changes in behavior -- just like you would watch your children."

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