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Cat's renal failure

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FLMommy

Member
What is the name of your state? FL

Took our cat to the vet this morning and she was diagnosed with severe renal failure. The 'machines' they had couldn't even read all her blood values, because they were off the chart, they literally could not be measured.

The vet stated it looks like classical symptoms of renal failure caused by the recalled pet food, problem is, none of the food she's eaten is on the list. Our house is child proof because we have a toddler running around, so I don't see how she (cat, indoor ONLY) could have gotten into anything.

I talked with the FL Consumer Complaint Coordinator (as instructed to do here: http://www.fda.gov/opacom/backgrounders/complain.html) who after asking me lots of questions tod me she needs to talk to her supervisors (out today so I will get a call back tomorrow) about this case, since they might have to come and test our cat's food.

I asked this lady if she was at liberty to tell me if she had had any other calls regarding this particular brand/bad/date/no etc. of petfood, even though it is NOT currently on the list of recalled ones (some of the other brand's stuff is), and she said she actually had had a couple.

I know this is 'waiting game' but I so badly want to call the store we got this food at and ask them to take it off the shelves before other cats get sick. Q: I am assuming that at this point though there is nothing else I can do and I should just leave it in the hands of the FDA at this point?

Thanks for reading, adn thanks in advance for any advice.

ps: For those that care to know: Our cat's going to be at the vet hospital for a couple of days of treatment and if her numbers don't go down, we're going to have to put her down. 75% of her kidneys has failed, and she lost 1/3 of her body weight.
 
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quincy

Senior Member
I'm so sorry about your cat

The pet food recall has widened considerably since the first recall list was posted, and pet foods once thought safe are now on the recall list. More are being added every day. The recall also extends to pet foods manufactured as early as November of 2006. Dry foods are included in the recall.
Unfortunately, the source of the contamination is still not confirmed, although the wheat gluten imported from Asia is considered the likely suspect. Melamine and rat poison has been detected in the foods, but large amounts would have to be consumed by a pet to cause renal failure. This is what is currently puzzling those researching the contamination.
My vet has recommended baby foods as an alternative to pet foods, or making your own pet foods.
My dog died in December, and her decline in health was so rapid that I suspect she may have consumed some tainted food, although cats seem to be at the highest risk for renal failure at this point.
I hope your cat recovers and, again, I am sorry.
 

FLMommy

Member
Thanks Quincy, she's not dead yet, but it doesn't look good. I am sorry about your dog. I hope you find out what caused your dog's death, and if not, I hope you find 'closure' either way.

The food we switched our cat to is still not on the list of recalled foods, but I did find out by doing some searches on google that PETA (I'm not a bog fan of them, bit too radical, but they're one of the groups that has) has called upon the FDA to recall this particular brand (am I allowed to mention it on here?) since March...

Considering the fact that even the FDA rep in my state has received a few calls regarding this brand being linked to renal failures in cats and dogs, and they still have not tested it, upsets me.

I'm curious to see how this unfolds. Thanks again for your reply.
 

You Are Guilty

Senior Member
Making any statements about the cat food now, before it's been officially recalled, can be dangerous. If it turns out that this food is actually safe, then your claims otherwise could easily be considered slanderous. As slow as it is, let the FDA do its job.

In the meantime, in case the food eventually is added to the recall list, keep all the containers you have, and get copies of your vet reports (and bills) as you will (eventually) be able to submit them to the manufacturer in a claim for reimbursement.
 

FLMommy

Member
Thanks for letting me know YAG.

We had to put our cat down this afternoon. In 2 days, she deteriated rapidly, and this morning, none of her levels (in her blood) had come down. There was nothing else they could do for her...

The FDA rep in our state called me back and told me someone should pick up our cat's food in the next 2 weeks (their office is 5 hours away and since they don't consider it an emergency, they'll have to wait until someone travels to this area for other reasons) to get it tested.

Maybe it will be on the recall list also... when it's way too late...
 

quincy

Senior Member
I'm sorry.

I was hoping your cat would recover...I am so sorry she didn't.
You said you have been to the PETA site. You probably noticed, then, that they have two firms listed that are starting class action suits against Menu Foods et al. They also have advice on how to submit your vet expenses to Menu Foods for reimbursement - as if that is enough to offset your loss....
Again, I am so sorry about the death of your cat. It is difficult, I know, to handle the loss of a pet companion.
 

FLMommy

Member
Quincy, thanks. I actually haven't read anything about the class action lawsuit, and I don't think we could be part of it (yet) since we're not sure it was the food and the food's not on the list (yet)? Thoughts?
 

quincy

Senior Member
class action lawsuits

With a class action lawsuit, you submit your personal information and those filing the class action suit determine whether you qualify for their particular suit or not. A class action suit is, basically, a lawsuit representing many people with the same complaint versus many people filing many suits with the same complaint.
Class action suits, by the way, are generally not lucrative for those participating in the suit (except, possibly, for the attorneys), but they ARE punitive. They can be an expensive wake-up call to those producing defective products. I am thinking that Menu Foods, for instance, would much rather pay everyone's vet bills than face losing a class action suit - it's a matter of paying thousands of dollars versus millions of dollars.
With your cat's renal failure, it is very likely that the food your cat ate was tainted - especially since more and more pet food products are being recalled every day. If it is determined that the food was contaminated, you may find it better for you to just have the manufacturer of the food pay the cat's vet bills, or you could bring your own personal lawsuit against the manufacturer. A class action lawsuit merely take the expense out of it for you.
But, in the end, nothing really compensates for the loss of a pet.
 

FLMommy

Member
Quincy, thanks for the info. I am clueless about class action lawsuits and after trying to do some research on the net it seems that several groups of lawyers are filing class action lawsuits, or is there only one classaction lawsuit in the petfood case?

Also, if the FDA decides not to test our cat's food, how do we go about determining whether the food was the culprit? IF the food was the culprit, all we want is our vetbills paid and the food off the shelves.

Besides hiring our own attorney, which we can't afford, is there any other way we can go about this, or do we really just have to hope the FDA testst our cat's food? Do we write the manufacturer of our cat's food with our complaint, and will that even work? Or do complaints just get tossed? How do we go about all this?
 

quincy

Senior Member
in response

There are currently several class action lawsuits being started against pet food manufacturers. Deciding which one or ones to become a part of is a matter of seeing which one or ones best suit your situation (for instance, your pet food may be involved in two separate suits - one against, say, Menu Foods, and one against, say, the particular brand your pet used).
I doubt that any pet food manufacturer would ignore or toss a letter from a concerned consumer at this point. They are as interested in producing a safe product as the consumer is in purchasing a safe product. There are also 800 numbers you can call for customer service, and they may be able to tell you if the product your cat used is being investigated or you can go to their website. I THINK they would be honest about it.
You were wise to contact the FDA. If your cat's pet food has been targeted by others as the source of their pets' illness or death, the FDA will certainly test it.
There are several options you can take. The most expensive one would be to hire a personal attorney and file a suit against the manufacturer. The least expensive is to call or write the company involved and try to have everything resolved without a lawsuit of any kind. Most companies are anxious to resolve customer complaints.
 

quincy

Senior Member
more pet foods recalled

Natural Balance has just issued a recall on some of their cat and dog foods - unrelated, apparently, to the Menu Foods recall. I believe it involves mostly the venison pet foods, but CNN has a story on the recall and you can get the full recall list from that or from Natural Balance's website.
 

FLMommy

Member
Thanks quincy. That was not the petfood our cat was eating though. This guy from the FDA came the house this morning, took pics of the bags (and serial no's) bagged them and fedexed them to their lab. He was here for 2 hours doing all kinds of paperwork. I'm glad they're on it. Now it's waiting to see if her food appears on the list also.

Can you send me a link to the article? It's crazy to realize that this recently recalled food you're talking about was not manufactured at MenuFoods.
 

quincy

Senior Member
dog-food-related deaths

There are two threads currently with similar themes. For those of you interested in the pet food recalls, additional information is available in the "Dog-food-related deaths" posts. The postings in both apply equally to cats and dogs.
 

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