Posted on 04/29/2008 7:27:42 PM PDT by petitfour
Five weeks ago, we adopted a healthy 6 month old cat from our local PetSmart. He had been in foster care since he and his kitty siblings were found when they were six to eight weeks old. He was in fine condition, and we met his foster mom who seemed honest and sincere in trying to find the right home for a kitty she clearly loved. Anywho, the cat developed a cold within a few days of coming to live with us. I think he was shaking the cold when he started having much worse troubles. He stopped eating, and we took him to the vet. The vet put him on antibiotics, but the cat never recovered. He died about four weeks after we adopted him. We had never had a cat die on us. And we've owned quite a few. We've had a dog die from poisoning by a neighbor child. But this was very strange. It happened a little over a week ago.
Meanwhile, a friend of ours who lives miles away told me that her dog was very lethargic all of the sudden. The dog, a Rottweiler, was a healthy, happy pup around six to eight months old. (I can't remember when they bought her, but it was in the late Fall of last year.) Anywho, the dog died today, and her symptoms were so very similar to our cat's symptoms that we have begun to wonder if there's still something wrong with the pet food we fed our animals.
Another meanwhile, the friend mentioned above said her son came home from baseball practice yesterday, and he told her about one of his teammates whose dog died yesterday. The teammate's parents were assuming their dog was poisoned by someone in their neighborhood who didn't like their dog barking. It's always possible because we live in crazy times, and people do some shocking things.
I know that it's possible this is all a coincidence. However, I'm still curious to know if others have had similar pet deaths in the recent months.
Distemper?
Lord forgive me for that one. :)
I think pet food is an unlikely explanation, since it’s being watched so closely these days. This really sounds like unrelated incidents, but if you want to dig into it, try to get the vets who treated these animals to communicate with each other — especially the ones who treated the kitten and the puppy (the other dog really sounds like there’s no reason to suspect a connection). They may be able to look at some blood tests and say for sure it wasn’t the same thing. Or they might see similarities and start checking with other vets in online professional forums. Possibly some virus that tends to take hold in very young animals whose immune systems aren’t fully developed yet. But unless extensive blood work and other diagnostics were done on both the puppy and kitten, it’s unlikely that there will be any way to determine whether there was a connection.
“So, do you think someone poisoned your cat because it was barking and annoying the neighors?
Lord forgive me for that one. :)”
The Lord will, but Ingrid Newkirk is not amused.
Pity.
Our 2 year old Weim was lethargic and running a fever over the weekend, so we took him to the vet on Monday. He couldn’t find anything wrong other than the fever, so he put him on antibiotics and the fever appears to be subsiding, yet he’s still a little lethargic. In the meantime, our 6 year old Weim started getting the same symptoms. I was thinking it’s just some sort of virus.
Probably all coincidence, but it sure gives one pause after the pet food scare. We feed ours Nature’s Balance kibble, but sometimes use a small bit of canned Pedigree to mix in. They’re both large dogs (75 lbs and 90 lbs)...so if it was contamination, it would take more of the stuff to make them ill than a smaller dog. I think during the last pet food fiasco, it was the smaller dogs and cats who were being more affected.
You never know, but it is sad news.
The friend’s dog had no contact with other animals. He started showing signs of illness four or five days ago. They opened a new bag of dog food nine days ago.
Cats do not get canine distemper. We considered that he could have contracted something from the other cats who were being adopted via PetSmart on the day we adopted him. However, I contacted the man who runs the shelter, and he said that to his knowledge, none of the other cats were having any problems. I’ve also considered that the cat could have eaten something in our house, but we don’t keep poisons around our house because we have young children. No one fed the cat any pain killers. (that was one of the first things the vet mentioned because a lot of people think pets can take Tylenol or Advil or whatever. Those meds kill pets, and we sure didn’t medicate the kitty.)
But truthfully, is Ingrid ever amused? By anything?
susie
I heard bad things recently about petsmart from HSUS and related organizations. In fact, I think there was a recent video or some other expose (workers) who complained about conditions there.
I did a quick search online and couldn’t find any details to corraborate my memory, but I found the following
http://www.petsmartcruelty.com/
http://www.petsmartcruelty.com/investigation_manchester.asp
I may have been thinking about petsmart in the UK
“Please urge everyone you know to boycott Petsmart throughout its
entire network in the UK and abroad. Tonight a report on the BBC
“Watchdog” programme showed how Petsmart encourages its employees to
abuse animals. There is text of the programme at...
http://www.bbc.co.uk/watchdog/stories/wwpetsmart.shtml
http://groups.google.com.my/group/rec.pets.cats.health+behav/browse_thread/thread/549ed3fe238d7c04
In sum, I would see if Petsmart is the common denominator, if not, then see if food is, or some other exposure. You haven’t cited anything in common yet, besides deaths.
I have heard there is a new animal virus floating around.
I don’t recall the name of it but you might try googling new animal virus or new pet virus, etc.
That should have read that we didn’t medicate our kitty with human meds nonprescribed by our vet. We did give him meds when the vet prescribed them.
“since it’s being watched so closely these days” how exactly is it being watched? by whom, not the gov’t. the human food supply isn’t being watched. USDA is grossly understaffed and incapable of “watching” the food supply.
We are holding onto the bag of food we were feeding the kitty just in case someone wants to test it at a later date. And we’re wondering if there is a pet virus going around. We’re also not ruling out coincidence.
Our cat food is a completely different brand than what our friend’s dog was eating. As for the third dog, I don’t know how old the dog was nor anything about the family who owned the animal. I’m hoping our friend will find out more about the third dog tonight.
I’m not so sure about the “being watched so closely” regarding pet food these days. But I’m trying to keep an open mind . . .
Thanks. No PetSmart connection between animals. And the cat we adopted was only in PetSmart for a few hours. The girl who had been keeping our kitty was very sad to see him go. I think she would have kept him forever rather than let him be housed at PetSmart even for a day.
It’s being watched a lot more closely by both US and Chinese regulators than it was before the big melamine contamination run. And pet food manufacturers in the US have plenty of incentive to be more watchful than they were in the past. And Chinese business people in related industries are certainly being more careful. Punishment is real over there — at least one senior manager was executed for his role in the melamine contamination.
But perhaps more importantly, it’s being watched by the veterinary profession. Most vets stay connected with what’s going on in their field all over the country via online groups. They report unusual cases or unusual numbers of similar cases, and compare notes. Now that there’s been one epidemic of serious illnesses and deaths caused by contaminated pet food, it’s definitely higher on the vest’ watch list than it used to be. If another round of dangerous pet food contamination occurs, it will be caught much earlier than the last one.
Well I took your suggestion, and never let it be said that you don’t learn something new everyday. Did you know there’s a music group called Pet Virus? Who’d a “thunk” it, LOL.
Large contributions reputedly bring a feral grin to such as she.
Jan
more than before is true, but not meaningful. legal and logistical impediments made it meaningless before and not much right now; however, improvements are coming.
US seeks own drug inspectors in China - Yahoo! News
U.S. food and drug regulators will start working in China next month once Beijing gives its final approval, the ... The FDA’s China office will be headed by ...
news.yahoo.com
FDA Hopes to Open China Office in May - Examiner.com
FDA Hopes to Open China Office in May, SINGAPORE ... The FDA’s China office will be headed by Christopher Hickey, currently director ...
www.examiner.com
besides, that’s FDA and overseas. my comment was really aimed at domestic food products, i.e. factory farms, meat processing, etc.
US food manufacturers always had an incentive (litigation + regulatory liability); however, the latest pet food issue was from an outside company, and, if we can’t effectively monitor human food, all the media attention in the world and possible threat of litigation isn’t going to hire the necessary manpower overnight to watch as carefully as you’d suggest.
nonetheless, your point about vets is well taken.
I think we agree in principle (there is increased attention and concern), but differ in how much progress has been made and what the end result will be. (I think it will be a lot of short term flurry with limited long term improvements).
My son and his girlfriend had three male cats, then found a female stray on the street. They took her to the local animal shelter, and after being cleared by them, they brought her home. The vet says it's possible that this new cat was a carrier of the virus. Then again, it's possible he could have picked it up at the vets. About a month or so after they brought her home, the other three cats went through a period where they weren't eating and were acting rather logy. They eventually got over that, but the oldest cat ended up losing weight, which caused concern. He was found to have an irregular heartbeat, tests were done, and the cause of his heart problem was related to the viral infection.
Here's one link that might explain the virus for you:
What are the symptoms of a cold in a cat? Anything else noticed besides a lack of appetite. Fever, vomiting... ? Why didn't the vet do a necropsy?
Thanks. That is a possibility with our kitty. So sad, regardless.
Kitty had a runny nose and was sneezing. It coincided with half of our household having colds. I didn’t think the two were necessarily related. At PetSmart, there were a few kittens who appeared to have the symptoms our cat showed two days after adoption. I called and asked about them, and I was told that they were fine.
I don’t know what a necropsy is. I’ll have to look it up. :)
heh. An autopsy. You’d think that after all the Bones episodes I’ve watched that I would know what a necropsy is. :)
We did not take kitty in for such. I think our friend’s dog is going to be disposed of by animal control, so we won’t know anything from that either. $$$$$$$ is a factor.
"If your dog has ingested any of these foods, get veterinary help immediately.
Grapes and Raisins: Grapes and raisins can cause kidney failure in dogs. As little as a single serving of raisins can kill a dog.
Onions: Onions destroy red blood cells and can cause anemia.
Chocolate: Chocolate can cause seizures, coma and death. Baker’s chocolate is the most dangerous. A dog can consume milk chocolate and appear to be fine because it is not as concentrated, but it is still dangerous.
Coffee, Coffee grounds, tea and tea bags: Drinks/foods containing caffeine cause many of the same symptoms chocolate causes.
Macadamia Nuts and Walnuts: Macadamia nuts can cause weakness, muscle tremor and paralysis. Limit all other nuts as they are not good for dogs in general, their high phosphorous content is said to possibly lead to bladder stones. Exception to this rule seems to be PEANUT BUTTER. However- always use Salt/Sugar free Peanut butter (sugar encourages cancer growth) free . Also USE ORGANIC peanut butter as regular peanut butter has lots of toxics. Animal fat and fried foods: Excessive fat can cause pancreatitis.
Bones: Cooked bones can splinter and damage a dog’s internal organs. Raw Bone should always be supervised as a piece can always break off and cause problems. Try frozen oxtails or frozen knuckle bones then take the bone away before the dog can swallow a final small piece whole. It's a good natural way to clean teeth too.
Tomatoes: Tomatoes can cause tremors and heart arrhythmias. Tomato plants and the most toxic, but tomatoes themselves are also unsafe.
Avocados: The fruit, pit and plant are all toxic. They can cause difficulty breathing and fluid accumulation in the chest, abdomen and heart.
Nutmeg: Nutmeg can cause tremors, seizures and death.
Apples, Cherries, Peaches and similar fruit are great for your dog - HOWEVER, the seeds of these fruits contain cyanide, which is poisonous to dogs as well as humans. Unlike humans, dogs do not know to stop eating at the core/pit and easily ingest them. It can also become lodged in the intestines and kill the dog in 24 hours with no warning."
Talk with these other people and try to look for common threads, especially foods and liquids they were given lately. Do you all go to the same vet? If you were all there recently, did they get shots or similar meds?
I never knew some of those. The grapes/raisins thing is a possibility with the friend’s dog. Actually, it’s possible that our children could have fed our cat something he shouldn’t have eaten, and our friend’s four-year-old could very well have fed the dog something bad.
Hubby’s grandfather used to love peanuts, and he would toss peanuts in the shell to his dog. Grandpa is no longer with us, but the dog is despite eating loads of cat food regularly and who knows what else! I’m surprised she hasn’t died from obesity. She’s 10+ years old now and has been obese since she was 2.
I gave my last dog raisins a few times. Luckily it never did anything to him. And of course after I read I couldn't give him those he never got any ever again.
Macadamia Nuts and Walnuts: Macadamia nuts can cause weakness, muscle tremor and paralysis. Limit all other nuts as they are not good for dogs in general, their high phosphorous content is said to possibly lead to bladder stones. Exception to this rule seems to be PEANUT BUTTER. However- always use Salt/Sugar free Peanut butter (sugar encourages cancer growth) free . Also USE ORGANIC peanut butter as regular peanut butter has lots of toxics. Animal fat and fried foods: Excessive fat can cause pancreatitis.
I used to give my last dog pills in peanut butter. He loved it. I didn't use organic, but I did use a low salt or sugar one. Can't remember what it was. And I am glad you mentioned pancreatitis. My last dog got that because I was giving pills in hot dogs. Please if anyone is reading this don't do that. Just wrap the pills in a piece of bread or something else.
Apples, Cherries, Peaches and similar fruit are great for your dog - HOWEVER, the seeds of these fruits contain cyanide, which is poisonous to dogs as well as humans. Unlike humans, dogs do not know to stop eating at the core/pit and easily ingest them. It can also become lodged in the intestines and kill the dog in 24 hours with no warning."
My last dog loved apples. We used to have a tree in our back yard and he originally thought they were tennis balls which was his favorite toy. So he starting chewing on them. Then he started eating them and the rest was history. He used to try and bring them inside and they would mess up my carpet so I started cutting them up. Before I did that he would put the stem in his mouth and grab onto it with his front paws and take the stem off. No kidding, it was so funny.
Ping.
Sounds like that was the only symptom. ...no hacking. It doesn't sound like poison, or one of the other fatal diseases mentioned. There would have been other symptoms like vomiting. The kitty may have died from respiratory complications. Was it skinny, or did it have a fat, hard belly?
A necropsy can be fast, should be cheap and generally shows what organs were involved and a general cause of death.
ping
I’m sorry to hear about your cat dying.
3 or 4 years ago before I got my current cat, I adopted a cat that was on display at PetSmart. Within 6 weeks I had spent over $800 on vet bills and ultimately had to put her down due to liver cancer.......
The cat immediately before that one I had for about a week and a half. Never saw it because it was always hiding. I finally returned it to the agency in charged of the adoption and after further questioning them about the cat's history, I found out it was completely feral and living under the porch of a gal who was feeding it......
Since the chanceof you having the same food is slim, I’d have the water checked.
Sounds somewhat like bobcat fever a blood parasite that’s hard to diagnose and treat. Most cases are not discovered until it’s to late. we just lost a cat to it. We live in the country and the vet says it’s passed by ticks. Frontline and advantage do not guarantee protection because they work by irritating the ticks and they only have to bite just for a second to pass this disease.
Pet Health Alert: New Canine Influenza Virus Causing Illness in U.S. Dogs Pet owners should be on the lookout for a new canine influenza virus that can cause serious respiratory illness in the family dog. This is a new, highly contagious, pathogen in dogs for which there is no vaccine and all dogs are susceptible.
What You Should Know About Canine Influenza
The virus was isolated by the virology laboratory at Cornell University. The CDC sequenced the virus and found it is closely related to equine influenza. This is the first time influenza has been seen in dogs.
The virus appears to have originated several years ago among racing greyhounds and there have been outbreaks at greyhound tracks across the country.
In April of this year, the influenza virus was identified for the first time among non-greyhounds. Initially, it was seen in animal shelters; later, it spread to veterinary clinics and boarding facilities. In August, the Florida State Veterinarian issued an advisory to all animal hospitals in the state.
At the same time, this new canine influenza began to appear in New York and New Jersey. The New York State Department of Agriculture issued an advisory to veterinarians in early September urging them to be on the lookout for this illness.
This is an airborne illness that is easily transmitted. Pets can contract it anywhere dogs congregate -- at the dog park, a shelter, a dog show, etc. The primary early symptoms are cough and lethargy, but the disease can progress to pneumonia.
If your dog develops a cough and has been around other dogs during the previous week or two take him to your veterinarian as soon as possible. Be sure that canine influenza is considered as a possible cause.
Could be parvo...especially with the pet adoption connection. Although it is claimed adopted pets have all their vaccines, the agency is sometimes at a loss to produce proof of same.
Just a possibility.
Don’t know. Our friend was told that her dog likely had parvo, but no autopsy was done. She was told not to get another pet for three or four years.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.