I always figured Science Diet was crap, but this clinches it. Made in the same factory as the cheapo food from the same animal byproduct slurry. "Wheat gluten" my a**, it's the other animal byproduct stuff that normally just kills the kidneys a bit slower than it has recently.
Actually, don't discount the gluten connection. This kind of sounds like a wide-spread rotavirus infection and acute onset Celiac Disease.
"that normally just kills the kidneys a bit slower than it has recently."
Well, that would be correct for wheat gluten as well :P
Just because it's made in the same factory doesn't mean it's the same stuff. Many products can come out of the same equipment and be totally different, the important part isn't the machine it's the ingredients, beer companies know all about that. We've got some sensitive stomached cats and SD is the only stuff they can eat that doesn't come back out 20 minutes later, and there are other Hill's companies we've tried, so there must be something different about it. Luckily we feed them dry so not effected by the recall so far.
Some cats cannot digest wheat gluten. Long haired black domestics are often so affected. Just as cats specificaly need the amino acid taurine, some cannot digest the amino acid glutamine.
We do not need the amino acid asparagine, so it spills over through the kidneys, producing the well known "After eating asparagus" effect.
If a cat has a defective means of ridding itself of glutamine, acute kidney failure can result. With my cat, she breaks out in a rash, and her hair starts falling out. This happens because she is a wily, crafty GLUTTON who spends all her (FEW) waking hours plotting to steal the other cats' non-special food.
That's a point that seems to be overlooked by many. Of course the deaths of pets is the main issue, but this recall has revealed that the expensive 'gourmet' food( for which people pay a LOT) is the same as the cheapo food! Can we say 'scam'?
And isn't it ironic that the real cheapo stuff like 'KAM' isn't as bad for your dog as the stuff the vets are pushing!
If you want your dog to have 'real meat' buy it at the supermarket and cook it for him.
I ran onto a tainted bag of baby bird food and it was a sad thing to see the results on the chicks. By the time it was obvious something was wrong it was too late; birds aren't wimpy and they hide their ailments very well. Few survived even though at the first sight of trouble I pitched the bag. Apparently the store had not kept the food cool and dry enough and the toxin, common in grain, was allowed to develop.
I don't know if that's the problem with the wheat gluten but it's quite possible.
Kidney failure is often caused by heavy metals and mold, the FDA says. Testing did not show aflatoxin, a mold traced to a pet food recall in 2005 in which more than 70 dogs died. Liver failure was a prime culprit.The few deaths reported thus far are mainly those of test animals given the food by one manufacturer in response to complaints from consumers-- not total deaths reported of animals belonging to the general public. I would think that deaths of regular folks' animals would have to be tested first before their demise can be associated with the food and there hasn't been much time for that, not to mention most people wouldn't fork out money for an autopsy if Old Yeller just keeled over so such statistics are going to be hard to come by.The current contaminant may be more toxic to cats than to dogs, says the FDA's Stephen Sundlof, director of the Center for Veterinary Medicine. Kidney failure tends to be a bigger issue for cats than for dogs, veterinarians say.
The FDA says Menu received its first consumer complaint on Feb. 20, started the trials on Feb. 27 and that the first test animals started dying or showing signs of sickness on March 2nd.