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.
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.
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.
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?
"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?
Ping.
ping
I’m sorry to hear about your cat dying.
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.