He is a Catahoula Leopard Dog. He is almost 2 years old. He was born on Valentine's Day. His name is Kato.
What We Are About To Do Here Is What The Good Lord Would Call A Cleansing of the Wicked. I Call It A Good Old Fashioned Texas Ass Kicking.
Posted on 01/06/2006 9:58:51 PM PST by crushelits
At least 100 dogs in the United States have been killed in recent weeks by toxic pet food despite a recall of the products, scientists said today.
Some 19 brands of Diamond, Country Value and Professional dog foods have been recalled. But many pet owners are not aware of the recall, researchers at Cornell University said Friday.
Dogs have refused to eat the food and, in some cases, their owners have enticed them with gravy and other lures without knowing they were killing the animals.
"Entire kennels have been wiped out, and because of the holiday these past few weeks, the dispersal of recall information was disrupted," said Sharon Center, a professor of veterinary medicine who specializes in liver function and disease at the College of Veterinary Medicine at Cornell.
The dog food is tainted with deadly aflatoxins that waste the liver away. The bad food could be present in a dozen other countries, too, the researchers say. About two-thirds of dogs that show symptoms from the toxin have died.
The dogs seemed to know their food was deadly.
"Some dogs were stealing food from the kitchen counter," Center said. "Others just stopped eating the food and begged for treats. Unfortunately, some owners used gravy and other mixers to entice their dogs to consume what they thought was safe, quality dog food."
Only about two dozen deaths have been firmly linked to the tainted pet food. But Center and her colleagues know the toll is far higher.
"Every day, we're hearing reports from veterinarians in the East and Southeast who have treated dogs that have died from liver damage this past month or so," Center said. "We're also concerned about the long-term health of dogs that survive as well as dogs that have eaten the tainted food but show no clinical signs."
Surviving dogs may develop chronic liver disease or liver cancer, she said.
"Despite our understanding of this complex toxin, we have no direct antidote," Center said.
Symptoms arise over days or weeks. Early signs include lethargy, loss of appetite and vomiting. Later, look for orange-colored urine and jaundice, which is a yellowing of the eyes and gums. Severely affected dogs produce a blood-tinged vomit and bloody or blackened stools.
More information is available at a Cornell web site. The details of the FDA recall are here.
Also here: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1549635/posts
The dry food I buy is meat based and has no corn in it. I don't feed any moist or canned food at all. I find it messy and usually more full of crap than the dry. But they do get some meat scraps on occasion, if they'll eat it. And they do eat mice on occasion.
Ok other than the HUGE logs littering the beach the Pups can play but I better wash my hounds and hands before returning to work. : )
I wouldn't worry about it in salt water.
No Duh.
As I am the queen of working in Saline and Peroxide as solvents.
Am I getting Blond der or Gray er?
I guess all the Sea Life dung was thrown up on our beaches so as a pre caution they have the stay off of the Beaches warning.
BTW I cannot wait to get down there and comb. I am sure many have been.
In the meantime I will stay up on the hiking trails with the Pups.
Hey what is it about the Elk poop that the Ya'll (the 6mo) old likes to ingest? He even tries to sneak eat it and so does his Play Date hiking Lab??
You should here us Moms yell NNNNNOOOO.
Hence I guess they try to sneak it. The Play Date Hiking Lab will store it in her mouth like some Men with chew.
It must be part of their tracking??
Oh well if they can survive Elk dung eating the beaches are no worry.
If your dogs were here, no doubt they would also enjoy the treat of horse poo, always a favorite. :~D
I always worry on the beach about the potential for them to find something dead washed up, particularly salmon... but seems all too often what they find is too foul to eat yet strangely attractive to roll in. ;~D
Go figure.
Well, doll, it's late and I'm gonna try to get some sleep.
I am a new first-time dog owner (April 05), and I have been humbled at how much I didn't know. Even though I read all of the SPCA literature* and bought and read a dog health-reference book and a dog psychology book, I have learned so much from this dog (a fun, smart, gentle yet protective of her domain 9-year old female Queensland Heeler). When I first saw this article I almost cried, and raced to read what brand (I buy Science Diet Senior). My dog only eats if I'm in the room with her, but it took me a while to figure that out and before I did, I discovered she likes peanut butter or the broth from a baked chicken mixed in with her dry food. I may be too stupid to live but I can easily see how easy it would have been for me, prior to reading this article, to attempt to tempt my dog with a little spoonful of peanutbutter mixed in if she hadn't eaten anything but her treats (100% chicken-jerkey for dogs; forget the brand but it's a killer deal @ Costco) in two days. On the other hand, I would be immediately concerned if she didn't want to eat her canned food, which she almost inhales.
None of the dog literature I've read so far has mentioned this behavior would be a major alarm, and I am so grateful I don't buy that brand. I love my dog and I hope she stays healthy for a long old time.
*SPCA literature on how to introduce cats to a new dog = AWESOME!
This is what my new puppy eats:
http://www.oldmotherhubbard.com/dogs/dry_intro.asp?pCode=dry
My heart stopped when I read this. My God. (Thanks for posting it.)
bump
I feed my dog (16 years old) Bil Jac frozen dog food (thawed out) and loves it. Any bad reports on that?
It's one of those specialty brands that you buy at the small local pet food store. Their advertising pitch is no filler, no corn, and no preservatives. I buy it in small bags to make sure it stays fresh. They also make a lamb and rice kibble and moist food as well.
She gets a teaspoon of AvoDerm skin and coat supplement sprinkled on top, then I wet it down with a little water.
That and Luv-a-Bone biscuits is all she gets, except a token morsel of meat from the table.
Is he part yellow lab and part German Shepard?
Exactly. Usually dogs will eat most anything so if they stop eating a food that they normally liked its a sign that something is wrong with the food or something is wrong with them and they should be looked at by a vet.
I have a Lab and the biggest red flag is when she doesn't eat. When she's healthy she's like a garbage disposal with 4 legs and fur!
LQ
Mine will eat ANYthing remotely resembling food. She's pretty good about not eating non-food items, although she does chew the tags and any other protruding small appendages off her soft toys. Fortunately she doesn't swallow the bits, she leaves them lying around . . . she just chewed the eyeballs off her stuffed lizard, I found two little mournful eyes staring up at me from the living room floor. I sewed up the holes and made the little reptile black "X"s for his eyes.
LOL, well put. Ours has calmed down some in her old age (she'll be 13 in April, is still hanging in there) but every so often she'll go on a naughty bender where she'll repeatedly beg to go out then do nothing but chow down on the birdseed that has fallen down under the feeder.
It makes us irate because she had laryngeal paralysis surgery last March and is now in lifelong danger of aspirating stuff, and we DON'T want her eating small dry stuff like birdseed. She's particularly fond of the cracked corn that the birds don't like and so kick out of the feeder.
I found two little mournful eyes staring up at me from the living room floor. I sewed up the holes and made the little reptile black "X"s for his eyes
LOL, love the Xs. Dead lizard...
LQ
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