Labrador Retriever Forum
Re: the post questioning whether an oral cancer may be a result of toxins from the recalled food:
I'm betting we will see long-term effects from the tainted food other than kidney failure and acute death, sorry to say. Since melamine toxicity is not something we have ever experienced before, we do not even know what the long-term effects will be. Cancer may be one of them, since melamine is a plastic compound, and plastics have been known to be carcinogenic. Also those younger animals surviving acute kidney FAILURE, you have to wonder what will happen to their kindeys when they age...will these pets' lives be shortened from the exposure to the toxin?
The unconscionable act of adding a toxin to petfood to boost profits I fear will have disasterous consequences for many years to come. 
At the specialty hospital I work at, we have been deluged with cases from the tainted food, and unfortunately, many of them have died. I will never forget a call I got the day after the first recalled food list was posted, from an older gentleman whose middle-aged dog had already died from eating one of the recalled foods. His grief and outrage was palpable through the phone line. He said nobody seemed to care that his dog died needlessly (including his regular vet, who I'm sure did not yet understand the magnitude of the problem), and who could he talk to, and what could he do to alert people that pets can die from eating these affected foods? I gave him the websites I had, and urged him to continue to contact the only resources that we had at that early stage. I cried with him over the phone, and felt like crap for the rest of the day. I suspected this was just the tip of the iceberg.
I spoke with a general practice vet Friday who told me she had never, ever before experienced dogs and cats in acute kidney failure that were hospitalized and diuresed with fluids for days on end, that ended up with worse (sky-high) kidney values 3-4 days into treatment, that ultimately died. The damage was done, and the best veterinary care in the world could not undo the damage.
Please don't anyone underestimate the seriousness of the effects of the tainted food and this original act of greed. Thank goodness the recalled foods have been posted immediately, and most of the pet food companies have been very responsible and have offered compensation. In particular, Royal Canin had their foods tested and passed by the FDA. They then hired an independent company to test their products again, and three of the prescription diets were found to have trace amounts of melamine in rice gluten. They pulled these products immediately, vowed to never buy product from China again, and offered to pay for returned food and bloodwork for possibly affected dogs and cats. I will definitely feel that Royal Canin foods are safe now!
I think our companion animals will be feeling the effects of this crimal act for years to come.
My Vet has 3 in the clinic also belonging to older people all 3 have the kidney failure with also liver failure. He said it is from the tainted dog food no one called them he said. Well they may survive not sure .The young German shepherd. I looked at him and almost cried skin and bones and so young to be sick like this just laying there with the IVs running in his leg. My vet said they do not think he will come thru it But the older couple wanted him to try as long as not suffering and in pain. He is sedated,
They were putting gravy and meats on the dog food to make him eat he was getting thin and weak. Well that is the outcome for this young pup. Melamine poison. Sick so sick of all of it until you see it live in Person and how they are fighting and no guarantee they will ever be the same is so sad!!!!
I just wish it would all go away we have to be afraid to feed them anything for fear the next attack on the food supplies that are purchased by our dog food company is being attacked again I AM SURE. How do they know what is good and what is bad do they check every shipment and analyze all the contents of that shipment before they process the food to product that we use.????????????????????I for one am going to call the FDA tomorrow I want answers for all of this every time you turn around 2-3-4 times a day new recalls and the Seminole thing what is this crap all the time to. In a hurry to process to make big mistakes to make our pets and us humans ill too. TIME FOR A NEW FDA TOP NOTCH PERSON to much going on every day we need more inspectors to protect all of us from the farmers to the meat packers to the final product plants that produce the foods. Sloppy work in canneries where is the FDA person that is suppose to be there testing every finished product before it goes to the cannery dept. I KNOW I WORKED IN A HUGH MANUFACTURING Facility in fact 2 of them Hatfield Packing In Hatfield Pa the inspectors were all over the place and checking every item that was worked with from scratch to finish I would received the product report daily 2 times the AM products and the PM products and also for Berks meats also in Reading Pa the same there I always felt safe buying the products from there company store. Again I received the control reports fro them also 2 times a day at the end of each production. Also after each product was packaged the workers left that room and moved on to the next room The previous work room all equipment was torn down after the product was finished running and the whole room was cleaned ceiling to the floor very hot water steam all thru the room the workers wore special suite to sanitize the equipment and the walls and floors to that room was done and not to be used until the next day. This is the way our meat products are to be handled for sure. Why the dog food companies do not have the same respect fro this I do not know BUT I WOULD LOVE to be a mouse in a corner to Observe all.
AM I ANGRY YOU BET I AM!!!!
I think the FDA is no longer in our corner...they sold out to big business long ago unfortunately.
That is how Vioxx was pushed through too early and the same thing is happening with Gardasil, the human papilomavirus vaccine. Merck needs the money to pay for all the law suits from Vioxx, so they are pushing states to require the HPV vaccine for school aged girls. In Texas where they are required to have the vaccine, VAERS is now receiving reports of loss of consciousness, seizures, arthritis and other neurological problems in young girls who have received the shot.
Seriously, don't rely on the FDA to look out for you, you have to look out for yourself.
Believe me, as important as the dog food recalls are, they are the tip of the iceberg.
Sad, very sad
My dogs are (and have been) fed human grade food. After finding out through a holistic vet I worked for where ingredients come from that go into commercial food, I decided long ago to change course with their diet. My Dad who is 77 years old had a favorite dog when he was growing up. I asked him what he fed him. He had to think about it for a minute then he said, "table scraps". That is what dogs ate before large food conglomerates got the idea that dog food would be a profitable way to dispose of their waste. Our dogs have been fed food rejected from the human food chain ever since. It is so sad to think about the suffering, let alone the guilt feelings owners have for feeding a food they thought was safe. Hopefully, there will be a class action suit filed to hit these "big businesses" where it hurts. Melamine poisoning and long term effects are a definite concern, but so is the quality of ingredients that go into most commercial foods.
