Going to be a long battle, deep breath

[Frankie]

As some of you know I lost my dog last month, he would of been 17 in October.

My other inside dog, Benny, a shi-poo became very ill last Friday. He has kept no food or water down. He is currently on antibiotics and IV. He is only a year and a half.

Any way, my 2 dogs outside ran out of food, they all eat the same, but have different bags. So I just took the food from the bag inside I used for the smaller dog.

This is what I found inside the bag, about 2/3 gone.

This food is small nuggets. This piece is one large piece, you can see the nuggets in it, plus whatever made it form together and the greenish/brown stuff on it. This bag was kept inside my house, air conditioned at 72 degrees, expiration is Feb. 2011. The bag outside was out in heat and humitidy, in a can, and it didn't do this.

I checked my recipt, I bought this bag before my older dog became ill. He was obviously older and he went pretty fast. They are, were, both very small, a 40lb bag lasted about 3 months.

What can I do? Have you seen this? No, they did not eat this part, it was in the bag.

Did this all happen by chance?

Waiting on lab work for Benny, vet is aware of this, they believe related. Have sent a part of this section off to be tested.

Now I am angry, mad at myself. Why didn't I see this before???? Now what to do.

If you have ever had a dog become ill from food before, something like this, could you please let me know what it was that helped, worked for them, please.

Waiting on the company.

thank you

 

[minih]

Oh my how terrible!! I know nothing to help you, just sending lots prayers your way for your baby.

 

[uwharrie]

From the photo it looks like moldy food. that was clumped together. Most likely happened when it was packaged at the plant. Chances are it is not what made your dogs sick, dogs can handle off food much better than we can (if they are healthy to begin with)some bacteria and toxins not so well. So I would test to be sure.

 

[billiethekid40]

With every bag of pet food I try to do two things. 1st I pour the food into containers with lids that will hold about 2 weeks worth of food, and put the lids on. This helps the food stay fresher, as even in an airtight container by the time you've opened it twice every day the food at the bottom starts to get "stale" after 2-3 weeks and starts to lose nutrients to oxidization. Also, it gives me a chance to inspect the food for inconsistencies and foreign objects. 2nd thing I do is cut the UPC and date codes off the bag, along with a serial number if there is one and staple them to the store receipt which I file for at least a few bags. This way, if there is a recall I HAVE the info I need, and don't need to keep the whole bag around. I even have the info on the last bags of food I have been feeding. Also helps if a problem arises and you need to contact the store or the food company to have the info from the bag.

I hope you get this figured out, food or not, and that your dog will get well again!

 

[LittleRibbie]

Boy are you organized Melanie...very good ideas.

Carolyn certainly moldy food....I was told that the better grades of dry dog food often dont have the preservatives in it that the cheaper ones have. I know that I left 2 bags of an all natural type dry food in the trunk of my car for almost a month...completly forgot about it...and part of it looked the same as yours. Florida heat and humity just rotted it. Luckily the minute I opened it I could smell it so no dogs even got a chance to eat any.

Hopefully your little one will just have a bit of a tummy ache and be better soon. Could your vet treat w/charcoal like they do with a poisoning?

Its crazy that we really do not know how food pet/human is handled after it leaves the plant....that bag for all you know could have sat in a hot truck, got wet, got packed in a wet bag...so many thing could have happened and the consumer would never know untill after the fact.

Hope your little one is doing better today.

Heidi

 

[Frankie]

Benny is no better. Still can keep no food or water down. He has now lost just over 3 pounds.

Test results are negative except immune system a little low and so is tempature. They have checked for a ton of things. Only a few tests results are not back yet.

He has been given a whole host of things to stop the upset stomach, so far nothing is working. Today they are just flushing his system in hope to get out what ever it may be. More blood work up sent off to a University just in case. He is still at the hospital. And so far, the company has been very cooperative.

Thanks for your good thoughts. It's the first time in 40 years I haven't had a dog in my house, my gosh is it odd, lonely, nerve wracking.

 

[Barbie]

Prayers for Benny!!! Hope to hear he has turned the corner for the better soon.

((((HUGS)))) to you too!!

Barbie

 

[Minimor]

Looks like a hunk of moldy food that likely fell in from somewhere when the food was being bagged. I would say that it is doubtful that this is what caused your dogs' illness. I've had something similar in pet food (cat, and dog) a couple times over the years & it caused no problems--it was a dry, moldy hunk of food that did not seem to have contaminated the rest of the bag--other food looked/smelled normal--and pets had no issues from the food that they did eat.

But, if you can get the company to pay for your vet bills because of this, then that is all well & good I guess.

There is "something" going around dogs up here--I've heard of a number of dogs that have been ill in the past couple of months, some in the city, some out this way, some in other cities, all with similar symptoms--vomiting and/or diarrhea--most of the dogs have been vaccinated for parvo & parvo has been ruled out. Most do seem to recover. There is one that I haven't heard any update on, he was in pretty bad shape & was an older dog, so things may not have ended well for him. I haven't talked to the owner in awhle now, so will have to ask next time I do see him.

 

[Frankie]

Benny did show some progress today. They flushed his system all night last night and it has seemed to help. He ate a small amount this morning, then another small amount this afternoon and has kept them both down. About 2 tablespoons each time of soft food. They are starting slow as it has been almost a week since he has had food on his stomach.

The results of what tests have been ran so far show the remainder of the bag of food also contains this mold and therefore a very good chance what the dogs had eaten also contained the mold. More testing is being done.

My intent is not to get anybody to pay anything, it is only to make sure this company is responsible and it does not happen to another dog. They continue to be very cooperative.

 

[Reble]

Sending good thoughts and prayers