A little off topic, your pet's food

[Guest guest]

There is a number of reasons why I am posting this. This is about

the tenth time I've received this information and I know most of

your pets are treated like another family member and are dear to

your hearts, for some that is all we have.

Before you read this article I would like to inform pet owners about

something I just found out the hard way. My dog Dusty of 9 years, a

blonde part shepherd?, chow? maybe wolf? we just had to put down

last week because within the last six months she was ill and we

weren't quite sure from what. We did not have the funds to bring her

to the vet, several things may have caused this. But what I do know

for sure, NEVER, NEVER use plastic bowls for your animals. This is

what started her illness. Something was being released from the

bowls into her food and water and it took us a little while to

figure this out. When she was drinking water from everywhere else

but, even after we put fresh water in and she watched us, but still

refused to drink it. Before she would drink or eat she would smell

her food and walk away. It didn't make sense. She started losing

weight and anything she did eat she would lose. We changed to metal

bowls and it still took her some time to start eating again like she

normally once had. Unfortunately the damage was already done and she

was having problems with her kidneys. I gave her milk thistle for a

while and it did help, but she continued to be sick and not eating

much. We started changing brands of food, which seemed to have

helped for a little while. Then I started to feel that the food had

an over amount of fungal growth or toxins in it and we would never

feed her the bottom of the bag, well she wouldn't eat it. I also

just recently read, do not leave the bags of animal food open, even

in a cabinet, because it will start growing mold immediately. Please

keep it in a sealed container. Another hard lessen.

After about 6 or 7 months she was doing everything she could to

remain active, she would take walks with me, bounce around on the

floor when I got down with her, kind of like, look daddy I can still

do. She was trying, but did not seem to be in any pain. She was

losing now not only the weight but also alot of muscle tone. We knew

it was time. I think she did too. When I brought her in the vet put

her on the scale, she had lost over 50% of her body weight. I just

wish I could have afforded to have testing done to find out what was

really affecting her, but at that time it really didn't make any

difference. So just a word of warning folks, stay away from the

plastic bowls, use metal bowls. I would say ceramic, but alot of

those may be sealed with a high gloss paint and to get the gloss it

takes lead. Keep the food in closed containers.

Take care,

KC

Pet food recalled after deadly fungus found

http://www.newsday.com/news/local/wire/newyork/ny-bc-ny--

petfoodrecall1222dec22,0,1171766.story?coll=ny-region-apnewyork

December 22, 2005, 5:58 PM EST

with comment from dog owner. ADDS photo numbers. AP Photos NYITH101-

104

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) _ A pet food company has advised retailers to stop

selling some of its dog and cat food that may be contaminated with

toxic fungus after several dogs got sick and some died.

The fungus produces poisonous aflatoxin. Symptoms of aflatoxin

poisoning include lethargy, loss of appetite, yellowish eyes and

gums, and severe or bloody diarrhea.

The 19 recalled varieties of dog and cat food were made by Diamond

Pet Foods and sold in New York and 22 other states and under the

brand names Diamond, Country Value, and Professional.

The recalled batches have date codes of March 1, 2007 through June

21, 2007 and were made at the company's plant in Gaston, S.C.

The Missouri-based company is aware of fewer than 10 New York dog

deaths attributed to the contamination, general manager Mark

Brinkmann told the Syracuse Post-Standard.

Seven dogs from the Rochester area were being treated for liver

disease and failure at Cornell University Hospital for Animals after

eating contaminated food, said university spokeswoman Sabina Lee.

Cornell graduate and veterinarian Gluckman, in suburban

Rochester, discovered the link between the pet food and dog illness,

Lee said. Three dogs died in the area, causing veterinarians at

Mendon Village Animal Hospital to suspect a contaminated food or

water source.

Tests on the deceased dogs' food at the state Animal Health

Diagnostic Center at Cornell revealed the presence of the mold.

-Vince of Pittsford noticed his 10-year-old golden

retriever Lightning behaving strangely and brought her to the Mendon

hospital Dec. 15. The dog was euthanized Sunday.

His other dog, Digger, was taken to Cornell for treatment.

" She still jumps around and barks but she's not keeping food down

and there are real abnormalities, " -Vince told The Ithaca

Journal. " Even though they're looking good, there still might be

something wrong with them. "

___P>

On the Net:

Diamond Pet Food: http://www.diamondpet.com

[Guest guest]

Wow- so sorry to hear of the loss of your dear dog. Many people have said their

animals

have gotten sick from the mold in mold houses. I don't know what they do about

it, but

some have mentioned herbal treatements, etc, similar to human treatment.

Plastic is REALLY bad for people too. There have been reports in the Science

News

sporadically for the last 20 years about chemicals leaching into food from

plastics. Teflon

cookware is another source of illness for animals. I had birds, and if you heat

up Teflon

cookware or any nonstick skillet with out food in it, it gives off toxic

chemicals that KILLS

birds just by smelling it.

But thanks for the news about the blatent mold in dog food.

We use ceramic bowls with metal ones for a back up. Also, if you use ceramics

from the

US it is safe, but Mexican pottery often uses lead in the glaze that does come

off in the

food or water. We also feed her higher quality food, and when we open a bag, we

put it

into the freezer right away, and take out her daily portion to thaw out. She

gets sick to her

stomach from it when we don't do that- the fat gets rancid and it bothers her.

She had this

when we got her from the humane society.

I feel sure that she had to be affected by the mold in the house too, but she

seems to be

ok so far. Thanks for the warning.

>

> There is a number of reasons why I am posting this. This is about

> the tenth time I've received this information and I know most of

> your pets are treated like another family member and are dear to

> your hearts, for some that is all we have.

>

> Before you read this article I would like to inform pet owners about

> something I just found out the hard way. My dog Dusty of 9 years, a

> blonde part shepherd?, chow? maybe wolf? we just had to put down

> last week because within the last six months she was ill and we

> weren't quite sure from what. We did not have the funds to bring her

> to the vet, several things may have caused this. But what I do know

> for sure, NEVER, NEVER use plastic bowls for your animals. This is

> what started her illness. Something was being released from the

> bowls into her food and water and it took us a little while to

> figure this out. When she was drinking water from everywhere else

> but, even after we put fresh water in and she watched us, but still

> refused to drink it. Before she would drink or eat she would smell

> her food and walk away. It didn't make sense. She started losing

> weight and anything she did eat she would lose. We changed to metal

> bowls and it still took her some time to start eating again like she

> normally once had. Unfortunately the damage was already done and she

> was having problems with her kidneys. I gave her milk thistle for a

> while and it did help, but she continued to be sick and not eating

> much. We started changing brands of food, which seemed to have

> helped for a little while. Then I started to feel that the food had

> an over amount of fungal growth or toxins in it and we would never

> feed her the bottom of the bag, well she wouldn't eat it. I also

> just recently read, do not leave the bags of animal food open, even

> in a cabinet, because it will start growing mold immediately. Please

> keep it in a sealed container. Another hard lessen.

>

> After about 6 or 7 months she was doing everything she could to

> remain active, she would take walks with me, bounce around on the

> floor when I got down with her, kind of like, look daddy I can still

> do. She was trying, but did not seem to be in any pain. She was

> losing now not only the weight but also alot of muscle tone. We knew

> it was time. I think she did too. When I brought her in the vet put

> her on the scale, she had lost over 50% of her body weight. I just

> wish I could have afforded to have testing done to find out what was

> really affecting her, but at that time it really didn't make any

> difference. So just a word of warning folks, stay away from the

> plastic bowls, use metal bowls. I would say ceramic, but alot of

> those may be sealed with a high gloss paint and to get the gloss it

> takes lead. Keep the food in closed containers.

>

> Take care,

>

> KC

>

> Pet food recalled after deadly fungus found

>

> http://www.newsday.com/news/local/wire/newyork/ny-bc-ny--

> petfoodrecall1222dec22,0,1171766.story?coll=ny-region-apnewyork

>

> December 22, 2005, 5:58 PM EST

>

>

> with comment from dog owner. ADDS photo numbers. AP Photos NYITH101-

> 104

>

> ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) _ A pet food company has advised retailers to stop

> selling some of its dog and cat food that may be contaminated with

> toxic fungus after several dogs got sick and some died.

>

> The fungus produces poisonous aflatoxin. Symptoms of aflatoxin

> poisoning include lethargy, loss of appetite, yellowish eyes and

> gums, and severe or bloody diarrhea.

>

> The 19 recalled varieties of dog and cat food were made by Diamond

> Pet Foods and sold in New York and 22 other states and under the

> brand names Diamond, Country Value, and Professional.

>

> The recalled batches have date codes of March 1, 2007 through June

> 21, 2007 and were made at the company's plant in Gaston, S.C.

>

> The Missouri-based company is aware of fewer than 10 New York dog

> deaths attributed to the contamination, general manager Mark

> Brinkmann told the Syracuse Post-Standard.

>

> Seven dogs from the Rochester area were being treated for liver

> disease and failure at Cornell University Hospital for Animals after

> eating contaminated food, said university spokeswoman Sabina Lee.

>

> Cornell graduate and veterinarian Gluckman, in suburban

> Rochester, discovered the link between the pet food and dog illness,

> Lee said. Three dogs died in the area, causing veterinarians at

> Mendon Village Animal Hospital to suspect a contaminated food or

> water source.

>

> Tests on the deceased dogs' food at the state Animal Health

> Diagnostic Center at Cornell revealed the presence of the mold.

>

> -Vince of Pittsford noticed his 10-year-old golden

> retriever Lightning behaving strangely and brought her to the Mendon

> hospital Dec. 15. The dog was euthanized Sunday.

>

> His other dog, Digger, was taken to Cornell for treatment.

>

> " She still jumps around and barks but she's not keeping food down

> and there are real abnormalities, " -Vince told The Ithaca

> Journal. " Even though they're looking good, there still might be

> something wrong with them. "

>

> ___P>

>

> On the Net:

>

> Diamond Pet Food: http://www.diamondpet.com

>

[Guest guest]

Yes, KC sorry for the loss of your Dog- being alone- my dog is my

one ally. He got very sick when I did- but seems to have made a

recovery-I worry though, about him getting cancer- don't want to go

it without him Happy holidays to all

-- In , " kl_clayton " <kl_clayton@y...>

wrote:

>

> Wow- so sorry to hear of the loss of your dear dog. Many people

have said their animals

> have gotten sick from the mold in mold houses. I don't know what

they do about it, but

> some have mentioned herbal treatements, etc, similar to human

treatment.

>

> Plastic is REALLY bad for people too. There have been reports in

the Science News

> sporadically for the last 20 years about chemicals leaching into

food from plastics. Teflon

> cookware is another source of illness for animals. I had birds,

and if you heat up Teflon

> cookware or any nonstick skillet with out food in it, it gives off

toxic chemicals that KILLS

> birds just by smelling it.

>

> But thanks for the news about the blatent mold in dog food.

>

> We use ceramic bowls with metal ones for a back up. Also, if you

use ceramics from the

> US it is safe, but Mexican pottery often uses lead in the glaze

that does come off in the

> food or water. We also feed her higher quality food, and when we

open a bag, we put it

> into the freezer right away, and take out her daily portion to

thaw out. She gets sick to her

> stomach from it when we don't do that- the fat gets rancid and it

bothers her. She had this

> when we got her from the humane society.

>

> I feel sure that she had to be affected by the mold in the house

too, but she seems to be

> ok so far. Thanks for the warning.

>

>

> >

> > There is a number of reasons why I am posting this. This is

about

> > the tenth time I've received this information and I know most of

> > your pets are treated like another family member and are dear to

> > your hearts, for some that is all we have.

> >

> > Before you read this article I would like to inform pet owners

about

> > something I just found out the hard way. My dog Dusty of 9

years, a

> > blonde part shepherd?, chow? maybe wolf? we just had to put down

> > last week because within the last six months she was ill and we

> > weren't quite sure from what. We did not have the funds to bring

her

> > to the vet, several things may have caused this. But what I do

know

> > for sure, NEVER, NEVER use plastic bowls for your animals. This

is

> > what started her illness. Something was being released from the

> > bowls into her food and water and it took us a little while to

> > figure this out. When she was drinking water from everywhere

else

> > but, even after we put fresh water in and she watched us, but

still

> > refused to drink it. Before she would drink or eat she would

smell

> > her food and walk away. It didn't make sense. She started losing

> > weight and anything she did eat she would lose. We changed to

metal

> > bowls and it still took her some time to start eating again like

she

> > normally once had. Unfortunately the damage was already done and

she

> > was having problems with her kidneys. I gave her milk thistle

for a

> > while and it did help, but she continued to be sick and not

eating

> > much. We started changing brands of food, which seemed to have

> > helped for a little while. Then I started to feel that the food

had

> > an over amount of fungal growth or toxins in it and we would

never

> > feed her the bottom of the bag, well she wouldn't eat it. I also

> > just recently read, do not leave the bags of animal food open,

even

> > in a cabinet, because it will start growing mold immediately.

Please

> > keep it in a sealed container. Another hard lessen.

> >

> > After about 6 or 7 months she was doing everything she could to

> > remain active, she would take walks with me, bounce around on

the

> > floor when I got down with her, kind of like, look daddy I can

still

> > do. She was trying, but did not seem to be in any pain. She was

> > losing now not only the weight but also alot of muscle tone. We

knew

> > it was time. I think she did too. When I brought her in the vet

put

> > her on the scale, she had lost over 50% of her body weight. I

just

> > wish I could have afforded to have testing done to find out what

was

> > really affecting her, but at that time it really didn't make any

> > difference. So just a word of warning folks, stay away from the

> > plastic bowls, use metal bowls. I would say ceramic, but alot of

> > those may be sealed with a high gloss paint and to get the gloss

it

> > takes lead. Keep the food in closed containers.

> >

> > Take care,

> >

> > KC

> >

> > Pet food recalled after deadly fungus found

> >

> > http://www.newsday.com/news/local/wire/newyork/ny-bc-ny--

> > petfoodrecall1222dec22,0,1171766.story?coll=ny-region-apnewyork

> >

> > December 22, 2005, 5:58 PM EST

> >

> >

> > with comment from dog owner. ADDS photo numbers. AP Photos

NYITH101-

> > 104

> >

> > ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) _ A pet food company has advised retailers to

stop

> > selling some of its dog and cat food that may be contaminated

with

> > toxic fungus after several dogs got sick and some died.

> >

> > The fungus produces poisonous aflatoxin. Symptoms of aflatoxin

> > poisoning include lethargy, loss of appetite, yellowish eyes and

> > gums, and severe or bloody diarrhea.

> >

> > The 19 recalled varieties of dog and cat food were made by

Diamond

> > Pet Foods and sold in New York and 22 other states and under the

> > brand names Diamond, Country Value, and Professional.

> >

> > The recalled batches have date codes of March 1, 2007 through

June

> > 21, 2007 and were made at the company's plant in Gaston, S.C.

> >

> > The Missouri-based company is aware of fewer than 10 New York

dog

> > deaths attributed to the contamination, general manager Mark

> > Brinkmann told the Syracuse Post-Standard.

> >

> > Seven dogs from the Rochester area were being treated for liver

> > disease and failure at Cornell University Hospital for Animals

after

> > eating contaminated food, said university spokeswoman Sabina

Lee.

> >

> > Cornell graduate and veterinarian Gluckman, in suburban

> > Rochester, discovered the link between the pet food and dog

illness,

> > Lee said. Three dogs died in the area, causing veterinarians at

> > Mendon Village Animal Hospital to suspect a contaminated food or

> > water source.

> >

> > Tests on the deceased dogs' food at the state Animal Health

> > Diagnostic Center at Cornell revealed the presence of the mold.

> >

> > -Vince of Pittsford noticed his 10-year-old golden

> > retriever Lightning behaving strangely and brought her to the

Mendon

> > hospital Dec. 15. The dog was euthanized Sunday.

> >

> > His other dog, Digger, was taken to Cornell for treatment.

> >

> > " She still jumps around and barks but she's not keeping food

down

> > and there are real abnormalities, " -Vince told The Ithaca

> > Journal. " Even though they're looking good, there still might be

> > something wrong with them. "

> >

> > ___P>

> >

> > On the Net:

> >

> > Diamond Pet Food: http://www.diamondpet.com

> >

>

[Guest guest]

Or maybe do additional reaearch to that food supplies can be

detoxified. After all a silo full of grain that gets moldy presents

a number of problems beside the great amount of cockroach products

and mouse pellets that " naturally " co-exist with grain in storage.

Filth to humans which carry amounts of disease become most

troublesome when storage facilities become larger.

Your suggestion is interesting but will it work? Will folks

continue to buy pet food if its cost triples due to new sanitary

regulations? I'd rather see solutions to killing the toxins before

food is processed.

=========================

>

> Just for everybody's information, when I am reading stuff about

mold

> effects I often find things about mold contamination of human food

> stuffs. Typically, what a farmer does when they find this is dilute

> the moldy food with uncontaminated food, then mix it up and sell

it as

> animal feed.

>

> This is what the journal articles, etc. tell thejm to do...

>

> (because the standards for 'acceptable' mycotoxin contamination of

> animal feed are lower than for human food)

>

> Perhaps what we need are to apply the standards for human food to

the

> food of 'companion animals' (cats, dogs, pet birds, etc.- and

perhaps

> animals that are 'used' for human food..as well)

>

[Guest guest]

My dog got sick when I did, and had allot of the same problems,

swollen lymph node in the back of the neck, skin and ear infections,

and he could not eat dog food or wheat without the runs, I cooked

for him for a year, now he is back on dog food- the best I can find-

the vet said it was better than home cooking- and his teeth are

better now. of course I worry about cancer

karen

>

> Just for everybody's information, when I am reading stuff about

mold

> effects I often find things about mold contamination of human food

> stuffs. Typically, what a farmer does when they find this is dilute

> the moldy food with uncontaminated food, then mix it up and sell

it as

> animal feed.

>

> This is what the journal articles, etc. tell thejm to do...

>

> (because the standards for 'acceptable' mycotoxin contamination of

> animal feed are lower than for human food)

>

> Perhaps what we need are to apply the standards for human food to

the

> food of 'companion animals' (cats, dogs, pet birds, etc.- and

perhaps

> animals that are 'used' for human food..as well)

>