On December 18^th, 1995 I received a tiny 5 pound bundle of black and white fur. The wrinkly pink nose and clear blue eyes melted my heart right away. Huey was my Christmas present that year. Huey chose me right away while I picked through the litter for the perfect puppy to bring home. The biggest one in his litter of 5 week old puppies, he continually grabbed my shirttail and tugged me backwards so I would notice him. Finally, after the first puppy didn’t meet my husband’s critiques, I held him up for inspection. He instantly cuddled into me and snuggled in to sleep in my arms on the car ride home.

A trip to the pet store in early February introduced us to Emma. As soon as my husband passed her class enclosure she pawed the window and cried for him. The instant he held her, it was love at first sight. She was an early Valentine’s Day present to from me to him in 2006.

Both of my dogs have been terribly affected by the dog food recall. Last week, my husband, Jim Jakob, brought our four legged family members in for medical tests that are heartbreaking and the wait for the results is agonizing.

When news of the food recalls first was announced, I combed the lists and was relieved that our dog food brands were not recalled. An animal lover, my heart went out to the families that were affected.

On Saturday morning, April 7^th, I woke up to find my Husky had peed on the kitchen floor overnight. This is very unusual. At 12 years old, Huey has only a few housebreaking accidents a year. Throughout the day I noticed how thirsty he was and I constantly refilled his water bowl, also unusual. He was so thirsty and going out to potty more than usual. Both dogs were drinking way more water than usual, four or five times the normal amount. The younger Emma peed on the carpet numerous times that day and the previous day. She is housetrained and has a few accidents but not usually this many, maybe one or two a month. My husband mentioned that the past few days she was wetting frequently indoors.

Sunday, Easter morning, Huey had yet another potty accident in the middle of the day, this NEVER happens with him. Earlier at about 9 am we noticed that both dogs were exhausted. They hadn’t done anything but eat their canned food and go out to the bathroom. I was puzzled as to why they were so tired. I even mentioned to Jim that it didn’t make sense that the dogs were so tired, they hadn’t done anything all day, they hadn’t even participated in the egg hunt.

Later that afternoon after talking to my husband about their increased thirst, urination, and the tiredness of the dogs, something prompted me to check the Purina website. Our dogs eat Purina’s Alpo Prime Cuts in Gravy wet food for breakfast every day and Purina One dry food later in the day. It was now April 8^th and I saw the press release listed on www.Alpo.com announcing the recall on March 30^th for Alpo Prime Cuts. I checked our food can, the bottom was stamped 70431159. This food is on the recall list!

At that moment I was terrified that my dogs had been poisoned. I scanned the internet for a list of symptoms. It was a Sunday and I had to wait 19 hours for the veterinary office to open. What a miserable Easter, watching every movement of the dogs. My husband was napping and I went up to tell him what I read.

April 8th is when I discovered the food my dogs was eating had been eating was recalled. I don’t know how long they were eating the recalled foods. That particular case of Alpo we had purchased around 9:30 pm from the Wal-Mart in Palmyra on March 30^th and the dogs ate it every day until April 8^th. The food was recalled earlier that very day and Wal-Mart didn’t pull it off the shelf.

I drove back to the Wal-Mart later Easter night and went to the Customer Service desk to let them know they were still selling the recalled foods. There were two women working the desk and one was helping a customer. The free woman was filing some small papers in a note card box and asked if she could help us. She didn’t even look up to acknowledge me when I told her that they were still selling recalled foods. Still looking down she nodded absent-mindedly and said she’d have someone look into it.

I said, “You don’t understand, you’re still selling contaminated foods and my dogs are sick because of it.” She continued what she was doing and repeated she’d have someone look into it. She didn’t even ask which type of food it was or when we bought it. My husband had to walk back into customer service to offer what it was. I wanted to cry.

I called the vet the first chance I had Monday morning and told the receptionist my dogs’ symptoms. She put me on hold for a long time and came back and asked us to bring the dogs in Tuesday April 10th at 2:20 p.m.

The dogs stopped eating their dry food on April 8^th. The same food we put down then is still in their bowls days later, not noticeably touched.

Their water intake is still increased. I awoke Tuesday to find Huey had diarrhea that begin sometime overnight in the house. They both have increased urination and they are peeing all over the house, the urgency level frequently doesn’t let them make it outside. This is not normal behavior for either of them. Emma who is still crated in the house had been wetting in her crate for the past 3 days.

Both of their energy levels are significantly lower than usual. We started noticing the signs over Easter weekend.

Diarrhea started over a week ago and my husband said Emma vomited at the vet’s office last Tuesday. Emma’s abdomen has been very hard feeling since last week.

The testing that afternoon cost my family almost $500. That was a stretch for us to afford. At 4:00 p.m. last Tuesday the vet’s office called me. Dr. Amy Nicastro told me that she was certain my dogs had been poisoned by the dog food. My heart sank. This is one of my worst fears. She said the sooner we could start treatment the better their chances would be. She said she didn’t want to unnecessarily alarm me, but that waiting could cause more damage to be done. She said the blood tests wouldn’t be back until tomorrow, but she strongly recommended we bring the dogs right back to begin treatment. She estimated costs to start at $1000. Payment is due when services are rendered. There are no payment plans available. Given the acuteness of their conditions everything depends on how fast we can start treatment.

I don’t have $1000 available. I am heart sick seeing my dogs now, wondering what is going to happen to them. How much damage has been done to their kidneys? I am completely helpless to do anything for them. This wasn’t caused by negligence on my part. I did the best I could to care for my pets. Huey has been my loyal friend for 12 years. He’s traveled all over the world with me, from Korea to Europe.

My dogs have been on antibiotics for over a week now. Their condition has changed little. The blood tests were good in that they showed little permanent damage to their major organs. They need to have another series of blood tests done to check the effectiveness of the antibiotics, plus whatever additional treatment medicines are going to be necessary.

The financial costs are easy to count, but the emotional impact is immeasurable. My seven year old son told me that Huey’s been a member of the family longer than he has. Pets are a priceless member of our families. The emotional bond between animal and owner can’t be ignored.

Thanks for all your efforts. I have two male cats, Dodger and Oliver, who are 2 1/2 years old. Dodger is intelligent, social, and a little neurotic; Oliver is mischievous, affectionate, and very energetic. They are also brothers who are utterly devoted to each other.

Seeing Dodger at the water fountain was like encountering the Great Spotted Owl. Suddenly, he was there all the time. After several days of this, I made an appointment with the vet for the next day. This was Wednesday, April 4th.

Thursday, April 5th. Dodger tested positive for reduced kidney function. I still did not think it was the food because they were eating a product that was not on the recall list. On the overnight, waiting for more test results, I scoured the web for any additional information about the specific product my boys were eating. To my horror I discovered that, indeed, other pet parents were reporting illnesses due to this un-recalled product (it was Nutro Max Cat Gourmet Classics in 3 oz. cans; they are now, finally, on the recall list). I realized I needed to have Oliver tested as well, and he also had kidney damage.

They were admitted on Friday, April 6th for three days of IV fluid therapy, after which their kidney function appeared to return to normal (at least as indicated by blood tests). The vet prescribed sub-cutaneous fluids every other day for a week.

I am cautiously optimistic that we may have dodged a bullet. Their behavior since the treatment has been completely routine, and there have been virtually no symptoms of illness.