Area pets showing symptoms of deadly illness
Several vets said they have been inundated with calls seeking information.
By WILLIAM K. ALCORN
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
Cooper, an 8-year-old white and orange stray cat that Atty. Matt Ditchey's mother asked him to take care of before she died, is suffering from kidney failure.
The lawyer said his mother, Bonnie Ditchey, who died of a brain tumor in 2004, found Cooper as a stray and took him in.
Another of Ditchey's eight cats, Janet, 3, is in end-stage renal failure, and he does not expect her to live.
Both of Ditchey's cats, and others in the Mahoning Valley, are ill after possibly eating contaminated food that Menu Foods of Canada recalled Friday. Ditchey fed his cats Special Kitty US, which is on the recall list.
Ditchey, president of Angels for Animals, an animal shelter organization, said Janet, one of a litter born to a stray cat in his backyard, seemed sluggish Thursday and Friday.
At the time, he did not know about the contaminated food. He learned about the situation Saturday and took Janet to veterinarian Dr. Donald Allen on Monday, who diagnosed her with end-stage kidney failure.
Janet has not responded to treatment, but Ditchey is continuing to medicate her.
"She is not suffering, and I want to give her every opportunity to recover. If there is one chance in a million, I want her to have it," he said.
Cooper, on the other hand, who Ditchey took to Dr. Allen on March 9 with symptoms similar to Janet's, has responded to treatment and is up and walking around and eating, Ditchey said.
Treatment
Dr. Allen said his treatment for renal failure is to give the animal a diuretic to stimulate kidney function, "a crude form of dialysis," and a new product, Azodyl, which is a combination of several bacteria that consume urea, a product of protein metabolization, that causes the problem. He also recommends low-protein food.
While there is not yet proof, Dr. Allen said it is entirely possible the tainted food could be connected to the illnesses. Most cats and dogs don't normally experience kidney failure until they are much older, he said.
Several veterinarians contacted Tuesday said they have been inundated with calls from people seeking information about symptoms and what to do, but most reported no sick animals that they could attribute to the tainted pet food.
Dr. R.F. Papp, a veterinarian at the Countryside Veterinary Service's All Creatures Clinic in Champion, however, said the clinic has had several cases in the past two weeks, including three cases of acute renal failure in which the dogs died, which could be attributable to the tainted food.
He said the clinic followed up with the owners of the sick and dead animals and the owners believe they used food on the recall list, Dr. Papp said.
Blood work is needed
Dr. Papp said blood work is essential to determine if there is a problem. Even if pet owners just suspect that they may have fed the contaminated food, it is good to do blood work, particularly in older animals. If the disease is found early, it may be possible to limit the damage, he said.
Dr. Papp said that as of Tuesday it had not been determined exactly what kind of damage is being done to the organs nor what specific ingredient in the food is causing the problem.
As a result, he is concerned that symptoms may show up a year from now.
Stores that sell pet supplies also have reacted to the Menu Foods recall.
The Giant Eagle grocery store chain pulled all affected products from all their stores as soon as the recall was issued Friday, said corporate spokesman Dan Donovan.
David Ohle, manager of the Pet Supplies Plus store in Boardman, said his staff removed recalled products from the store's shelves Saturday according to corporate instructions. He said affected products are identified by brand name and coding that indicates the date and place of manufacture.
alcorn@vindy.com