Aquatic pet food recall......

Aquarium owners beware.....in June the Sergeant Company recalled their Atlantis Flake Food due to a find of melamin in that product. One lady purchased that product several weeks ago not knowing the food had been on recall since June and lost 11 of her fish in a matter of 4 hours after feeding them. Apparently the store owner wasn't made aware of the recall by the company and continued to sell it. She has since filed a complaint with Sergeant.

lil Country Paws Sojos

Mmmmmmm! Chicken Stew anyone?

Chicken Stew

1 whole chicken, or mix of legs, thighs, or leg quarters (about 4 or 5 lbs or so)

1 or 2 lbs ground turkey or chicken

1 lb or so gizzards and/or hearts. Add a small container of chicken livers to every other batch of stew (too much is not good for dogs).

2 lb or so of mixed vegetables, I typically use the Sojos Europa Grain Free (dehydrated), sweet potatoes, carrots, broccoli, celery, apples, eggs, flax meal, parsley leafs, calcium carbonate,carob powder, kelp, alfalfa, ginger root, garlic. NO onions!

2 cups uncooked pearled barley or whole brown rice

16 oz cottage cheese or plain yogurt

1/2 cup powdered milk

1/2 cup ground flax seed

1/4 cup vitamin supplement (Missing Link, or Missing Link Plus)


Instructions

Place chicken, all other meats, and vegetables in a large stock pot. Add just enough water to cover*. Cook on medium heat for about an hour, until chicken is falling off the bone. Remove chicken from pot and let cool. While chicken is cooling, add barley or rice to the pot and cook another 45 minutes. Pull all chicken meat and cartlidge from the bones, shred or chop into bite sized pieces and return to pot. Discard the bones. Turn off heat. Stir in cottage cheese or yogurt, powdered milk, flax seed and vitamin supplement. Allow stew to cool completely. Spoon into various containers and freeze all but what you will use in a few days.

Stew can be fed alone, or mixed with a small amount of high quality kibble.

*If stew is too thick, add more water. If it is too soupy, add a bit more barley or rice.

lil Country Paws

Shared pet food recipes.....

Someone sent me this recipe when I was scouring the net for something to feed my 4 rescues. Granted commercial food is so much easier, but is it truly worth the risk? I myself haven't tried this yet, but figured it was worth sharing with our loyal readers. Remember when starting your pets on a new diet, give them small portions mixed with the foods you were feeding them. Then gradually increase the new foods every other day while decreasing their old food, so their systems can adjust. If you have a homemade recipe you'd like to share, please feel free to email it to us here at lil Country Paws.....

1lb Shin Beef

1lb Ground Beef

1lb Talapia

1lb chicken Giblets

4 whole eggs

4 lbs Assorted Veggies (substitute this for our Sojos Europa Grain Free Mix)

1 Cup of Brown Rice and Barley.

Cook the shin and ground beef for 10 mins in boiling water then remove to container.
Cook the fish for 4 mins at boiling and remove
Cook the Giblets for 10 mins at boiling and remove
Chop and cook veggies for 10 mins and remove
Cook Barley for 30 mins drain and remove
Cook rice for 35 mins, drain and remove
Hard boil the eggs, remove shells, and chop, grind down the shells.
Mix everything together and cool in the fridge

This last my two dogs 2.5 to 3 days (dogs weigh 75 lbs and 91 lbs), 2 meals per day.

Top with either cottage cheese or Live plain yogurt, add the oil of 1 codliver oil capsule per meal, and 750 mgs of natural oyster shell calcium per meal. (substitute with Missing Links, our vitamin & mineral supplement for complete nutrition)

**Tips & Tricks for making homemade

A lot of ppl balk at the idea of feeding their pets raw food. Somehow we have the idea that the big bad wolf roasted the little pigs before he ate them so with that in mind here is what I do when preparing food for my critters.

Large pot filled with water, bring it to the boil, when you see it boiling drop the meat of your choice in the pot, cover with a lid and leave for 10 mins, with fish you need to only leave if for about 3- 5 mins. Remove the meat from the pan and put it in a storage container to cool.

Drop prepared veggies into the still boiling water, and leave them for another 10 mins, remove the veggies and allow them to cool, once cooled you can either just mix em in with the meat or you can puree them then add them to the meat.

If you are cooking rice, barley, or raw oats with the meal add a cup to the remaining boiling water and allow it to cook until it is just on the hard side of fully cooked… about 20 mins.

Drain the liquid from the grain into a measuring jug and allow it to cool. Once cooled place it in a bottle and save.
You can add the juice to each meal as you wish.
Add the grain to the rice and veggies and mix well.

There you have a dogs/cats dinner

lil Country Paws Dress-Up

Lab Tests Find Painkiller in Samples of Pet Food

Lab Tests Find Painkiller in Samples of Pet Food
But tests don't find any melamine

September 7, 2007
A sample of pet food -- identified as CANIDAE dog food -- has tested positive for the painkiller acetaminophen, ConsumerAffairs.com has learned.

The findings are contained in a report issued by the ExperTox Inc. Analytical Laboratory earlier this week, which reveals its toxicologists detected acetaminophen in a sample of pet food listed as CANIDAE dog food.

We also confirmed the findings with the manager of the Deer Park, Texas, laboratory. “That is one of our reports,” Donna Coneley, lab manager, told us.

Coneley, however, said the sample arrived in a Ziploc bag and ExperTox cannot confirm the pet food is a CANIDAE product. The lab's customer, who was not identified because of a confidentiality agreement, identified the sample as CANIDAE pet food on ExperTox’s forms.

Coneley also confirmed the lab detected acetaminophen in the dog food, but she pointed out that the report doesn’t show the amount of painkiller found in the sample.
No melamine

ExperTox’s report also reveals its toxicologists did not detect cyanuric acid or melamine in the dog food tested.

Melamine is the chemical that triggered this year’s massive pet food recall. In March, Menu Foods recalled more than 60 million containers of dog and cat food the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said were tainted with melamine. That’s a chemical used to make plastic and fertilizers. It is not allow in pet or human food.

Thousands of dogs and cats nationwide suffered kidney problems or died after eating the tainted food.

The FDA said it found melamine in the imported wheat gluten and rice protein concentrate used to make the pet food. FDA officials traced the source of that contamination to two now-defunct companies in China.
Acetaminophen found in other brands

This latest finding of acetaminophen in dog food comes less than four months after ExperTox discovered the painkiller in about a half a dozen samples of pet food it tested.

The lab did not disclose the brands of pet food that tested positive for acetaminophen in May because of a confidentiality agreement.

But ConsumerAffairs.com learned two of those samples were Menu Foods’ Pet Pride "Turkey and Giblets Dinner" and Pet Pride "Mixed Grill.”

Grieving cat owner Don Earl of Port Townsend, Washington, told us he paid ExperTox to analyze those brands of pet food. He said the samples tested were the same lots and styles of food that he fed his cat, Chuckles, before she died in January 2007 after eating the Pet Pride food.

ConsumerAffairs.com confirmed those samples of cat food tested positive for acetaminophen. They also tested positive for the chemical cyanuric acid -- commonly used in pool chlorination.

But the samples of Pet Pride did not reveal any melamine contamination.
Not surprised

That finding didn’t surprise Earl.

“Melamine has impressed me as being a red herring since day one,” said Earl, who recently asked a federal court to force the FDA to investigate other toxins -- besides melamine -- as the culprit behind the pet food recall.

“The substance has been the subject of credible scientific tests and studies for decades. Nothing supports the theory it could be lethal even in amounts 10 times the highest reported to be present in the food. As to why no one is finding other toxins in the food, the simple explanation is no one is looking for other toxins in the food.”
FDA disputed earlier reports

The FDA disputed ExperTox’s earlier findings of acetaminophen in the pet food, saying it didn’t detect the painkiller in a handful of samples it tested. But ConsumerAffairs.com learned the FDA couldn’t confirm it tested the same lots and brands of pet food in which ExperTox found the pain medication.

ExperTox told us it tested 100 to 150 samples of pet food -- and detected acetaminophen in five of those samples. The FDA tested just a few samples of pet food for the painkiller.

“It’s easier to say that we can’t confirm something by looking at a few samples than to really investigate and continue investigating until you know something for sure,” Coneley told us. “I think this might have been a quick way to get everyone off their (FDA) backs.”

Coneley said her lab is not required to report its latest findings of acetaminophen in the dog food to the FDA.

“The clients consistently have done that,” she said.

We contacted the FDA late Thursday about ExperTox’s latest findings. We also contacted CANIDAE Pet Food, but the company did not return our calls.

CANIDAE Pet Food, which is headquartered in San Luis Obispo, California, states on its Web site that all its products are safe and not part of this year’s massive recall.

“It appears from the latest news within our industry that all recalls were from protein concentrates imported from China,” the company’s Web site states. “CANIDAE does not use any protein concentrates, or grain fractions and we do not import any ingredients from China or overseas.

“All CANIDAE and FELIDAE ingredients are of U.S. origin . . . We pride ourselves on making only the highest quality, all natural pet foods using the finest ingredients available that meet or exceed the nutrient profiles as established by the AAFCO Dog and Cat Food Nutrient Profiles.”

A lil Country Store

On trail of elusive strain of salmonella

On trail of elusive strain of salmonella
Wednesday, September 05, 2007


Tracking down the source of an outbreak of salmonella infection that has spanned the country is a detective story that took an interesting turn last month when a key clue was found hiding in a dog food plant in Fayette County.

As of last week there have been 66 cases across 18 states since early last year. Pennsylvania has had 25 cases including one reported last summer in Allegheny County. No deaths or cases involving pets have been reported, but the outbreak is considered to be continuing.

After the salmonella strain, Salmonella Schwarzengrund, was detected in two dogs in the homes of two of the ill persons, and in unopened bags of dog food produced by Mars Petcare in the Everson plant in Fayette County, the company voluntarily recalled two brands Aug. 21. The plant was closed last week for inspection and cleaning. Officials from the company could not be reached to update the plant's status.

Further investigation of the outbreak is a collaboration between the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, health officials in the affected states and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

The break in the case -- tracing human sickness to dog food -- was made by Pennsylvania investigators, led by Dr. Stephen Ostroff, director of the bureau of epidemiology at the state Health Department.

He said the state investigation began in mid-June.

"Cases had been occurring every now and then -- once a month or so, for quite a while. ... then, in spring of this year, we started noticing cases occurring of a salmonella strain we don't see very often ... now popping up every week or two," Dr. Ostroff said.

He said many of the sick had told investigators that they had dogs in the home. "Now that's a pretty common finding. But this was fairly consistent [and] prompted investigators to go out to their homes to get samples from the dogs," Dr. Ostroff said, adding that the salmonella strain was found in feces of two dogs.

How did the plant in Everson get targeted?

Dr. Ostroff said the FDA responded in early July to reports from investigators, who canvassed homes that had people with illness and those without illness. "One thing we found, there was a very strong association between illness and having a product made at this plant in Western Pennsylvania," he said. However, he pointed out, "None of the cases in Pennsylvania mentioned either of these brands [now under recall]."

The FDA then collected samples from the plant, but found nothing.

In turn, Dr. Ostroff said, the state health department went back to the plant. "We took swabs from the machinery, the floor all over the plant. We had them tested ... one was positive for this particular organism."

The FDA went back to the plant in late July. In total, according to an FDA report, the agency conducted tests on 10 samples, representing seven product brands from the company. Each sample (with same size and brand) included 15 subsamples, for a total of 150 subsamples. Two samples tested positive for the salmonella strain: one from the Krasdale Gravy dry food and one from Red Flannel Large Breed Adult Formula dry food.

Mars Petcare was notified, and issued its recall. The FDA has reported that none of the cases of illness has been directly linked to the recalled products.

The CDC reported that investigations are continuing to determine why humans got sick -- especially the 39 percent of victims who were under 1 year old -- from dry dog food.

Speculating on how the salmonella was spread, Dr. Ostroff said, "It could be the way you handle the dog food bowl, the way the dog eats the food, maybe getting it on the floor ... that's what we think is probably happening. This type of scenario is similar to what we've seen in the past, with turtles in the home, reptiles in the homes that have spread salmonella among young children."

People infected with salmonella bacteria get diarrhea, fever and abdominal cramps 12 to 72 hours after infection. It usually lasts four to seven days and most people recover without treatment. Salmonella in pet food and treats can cause serious infections in dogs and cats, but also in people -- particularly children, older people and people with compromised immune systems.

It has yet to be determined how the dog food became contaminated. "The FDA and the company will have to try to find that out," Dr. Ostroff said.

Safe handling of food and pets is recommended. Although the state Health Department says the overall risk of salmonella from dry pet food is low, it reminds consumers that pet food is not sterile and is a potential source of harmful bacteria.

For more information about the recall, see www.marspetcare.com or call 866-298-8332. A Q&A about the recall on the FDA's Web site can be found at: www.fda.gov/cvm/MarsPetCareQnA.htm.

*******************************Metal fragments in dog food prompt recall**********************************
9:54AM Thursday September 06, 2007

A national food distributor is recalling chilled dog food that may be contaminated by metal fragments.

In newspaper advertisements today Auckland-based Mars New Zealand said it was recalling its Pedigree and Optimum brand "dog roll products" as a precaution to protect the health of dogs.

The voluntary recall relates to Pedigree brand beef and liver, lamb and vegetable, beef rice and vegetable, and chicken and rice dog rolls; and Optimum beef, lamb and vegetable, chicken and rice, and selected meats rolls.

All have "best before" dates between October 16 and 19.

The products were sold at grocery and pet food retail outlets through the county.

Consumers are urged not to feed the rolls to their dogs and to return them to the place of purchase for a full refund.

lil Country Paws

FDA-CVM initiatives span individualized medicine to aquaculture research

FDA-CVM initiatives span individualized medicine to aquaculture research

Certain Collies and other breeds of herding dogs as well as hounds are sensitive to the avermectin class of drugs. In fact, ivermectin-sensitive Collies are bred for this trait because before the Food and Drug Administration's Center for Veterinary Medicine approves new avermectin products, it requests that they be tested in these dogs.

If the product is found toxic when administered to ivermectin-sensitive Collies, the safety margin is considered inadequate for the drug to be used even in the general dog population.

A genetic mutation is responsible for ivermectin sensitivity. It affects dogs that are homozygous-recessive for a deletion in multidrug-resistance gene 1, which encodes for P-glycoprotein.

The CVM's approach toward this MDR-1 defect is an example of how the agency is refining the use of drugs on the level of individual patients.

Individualized medicine, or pharmacogenomics, is an area where CVM Director Stephen F. Sundlof predicts much progress. This field of research focuses on variations in the molecules that interact with medicines moving through the body. Dr. Sundlof and CVM Deputy Director Bernadette M. Dunham spoke with AVMA News recently about the agency's future directions and recent challenges.

"Whereas the human drugs and biological centers within the FDA really have the lead on (pharmacogenomics), a lot of the things they're learning about specific genes and their impact on disease and how drugs result in differences based on the genetic makeup of the person or the animal—all of that is going to come to the Center for Veterinary Medicine," Dr. Sundlof said.

In humans, for example, pharmacogenomics is minimizing the adverse effects of a chemotherapy drug called Camptosar (irinotecan). Variations in a human gene that produces a specific enzyme can influence a patient's ability to metabolize Camptosar. If given standard doses, about half of the 10 percent of North Americans who have this genetic variation will develop severe, potentially fatal neutropenia. A molecular assay has been developed, however, to identify patients with the variant.

"The dog and cat genomes have already been mapped out," Dr. Sundlof noted. "As we understand more about how drugs work at a genetic, molecular level, we will be able to approve products based on the genetic makeup of an animal."

Continuing with the technology update, Dr. Dunham said, "A budding area that we are moving into more and more is biotechnology, and that's going to encompass a lot of the scenarios that will come from cloning and, potentially, transgenic animals.

"Nanotechnology is another portion of new technology which, down the road, will probably be impacting how some drugs are formulated and delivered."

Educational outreach, also a CVM priority, has encompassed issues such as nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and involved collaboration with the AVMA and American Animal Hospital Association. The address of the CVM Web page on NSAID is www.fda.gov/cvm/nsaids.htm.

The CVM's newest office, Minor Use and Minor Species Animal Drug Development, is directed by Dr. Dunham. In the July 26 Federal Register, the FDA issued final regulations (www.fda.gov/cvm/CVM_Updates/finalruledrugs.htm) on Designation of New Animal Drugs for Minor Uses or Minor Species, in response to the Minor Use and Minor Species Animal Health Act of 2004. The MUMS act established new regulatory procedures that provide incentives to make more drugs legally available to veterinarians and animal owners for the treatment of minor animal species and for uncommon diseases in major animal species. The final rule on designation, which will take effect Oct. 9, 2007, can be viewed online at www.gpoaccess.gov/fr/.

In all, approximately 75 veterinarians are on staff with the CVM, most of them working from the Rockville, Md., area northwest of Washington, D.C. These FDA veterinarians direct field staff—generalists who inspect facilities ranging from pet food companies to pharmaceutical production plants.

Several veterinarians are on staff at the CVM research office in Laurel, Md., midway between Washington, D.C., and Baltimore. The Laurel facilities are geared toward food animals, with housing for cattle, swine, chickens, turkeys, sheep, goats, and various aquatic species. Highly functional, the site includes a surgical suite, necropsy facility, operating feed mill, and milking barn.

Research on a variety of fish is conducted at the aquaculture facility. One current project is related to the massive pet food recall earlier this year.

"One of the (fish studies) that we are conducting in response to the pet food outbreak is creating what we call incurred residues," Dr. Sundlof said, "that is, feeding melamine, cyanuric acid, and other components to food-producing animals, including fish, to see how and where that product accumulates and how rapidly it is eliminated."

This research is important because during the pet food contamination, some of the recalled product was fed to food-producing animals. Dr. Sundlof said questions were asked by the Department of Agriculture and others about the safety of animals entering the food supply.

Dr. Sundlof said FDA received an unprecedented number of phone calls from the public in the midst of the pet food crisis. During the first three weeks, the FDA received 12,000 calls about pet food—more than the agency normally receives in two years for all the products it regulates.

An import alert is in place for all vegetable protein products (eg, wheat gluten and corn gluten) entering the United States from China. Dr. Sundlof said that these products are subject to "detention without physical examination," meaning they can enter the United States only with documentation that the product has been analyzed and is free of any contaminated ingredients.

"A lot of our efforts in the future are going to be directed at making sure the pet food industry as well as the human food industry is sourcing its materials from reputable vendors or suppliers that can vouch for, and stand behind, the safety of their products," he said.

Dr. Dunham added that the tragedy highlights trade issues and will lead to better communication, transparency, and, therefore reassurance that strict quality standards are met and that "everybody's aboveboard." She said, "It has been a big eye-opener as to how things are happening around the world. It's truly a global village that we live in."

During the recall, the agency found that simply putting the information on its Web site was not sufficient. Dr. Sundlof explained that a substantial number of Americans, especially seniors, do not access the Internet. In the future, the FDA will endeavor to reach all of the public.

He added, "If this had been a human food outbreak, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention would have been out there talking to people who believed they were infected, talking to their physician, and doing a thorough epidemiologic investigation. Anything that could fill that void would have been helpful to us in this case, and I believe would be helpful in the future."

The CVM is in preliminary discussions with interested parties such as the American Association of Veterinary Laboratory Diagnosticians about such a program.

Asked whether the CVM has adequate staff and budget to fulfill its mission, Dr. Sundlof said the agency has not been handicapped to the extent some other parts of the FDA have. "It's no secret that the total number of inspectors has been going down at the same time that we're seeing a great increase in imported products that need inspection. But as far as CVM is concerned, we're doing fairly well," he said.

Specific expertise is needed to cover everything from pre-market drug reviews to post-market surveillance. Dr. Dunham said, "In one sense, our mission is quite diverse, and we try to take the most highly qualified people who apply so we have the best of the best in those positions."

Many FDA veterinarians have acquired additional skill sets that enhance their value to the agency, such as master's or PhD degrees or board certification. According to Dr. Sundlof, "We don't have a problem attracting highly qualified people. People really like working here at CVM."

lil Country Paws

ASPCA opens investigation into unexplained dog deaths

Purina Denies Claim on Bichon Frise Deaths
ASPCA opens investigation into unexplained dog deaths

Sept.6, 2007
The insurance company that represents pet food giant Nestle Purina has denied any liability in the deaths of two Bichon Frise with champion bloodlines.

Meanwhile, ConsumerAffairs.com learned the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) is now reviewing the dogs’ medical records and their unexpected deaths.

The dogs suddenly died last year – within two months of each other. Their owner, Julie N. of Harlan, Kentucky, blames the deaths on Purina’s dry dog food – specifically Purina One, Purina ProPlan and Purina Dog Chow.

“I think there’s something wrong with the food,” she says. “There’s no other explanation for these dogs to suddenly die.”

They were both healthy. They were bred from champion bloodlines. And one of the dogs -- Beeble -- was just a puppy.

“She was a healthy 12-month-old Bichon Frise,” says Julie, who breeds and shows Bichon Frise. “But then she suddenly started drinking excessive amounts of water, was vomiting, and became very lethargic.”

Julie immediately took Beeble to the veterinarian.

But she died four days after he put her on antibiotics and started I.V. fluids.

“There’s no reason that puppy should have died,” Julie says. “Her parents had genetic clearance. She was a perfectly healthy dog.”

Two months later -- On October 26 -- another one of Julie’s healthy dogs unexpectedly died. In this case, it was her eight-year-old Bichon Frise, Kayla.

“Kayla was a healthy female who did pet therapy,” Julie says. “But then she started drinking enormous amounts of water. At first, I thought she might have diabetes. But the tests were negative on that.”
Autopsy Reveals Possible Link

Heartbroken and baffled by the dogs’ death -- and determined to find answers -- Julie had autopsies performed on Beeble and Kayla at the University of Tennessee’s Veterinary Teaching Hospital in Knoxville.

The autopsy report on Beeble revealed a possible connection between the puppy’s death and the food she ate.

Pathologists discovered problems with Beeble’s liver that were “consistent with exposure to a hepatotoxin such as aflatoxin.” Aflatoxins are poisons produced by fungus or mold. These toxins are often found in corn and other agriculture crops and commonly cause liver disease.

But how could Beeble become exposed to -- and ingest -- aflatoxins?

Simple.

“The aflatoxins could have come from the (dog) food,” Beeble’s veterinarian, Douglas Mickey, told ConsumerAffairs.com. He reviewed Beeble’s and Kayla’s autopsy reports and -- with Julie’s permission -- agreed to discuss them with us. “Aflatoxins are known to be found in moldy grains, like corn that would be in dog food.”

He added: “If you’re asking me if there’s a possible connection between the pet food and Beeble’s death, the answer is: you can’t rule that out.”

Aflatoxins in pet food have contributed to the deaths of more than 100 dogs in recent year, including:

• The deaths of 25 dogs in 1999. In that case, Doane Pet Care recalled more than one million bags of corn-based dry dog food tainted with aflatoxins. Fifty-four brands of dog food, including Ol’Roy, were part of that recall;

• The deaths of 100 dogs in 2005. In that instance, Diamond Food recalled some of its pet food because the moldy corn in the products contained aflatoxins.

Aflatoxins, however, are not linked to Menu Foods’ massive recall in March of 60 million containers of dog and cat food. That pet food recall -- the largest in U.S. history -- is blamed on melamine contamination in the imported wheat gluten and rice protein used to make the food.

Thousands of dogs and cats nationwide suffered kidney problems or died after eating the melamine-tainted food.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) traced the source of the melamine contamination to two now-defunct companies in China.
Kayla’s Death Remains a Mystery

Aflatoxins also didn’t play a role in Kayla’s death, Dr. Mickey told ConsumerAffairs.com

“That dog didn’t die from anything in her food,” he said. What caused her death remains a medical mystery.

Kayla’s autopsy report revealed she had “multiple organ mineralization,” which Dr. Mickey said was likely caused by an adrenal problem.

“But (the pathologists) couldn’t pinpoint on the autopsy what caused the mineralization of all those organs,” he said. “It would be consistent with adrenal or kidney problems, but her adrenal glands and kidneys were fine.

“Kayla’s death has puzzled everyone who has looked at it.” Everyone, that is, except Julie.

Despite the autopsy report, she’s convinced Purina’s dog food also contributed to Kayla’s death.
Purina Denies Claim

Purina’s insurance company, however, disagrees.

In a letter Julie received from Sedgwick Claims Management Services, a claim examiner states: “After careful review of the records from the University of Tennessee Veterinary Teaching Hospital, I must respectfully deny liability on behalf of Nestle’ Purina PetCare Company for this claim . . . neither Beedle’s (sic) nor Kayla’s medical problems would result from their diets.”

The insurance company, which misspelled Beeble’s name, concluded the puppy died from “severe hemorrhagic bronchopneumonia.” It also stated Kayla’s death “appeared to be steroid induced and most likely the result of Cushing’s syndrome.”

But Julie says the company reached that conclusion -- and sent its letter in mid-August -- without reading the entire autopsy reports.

“I immediately called the insurance company after I received the letter and asked them how they could disregard the pathologist’s finding that the problems with Beeble’s liver were consistent with exposure to aflatoxins,” Julie says. “And the claims adjuster told me she didn’t see that in the report…she admitted that she didn’t have a copy of the last page of the autopsy report.”

Julie re-sent that report.

“But a claim examiner called me later and said the company had reached the same conclusion…it wasn’t Purina’s fault. I asked them again about the aflatoxins and they just said Beeble died from pneumonia. They also said Kayla died from steroid induced Cushing’s syndrome, but she was never on steroids.”
No Comment

A spokesman for Purina declined to comment on the insurance company’s finding.

In a previous interview, spokesman Keith Schopp defended Purina’s handling of Julie’s concerns and said there were no aflatoxins in the company’s products in the Untied States.
ASPCA Reviewing Records

Meanwhile, ConsumerAffairs.com confirmed today that Julie’s case has captured the attention of the ASPCA.

We learned an ASPCA veterinarian is now -- at Julie’s request -- reviewing the medical records and autopsy reports on Beeble and Kayla. A spokeswoman said it’s too early to comment on any findings because the organization just received the documents on Tuesday.
Fighting For Justice for Her Dogs

Julie is also considering legal action, saying she’ll do whatever it takes to get justice for her dogs and other pets that might be at risk.

“I’m not doing this to make a profit,” she says. “I never wanted to pursue legal action in the first place. All I wanted was for Purina to take my information and check its food. But now they need to acknowledge that this has happened and make sure no one else’s pets die. I don’t want any other animals to die like mine.”

She adds: “You know that old (Shakespeare) saying that ‘something is rotten in the state of Denmark?’ Well, something is definitely rotten at Purina.”

lil Country Paws