A little less than a month ago, I was excited about a visit to the Microsoft campus in Redmond for some meetings, and a couple days away in Bellevue with my wife.  It turned bad while we were relaxing in our room in the beautiful new Westin Bellevue when we read about the pet food recall.  While we were away, our friend and neighbor had been checking in on our beloved little cat (Kitty, aka Jersey, that's her below with the pink bandage covering her IV)... we had him confirm the brand of food we'd been giving her and were horrified when we realized it was on the recall list. We asked him to stop feeding it to her immediately and made plans to return home the next day.

This story is not unique--- there are countless other people describing almost the exact same scenario:  We noticed she'd been drinking and peeing a lot more and in light of the news story, we took her to the emergency pet hospital.  There, they ran some tests and found severe kidney failure.  They immediately began IV fluid treatments.  She remained in hospital for two and a half days and showed some improvement.  We took her home where she ate and drank well for a couple of days.  Then, we took her to our Vet for some follow up tests and the vet prescribed some medication for an associated thyroid issue... we began the medication and she became very sick, crying in pain through the night.  The next morning, the vet admitted her for another 4 days of IV treatment.

The pathology includes signs of crystalization in the urine and kidneys, and some intestinal thickening.  We're treating her with antibiotics for the intestinal problem, feeding her prescriptive food for the kidney failure, and trying to get her to drink as much as possible, but we don't know how hydrated she's staying.  The prognosis is still unknown.  She's not the same playful curious little soul that she was.  She walks very gingerly and sleeps a lot.

My wife and I are heart-broken.  It's amazing how a little creature like this can become such an important part of your home.  We're sickened by the thought that every time we put down a bowl of "Nutro's Natural Choice" for her, we were poisoning her.  She was always a little finicky, and we'd tried numerous natural organic foods, and she seemed to like this one for a while. 

Why couldn't Nutro or Menu Foods have run toxicology tests on their food?  Why the hell were they buying wheat gluten from China, let alone using it in the first place (Natural Choice, my ass).  We can't believe that such an innocent little sould has had to endure so much.

I've found stories like this all over the web.  For example, our hearts break for Red and his family.