Friday, March 09, 2007 9:00 AM

SUBJECT: Swiffer Wetjet

Recently someone had to have their 5-year old German Shepherd dog
put down due to liver failure. The dog was completely healthy until a
few weeks ago, so they had a necropsy done to see what the cause was.
The liver levels were unbelievable, as if the dog had ingested poison
of some kind. The dog is kept inside, and when he’s outside,
someone’s with him, so the idea of him getting into something unknown
was hard to believe. My neighbor started going through all the
items in the house. When he got to the Swiffer Wetjet, he noticed, in
very tiny print, a warning which stated “may be harmful to small
children and animals.”  He called the company to ask what the
contents of the cleaning agent are and was astounded to find out that
ant ifreeze is one of the ingredients.(actually he was told it’s a
compound which is one molecule away from antifreeze). Therefore,
just by the dog walking on the floor cleaned with the solution, then
licking it’s own paws, it ingested enough of the solution to destroy
its liver.  Soon after his dog’s death, his housekeepers’ two cats
also died of liver failure. They both used the Swiffer Wetjet for
quick cleanups on their floors. Necropsies weren’t done on the cats,
so they couldn’t file a lawsuit, but he asked that we spread the word
to as many people as possible so they don’t lose their animals. This is equally harmful to babies and small children that play on the
floor a lot and put their fingers in their mouths a lot. 

PLEASE, EVEN IF YOU DO NOT HAVE BABIES, SMALL CHILDREN OR OWN A PET; PLEASE FORWARD THIS ON! YOU MAY NOT HAVE ANY CHILD REN OR PETS BUT SOME OF YOU HAVE FRIENDS OR FAMILY WITH PETS AND ALSO FAMILIES WITH GRANDCHILDREN AND GREAT GRANDCHILDREN!!!!!!!!

FYI:

Alpo - Prime Cuts in Gravy

Prescription Diet Hills MD Feline

Have you ever scanned the ingredients in a commercial dog food and thought, “How can this be healthy?” Well, unfortunately most pet foods available in stores today are so highly processed and full of preservatives, they aren’t any better for our dogs than potato chips are for humans. So before your dog takes another bite, read these tips on how to find the healthiest food for your pooch.

Steps

1. Understand a typical dog’s diet consists of 40% protein, 30% fiber and 30% starch. Choose pet food with this ingredient ratio. Read the guaranteed analysis to be certain.
2. Ensure the first ingredient listed on the label is a form of protein such as chicken or pork (not meat by-products). Cornmeal is used as a filler and is a low-quality source of protein. Avoid animal digest and animal fat which is highly indigestible.
3. A well-planned vegetarian diet works well for dogs. In fact, there are several commercial vegetarian dog foods available on the market (We feed Natural Balance Vegetarian Formula). (This edit comes from someone who has a vegetarian dog with optimum health, a shiny coat, a trim, muscular figure, and tons of energy). Dogs need PROTEIN, but not necessarily *animal* protein. Would a dog naturally be vegetarian? No. He also wouldn’t naturally eat dog cookies or live in your home with you or do tricks either.
4. Be aware that while preservatives may be necessary to keep the food edible, preservatives do not have to be artificial chemicals that might be cancer-causing agents. Vitamin E & vitamin C are great preservatives that are much better for your dog.
5. Choose Super Premium Brand dog foods (Merricks being the best)(Canidae) or Premium Brand dog foods (Eukanuba) instead of Economy Brand dog foods (Kibbles ‘n Bits or Alpo). The cheapest ingredients are rarely the healthiest ones.
6. Go holistic. Holistic foods such as the Wellness brand or Canidae brand are 100% natural and 100% nutritious. They contain human-grade ingredients.
7. Consider this rule of thumb: If you wouldn’t eat it, your dog probably shouldn’t eat it either. (Think animal fat and added salt or sugar.) Also, beware of the first ingredients being items like “chicken by-product” or the like.

Tips

• If you really want to know what’s in your dog’s food, try making your own dog food. There are plenty of recipes and meal plans available online. Consult with your veterinarian to make sure the diet is well-balanced.
• Every dog, like every human, has different nutritional requirements. It is very important you check with your veterinarian to determine what foods best meet your pet’s needs.
• A good way to see if your dog’s diet is suitable is to check how it comes out the other end. No, you don’t have to get too close to it, but as you pick it up in your poop scoop or baggie, check it for consistency and general appearance. A healthy dog’s output should be firm and without any traces of blood or mucus.
• When changing your dog’s food it is important to switch gradually, as it is easier on the dogs digestive system, and reactions to the new food will generally be less severe. It is recommended that you gradually increase the amount of new food in the following sequence: 1/7, 1/3, 1/1, 3/1, 7/1, and 1; this being the portion of new food to old food (first change: a total of 8 cups of food [that would be one big dog!] with one cup of new food with 7 cups of old food). Each change should be gradual with several days (5 days to a week is best) between changes. All in all it should take a month or more.

Warnings

• Don’t assume that your dog should eat what humans eat. “People food” such as chocolate, grapes, raisins and onions can be difficult for your dog to digest and toxic to his system

Expert Offers Tips On Surviving Pet Food Scare

(CBS News) NEW YORK Officials now say a rat poison contaminated the pet food that’s blamed for killing at least 16 cats and dogs, and making thousands of others sick.

On The Early Show Monday, resident veterinarian Dr. Debbye Turner told which symptoms to look for that might point to illness related to the pet food scare, and what to do if you’ve given your pet potentially tainted food, even if it’s not displaying symptoms. She also gave a quick course on giving your pet a basic exam, anytime.

How can you tell if your pet is suffering from kidney failure?The signs of acute renal (kidney) failure are vague at best, but include loss of appetite, vomiting, lethargy, diarrhea, change in urination, and change in water consumption. If you see any one of these signs, contact your veterinarian right away.

In many cases, kidney failure can be successfully treated if caught quickly. This is key! If you wait too late, the damage may be too extensive, and irreversible.

By the way, even if your pet hasn’t eaten one of the recalled foods, if they display these signs, call you vet right away. These signs are indications of a variety of illnesses, not just kidney failure.

Why is it so important to get the pet to the veterinarian so quickly?Kidney failure is a progressive disease. The longer you wait, the more damage is done to the kidneys. In some cases, the damage is permanent. If your veterinarian doesn’t start the appropriate therapy in a timely manner, your pet’s kidneys may reach a point of no return. If this happens, there is no cure. The kidney failure will be fatal.

If a pet owner has been feeding a pet a recalled food, what should he or she do?First and foremost, discontinue feeding the food immediately. Discard any opened containers of the food in a way that your pet cannot get to it. We all know that animals are masters at getting into the garbage. Take any unopened containers back to the store from which it was purchased for a full refund.

Watch your pet very closely. If your pet gets sick, take it to the vet immediately. And report your pet’s illness to the Food and Drug Administration. A list of Consumer Complaint Coordinators can be found on the FDA Web site.

What if your pet has eaten the food that is listed in the recall but has NOT experienced any of the symptoms?If you know with certainty that your pet ate some of the food that is included on the recall, at the very least you should watch your pet very closely. If you see any of the signs mentioned above, take them to the vet immediately. Be particularly aware of your pet’s energy level. If she is not playing as much, doesn’t meet you at the door, sleeps longer than normal, doesn’t come when you call, etc., these maybe signs that something is going wrong. If he is acting fine, he probably is.

Still, if I fed my pet one of these foods, I would have her checked out, just in case! It is easy enough for your vet to test your pet’s blood and urine to determine whether the kidneys are functioning properly.

This recall has frightened a lot of people who don’t trust any pet food. Should pet owners be cooking homemade meals for their pets?First, the plants involved in this recall only made the “cuts and gravy”-style foods that are on the recall list. We have no reason to believe that dry food is involved. And feeding a homemade diet is noble, but a lot of hard work. Dogs’ and cats’ dietary needs are quite complex. And a pet owner would need to know those requirements, plus the right amount to feed. This takes a lot of time and leaves a lot of room for creating a dietary imbalance. I don’t recommend taking this on, especially since dry food seems to be perfectly safe.

This is also a good time for a refresher on the general health of your pet. What are signs of not feeling well?Of course, pets can’t tell us when they aren’t feeling well. So, it is important, as pet owners, to pay close attention to our pets’ behavior. Know what is normal behavior for your pet, so when something changes, you will detect the change.

A list of signs that mean your pet is sick are: vomiting, diarrhea, change in energy level, change in drinking, change in urination, change in appetite, weight loss or gain, bad odors, runny eyes or nose, limping, hair loss.

If you see any of these, don’t hesitate: Call your vet and discuss what you see. Remember, it is much easier - and less expensive - to treat a disease in its early stages than later on in the process.

Veterinary group says pet food deaths higher than reported

ALBANY, New York: Members of a veterinarians’ Web site reported at least 471 cases of kidney failure among pets in the 10 days since a recall of pet food in North America and the founder of the site said the total could be in the tens of thousands — far more than the 16 deaths that have been reported officially.

Paul Pion, the founder of the Veterinary Information Network, a Web site of 30,000 veterinarians and veterinary students, said Tuesday the number of reported cases had already grown higher than the 471, but he would not have an updated tally for a few days.

Of the 471 cases reported, 104 animals died, 59 survived and the rest were still undergoing treatment, Pion said. The survey results were earlier reported by the Los Angeles Times.

Scientists at the New York State Food Laboratory last week identified the rodent poison aminopterin as the likely culprit in the scare that prompted the recall of 95 brands of “cuts and gravy” style dog and cat food by Menu Foods of Ontario, Canada.

Some pets that ate the recalled brands suffered kidney failure, and the company has confirmed the deaths of 15 cats and one dog. Aminopterin, a derivative of folic acid that was once used to induce abortions and is now banned as a rodent poison in the United States, can cause kidney damage in dogs and cats.

“I’m sure we haven’t seen half the cases and if you double what we’ve seen, it’s a thousand,” Pion told The Associated Press Tuesday. “If we’re only getting 10 percent of the veterinarians, you can do the math.”

“The bottom line is, it’s much more than 16,” Pion said.

Researchers at the New York food lab, Cornell University and other labs continued Tuesday to try to pinpoint which individual ingredients were tainted with the poison, officials said. They also said there could still be undetected hazards in the food.

Pion, a California veterinarian, said only 10 percent to 20 percent of his Web site’s members had responded to a request for information.

“We are trying to do a more widespread survey in a more structured way,” he said.

Sam Bornstein, a spokesman for Menu Foods, said the company has not yet updated the number of confirmed pet deaths. He said testing to determine the source of the aminopterin and how it got into the food “is continuing aggressively” but Menu did not have any new results.

The company on March 16 recalled products packaged from Dec. 3 to March 6 and advised retailers last week to remove all the products from their shelves to verify the dates they were packaged. Products not made between those dates can still be sold.

The recall covered products carrying names of major brands including Iams, Nutro and Eukanuba. The food was distributed throughout the United States, Canada and Mexico by major retailers such as Wal-Mart, Kroger and Safeway.

Please find below some important phone numbers for you to have if you have any questions regarding the Dog Food Recall scare:

Authority – 1-866-738-7375
Award – 1-866-738-7375
Eukanuba – 1-800-882-1591 (www.eukanuba.com)
Grreat Choice – 1-866-738-7375
Hills/Science Diet – 1-800-445-5777 (www.hillspet.com)
Iams – 1-800-882-1591 (www.iams.com)
Menu Foods – 1-866-463-6738 (www.menufoods.com)
Mighty Dog – 1-800-778-7462 (www.purina.com)
Mixables – 1-303-768-8400 (www.varietypetfoods.com)
Nutro – 1-800-833-5330 (www.nutroproducts.com)
Sophisticat – 1-866-738-7375

Doggie hero

By KATIE EVANS, DAILY SUN

THE VILLAGES — Vikki DiMisa remembered being awakened around 3 a.m. Friday by her 9-year-old chocolate lab, Mocha.

Mocha was scared of the thunder and lightning from the passing storm, so DiMisa went into the living room of her Village of Mallory Square home and lay on the couch to keep Mocha company.

Then it went quiet, and DiMisa thought the storm had passed.

But soon, Mocha grabbed her wrist in his mouth and pulled her to the floor, followed by pulling her black lab, Max, on top of her.

“That was the last I saw of (Mocha),” DiMisa said. Shortly after Mocha pulled her to the floor, the tornado hit, destroying her home.

The power of the tornado picked up and threw DiMisa onto the ground. The flying debris caused an injury to her hand.

Her husband, Fred, was thrown from their bed by the tornado, and didn’t know at the time that DiMisa had gone to the living room.

“I looked over to where I thought my wife was,” he said. “In the bed where she would have been lying was a piece of metal pipe or something that was impaled into the mattress.

“It was just kind of eerie to see that.”

DiMisa knew she was lucky.

“(Mocha) saved my life twice yesterday,” she said.

The search for Mocha started quickly, first with a thorough check of the house, which Fred said just led them to believe he was sucked out of it when the tornado roared through.

“I’ll be honest with you, this whole thing has been very traumatic for us,” Fred said. “We’ve lost our house, and then to lose a dog.”

Word quickly spread through the neighborhoods that the chocolate lab was missing, said Sheri Evans, Disaster Animal Response Team coordinator for Humane Society SPCA of Sumter County.

“We were asking them about animal issues and everybody kept asking us if we had found Mocha yet,” Evans said.

On Saturday afternoon DiMisa stood in the parking lot of Laurel Manor Professional Plaza crying and trembling with anticipation.

A determined team had followed every lead they got, eventually taking them, along with Fred, to the Amelia golf course at Mallory Hill Country Club where they found Mocha.

But it wasn’t an easy task trying to catch the scared lab.

“I don’t think I’ve ever been up and down a golf course that much in my life,” Evans said.

As DiMisa stood in her yellow rain jacket with her hand in a brace waiting for Mocha to arrive, she could barely contain herself.

When the pickup trucks arrived, lights flashing, she was bouncing with excitement.

“Oh my gosh, he gets lights and everything,” she said as she started to cry harder.

Soon DiMisa was lying on the ground with Mocha and Max.

“Thank you so much,” she said, as she continued to hug Mocha. She promised him she wasn’t going anywhere.

The search team, along with other members of the Humane Society SPCA, stood crying and cheering for the happy reunion.

“That’s why we do this,” Evans said. “This is exactly why we do this.”

Fred said when they climbed back into the car, DiMisa was more optimistic about the situation they are facing.

“She said we can get through the rest of it,” he said.

“It was like Christmas in February for her, I assure you.”

Katie Evans is a reporter with the Daily Sun. She can be reached at 753-1119, ext. 9067, or katie.evans@thevillagesmedia.com.

Ten top ways to tell if Martha Stewart is stalking your dog

10. There’s potpourri hanging from his/her collar.9. The dog’s nails have been cut with pinking shears.

8. The dog toys are all stored in McCoy crocks.

7. The pooper scooper has been decorated with raffia bows.

6. That telltale lemon slice in the new silver water bowl.

5. You find liver and whole wheat dog treats stamped out with copper cookie cutters and decorated with royal icing using a #2 rosette tip.

4. Dog hair has been collected and put into wire baskets for nesting material for the birds.

3. A seasonally appropriate grapevine wreath adorns the front of your dog’s crate.

2. Your dog goes outside naked and comes in wearing a thyme colored virgin wool hand-knitted sweater with matching boots.

AND THE NUMBER ONE WAY YOU KNOW THAT MARTHA STEWART IS STALKING YOUR DOG IS…

1. The dog droppings in your backyard have been sculpted into swans.

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