Forwarded with permission. Please forward to anyone you think may be
feeding this food:
Dear Cavalier Friends, Breeders, Family and Acquaintances,
Last week our dogs began getting sick. We first thought that they had
somehow contracted a stomach virus from our family, because we had
been sick with a stomach virus earlier in the week. I took two of my
dogs to my local vet and she said to withhold food for 12-24 hours
until their vomiting stopped. We did this and then slowly started
adding in cooked chicken breast and white rice to their diet. At
first it appeared as though they were all improving. Then by late
Friday night my oldest girl, Katy, Roweland Tequilla Sunrise began to
go down hill quickly. I took her back to my vet early Saturday
morning and my vet said that she appeared to be in Acute Renal
Failure?by 6:00 p.m. Saturday, we very sadly lost our precious Katy
girl.
By late Saturday night, Abby our 10 month old little girl from
Germany, Rosebury Royal Queen began showing signs of decline. Sunday
morning, we loaded up 3 of our dogs and started on our way to Texas
A& M University's Small Animal Emergency Clinic. We took Abby and our
Champion Proudfox Timothy Tinsel (Timmy), and Rivermead Lady Letitia
(Tia). All but Abby, still had a good appetite at this point, the
only signs we were seeing was large amounts of urine output. We made
the 3-hour trip and once arriving, we quickly learned that all three
dogs were in Acute Renal Failure.
The doctors at A&M were almost certain that it was from some sort of
Toxic Exposure and being that we recently moved to a new house about
7 weeks ago, we were exploring all possibilities, such as our water,
our soil, etc. We came back home very late Sunday night. Monday
morning, we quickly began calling Environmental Specialists?both
municipal and private agencies.
Monday morning, we learned that Abby had taken a rapid decline at the
hospital overnight and that her chances were very slim at best. The
doctors requested that we let her go and have them perform an autopsy
in order to perhaps figure this out and save the other dogs. By
Monday afternoon, we loaded up again with our remaining dogs and took
them to A&M University Hospital.
Regalcourt Peach Bellini, Peaches, is in severe acute renal failure
with her numbers being off the chart.
We will see this morning if she has made any improvement overnight.
Regalcourt Joyous Holly our 6 month old girl, has one number off the
chart, but another number close to normal range. There is good hope
for her. And Regalcourt Zoe Girl, is fairing the best, mostly because
she has always been a very particular eater, never eating real dog
food unless she had to, more often she was fed cottage cheese and
turkey breast from the refrigerator.
With several college professors and doctors, fortunately for us,
verifiably some of the best in the nation, working on our case,
around 9:00 p.m. last night (4-16-07), the doctors met with us and
confirmed that it was the Natural Balance Venison and Brown Rice Dog
food that is the cause. The autopsy on Abby confirmed the crystal
formation that is seen in all the renal failure cases concerning the
recent dog food recalls. The college staff shared with us that notice
had just been provided by the FDA that Dick Van Patten's Natural
Balance Venison and Brown Rice was added to the list late yesterday
evening.
At this point we are prayerful and hopeful that some of our Cavaliers
will recover with the intensive 24 hr. top notch care that A&M
University is giving. We are however, completely devastated to say
the least. It feels as though our world has been turned upside down.
Please keep us in your prayers. We have phoned a few people that we
know that are also feeding Natural Balance?if you know anyone please
feel free to forward this email and cross post. When we asked, with
the list of "bad" foods so long, what is safe to feed? The doctors
response was paused ?you might say reluctant?to say anything that
might later be discovered to be misleading...or wrong. The doctors
said their best answer is "We just don't know for sure what food is
safe?what food will be added to the list next."
For those of you that do not know us, we are active within our clubs.
The Kennel Club of Greater Victoria, where I serve as Treasurer, and
also The Cavalier King Charles Spaniel Club of Greater Houston, I
publish the newsletter.
We pray you and your beloved companions are all well and safe,
Dave and Jennifer Snell