We recently lost our beautiful 8yo healthy sheltie, Buddy after a “mystery” illness rendered him “terminal” within 36 hours.  To say we were heartbroken is an understatement, but we were also taken by complete surprise and left scratching our heads as Buddy had been a healthy, vibrant, active little dog until literally 36 hours before his death.  Knowing that we had access to one of the premiere Vetinary Schools in the country right here in our backyard (UGA), we decided to have Buddy’s body autopsied to determine the exact cause of death.

Having just received the final necropsy & toxicology report, we feel compelled to share it with the other pet owners in the neighborhood.  Apparently Buddy died of “aflatoxin poisoning”.  If you are like me, you are asking “what is aflatoxin and how did he get it?”  Aflatoxin is a fungus that is found on rancid vegetables (mostly corn) and, until recently, found mostly in the livestock “feed” industry.  Apparently, it was in the “new” bag of Eukanuba DOG FOOD (“Natural Lamb & Rice” formula) that we had opened just a couple of days before Buddy died.   The aflatoxins cause immediate, severe and irreversible damage to the liver and rendered poor Buddy helpless to something which was literally impossible for him to overcome.  Buddy died a very PAINFUL & HORRIBLE death because of the “nutritionally balanced, natural” food we were feeding him.  The fact that this was even a possibility NEVER EVEN OCCURRED TO US.

Since receiving the report, we have contacted both Eukanuba (owned by IAMS, a Proctor & Gamble company) and the FDA as directed by our vet.  At this point, nothing will bring our sweet Buddy back, but we feel a real need to get the word out to all the other pet owners that we know to make them aware that this is a real problem that is currently occurring in the pet food industry.  We are not just talking about the “cheaper” brands of food either.  If you do a little research you will find that most of the commercial pet foods are owned by one or two large corporations.  In the pursuit of “increasing the bottom line”, they have turned to cheap ingredients and fillers, many of which are imported into this country and NOT regulated.  It is a real problem that has now touched our lives in a very personal way.  I would suggest that, if you have a pet & you feed them any kind of commercial food, you go online and become familiar with the symptoms of this type of terrible toxic poisoning.
                         Buddy


Here is the latest link for the recall: http://www.newsoxy.com/health/pet-food-recall-expanded-procter-gamble-14064.html