Questions and answers about the pet food recall

[John]

labmom nj wrote:

The bag I am concerned about was Waggin Train Lot # 94349 and Vendor Stock #169728
The vendor Stock # is printed on the bag - the lot number is a sticker. I have another bag with the vendor # 933737, lot # 94096.
Interestingly enough, the bag that is lot 94349 is much darker in color - brown with yellow grain lines while lot 94096 is a reddish color.

My bag has the same vendor # 933737, but I don't have an actual lot number sticker. My vet and I are in the process of trying to get my bag tested.

[Doxies in Bothell]

We have two standard and two mini doxies. They each have about 4 Kingdom Pets Chicken Strips from Costco every day. They are in perfect health and have suffered no side effects. I'm not thrilled that this product is mfg'd in China, but I've surfed the web and have found no posted concerns about Kingdom Pets and their Chicken Jerky, but I'm going to stay tuned in about this just in case.

[Opie]

Please check out this site:

Many online reports of Non-Recalled Dog Treats Suspected of Causing Illness/Deaths

Costco brand Chicken Jerky Treats (Kingdom Pet)
http://petfoodtracker.blogspot.com/2007/04/am...
[Posted 8-21] This latest recall on the Jerky treats is setting off alarm bells for me.
We purchased some similar treats from Costco about 3 months ago. Not long after my dog, Panda, had a seizure.(We threw the treats out after I noticed they were made in China)(any word from Costco about those?)
Blood tests revealed that his liver enzymes were high and there was a lot of bacteria in his blood.. Antibiotics have brought the numbers down some, but he will be having a liver biopsy next week to get a better idea of what is happening....

http://www.epinions.com/msg/sec_~forums/show_...
[Posted 8-20] I've been feeding my dog the chicken jerky and duck jerky from Costco and Sams club for the past couple of years with no problem. However recently she has become ill and the vet bills just keep coming. Today as a matter of fact she is at the vet's office getting test ran.
She has had vomiting, diarrhea and loss of appetite. I've had a healthy happy dog for the past 7 years and other than the normal check ups nothing major was wrong with her. I know it's from those treats. I will not feed my dog anymore of them.
After reading some of the posts I checked the bag and sure enough it says it is a product of China and not for Human Consumption. Even if you dogs have not shown signs of sickness yet I still would not feed them anymore of those treats.
Just a follow up on this posting. My dog passed away a day after I posted this. She had cancer of the pancreas, spleen, and liver....

Added 8-22 7pm
http://www.itchmo.com/fda-investigating-bestr...
[Posted 8-22]...We gave our weimaraner Kingdom Pets chicken jerky from Costco and she became ill with vomiting and dry heaves and had diarrhea for 5 days. We talked that the chicken jerky was the only difference in food that she had been given. I tried to email the site on the bag of chicken jerky in LA, but it wouldn’t come up, so I tried the phone # and their message box was full. Something is going on with this China made treat and I will be taking this bag back to Costco. Luckily this time, our girl seems to have recovered.

[Chris and Dixie Rae]

I'm in Spfld Il. I've been feeding my girl ( an Aussie ) Waggin Tails for a couple of months. The last bag didn't seem to effect her but this bag lot 94662 seems to have her up all night tonight. She has diarrea and is whining like her tummy hurts. I quit feeding them to her after the news about the chicken tenders on the Today show. She had been vomiting, but dogs do that sometimes. It was tonight that she has 'really' been vomiting and had diarrea. She is finally resting as I am typing this. I'm going to the vet to see what can be done. I'm taking the bag of chicken jerky and some of the runny stool. I can only surmise that there is a connection as most of the dogs talked about being ill here are within the 94xxx lot number. It would be nice if the company ADI took this a little more seriously and got samples of the lots in question.
I will update with results of my Vet visit and the course of action taken.
Regards and my prayers are with all of us suffering through this.

[Dave]

I can't believe this... my last dog died of Kidney failure from the Diamond Food fiasco...I home cook for my new dog with a mix with Solid Gold and she does very well with that...however I have been giving her Wagon Train Chicken Jerky from Costco and she too has had bouts with diarrhea! Thats it... all treats will be home cooked from here on...Taking her to the Vet tomorrow for a complete check-up.

[John]

Taina wrote:

Waggin' Train Jerky Tenders
Lot # 94227
Vendor Stock #22208
Best before 051508
This is the batch that has my german shepard sick. Three days now, three different antibiotics, xrays, blood work, fecal samples, and she is still vomitting and has bloody diarrhea. The FDA told me that they did not have any reports of dog deaths or "serious illness" but have had many complaints from around the country specific to the symptoms and the product. I am sorry to hear from these posts that dogs have, in fact, died. I urge all of you to contact the FDA, this product needs to be recalled, and fast.
Has anyone had a conclusive diagnosis from vets? My vet is leaning towards salmonella poisoning but it will be at least a day before more fecal can be run to confirm this. They want to hospitalize her since she will not eat or drink much at all.
I emailed Waggin' Train and got the same impersonal form letter response that was previously posted by others. They do not seem concerned at all and appear to be denying this until the FDA can confirm contamination. I hope that is soon.

In my opinion, I don’t think anyone has a conclusive diagnosis at this point because it will take along time for a Toxicologist to determine what’s in the Waggin’ Train Chicken Jerky Tenders. Just like it took long time to figure out Menu Foods had fertilizer in their product. But, if it’s just bacteria, I think we’ll all have an answer sooner. My vet is leaning more towards E-Coli or this other bacteria that starts with a “C”, but my bag has a different vendor and lot number. My vet focuses heavily on research and has advised me to keep the jerky in my fridge until it can be tested.

Have you tried giving your dog yogurt with live and active cultures(but not with sweetener)? When my dogs weren’t doing well, the only thing they’d eat was yogurt, and I still give them about 2T up to three times a day. It puts good bacteria in their body and acts as a second line of defense with the antibiotics. I've also been told it helps speed up the internal healing process. I wish your dog well.

[Patti T]

Dan Ray wrote:

<quoted text>
And do you believe what the company says? My bag says made in China. Can we believe anything out of China. How about some independent testing of these products!

"Do some of these respondents work for the manufacturer? My beagle has been having gastrointestinal distress for over a year now. My vet did not know what to think. I have had my poor dog on and off medication with minimal success. Looking back, I realize that the problem started about the same time I started purchasing Waggin Train Chicken Jerky Treats. I just recently discovered that these treats could have been making dogs sick for some time. Maybe the unresponding retailers, as well as the manufacturing company's officers, should be made to eat the safe products they have marketed to us for our pets. Walmart should be ashamed for their handling of this latest pet food problems".

[Ben Johnson]

I lost my little Munchkin last year. The vet suspected she had been poisoned as she had diarrea, "green" vomit, drank excessive water and would vomit it right back up. Withen a couple days she died from kidney failure. She had eaten those chicken jerky strips from ADI Pets. I have another little shih tzu now and recently bought a bag of those strips and guess what...he had green tinted vomit right after! Munchkin was not just "a pet"..she was my best friend and no different than any of my kids...No words can describe the pain I feel over her death. As for China....I won't post what I'de like to do to that rotten Country!

[Airedelapaz]

Has anyone visited the Waggin Train site? They have a statement:

http://www.adipet.com/index.shtml

My dog has not had any adverse effects from their chicken jerky treats.

Maybe we should write them along with blogging.

[melibelle]

waggin train chicken jerkey made my 2 dogs sick with diarrehea for 10 days would nt stop even 7 days after i stopped feeding them. I wrote ADipet almost 2 months ago...standard response that their treats were fine. I bought these at Walmart in torrance. I see so many more complaints now then i did over a month ago when i first checked. I gave my friends chihuahua 2 treats and this dog had diarrhea and blood in her stool for 10 days...when she was perfectly fine the day before. i threw these in the trash and WILL never by any food manufactured in china. i make them homemade treats now. called FDA and they have many complaints about this brand. you can call the FDA and put in your complaint At a local phone #.= and they respond very quickly. PLEASE TAKE THE TIME TO CALL THE FDA. Please just put in FDA and animal feed and you can find the phone #, this site wont let me post it here. PLEASE DO SO SO THIS COMPANY WILL DO SOMETHING AND THE PUBLIC CAN BE INFORMED...and no more pets will die!

[Concerned in Las Vegas]

Taina wrote:

She has been on two different antibiotics now, will not eat or drink much, has bloody tar like diarrhea, yellow vomit, and is extremely lethargic. Blood work showed slightly elevated enzymes in the liver but that was yesterday and she has been declining since.

I realize your baby is sick and I know how heart breaking it can be when you just can't fix them right away... keep in mind that the antibiotics can be contributing to the diarrhea and bile (yellow) vomit. My first thing would be to get food in her, try rice (steamed on the wetter side) with chicken broth poured directly on it. And sometime hand feeding helps just make her feel better. Once she she has something in her stomach it will help with the bile and diarrhea and hopefully give her body the nutrients it needs to fight what she has. Once she has tolerated a few days of rice (a 2-3 small meals per day) add some chopped up boiled chicken. You could go with canned but I prefer to just boil up some chicken breasts. I like to avoid the extra sodium so they don't become anymore dehydrated. Also try some plain or clear pedialyte to help keep her hydrated -- if she doesn't drink freely try a plastic syringe and squirt it down the back of her throat. Hope this helps...
Andi

[Ulasmom]

One of my two dogs was really sick at the end of July. For no apparent reason, she vomited and had diarrhea for 1 1/2-2 weeks. Fortunately, she is only 2 years old and resilient enough to have made it through. Until I read this morning's paper citing WalMart's recall, I had no clue. They have been getting Chicken Jerky Tender treats here and there. Vendor #169728 Lot # 94444. I will be dumping the rest of them. So sickening!

[Matt Duncan]

Well this kinda worries me... Our Boston Terrier, rocky, loves these treats and he has had a few of them in the past month... We have noticed that he has had diarhea off and on but never thought much of it.... our's is lot #94701

Needless to say, these will go in th trash....we love our dog way to much to continue with them...

[Vicki]

I have been feeding my 3 little dogs Waggin Train Brand Jerky Tenders also. I never noticed in the teeny writing "Made in China". One of my dogs got a terrible bacterial infection and has been in and out of the vet hospital for 2 weeks. I'm still not sure if he will make it or not. He has been on 4 different antibiotics. Won't eat much on his own. Running a high fever. The only thing that was different was the addition of the Waggin Train jerky treats to his diet. He has been on the same canned dog food for years with no problems. I'm beginning to belive it IS the Waggin Train brand treats that have made him deathly ill.

[C Russ]

I have been giving Waggin Train strips to my Greyhound for 2 years now. In the past few months she has had a lot of diarreah and vomitted a few times. I am not going to give her them for a while to be on the safe side.

[gail los angeles]

My dog Daisy is a 50lb. standard poodle she has had two liver infections in 5 months the only new item in her diet this past year is costco waggin train chicken strips we have been to a specalist they can not find a reason that she has been ill, we go back on tuesday for more blood work and I am taking the product in for testing as it is the only new item in her diet.
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[Annette McPherson]

I cannot believe this...my 11 month old Chorkie, Cindy, had to be put down on Aug 18,2007 after being ill and in two animal hospitals, she had acute renal failure, Kidneys. She started vomiting yellow bile all the time and stopped eating. She was hospitalized on IV fluids and strong doses of antibiotics and we still could not save her. She was a very picky eater but she never turned away from "Waggin' Train Chicken Tenders. Her litter mate would visit us occassionally and I also fed him the chicken tenders and guess what, he would go home vomitting and have diarreah everytime, we just thought it was nerves. I have contacted the FDA who confirmed they are investigating this treat. I also contacted all the stores in my area selling this product and asked them to pull the product until the investigation is over. I also contacted the media to get the word out and guess who came calling and suggested legal action against the news station that reported the product was being investigated...the President of ADI. My husband and I can't even begin to tell you the sadness and distress this has caused us. We are going to do whatever it takes inform the public that these products need to pulled from the shelves until absolutely proven safe. I assure you this I will never buy anything made in china again.

[Jennifer LaPointe]

WAGGIN TRAIN CHICKEN JERKY TENDERS ARE A SAFE PRODUCT!!
As an employee of ADI Pet, the company who manufactures Waggin Train Brand products, and an owner of two Labrador retrievers who consume these treats along with other Waggin Train Brand items on a regular basis, I can insure you ALL Waggin Train products, including Chicken Jerky tenders are safe and have NOT been pulled from store shelves.
Waggin Train Chicken Jerky Treats are made from high quality premium chicken breasts that undergo very strict quality control and testing procedures.
Please check out the links below for more information about Waggin Train Brand Chicken Jerky Treats. If you require further information please contact our head of customer service at [e-mail].
www.waggintrainbrand.com
http://www.breitbart.com/article.php...
http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dbmd/diseaseinfo/fo...
Sincerely
Jennifer LaPointe
Marketing Manager, ADI Pet, Inc.

[Jennifer LaPointe]

WAGGIN TRAIN CHICKEN JERKY TENDERS ARE A SAFE PRODUCT!!

As an employee of ADI Pet, the company who manufactures Waggin Train Brand products, and an owner of two Labrador retrievers who consume these treats along with other Waggin Train Brand items on a regular basis, I can insure you ALL Waggin Train products, including Chicken Jerky tenders are safe and have NOT been pulled from store shelves.

Waggin Train Chicken Jerky Treats are made from high quality premium chicken breasts that undergo very strict quality control and testing procedures.

Please check out the links below for more information about Waggin Train Brand Chicken Jerky Treats. If you require further information please contact our head of customer service [e-mail].

www.waggintrainbrand.com

http://www.breitbart.com/article.php...

http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dbmd/diseaseinfo/fo...

Sincerely

Jennifer LaPointe
Marketing Manager, ADI Pet, Inc.

[labmom nj]

Annette McPherson wrote:

I cannot believe this...my 11 month old Chorkie, Cindy, had to be put down on Aug 18,2007 after being ill and in two animal hospitals, she had acute renal failure, Kidneys. She started vomiting yellow bile all the time and stopped eating. She was hospitalized on IV fluids and strong doses of antibiotics and we still could not save her. She was a very picky eater but she never turned away from "Waggin' Train Chicken Tenders. Her litter mate would visit us occassionally and I also fed him the chicken tenders and guess what, he would go home vomitting and have diarreah everytime, we just thought it was nerves. I have contacted the FDA who confirmed they are investigating this treat. I also contacted all the stores in my area selling this product and asked them to pull the product until the investigation is over. I also contacted the media to get the word out and guess who came calling and suggested legal action against the news station that reported the product was being investigated...the President of ADI. My husband and I can't even begin to tell you the sadness and distress this has caused us. We are going to do whatever it takes inform the public that these products need to pulled from the shelves until absolutely proven safe. I assure you this I will never buy anything made in china again.

I'm with you 100%... ADIPet needs to wake up and start looking into this problem instead of denying that they have one. I wish the president would have called me ... all I get is "we will let management know". If management doesn't know by now that they have a problem, they must be brain dead.

I understand that the Dallas office of the FDA is in charge of this investigation.

This stuff needs to come off the shelves until the investigation is complete.