Petfood Recall

When my mom was here visiting, she asked me if I had been feeding my cats any of the food that was under recall by petfood manufacturers. That sounded vaguely familiar to me, but I dismissively said "oh, I only feed my cats the most natural, premium foods possible, with human-grade ingredients".

Several weeks later, after I ordered China her rabbit hutch, I was on the PetSmart website and I decided to read their recall list. Darned if I didn't have two and a half cases of Blue Buffalo catfood right in my own cupboard! That was a bit upsetting. My trainer said I should "sue their asses" because I have a cat with cancer and I'm spending thousands of dollars on her treatment while this food is poisoning her, and I did contact a lawyer that was looking for plaintiffs in a class action suit, but my bf said lawyers that file class action suits are usually a bunch of ambulance chasers and by joining their suit you'll probably get a check for $25 someday while the real payout is for the law firm.

I was kind of upset I'd been feeding my cats this food, but in the end I decided to listen to my bf and after the vet yesterday I simply took the food back to my local PetSmart. What upset me the most was that 1.) PetSmart didn't contact me to tell me they'd sold me this food and 2.) as I mentioned above, I try hard to buy my cats the highest quality catfood possible. I pay a premium price for it, and then I find out that the petfood manufacturer is getting their ingredients from the same place as a lot of brands that are much cheaper and aren't marketed as a premium food. I'm about ready to start making all my cats' food from scratch. Of course, I don't even know if China would eat that food. The vet seems to feel it's more important for her to eat something she likes rather than what is "best" for her, since she's been losing weight.

At the oncologist yesterday, China weighed exactly the same as last visit! That isn't as good as gaining weight, but it's much better than losing. I think my rabbit hutch idea was a good one, if only I could find a way to keep Rodney's naughty paws out from between the bars. The other night I thought the hutch door was closed but it must not have been...he managed to get in the hutch, eat all the special food, and then throw it back up. Gooooo Rodney! Man, he's getting fat, too. :(

Here is a typical bill from the vet for China:

Chemo: Doxorubicin / MI..........101.46
Chemo: Doxorubicin Bundle
Catheter: IV set up & placement...54.90
Cbc: In House Machine.............47.50
Chem: Bun & Creatinine............18.84
Chemo Premedication...............48.00
Chemo Set Up/Haz Disposal.........16.90
Consultation: Brief Exam..........46.00
Out Patient Care..................34.31
Rad Tx Stt........................10.50
_________________________________378.41

Wheeee! At least it's cheaper than a human. I had a five minute consultation with a nurse practitioner the other day and it was $135.