Thursday, May 31, 2007

BAD BAD PET FOOD!!!!

Let me just preface this post by saying any and all grammatical or typing errors I make cannot be subject to scrutiny by anyone reading. This is because I was up all night last night with my sweet Maggie girl. For those of you unfamiliar with my "children" they are two miniature-schnauzers, Maggie (3) and Marlee (1 in August). I digress.
I knew something was wrong with Mags when I put down their food and she just stared at it and walked away last night. First clue, because that girl loves to eat! So, I got a treat, which she was interested in and took at first, but then went to her "treat-eating spot" and again just stared. The idea was great, but actually eating it wasn't appealing I guess. I broke it up into pieces and she ate it. So, I thought maybe her tummy was hurting her, so I had some Science Diet canned food in the garage and I put some in a bowl, which she scarfed! So, that made me feel better.
Time for bed...usually the girls will follow us into the bedroom, and will sit on my side of the bed for about 30 seconds after I turn the light off. Then I hear them make their way to their beds at the foot of ours. Well, only Marlee actually went to her bed. Maggie stayed right at my side and wouldn't leave...another clue.
Time to go outside to go potty....Marlee immediately goes and comes back to the door ready to come in, but Maggie takes her time, smells around, and can't decide where to go. For whatever reason, the way she was doing this was another clue. After she did her business, I took a flashlight to check it, and it was just gooey blood and grass. I didn't freak, which really surprised me, but I was worried.
So, we come back in and I get an old quilt from the closet and make camp on the couch with Maggie and Marlee on either side of me. I didn't really sleep much because I woke up if Maggie even moved slightly. She continued to have bloody stool, but it was more substantial, so i thought maybe it was getting better...oh, and I have to mention that in the middle of all of this Marlee threw up...thank goodness it was on the hardwood and easy to clean up!
So, this morning I took Mags to the vet. I described all her symptoms, Dr. L took her temp (she was normal), and then she asked me what I fed the girls. Purina Beneful, I said. She just stared at me. SHe said to STOP feeding them Beneful immediately. She said she has had several patients come in with symptoms similar to Maggie's and they were using Beneful as well. She said most of them were shocked because they had only started using it about 6 months ago! That was me, too! I had been feeding both girls Science Diet, but the vet doesn't keep a stock of it so you have to order a week ahead of time if you are running out. Once I forgot to do so, and we were out of food. My only option was Wal-Mart, so I bought Beneful because I had seen it on t.v. and it is one of the higher end dog foods at the grocery store...WRONG decision. I felt like such the guilty mom! Dr. L said she as no idea what about Beneful causes problems, but she didn't want to run a bunch of lab work before we rule out the Beneful being the problem. So, needless to say we will NEVER buy more of it! The girls have already had some Science Diet today, and we will stay with it (or something equivalent) FOREVER!
Dr. L did put Maggie on some meds, gave me a few days of Prescription Diet I/D, to help her intestines, and diagnosed her with Colitis. Poor baby!
She's resting comfortably this afternoon and I will post an update in a few days. Please pray for my baby Maggie girl!

6 comments:

  1. OH MAGS! We are so sorry to hear about your tummy troubles!! Grace will be very sad to hear about her fun friend having a hard time! She knows how it feels to have tummy trouble! I'm going to e-mail you information on the food we've been feeding. I feel REALLY good about it. I'm glad you are such an attentive momma! I can always tell when one of my girls isn't well. Hope everyone is better soon!
    Love,
    Aunt Corrie

    ReplyDelete
  2. oh poor baby! that is so scary..gosh..you never know. ugh! i too, can tell when my baby girl is acting weird..funny how joe can never tell. you are a good doggy momma! maggie is lucky to have you!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Poor baby! I'm glad you were home to take care of her - even if it meant not getting a good night's sleep. Maggie and Marlee are some lucky girls!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Thanks for sharing! We just switched Sandi over from Purina Puppy Chow to Science Diet and her stools have become much more compact (TMI sorry, but I can DEFINITELY tell a difference in her)
    I hope Maggie is feeling better soon!
    Yay Science Diet - I have to thank my wonderful husband for wanting to switch her food to that brand! ;-)

    ReplyDelete
  5. NO GOOD! Our pups both eat Nature's Variety "Prairie" line of foods. The great thing about them is that they are for all ages (you don't have to get puppy specific food), it's super healthy, and you can interchange the different flavors without them getting upset tummies or having to mix the food. I can find it at a couple of local pet stores, but I haven't looked at the bigger chains. Maddie wasn't eating well when I was feeding her Nutro, but when I switched to this she scarfed it - funny thing is that it's so nutritious that she eats less but has gained a little weight. Dixie is growing like a weed and she loves meal time, too.

    I sure hope they figure out the deal with Beneful. Maybe you could email the company and see what kind of response you get...pretty ironic that the vet has seen several cases like Mags and they ALL eat that food.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Charla,

    We had some serious intestine problems when Isa was just a baby. She ended up losing a lot of weight and getting very close to dying. The vet ran all sorts of (EXPENSIVE!!) bloodwork but came up short. Nothing seemed to be wrong. But Isa acted just like Maggie - wasn't interested in eating food, but ate treats and everything else just fine. We, too, had bought the food at WalMart. It turns out the food had weevil eggs in it. We didn't find out until they hatched. But they made Isa one very, very sick dog. The vet told us that WalMart, unlike the specialty pet stores or the vet, does not regulate the amount of time that pet food sits on the shelf. It's on the shelf until it's sold. Period. You should look at the dates sometime. They're all expired giving them plenty of time to acquire little critters and bacteria. Our vet was horrified, we sent a letter to Iams, and we've had the dogs on Nutro ever since. They both love it, and we've never had any problems.

    I hope she gets to feeling better really quickly!!

    ReplyDelete

Comment away, y'all!