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| OUR STORIES 1 2 3 4 |
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In August of 2007 our little Boo started pooping in our bed--we thought he was mad at us. Two days later he started throwing dark yellow bile. We had been at our cabin and did not see the news about the Bestro Chicken Jerky treats, and kept feeding them to him. We did not learn till we got back, after he started getting sick. Then I pulled them up on the Internet and saw all the warnings. We could not find them anymore at Wal-Mart. Wal-Mart quietly pulled them off the shelves, and no warnings was posted. He loved those treats and would eat them over anything else. Boo started refusing to eat and was drinking mega amounts of water.
We took him to the vet and he at first thought it was pancreatits and started treating him for this. He continued to get worse so we took him back, and the vet did labs and a ultrasound. His labs came back with a BUN of 235 which by now everybody knows is very high, with normal being 35 on the high normal range, and creatine was also high. The ultrasound showed what looked like antifreeze poisoning because his kidney's showed a shiny appearance.
We knew he had not got into antifreeze because he went only to a pen for his duties.
The vet did not give us much hope, but Boo stayed in the hospital and received IV fluids. Then we brought him home. We had all kinds of medicine to give him and twice daily subq fluids. He still would not eat or drink at this point. We were trying to get water and food down him with a dropper and he would throw it back up. This lasted two weeks and our poor BOO died in my arms going through a seizure. This was the most horrific death I ever seen. It was September 7th when he died.
I truly believe it was the treats that killed him because he was a perfectly healthy dog until them.
My BOO was only 2 1/2 years old. |
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Rosie is a 3 year old chihuahua. She weighs about 11 lbs - so she is not a small chi (and I am thankful for that now).
I had never fed her the withdrawn chicken jerky at all. Mostly it was Waggin Train and Dogswell and occasionally Smoke House brands.
In January 2008 she started to pee and drink lots more than usual. I was at home all the time so noticed it a lot. She would go through a packet of 32 pee pads in a few days.
We went to the vet and they found a large amount of glucose in her urine. At first the vet thought diabetes, but when she tested her blood all those levels were normal. She didn't really know what it was. She gave me some antibiotics for her (as there was a trace of blood in her urine which indicated a UTI). She said to test again in a week. Same results in a week, and more antibiotics. I looked it up on the web. The only thing that gives glucose in the urine like this is acquired Fanconi Syndrome.
more of Rosie's story...click here to expand
The vet gave her fluids under the skin and of course that made her pee more, but I am thankful that we did, as she was trying to flush out any toxins.
I sent a sample of her pee to the University of PA where they test for Fanconi Syndrome. Sure enough she was diagnosed with this.
I contacted Dr. Gonto who has pioneered the protocol for testing and for treating dogs with Fanconi Syndrome (mostly Basenjis as they are genetically prone to this through their breed).
He said there was a big rise in other breeds with acquired Fanconi Syndrome caused by Chinese jerky treats.
We had to see a vet that can give the blood gas test-- not all vets are equipped to do this as the equipment is expensive. The blood levels are tested, and then they work out what vitamins and supplements are needed.
Rosie has to take 10 sodium bicarbonate tablets every day (a difficult feat for a small dog.) Even though I wrapped it in cheese ( the best way) she doesn't always eat all ten. She also gets various vitamins and amino fuel (daily/weekly). It is likely that she will have to be on this for the rest of her life, and it has probably impaired her kidneys and shortened her life.
Dr. Gonto also said that many smaller chis (especially) have lost their lives because of this. I am so glad that Rosie was not one of them, but my heart goes out to all those that, through no fault of their own, have lost their precious furbaby to these awful Chinese treats.
I found out only recently that Waggin Train brand is irradiated!
What is this world coming to?
Rosie's site on dogster
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My name is Elsie Miles. You wanted to hear from anyone having a
problem with Smokehouse dog treats. I had two small dogs, Thelma and
Louise—both Shih Tzu/ Chihuahua (beautiful mix.)
On Dec.17, 2007 I took my dog Thelma to a vet. She was very weak, and
was not eating except for Smokehouse Chicken Chips and Duck Chips.
The vet kept her all day and she had blood work done and through IV
fluids and steroids. I picked her up at 6:30 that evening. The vet
said she could stand and walk, but she could not stand nor raise herself to pee.
That evening Thelma died in my arms!
The vet said she didn't know what it was but said it might be Immune Mediated
Hemolytic Anemia (IMHA).
But from all the descriptions of the illnesses mentioned on your website, I believe
that the treats listed above were the cause of her death. We are devastated
over her death.
As for Louise, I threw out all the treats and fed her our food until she
was feeling better. She still has very soft bowel movements. I am praying
she will be ok.
I feel so guilty for feeding my babies those treats. I wish I'd known.
The closeness of Thelma and Louise may be hard to believe. For instance, when they sat or laid down it was always together and always touching. We have two fluffy comfortable chairs across from each other. Sometimes I would try to see if one would stay on her own chair. As soon as I would turn my back, one would move to the other, or the other one would. They went for walks together, side by side. If I left one at home while I took the other one out with me, the one I took out would keep straining to go back. The other one would be up at the window waiting and watching. It is too late for my Thelma.
Louise is perking up a little, but she went through depression along with us,
and we still are!!!
Elsie
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Kona was born in November of 2006 and was a beautiful black pomeranian puppy with a tuft of white fur on his chest. He is the son of many champions, but we brought him home not as a show dog, but to love and be a member of our family. In the spring of 2007, I began purchasing the ******** chicken jerky (orange package) and gave Kona a chicken treat every morning before I left for work. He was very attached to me, and seemed to have an anxiety attack when I left, crying uncontrollably. The chicken strips seemed to satisfy him. After about a month, we received a warning from our breeder about chicken strips from China, and I told the breeder that Kona had been eating them for about a month or so. She said if he was fine so far, then not to worry about it. So the chicken strips continued. Then, just a few weeks later, Kona became ill. He couldn't rise from his doggie bed. He would only lift his head and wag his tail to greet me. He refused water. He refused food. But, he would eat the chicken strips! Luckily, I started to make the connection, and stopped the ******** chicken. I gave him Pedialyte (forced) and baby rice cereal (also forced) every few hours. After two days, he began to improve. I believe that his youth may have helped him survive. We hope he doesn't have organ damage or long term effects. Because of this, we searched in pet food stores and online for a replacement chicken jerky that was made in America. When none was to be found, we started our own company, Kona's Chips, dedicated to all dogs who have suffered at the hands of foreign pet products. Please visit us and read our story at www.konaschips.com.
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I have always tried to feed Laredo only the highest quality of food. My motto is: "if it isn't good enough for me, it isn't good enough for my dog."
I really thought that the Smokehouse Chicken Chips would be a good treat for her because they are marketed as being 100% natural chicken. There is not supposed to be anything else in them.
While feeding her this product, periodically she would have a "bout" of diarrhea; potty in the house; et cetera at least once a month. Each time after this "bout" I would take her to her vet at Banfield (which is associated with Petsmart.)
Her vet continuously suggested expensive tests, blood work, medications, et cetera, to determine what was causing her "digestive problem." Every month he kept insisting that she had pancreatitis and that we needed to do an endscopy and a biopsy. (Which I refused to do -- not only from the expense but because I did not believe that my young dog of 2 years could possibly have this disease! Plus it is invasive for my dog and they would have to sedate her; something of which each time she undergoes something of this nature it shortens her lifespan.)
more of Laredo's story...click here to expand
Once (Summer/Fall 2007) when we were still trying to determine what the problem was, I was having a conversation with her vet by phone and mentioned to him that I thought maybe she had IBD (irritable bowel diasese) "of course, I am not a vet," I said. He replied, "That's right, you're not," which really just leaves me angry and frustrated. This is the doctor who is taking care of my dog, my "spiritual child."
He did ask if she had gotten into any poisons, of course I said no, how could I have known about the chicken chips I was giving her as a treat? Especially since I believed that all of the tainted foods which caused the mass withdrawal of foods and treats had been pulled from store shelves?
I hate to admit that I continued to feed those treats to her about once a month up until June 2008!!!! When it finally dawned on me that she would have one of her "bouts" when I gave them to her. I thought that they were safe because they were back on the store shelf.
Thankfully, she is better, and never seemed extremely sick. Yet, I think of all the time and money I spent at Banfield trying to determine what was making my dog ill! It could have been prevented IF there had been better regulations in place, IF Petsmart had maintained higher standards to the pets which they say they care about so much, IF there had been better coverage about the whole thing to inform my pet's vet to even the POSSIBILITY of ASKING if I was feeding these types of treats!
Considering that pets factor into our lives in a way now than never before, why is the government taking so long to improve the food sources for animals? Why did a large company like Petsmart, who is supposedly dedicated to the care and wellbeing of animals, pull a questionable product from its shelves only to put them back after the scare; which would maintain the confidence of the consumer not only in the product but the company of Petsmart as well?
Since I discovered the connection myself, and consequently found this site through the Dogster website, I am more than a little infuriated at the whole cycle of events. Not to mention that I am sickened by the apparent greed and lack of compassion for another creature! Regardless of what someone else may think or feel about their own pets, for my own part I feel that my dog is a special being given to me by whatever higher power you want to name. I love her unconditionally for the little creature that she is, and it does not matter to me if she is a dog, a bird, a hamster or even a human child. She is mine and I expect to take care of her to the best of my ability and knowledge. I thought I was doing a good job at that with the help of a respected company such as Petsmart, Smokehouse, Banfield (whose motto is "'we treat your pet like family' or close to it), and government regulations. While apparently it wasn't so. My dog got sick from negligence on the government's part to regulate a company like Smokehouse. Also to regulate and enforce a company like Petsmart whose greed made them put a tainted product back on the shelf, making people think it was safe. And Banfield, while I cannot complain too much about them, I am still mad that they never seemed to make a connection either and continually tried to make me spend more money for procedures which my pet really didn't need.
Love me - Love my dog.
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Buster died from renal failure on May 17, 2008. I had given him the Kingdom Pets brand chicken jerky from Costco on Tuesday, May 13, 2008, and he vomited later that day.
I found some undigested chicken jerky in his vomit. He
didn’t really feel well the next day. He started becoming
very lethargic on Thursday, May 15, so we took him to the vet, where they did blood work on him and found he had renal failure.
The put him on IV fluids, but he was just too sick and he died early Saturday morning.
I’m warning everyone I know—not to give their dogs any chicken jerky treats, especially those from China.
I filed a complaint with the Costco store, and the vice president for product safety called me. He told me they
check all lots of that product for contamination, and he
felt it was a safe product. He was actually very nice for calling me, but didn’t feel my complaint warranted pulling it off the shelf. He said they had no other complaints about this product. We have been in touch with the FDA, and they have called Costco and talked to our vet.
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In our hearts we know that our pet Rosie, a 3 year old Chihuahua was
poisoned from Chinese made Bestro's Chicken Jerky Strips. Rosie, one of our three Chihuahuas died July 21, 2007. Rosie started with vomiting and dehydration (she was drinking lots of water). We were told she may either have an obstruction or have been poisioned. Since our dogs are inside dogs and we are with them at all times outside, we thought it was an obstruction. Finally the veterinarian in Southern California, said he was almost positive it was some kind of poisoning. They were planning to scope her but before that could happen she died July 21, 2007 at VCA in Fountain Valley, California.
We gave our dogs Waggin' Train and Bestro's Chicken Jerky Strips. READ THE LABELS! They are very deceptive in their advertising. The bags look American..CHECK WHERE THEY ARE MADE..We thought they were made in America. IF WE KNEW THEY WERE MADE IN CHINA, WE NEVER WOULD HAVE BOUGHT THEM! We are so heartbroken over this. We never had any idea what happened but after Wal Mart pulled this quietly from their shelves.(August 2007), I truly believe that is why she died.
more of Rosie's story...click here to expand
Rosie wants all dog owners to be aware of this and a total recall of this chinese junk pet food treats so other puppies don't slowly suffer as she did. We are totally heartbroken and will never forget our Sweet Gypsy Rose! Since Wal Mart and other stores had this problem before, why didn't they pull all that Chinese junk off the first time? Our Rosie would still be alive!
Are we supposed to play Russian Rouette and try to find the treats without the poison? Wal Mart and other stores that sell this junk are responsible just as much as China for all these puppies being silently poisoned throughout the USA.
We greatly miss our "Sweet Gypsy Rose".
Rosie's page on dogster.com
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For about a year, our girls safely enjoyed their daily Chicken Jerky treats. But in July 2007, I was in a rush and grabbed a bag of Bestro’s Chicken Jerky treats off the shelves at Walmart. After just 2 days of eating Chinese Bestro’s Chicken Jerky, our smallest dog, Frankie, a feisty, 1½ year old Yorkshire terrier, refused to eat the treats.
Soon after, she started vomiting and pooping blood. Within a week she refused to eat or drink anything, and became too weak to do so much as lift her head. At this point, our family was taking turns force feeding her baby cereal through a syringe to keep her alive.
more of Frankie's story...click here to expand
We took her to our veterinary clinic several times before she was hospitalized. Unfortunately, our stubborn and arrogant veterinarian refused to investigate any relationship between Frankie’s illness and the Bestro Chicken Jerky. Much against our protest, he insisted there was nothing wrong with Frankie’s kidneys, and put Frankie through several very expensive tests.
I finally insisted that no matter what my vet believed, there was something very wrong with Frankie’s kidneys. He finally gave in, and referred us to Tufts Veterinary Hospital. After smelling Frankie’s breath and running a few simple tests, we were able to conclude that Frankie has kidney disease. Her blood urea nitrogen level (bun) had reached a whopping 216 (normal range 7-27)- – what could have been fatal.
Since the diagnosis, Frankie has been receiving subcutaneous fluids daily, and is on a prescription diet for kidney disease, although the vet at Tufts insists she does not have Fanconi disease.
Based on all the information that is available about the disease, and her persisting symptoms, we will have her tested elsewhere. Despite having improved significantly in the past year, she still has trouble eating consistently. Before getting sick, Frankie weighed almost 5 pounds. No matter how much she eats now, it seems that Frankie has hit a brick wall at 3 pounds, 10 ounces.
Although Frankie is the sickest of our three dogs, she was not the only one to be affected by the Bestro’s treats. Our Coton de Tulears, Sam and Sophie, who are much older and much larger than Frankie, also suffer from kidney disease, and often need to be treated for issues related to that.
My combined vet bills since purchasing Chinese Bestro’s Chicken Jerky have been approximately $10,000.
Frankie is the sunshine in our house, and our lives would not be the same without her. We adore her, and will continue to fight for her life as long as we can afford to do so.
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I loved and adored my little chihuahua puppy, Keanu. I took him everywhere with me. I even took him in a puppy dog stroller everywhere and puppy dog purse carrier. I
purchased the CHICKEN JERKY TENDER WAGGIN TRAIN TREATS from WALMART and he ate one and within two hours he was dead. I am devastated! He died April 20, 2008. I've tried to contact FDA and other agencies but I can't seem to get any results. I am getting a new puppy but know it can
never take the place of little KEANU and he was very
cute and unique and his personality was so adorable.
I feel so upset everyday and I trusted a product I purchased to be safe for my puppy. I can't get him back and can't get his little body and eyes looking at me as he died out of my mind and I was helpless to help him. I am so angry that his death didn't have to happen and I can't
make any sense of it because it was supposed to be a safe
product for dogs sold everywhere, made from CHINA. I hope
and pray the word gets out so no one has to go through what I have had to...it tears your heart out. I want my KEANU BACK. Thank you for reading my story.
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Stories: 1 2 3 4 |
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