Cat deaths linked to Orijen

[Perseus]

maxymia and TCM, thank you for your posts and keeping us updated on this tragedy. Considering you are nursing your kitties 24x7 and still taking time to ensure this doesn't happen to other pet parents and their kitties, I applaud you both.

Every day Champion becomes more and more quiet about what they are doing.  We were told there would be further test results by the end of February.  I would be happy just to be able to see the first test results, which they have not disclosed to anyone other than their own interpretation of those results.  They even said they would post the test results on their website, but that was before they got the test results.  That same question, where are the test results, have been posted over and over to Champion's representatives but never answered.

Peter goes to other forums and gawks his food, and then disappears as soon as people start asking intelligent questions or take him to task about his comments.  Clark and Michelle have gone underground. 

We would all quit speculating if Champion just started giving us some answers already.

[The Cats Mother]

Thank you Perseus. We are very busy as you know and not just with our cats.

If I didn't have a cat to nurse and rehabilitate I would be on a plane over there and on their doorstep demanding answers, seriously. I would turn up every day until they frogmarched me off their premises then I would find a Canadian lawyer to uncover what they have to hide because it would be much easier to litigate from there.

However I am very satisfied to be able to take care of my cat and work at it from here, it will just take a little longer perhaps.

and the weather's much nicer

[The Cats Mother]

  It seems that I had read somewhere of a couple of cats, that were not of Australia, exhibiting similar symptoms after eating the Orijen. Does anyone know if there has been any recent news about these kitties?

Four actually.
THAT WE KNOW OF.
One in Malaysia (deceased)
One in UK (possibly 2)
One in USA (possibly 2 - unsure if 4th in UK or US - Maxymia has been following this more closely and can give us a full summary)

I've been in close touch with the owner of the one in USA that Champion demanded retract her statements and threatened with litigation if she didn't. Her cat is still jumping at shadows and behaving strangely and showing some wobbliness.

Amazing isn't it?

That the ones with Australian blood on their hands are the ones threatening litigation.

What are they so afraid of if their food is so bl**dy perfect?




Champion are saying next time they go into any market they'll research it properly.

Can you imagine the impact of say, a brain surgeon maiming 87 people, killing 15 of them and saying - "next time I operate I'll make sure I've researched the hippocampus properly before I go in."





They did not understand what they were doing and did not research enough. This is what Peter Muhlenfeld has said. That they should have researched more.

I think they should have worked with an experienced importer of good pedigree who knew what he was doing or knew who to ask to find out instead of some unheard of tiny home-based operator evidently with no experience and certainly with no profile that I have been able to uncover - yet.

They should have stayed closer to their importer and their product as it entered its new market. Instead they express surprise when he presents them with the bill for irradiation. Which wasn't $10000 for a container by the way and there was not just one shipment.

Because they want to keep retracting and retracing their steps and changing their story, they think they can bully others into doing the same.

Well not me.

I'm not afraid of them. They can threaten me all they like.

I will keep reiterating the facts over and over loud and clear on forums, blogs and to the media right around the world until they are shamed into paying me full compensation for crippling my cat.

[The Cats Mother]

Here's why the Orijen "Compassion Fund" has been re-named by Australian affected cat owners the Horrorjen Compassionless Underfund.

My expenditure to date: (Australian Dollars)
Vet consults/tests:     $526.00
Vet prescribed meds:  $394.30
Non-vet practitioners: $794.00 (acupuncture, physiotherapy)
Supplements:             $242.65
Ancillaries:                 $257.77
TOTAL to DATE          $2144.72 and I'm only 2 months into it.

Their allowable paid: Vet consults & meds $ 920.30
                             Supplements           $100.00
                             Ancillaries               $100.00
                            TOTAL PAYABLE      $1120.30

As you can see, there is over $1000 shortfall already.
Given that this can take 6-8 months at least to run its course, assuming your cat makes a full or partial recovery, and having regard to the fact that most of the high veterinary costs are in the initial stages, there is still a long way to go before the spending stops. I am now stocked up with supplements for a further two months. As cats rehabilitate, the non-vet treatments can start to be spaced out with much of the rehab being done by the owner between visits.
Still however a long way to go before the spending stops in order to give a cat the best possible chance of recovery, and we are finding that the older cats are taking far longer. My cat is 10.

This fund is said to have been decided in consultation with vets in Sydney treating the cats. If these are the vets I am thinking of they do their own acupuncture and the more alternative treatments. Some of us are using our own conventional vets and selected specialists. So this was quite possibly based on an unusual veterinary set-up and certainly well in advance of anyone knowing how long the whole recovery process could take and what types of ancillary products would need to be bought. Very little anticipation of the need for cages/pens or incontinence sheets and nappies.

Champion's example of how to fill in the form gives the example of a confining pen, cost $40. I don't know what world they are living in but the cheapest confining pen here is around $65  and if you need a full cage because there are other (healthy) cats in the house who keep setting upon the weaker one, that's around $110-150. Whoops that's swallowed up your ancillary allowance, nothing left for pee pads. They are allowing for feeding syringes. Feeding syringes!!! They cost diddly squat and most vets will give you two or three for free anyway.

If they have based their estimates on Edmonton cost of living prices, they need to remember that Sydney is the 19th most expensive city in the world to live, just four places behind New York, and the Canadian cities rank around 85th. It would be interesting to compare some prices of say, petrol, over the counter health supplements, other day to day expenditures.

Once again, a failure to research properly and think things through.

Australians are sometimes accused of having a slack. "she'll be right mate" attitude. We've got nothing on this mob, they make us look like Einsteins.

[maxymia]

Here is an email I received from a pet supplies store were I bought my Orijen from. Dated 6th Dec 2008.

It is the least we can do to keep our customers updated. I just wish that we were notified earlier about the recall as we have all the email addresses of our customers and could have notified them straight away. It is interesting how the update says they recalled the food on Nov 20. When you go into the document properties of the recall notice pdf file it was actually created on the 22/11/08 and sent to retailers even later than that. It has been very poorly coordinated.

Thanks for your understanding and lets hope an answer is found soon.

Approx 3 weeks after the recall one affected cat ownwer actually had to tell a pet supplies store to remove Orijen off their shelves as they still had no idea. We asked Champion about this at the end of Dec 2008. Still waiting for an answer.

It seems and IMO Champion can not keep up with their demand in terms of due diligence and customer support. I am asking you all to please look at our facts and do your own research so that you can make an informed decision as to weather you would want to support a company like Champion. We did and now look at were we are, not only do we have to nurse/feed/wash and try to rehabilitate our sick cats we also have to spend every spare minute we have going after the compensation for costs incurred that we so rightly deserve

I would like to say a big thank you for all the support we have received.

Peter, Do the right thing and cover all documented costs we have incurred whilst nursing our sick and disabled cats until they hopefully fully recover, and I just thought I would let you know a families beautiful pet cat, Tito, just passed away due to eating your food. The children and owners are devasted. You also need to think about what you are going to do in terms of compensation for the people who have sadly lost their beloved pets.

PERMIISION TO CROSS POST ENTIRE POST ONLY

[Perseus]

Approx 3 weeks after the recall one affected cat ownwer actually had to tell a pet supplies store to remove Orijen off their shelves as they still had no idea. We asked Champion about this at the end of Dec 2008. Still waiting for an answer.

maxymia, further to this on Dec. 21 a major pet supply retailer in Sydney had not yet removed the Orijen dog food although they had removed the cat food from their shelves.  Since the dog food wasn't recalled he felt he didn't have to remove it.  But reports were coming in that cats were eating the dog food in households with both dogs and cats, and the dog food was also irradiated.  To this very day Champion has not made a voluntary recall of their dog food in Australia even though that food would also poison cats.

On Dec. 21 at 9:00 pm I sent the owner of the pet food retailer an email asking him to remove the dog food or suffer the consequences of the power of the Internet.  By 10:00 pm that same evening they posted on their website they had pulled the dog food from the shelves, too.

Champion knew the dog food was irradiated; knew that cats were eating it, too, as they were directly notified by the affected pet parents and vets; yet did nothing to officially recall the dog food to assure that no kitties would be further poisoned.

I ask you, is this a company you want to support by feeding their food even if you're not in Australia?

[The Cats Mother]

Yes and at the Rosehill Pet Expo on the weekend of 7/8/9 November just two weeks before the recall (when CLEARLY Champion and their importer knew there was a problem because their visit down here was in November), retailers with stalls at the show were handing out free sample bags of Orijen dog food.

Wouldn't you have thought that the importer/distributor would have been onto all his customers telling them to hold off? That they needed to look into this a bit more deeply, there seemed to be a problem with cats so let's just be a bit low-key until we know more and whether any dogs start to present with problems? According to one practitioner I know, there was one single sample bag of cat food there when she stopped by. Whether it was just for display or whether all the rest had been handed out we don't know.

What is certain is that some cats have had their kidney function affected by this and we don't know what long term effects might occur in paralysed cats currently testing well for kidney function, such as my cat.

What is uncertain is that whilst most of the effects in cats are clearly visible there might be invisible effects in dogs occurring right now, internal organ effects or tumours in the early stages.Carcinogenic compounds called cyclobutanones, which occur nowhere in nature,  have been detected in irradiated foods.

If dogs did succumb to organ disease or cancer some way down the track it would be unlikely that a connection, if there is one, could ever be made due to the insidious and invisible nature of these types of effects which take longer to manifest.

What is clear is that there are many, many pet owners out there still unaware of this whole issue. The pet supplies place a few km south west of me where I bought the nappies 2 or 3 weeks back told me they still had customers coming in asking for Orijen. I suggested they put up some signage with an explanation and warning that if they had any left to discontinue feeding it in mixed dog/cat households.

Instead of leaving it to disgusted and distressed former customers and vet nurses to run around telling retailers wouldn't you have thought that after scraping every last dirty coin of profit off the floor the distributor would have done the decent thing and spent some of it having some flyers/posters printed and taken them round to his customers? After all he could always go whining after Champion for the money like he did for the cost of the irradiation.

What I want to know is WHERE IS ROLAND LOBO AND WHY AM I DOING HIS JOB FOR HIM  ??

[Bonkers]

   Doesn't suprise me that importer/distributor did not give any warning prior to the food being recalled. I suppose they were thinking that they did not want to jump the gun and were keeping their fingers crossed that it was not actually the food. This as we know was a very bad move and beyond irresponsible. As far as there still being pet owners that are unaware of the problems with Orijen, I agree that some signs should be hung in those shops that had previously sold the dog and cat food. And what about online retailers? Couldn't be that many since "Australia was such a small percentage of their market".                     Sorry, but who is Roland Lobo??

[Perseus]

Lobo is the snake importer of Champion's food in Australia that supposedly okayed the irradiation to take place according to Champion.  I still dispute this in that Champion's customs broker in Canada had to notify Champion of the irradiation process and prepared documents for them to sign prior to the shipment leaving Canada.  Permits and licenses had to be obtained by Champion prior to the products leaving Canada.  Ocean containers aren't sent around the world and end up at ports where they are first scrutinized as to what the proper importation documents are required.  There are both import and export laws involved in shipping from one country to another. 

And to this very day, one thing that bothers me is this.  The ocean containers of the food that were imported into Australia (1, 2 or 3 of them depending on which lie you want to believe from Champion) had all the bags on the pallets the exact same size.  Yet the dog food and cat food were sold in various size bags, plus there were the "free sample" bags handed out.  How did the food, all in the same size bags when imported, end up in different sized bags at the retailers?  Was it rebagged or not?

On other forums people have posted that they spoke with Champion representatives and were told the poisoning of the food was a result of the packaging being irradiated and leaking poisonous chemicals into the food.  Yet Champion has never put this in writing anywhere (that I know of).

We wouldn't have to keep speculating if Champion would be forthright in answering our questions and posting documentation to support what we're being told.

[The Cats Mother]

Sent to Australian Government today


----- Original Message -----
From: T C
To: Tony.Burke.MP@aph.gov.au ; annemaree.lonergan@csiro.au ; Martyn.Jeggo@csiro.au ; Peter.Daniels@csiro.au ; colin.grant@biosecurity.gov.au ; rob.delane@daff.gov.au ; peter.liehne@daff.gov.au ; robert.langlands@daff.gov.au ; graham.turner@daff.gov.au ; mark.cloney@daff.gov.au
Sent: Tuesday, March 03, 2009 2:23 PM
Subject: Irradiation of pet food - another death


Re: Gamma Irradiated Orijen affected cats - another death

Forwarding to Dr Georgina Child and posting on all known public pet forums internationally.

Good afternoon,

It must be natural for those of you dealing with your day to day business in a commercially viable and scientific manner to become disassociated to some extent with the emotional component of the fall-out of this whole debacle.

Due to the distress of the family involved it has taken a few days for them to respond to my request for permission to quote their posts on our forum to you all verbatim. I have now obtained that permission. Here is what the family had to say about their cat Tito's last few hours and demise:

Posted: Thu Feb 19, 2009 9:21 pm    Post subject: Poor sick Tito 
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Hi everyone, I am new to this forum and extend my sympathies to all in this predicament.

My 13 y.o. grey and white moggie Tito has been sick with Orijen illness since early December. He has been in gradual decline since then and now appears to have levelled out at quadriplegia/incontinence BUT he can lift his head and eat and drink. He has been like this for about 3 weeks and I am almost at the end of my tether as the extensive care he needs is difficult to integrate into full time work, family with 2 kids and 2 dogs etc.

Despite the indignity, Tito seems quite happy in himself. He is an outside cat and insists on staying in his little crevice near the fence. To keep him dry during the recent rain I had to put an outdoor umbrella over him. I have not taken him to the vet because I don't want to upset him - he hates to be confined.

Because he would not eat any food adulterated with vitamins, milk thistle etc he was not getting any supplements until recently. Fortunately he will tolerate bovine colostrum tablets crushed in his food and I have today obtained transdermal glutiathone and methylcobalamin to see if they help at all.

My OH is of the view that Tito couldn't possibly recover from the muscle wasting and debilitation and we should have him PTS. I think that we should wait a bit longer because there have been hints of improvement lately such as he seems more alert, his appetite has definitely improved (up to 3 small meals a day from 2) and there are occasional twitches in his back legs (though they are still mostly stiff).

I suppose what I really want to know is whether any other cats of his vintage have made a recovery and if so, how long it took.


Posted: Mon Feb 23, 2009 3:43 pm    Post subject: 

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Hi again,

Sorry to report that Tito has gone rapidly downhill after eating breakfast on Saturday, that afternoon became unable to eat or drink and has not had any food or water since. When I try to syringe water into his mouth he gags as if he can't swallow.

Our usual vet is scheduled for a visit tomorrow (it's the soonest he could come) and we've cancelled our appt with Georgina as I doubt Tito will last that long.

I'm working from home today so I can keep trying to get some fluids into him, so far to no avail.

Fortunately he doesn't appear to be uncomfortable, but if he's still lingering tomorrow and the vet says he has no prospects, we will have him PTS. We love poor Tito but can't allow his suffering to continue any longer.



Posted: Wed Feb 25, 2009 6:46 am    Post subject: 

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Thank you all for your kind wishes. Tito is gone. The vet thinks it was probably kidney or liver failure. I suspect the kidneys because the urine in the nappy was very dark.

We will miss him so much. He was the calmest most placid cat who used to let my then 2 year old daughter carry him around without a scratch. I suppose that's why he coped so well with being sick. Our kids have known him all their lives. He is now buried in a spot where we are about to plant a lemon and a lime, right near our old dog Dolly.

When I start to regret not taking a more interventionist approach with his illness, I remember he would have hated that. Having been a feral kitten, he was a strictly outdoors only cat, and would panic if in the house, car etc.

Without Orijen we would have definitely had a few more good years with him.

I think that both Orijen and AQIS have a duty of care in this situation. Any indemnification of AQIS by Orijen is between them alone and would not prevent action being taken against AQIS.

Best of luck to all who are still nursing their sick ones. We will be thinking of you often.





Thank you for reading these posts and I hope they have reached your hearts and not just your minds.



Please, please, please place a ban on all further irradiation of pet food products. Cats in mixed cat/dog households just snacking a little from the dogs' Orijen without themselves ever having eaten cat Orijen, have been affected, so it's not enough to just ban cat food irradiation. And you don't know what it might be doing to dogs' kidneys, livers, brains just because there are no visible effects.

Please revisit my Government on Notice document and read the Public Citizen "Bad Taste" article by Mark Worth. It's a long article but rewards careful scrutiny. Concerns about gamma irradiation of foods have been swept aside for years.

The Cassidy et al. study shows that it has been known since the 1990s that cats fed irradiated diets can develop paralysis and die.

No one disputes the necessity for Australia's foreign-pathogen-free status to be maintained. If it's not good enough in the state it hits our shores, and the manufacturer won't comply with AQIS approved production protocols, send the stuff back.

We don't need it, we don't want it.

We have plenty of good fresh Australian produce and foods produced under approved conditions.


I make no apology for my passion. My cat is crippled as a result of eating this food. Someone/some several is/are responsible and we owners feel we are just in the middle as the hot potato is tossed around over our heads.

I am speaking to lawyers, I am speaking to media, we are speaking to activist and advocacy groups. This is gaining momentum and we will be recognised and vindicated and we will be fully recompensed for our financial losses if not for our emotional trauma.

This could have been avoided. That it was not is unforgiveable.

Thank you

T C

[maxymia]

Hi all.

In regard to The cats Mother's post above I am asking you all for help. TCM is the instigator of our lobbying campaign to the Australian Government. We are asking for a full review of the Irradiation of Foods/Petfoods and labelling laws in Australia.
 
Unfortunately, this is not the first time cats in Australia have been affected in this way by consuming irradiated petfood. It has happened before in 2007 (the manufacturer covered it up and threatened litigation against anyone who spoke out) and it will happen again if we do not do anything about it.

I am calling for ALL CAT LOVERS to please help our campaign, by emailing your support for us to the recipients listed below, for the sake of all our feline friends. I believe that sitting back and letting this happen again is pure animal cruelty. Please help us in our bid to stop this cruelty once and for all. We owe this to our beautiful fluffy freinds that bring so much joy to our lives.

If irradiation of petfoods is banned in your country let the Australian Government know. If you feel with all the evidence that irradiating petfoods is cruelty to animals then let our Government know. PLEASE help us help our cats in Australia
 
The following is a list of the recipients of the email posted below.
 
Tony.Burke.MP@aph.gov.au - The Hon Tony Burke MP, Minister for Agriculture Fisheries and Forrestry - Australian Government
annemaree.lonergan@csiro.au - Ms Annemaree Lonergan, Executive Assistant to the Chief Executive - CSIRO
Martyn.Jeggo@csiro.au - Dr Martyn Jeggo, Director of the Australian Animal Health Laboratory - CSIRO
Peter.Daniels@csiro.au - Dr Peter Daniels, Assistant Director & Theme Leader Diagnosis, Surveillance & Response Australian Animal - CSIRO
colin.grant@biosecurity.gov.au - Dr. Colin Grant, Cheif Executive of Biosecurity Australia - Biosecurity Australia
rob.delane@daff.gov.au - Mr Rob Delane, Deputy Secretary & Executive director of Operations - AQIS
peter.liehne@daff.gov.au - Mr Peter Liehne, Branch Manager of Plant Quarantine & Biologicals - AQIS
robert.langlands@daff.gov.au - Mr Robert Langlands, National Manager, Cargo Management & Shipping - AQIS
graham.turner@daff.gov.au - Mr Graham Turner, General Manager, Compliance & Investigations branch - AQIS
mark.cloney@daff.gov.au - Dr Mark Cloney, National Manager, Quarantine Decision Support Branch - AQIS

In memory of the gorgeous Tito, Hunter, Jamba, Minka, Ollie, Robbie, Coco, Leo, Titus, Biscuit, Armani, Bobby and all the sweet little kitties that have so sadly left us for the rainbow bridge due to the ignorance of many. May they forever be at peace

[Frosty]

Hi all.

 
Unfortunately, this is not the first time cats in Australia have been affected in this way by consuming irradiated petfood. It has happened before in 2007 (the manufacturer covered it up and threatened litigation against anyone who spoke out) and it will happen again if we do not do anything about it.

This is the first time I'm reading that irradiation practices in AU caused cats to suffer in 2007 also. Are you at liberty to disclose what company covered this up and post proof that cats became sick. Sending a pm is fine.

Thanks,
Frosty

[The Cats Mother]

I think they tried to nutrolise it by covering up and shutting up those that spoke out.

Gee my spelling's atroshus tonight 

[Frosty]

Um maybe it is still happening - in the US maybe?  Maybe a look at the consumer affairs web site would be of interest, TCM.

http://www.consumeraffairs.com/pets/

ETA This post is not about Champion or Orijen in the USA, rather I was referring to another company.

[Bonkers]

Um maybe it is still happening - in the US maybe?  Maybe a look at the consumer affairs web site would be of interest, TCM.

If there are reports on consumeraffairs pertaining to any of Champion's pet foods, please post the link. TIA