Tommy's Story

Pets name: Tommy
Breed if applicable: Maine Coon
Location: Mobile, AL
Pets Story:
Tommy was 14 years old, we got him when he was 4 weeks old. His entire life we fed him Special Kitty from WalMart, when I first found the pouches in September I thought they were a godsend - no more dealing with little pull tabs and lids.

The 7th of March Tommy got a case of the "Zooms" as we called them - he dashed around the den like a kitten. The 8th of March Tommy only ate half his dinner - that was weird as he'd always had a great appetite. The 9th he ate maybe 3 bites. The 10th and 11th he didn't eat. Somewhere in there he threw up - though husband didn't tell me - he was drinking tons of water. Monday the 12th at lunch I tried to give him some chicken broth just to get some nutrition in him. He just spat it out. We took him to the vet that afternoon and waited for the bloodwork - Kidney Failure. We could either do expensive treatment - which we couldn't afford or put him down. In the vets office we talked a lot about it. The vet told us that even if the procedure was successful it would only have to be repeated and might only give Tommy at most 6 months. We had Tommy put down.That evening I returned the uneaten food to WalMart - my husband is disabled and I don't work so money is limited. Trash ran Tuesday morning, so out went the weeks packages that I'd used. We cried and moved on - Cat's have kidney problems as they get older. Then Saturday morning to find out that the food I'd been feeding him was recalled for causing the very thing that killed him - I was furious. I still am.

My husband suffers from chronic depression, and PTSD from Operation Desert Shield/Storm - Tommy was his constant companion. Prior to Tommy's death my husband had not had an anxiety attack in over a year - since Tommy's death he's had 3.