It’s been a horrible week for us. We don’t know if you’ve heard as most of you are from the States but here in the UK, there has been a pet food recall after lots of poor kitties became extremely ill and some died from a horrible and potentially fatal disease called pancytopenia that is thought to have been caused by contamination at the following manufacturing site in the UK.
FOLD HILL FOODS LTD IS RECALLING A NUMBER OF PRODUCTS IT MANUFACTURES ON BEHALF OF PARTNER BRANDS Food Recall Alert We are voluntarily recalling the dry products we manufacture for the brands detailed in the link below as a precautionary measure. We are supporting an investigation by the food and veterinary authorities into a possible safety issue affecting cats. Products include selected ranges from AVA (Pets At Home), Applaws & Sainsbury’s. If you have bought any of the above products as detailed above, do not feed them to your cat. Instead:• Check if you have bought the affected products and batch code(s) / «use-by / best before» date(s)You can do this by taking a picture of this notice or writing down the batch code(s) / «use-by / best before» date(s) for reference at home.• Return the product(s) to the store for a full refund (with or without a receipt). For more information:If you have bought an AVA product contact www.petsathome.com and fill out the contact form on the help page or livechat. If you have bought an Applaws product contact www.applaws.com/uk/contact-us If you have bought a Sainsbury’s product contact www.sainsburys.co.uk/help or their Customer Careline on 0800 636262 Date of publish: 15/06/2021Updated: 18/06/2021 (updated with FSA update: Update 1: Fold Hill Foods recall several cat food products because of safety concerns | Food Standards Agency
I may have eaten some of that food back in April so Mum has been in a state of shock all week. She took me to the vet on Friday afternoon to be checked over. I had a blood test and the results came back normal.
Tricked and trapped, waiting to be taken to the vet
Mum will take over now, but bear with her because this is how she writes when depressed and she wrote most of it while in panic mode.
I am absolutely heartbroken reading about people’s beloved cats on social media and what has been happening to them because of this and I’m absolutely in a state of shock that I may have poisoned my own baby.
I had been feeding Athena her usual brand for a few years and she was fine on it. Then for some mad reason back in April, I decided to change her regular dry food to Applaws and now I am terrified I may have poisoned my beautiful fur baby. God, if I’ve poisoned my sweet baby girl I shall end it all. I won’t be able to cope.
I bought a 400g bag of the Applaws Chicken Senior in April from Fetch to try it out. Athena seemed to like it and the so-called food was easier for her to chew, I thought. Now the reason I switched from her regular is that I thought the sound of her crunching was loud and I figured maybe it was a bit hard work for her 10-year-old teeth to bite into. I also felt the regular food was causing her to put on weight.
Stupid, stupid me then ordered a 2kg pack from Zooplus in May.
Oh, I don’t care if she’s putting on weight, I just want her to be healthy!
So from the end of April, she was eating Applaws until Tuesday 15 June when I heard about this awful illness affecting cats.
I stopped feeding it to her immediately and went back to her old food (Arden Grange) which I still had.
GB218E5009 is the reference code for the manufacturing site but I can’t find it anywhere on the 2kg pack that I ordered from Zooplus. I must have cut off the top to put food into a plastic container so haven’t got the number to see if it's the dreaded demon numberGB218E5009
UPDATE: Zooplus have since assured me that my order was not the affected pack with the said site code number as some of the products are also manufactured in France.
I am still worried about the first pack that I ordered from Fetch though. I don't have the packaging to see what code it has on it and when I contacted them they said they couldn't tell me if it was the affected batch that I had delivered to me. I will contact them again to ask.
UPDATE 21/06/21: Fetch informed me this morning that the 400g pack was the affected one. I am now even more terrified :(
Anyway, I took Athena to the vet on Friday, and as they do the bloodwork in-house, the vet called with the results about half an hour after I got home from the appointment and said the blood work was normal.
But the thing is, I am watching Athena all the time. Like the vet told me to. You see things can change quickly with this, and if the first pack I bought from Fetch was an infected one, I am still panicking as she consumed the contents of this pack by May.
I am so scared.
I don’t know if my baby has eaten poison. The thought is constantly on my mind and I'm more stressed than ever.
And you know what?
I think someone did this on purpose. Some sick bastard wanted to poison sweet beautiful furry babies. The most beautiful animal on earth - the cat.
Fuck, I hate humans. Most are disgusting only thinking about money.
And another thing I’ve noticed - these “celebs” that go on about being animal lovers, etc, where are they?
This thing is huge but it is not trending anywhere on social media. Celebs are staying quiet. So strange.
I’m not into following celebs but I do follow some famous animal lovers but they don’t seem to give a shit. Not even those famous vets. Why aren't they raising awareness of this horror?
I don’t know what to feed my baby anymore - I don’t trust what these companies put into our pets’ food.
I love cats. I love animals. I am here to be their voice but I know that if anything happens to Athena I am leaving this planet. I’ve had enough.
Update 22/06/21: I'm actually going crazy researching pet food online and it's so scary. I really don't trust what they put in our pets' food anymore. Since stopping Athena from eating Applaws (which as I said she has been eating since late April until last Tuesday), I've switched her back to her regular brand - Arden Grange Light Fresh Chicken. I was in a panic this morning, questioning whether this too may have been produced at the same factory as the recalled brands so I contacted Arden Grange and they assured me that their products are not produced there. In fact, I checked the batch number on the packaging and did my own research, and found out that this is true. But I don't just feed Athena dry. I would prefer it that she would eat more wet food. I've been giving her Bozita Indoor and Sterilised Chicken Tetra Pak each morning for a few years now but she won't eat much of it. I really wish she preferred it to dry.
Credit: Which? Please check out the following links for more info if you have concerns about your cat regarding this matter.
Hope you had a good week. Mine got off to a bad start.
Monday morning went like this:
Yeah, you guessed it. About 20 minutes later I found myself at this new vet clinic called Vets4Pets. New because it's the first time I've been there since moving to our new home in Essex. This vets practice was a lot bigger than our old one in London, but then I noticed it wasn't really big. It is actually inside Pets at Home, which is a large retail store for pets. This pet superstore provides everything that pets need to be happy and healthy.
Mum didn't buy me anything from the store. But that didn't concern me whilst there.
Vet reception desk/area
We waited at reception for our 11am appointment. The good thing was that dogs wait on one side and the cats and small animals on the opposite side. The dogs are scary, but there was one tiny one that really thought he was something special. However, I'm bigger than him/her and if I hadn't been in my prison carrier I would have shown him who's boss.
In the photo below I'm in my carrier in the middle seat between Mum and Granny. You can see a bit of Granny in this pic. Look at all that kitty stuff on display. Some people really spoil their pets!
With Gran at the Vets
No need to explain what's going on in this photo.
Later:
I'm pleased to say that my consultation with the lady vet didn't last long. She checked me a bit and I hissed a little. She was a bit scared I could tell. Mum said that I wasn't dangerous and held me and stroked me to calm me down and I soon felt calmer. Mum spoke quietly and sweetly to me, kissing the top of my head. I tried to escape by sneaking behind the tap. But Mum caught me and put me back on the table. Then the booster needle went in 🙀 Ok, it didn't actually hurt that much and it was over in a second but I still wondered what would happen next. I panicked that Mum might leave me behind. So I tried to get away again as I didn't trust being inside the carrier. But Mum told me we were going home and I knew from her tone of voice that it was true. The vet lady said I have to lose weight. Really, she had the nerve to call me fat and even said my head's too small for my body! And I thought she was quite nice up until she said that 😼 Mum agreed that I needed to lose weight! She told vet lady that she will be careful not to feed me too much from now on. And that there will be more exercise and playtime. No more treats then 😿 I'm not worried though as I have means and ways of getting my own way. I know Mum is a soft touch when it comes to me. For our Caturday Art today, Mum made me into a Comic Hero with this cowardly photo of me looking so scared. The theme is Comic Heroes from PicMonkey and the effect is Sketch
Before you go, check out this Instagram photo of me after we got back home. No words needed really.
Athena Cat Goddess is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.
Thank you, everyone, for your purrs, prayers and good wishes this past week.
After taking the meds the vet gave me a week ago I am peeing like normal so Mum and I believe they worked. I am still on the Cystease twice a day. The vet prescribed this supplement for two weeks.
Mum is trying to remain calm and not stress because she knows her stress affects me. But we have put the house back on the market again because Mum badly wants to move somewhere greener and more pleasant but it's hard to sell property these days. SO MORE STRESS.
The real stress at the moment is having people coming round to view the house. I always know when a viewing is due because Mum and Gran run around tidying up. This makes me nervous.
I haven't had a good week. I got sick with the dreaded FLUTD again. If you remember, I've had this problem before.
It started last Sunday when I began wanting to pee more than usual but I could only squeeze out small amounts each time. The next day I was the same. And the next. Mum started to panic. But because I wasn't running a fever and eating and drinking as normal she didn't take me to the vet until Friday morning. That was a scary and undignified experience, to say the least. I hate going to the vet. The worst thing was when she stuck something in my behind to take my temperature. I couldn't believe this was happening to me again and why Mum had let her do it to me. Highly-sensitive Mum was trying to keep herself together, but she can't hide anything from me - and a stressy Mum just makes me feel a whole lot worse. When she kissed my forehead, I was soothed a bit and I felt the love but I still couldn't forgive her for taking me there. It seemed we took ages at the vet, but then Mum tried to get me back into the carrier and I refused. Then she said that we were going home and I jumped in and couldn't wait to get out of there. The vet prescribed me some tablets called Cystease and a medicine for my pain called Metacam. She told Mum that if I was no better in a week I would need to do a urine sample for some tests. Mum is worried, but I think I'm feeling better now. I did a big pee as normal this morning. This made Mum happier. Hope you are all having a lovely, easy Sunday :)
Why? Well, obviously it's because he's a vet and vets are scary aren't they? So while Mum has her eyes glued to the screens (or not, because she's squeamish and keeps turning away during gory surgical scenes), I'll be hiding under the table and napping away, trying to ignore Mum's oohing and awwing (at the furries, not the vet.) Supervet says some great things about animals:
You know what? I'd love to interview him for this blog. It would be fun, don't you think? So Professor Noel Fitzpatrick, would you like to do an interview with us? Have you ever done an interview for a cat blog? An interview with a cat, even? And look at me, I am such a pretty kitty, a wise cat goddess, how could you resist? You cannot say NO to a feline goddess!
Hiding under the table while Mum watches The Supervet
Do you hide when your humans are watching vets on TV?
Why? Well, obviously it's because he's a vet and vets are scary aren't they? So while Mum has her eyes glued to the screens (or not, because she's squeamish and keeps turning away during gory surgical scenes), I'll be hiding under the table and napping away, trying to ignore Mum's oohing and awwing (at the furries, not the vet.) Supervet says some great things about animals and of course that is another reason to love him. Here is one such quote:
You know what? I'd love to interview him for this blog. It would be fun, don't you think? So Professor Noel Fitzpatrick, would you like to do an interview with us? Have you ever done an interview for a cat blog? An interview with a cat, even? Come on, look at me, I am such a pretty kitty, a wise cat goddess, how could you resist? You cannot say NO to a feline goddess!
Hiding under the table while Mum watches The Supervet
Do you hide when your humans are watching vets on TV?
Now, as most of you already know, Mum likes to give me only the best cat food. Quality food that will keep me healthy, happy and strong. So when Vet's Kitchen invited us to participate in their “Healthy Cat Food Challenge” she was happy to let me take part.
A few days later we received a free month's supply of 4 bags of complete cat food. Two with 80% fresh chicken, two with 80% fresh salmon.
Mmm... which one smells tastier?
I'll tell you which I preferred further down this post but first, let me tell you a bit about this food. Because the people at Vet’s Kitchen work very closely with veterinary expertsto develop some of the best high-quality natural pet foods in their own in-house practice, they believe in striving to produce the best pet foods they can, using only highest quality ingredients to create recipes that can only help to improve your pet's long-term health and well-being.
This is a new generation of nutritious dry cat food, using a new 'fresh meat extrusion technology' and probably the 'greatest dry pet food innovation in 50-years.' Available in calorie-controlled portions, the packs come in three different sizes: 2 days complete, 1 week's complete and 2 weeks complete. (We received four packs of 2 weeks' complete for our trial.)
Grain free low calorie dry cat food with high meat content
10 reasons why Vet's Kitchen is the future of dry pet food
It has a high percentage of animal protein - a must for carnivores
It's grain-free, so no cereals
It's hypoallergenic and contains no artificial evils
It contains prebiotics for digestive health
Includes herbs to aid urinary tract health
Made with ultra-high levels of fresh meat
It's amazingly tasty and full of natural goodness
It is a single source protein
Contains extra vitamin C & E
Only has moderated ash levels
All good reasons!
Now, I'm going to have to admit something here. You see, I am no stranger to Vet's Kitchen. I used to eat (and love) their Chicken with Brown Rice, which unfortunately made me put on weight so Mum stopped giving it to me and switched to another brand that had a much higher meat content (because she also felt the rice wasn't great for a carnivore like me.) The new brand of dry food she gave me was quite tasty too so I didn't mind the switch, and I loved the higher meat content and in fact, it did do me good!
So which flavour did I like best?
Though chicken is my favourite food, I didn't love the chicken version of this one that much. Yes, I enjoyed eating it (felt a bit hard to chew at times), but then when it came to tasting the 80% salmon pack I couldn't believe how good it tasted! This surprised Mum. And me even more. I mean, I am not a cat that goes mad for fish! In fact, I always find it too stinky.
This one was my favourite!
In the video below I am tasting the 80% chicken for the first time. Mum tried me on this one first. If you can't see the video here click this link to view it on YouTube.
So now it's been 30 days on this healthy cat food challenge and I can tell you that I really liked this food. Especially the salmon one. It was delicious and Mum and I agreed that the smell isn't overpowering, unlike most fishy foods. For some reason, I found the salmon crunchies easier to chew, as opposed to the chicken.
I seemed to digest it well, but my poo came out quite dark though. As for coat quality, I do have a nice, shiny, soft coat, but then again, I always have done. But Mum thinks it is now even shinier and softer since I've been on this diet so that must be an improvement. As for my temperament, I was very laid back (Mum says lazy) and I slept a lot. But July has been a very hot month and the heat tends to make me lethargic, so can't really tell if the food made me calmer. Mum noticed I looked slimmer too, so it must be down to the calorie controlled portions!
I really hope Mum gets me more of this food (especially the salmon). She's a bit concerned about me eating salmon though, as she's heard bad stuff about it. But this is good quality food, and salmon is a protein-rich source of healthy energy full of Omega 3, which promotes healthy skin and a shiny coat and I will make sure she buys it for me! This is a complete cat food, but she doesn't like to give me dry food all the time, so I know she will continue to give me some wet too, which I don't mind.
Disclosure: We received a month's supply of cat food from Vet's Kitchen in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own. Read full disclosure here.
Yesterday I got tricked into going to the vet again. I hate it when that happens!
I knew something was up when I saw this old devil..
I knew something was up as soon as I saw my carrier this morning
Mum doesn't have a car so once I was put into the carrier (or should I say forced because obviously I resisted at first) and stepped out into the sunshine (I resisted some more by kicking and trying to push the bar open) we had to walk a short while to the bus stop. It was so noisy out there, I can tell you. Lots of traffic and ugly city smells. I could feel my mum's own anxiety as, like me, she doesn't like being outside much. But she tried to calm me down with the light baby voice she uses, which I have to admit does the trick. When I hear her soothing voice I feel safe, but I was also worried that she may be taking me to the pet hotel again. Oh, what a nightmare week that was!
We waited at the bus stop and then the bus came along - a massive red monster of a thing - and we hopped on. People kept looking at me but my mum held the carrier with me in it on her lap. Don't tell my mum, but I quite liked the bus ride. It was only a short little ride and when Mum looked into the carrier at me I pretended to ignore her. After all, she tricked me again, didn't she? Being a wise cat, I know it's for my own good that she takes me to the vet. And it wasn't that bad this time because there were no loud dogs barking like last time we went. Just the receptionist talking loudly with another lady for a while. It bothered my ears a bit and I could tell it bothered my mum a bit too. She has sensitive hearing you see, or should I say heightened and much more acute than the usual human. She is HSP - highly sensitive person. It may cause her anxiety but I figure if she wasn't so sensitive she wouldn't be so caring to us animals so I do wish she'd stop stressing about it.
In the waiting room
Anyway, we didn't have long to wait to see the vet. He seemed nicer than the one I saw last time but I was still on my guard and I hissed at him just to show him who's boss. He examined me, said I had really soft fur and I could tell he liked stroking it. All was going well until he said I was living too much of the good life and that I should go on a diet as I was getting a bit chubby. Well, Mum wasn't happy about her child being called fat, which I'm not, but she said she will exercise me more and watch my food intake. Which means less treats for me!!!
But I thought about it later on the way home and, being a goddess and cat model, I have to take care of my looks, so I will have to agree with Mum.
After I had my booster vaccination and Mum paid the receptionist we went home on the bus. As it was a nice sunny day, I think I rather enjoyed my little trip but I didn't like being told I'm getting chubby around the middle!
