MDCatOwner:  You make a good point that you should not have to brief your vet...

I do think you can raise these issues with the veterinary associations.  Tell them what your experience was, where you think the system failed, what you think should have happened, what you want to happen now and in the future.

If you did see anything work well, tell them that too.  A "little bit of sugar..." you know the rest.

I'd suggest to also ask them what they are doing with the situation as it is now and to prevent anything like it happening again.  Ask them what you as a citizen and pet owner can do to help them fix the system.  Ask for a response in writing.  Give them a phone number to call you if they would like more information.

Speaking for myself, I really want to see a "CDC for pets" come out of this.  I don't care if it is an existing organization that takes it on, or if it is brand new.  But we really need a central organization for collecting and reporting data to vets and the public, creating treatment protocols, etc.

I have such a long letter to write.  It's going to be hard to be succinct.

Here's a link to the State Veterinary Associations.  http://www.avma.org/statevma/
 

OK, I got inspired.  This is my AVMA letter.  I tried to write it so there was a specific section to tell your pet's story, but then retain the basic form of the rest of the letter. 

Here it is:

AVMA letter

I am writing this letter in the hope that this appeal for action has reached a group of people who care that the companion animals of this country have been poisoned and that many more are being poisoned every day.

In mid-March, one of my cats had been listless for 2 days.  Not eating or drinking and generally lethargic.  An emergency visit to the vet confirmed that she was in renal failure.  Maui spent 3 days on an IV at the vet, away from her family.  She returned home and has been on the mend.   I was asked to monitor my other two cats and bring them in if there was a problem.  All three were woefully thin, struggling to recover from the poison that I unknowingly fed to them – 3 times a day.  For months.  Now, Cleo, my second cat, has been at the vet for 4 days on an IV with blood in her urine and a 104.9 degree fever.  Origins unknown.  What we are all beginning to suspect is that all my animals were fed a second round of tainted food 3-4 weeks ago – a product that was recalled with the American Nutrition rash of recalls last week.  Dude, my sweet boy kitty, is showing additional symptoms now.  Unable to climb onto furniture, tenderness on his back near his tail.  He returns to the vet tomorrow.

It doesn’t matter which brand – almost every brand has been recalled.  There has been a woeful effort to inform the public of the true state of this issue during a time when every minute meant saving the life of an affected animal.  Cleo, Dude and Maui's second exposure was entirely avoidable.

Some dogged journalists and bloggers are keeping on top of this, providing information more timely than our government regulatory agencies.  If not for them, I would have buried my beloved animals weeks ago.

The terrible truth is that the entire system has failed. 

The AVMA must step up to the plate as an advocate for every pet and pet owner in this country.  No one else has done it.  Concerned pet owners need you to address these three main issues right now:

1) Making sure every pet parent in the country is informed of the scope of the entire recall and the health ramifications for their pet.
2) Making sure no more tainted food enters the food supply.
3) Making sure every single potentially-tainted item is removed from every store in this country.

The AVMA is in a position to lead the way dealing with this issue.  You have a much bigger voice than one pet owner.  You have a wealth of avenues to spread information available to you.  We have all called the FDA, we have all called and written our representatives.  And still, there are  more recalls.

To expect the news media to get the word out to pet owners is wrong.  It’s not guaranteed.  To expect everyone to be internet savvy is not guaranteed either.  To expect them to know where to go to find out the information they should have to make an informed decision is foolhardy.  This exact deadly scenario has played out over the last 7 seven weeks with terrible consequences.

I would like you to consider doing the following:

o  Keep veterinarians informed by mail and web site updates of every bit of information AVMA can find on the issues involved in the recall, including any latest news in the treatment of these poisoned animals.  For example, the links to the Canadian University research identifying the cyanuric acid (need this linky).
o  That the AVMA require each vet to send out a letter to EVERY customer announcing the pet food recall with details of symptoms, locations of comprehensive lists.
o  Have each vet specifically ask what owners are feeding their pets and document this information for future reference. 

It is important that the AVMA act now to get a handle on this widening problem.  The burden of providing information to veterinarians to help their sick animals should not be placed on the shoulders of grieving pet owners.  But it has.  And it will continue unless AVMA steps up to the plate.

MDCatOwner Nice letter. You may want to reorder it and get faster to this part.


I personally love the details, but I would move them down and create a specific connection with recall dates if possible. Why? To demonstrate that maybe if the Vets had this info they wouldn't have sent you home to feed the other bad food to your pets. Timing and product names might be useful, Something like: "Dude could have been spared had the AVMA alerted my Vet that X was recalled two days before I visited the office."

I think also that one key is to reach the right person with this so that THEY champion this. They are probably thinking something along the same lines and if they have someone from within their own ranks start pushing for it they will "own" the idea more. (I've learned that the "not invented here" viewpoint extends well beyond Silicon Valley 

The url for the pictures of the crystals is http://www.labservices.uoguelph.ca/urgent.cfm#crystals
and it is on the AVMA site now.

Within AVMA I found some possibilities.
   1.  They have some permanent councils set up for different purposes.  I did not find any names there.  Since I'm not a vet I can't get to the directories.  But a couple of the councils might be appropriate to send letters to.
        -  "The AVMA Constitution and Bylaws call for 7 standing councils. The councils serve as advisory bodies to the Executive Board. The councils anticipate the needs of the profession, address issues in their assigned areas, and recommend appropriate actions to the Executive Board. Council members are elected to 6-year terms by the House of Delegates at an annual session to represent specific areas of the profession. The Councils meet twice a year. 
                  Judicial                               Education
                  Research                            Biologic and Therapeutic Agents
                  Public Health and Regulatory  Veterinary Service
                     Veterinary Medicine           Communications
                 
   2.  AVMA is active in Washington, DC on many issues.  There is a Dr. Doug Meckes that is the contact for food safety issues that might be related to our issues.
        - Contact: Dr. Doug Meckes, 800-321-1473 ext. 3210

I think I'd start with Dr. Meckes.
       

Marilyn: Bingo! I'd go for:
The heads of these two committees
I also agree start with Dr. Meckes. We can ask what he is PLANNING on doing. He might have a program in the hopper for just such an occasion (we can always hope) some times I assume that people don't think the same way we do and so I embarrass myself. I've learned to ask questions first. Say for example that Dr. Meckes is TOTALLY behind this and is planning on rolling it out soon. Then we ask. "Tell me about it? and "How can we help?"  Then listen to his answer.
Maybe I should make a call tomorrow...

Concerning the AVMA councils:  They only meet twice a year and there was nothing on the website to indicate when that might be.  Of course, they may be in touch with each other and be working their issues throughout the year.

One of the other veterinary organizations to write to is the American Animal Hospital Association.  They inspect and give accreditation to clinics and hospitals that pass the criterion.  Their accreditation is highly prized by clinics and also by pet parents who know about them.

This would be a good organization to contact if you would like to see them help their member clinics and hospitals be better prepared for a crisis like this.  I think they would welcome suggestions.  And as Spocko suggested in a previous post, it would be good to ask them what they may already be working on and how you can help.  I'd be surprised if this weren't a big topic for internal discussion.  They are also all about education and ethics, so those are areas that could be addressed also.

These would be good people to tell that you should not need to brief your vet.

They did send us a letter on March 19 about the first recall with a protocol for treatment, but it was very sketchy and that is all they have sent us since.  They do have some information for the general public on their home page, but it is very general.  So I definitely think they could be a lot more proactive if something like this ever hits us again.

After scouring their website directories, I could not find any one person that would be the best target for communications.  So, I think it would be best to send letters to the Board of Directors.  Some of them have backgrounds in animal welfare, ethics, etc.  One of them graduated from the University of Guelph where so much of the news about melamine/cyanuric acid has been coming from, another one graduated from Cornell which has also been working on this, and so on.  You can access their bios at http://tinyurl.com/3chlkj  I would send letters to the   President at
   Dr Thomas A Carpenter
   American Animal Hospital Association
   Board of Directors
   P.O. Box 150899
   Denver, Colorado, USA 80215-0899
   Phone: 303/986-2800
   Toll Free: 800/252-2242
   FAX: 303/986-1700
   Email: info@aahanet.org

OK.  Here's another organization we can contact.  The World Veterinary Association.  I'm excited about this one.  Let's keep pounding on our own government and national organizations, but why stop there?  Our problems are global, so let's go global!  I just subscribed to their newsletters.

The World Veterinary Association's website is www.worldvet.org

Their mission statement:

"The WVA serves the Veterinary Profession, Veterinary Medicine and Science and promotes its rights, standards and competence.

It serves the societies at global international level.  It promotes animal health and well-being and human health through sustainable and humane use and management of animals.  It contributes to the protection and sustainability of the environment."

And their current president is right here in the states...

President
Prof Leon Russell
33 Linda Lane
College Station, TX  77845, USA
Tel (work) 979-845-3517
Fax (work) 979-847-8981
Email: lrdvm@tca.net or lrussell@cvm.tamu.edu