babysweet as you have just said these PFC's dismiss people with concerns and ill pets as nut jobs. What we would then need would be a fact checker on here who could verify with web sites, add'l information to back-up what pet people state or to add clarity if something should be missing from their post. Some people post from the heart without 'fact' checking. A lot of people, yourself included, do the fact checking for them because they might not be as computer savvy in finding things as others; and some simply do not have a lot of time due to other things needing their attention in their personal lives.

How about it members - anyone want to be fact checker(s) for the site? What would the moderators think of this - good, not good?

Just how much this would change the PFC's minds would wait to be seen.

maxymia glad you brought up the point if they had made changes in the ingredients. After your poor babies went and are still going thru this, I had just bought a bag but returned it out of concern for my pet. Waited some time before trying it again. The smell about knocked me over when I opened the bag - like the amount of fish had been amped up because I had been using the adult dog and it was not the six fish one they have. Do not remember it ever smelling like this. But had to bring it back because my dog refused to eat it anymore and previously she had without hesitation. Now that is just my dog - others may still eat it with no problems. Once my baby refuses (after she had really liked a food before) it gets returned. My canary in the coal mine speaks loud and clear.

Actually bug, the ingredients were reformulated again in the Orijen line just a few months ago.  They have increased the amount of fresh meat being used.  Unfortunately, this has the side effect of reducing the overall protein content a wee bit...

Could this be in response to the American meals perhaps? 

I don't think any of us ever thought any of you were overreacting. We have been through this with Menu Foods -- and that went on until last year (or was it this year), when they settled their class actions suits. I think there are still people fighting them to this day. Everyone here was pretty much ignored or worse.

Seeing how you were able to get through to them via telephone, will they not speak to you directly? Are they pretty much hanging up when they hear your accent? I hope not.

And for that poor family who is downgrading their life to keep their cat alive -- that's just heroic. Not many people would do that.

I know that email should be answered, especially for such an important reason. I, however, have not had great success getting email answered from these folks either -- and I'm from two provinces away. I have always had really good success with calling, though. I don't know how much long distance charges are from there to here. When I called Australia over Christmas, I was shocked to see how little it cost. I talked for about 45 minutes and it was next to nothing. I hope the same is true for you as I'm not really optimistic about getting your questions answered in writing.

Hi – first time poster.  I am Diesel’s mum, and I am also the person who is needing to move due to struggling to afford rent on my current house because of the thousands spent on Diesel to help her through this terrible time.  With ongoing vet treatment, not likely to be stopping anytime soon, I simply cannot afford to live where I live.  My dog will now have to live somewhere with a much smaller backyard because of this.

Diesel was one of the cats who became fully paralysed, only able to move her head a little bit.  Each day I needed to feed and water her through a syringe and each night I averaged a maximum of 3 hours a night sleep due to the constant care she required.   I lost a great relationship through this, and was very close to losing my job as I was finding it hard to function on such little sleep and also working the bare minimum hours (in the door at 9am and straight out again at 5pm with an extended lunch hour to go home and check on Diesel to see if she was even still alive…!).  Luckily a very understanding boss has enabled me to keep my job is such a shaky economic climate.

Diesel is now walking (albeit in a very drunken fashion) most days and other days she pulls herself along by her front legs with a look of bewilderment on her pretty little face.  She is incontinent and has to wear nappies every time she is out of the crate.  She is unable to wash herself properly.  She is now epileptic and on anti-convulsive drugs which have succeeded to bring the frequency of her fits down from three a night to one a night.  She is a little fighter who has fought back from this terrible debilitating effect that Orijen had on her.   Each and every day I am thankful to have her with me, each step she takes fills me with hope for her full recovery.  Each day I curse the day I bought Orijen.

I bought Orijen after feeding my dog it, and I am thankful that dogs were not affected too – trying to deal with a paralysed labrador would’ve sent me over the edge.  Molly, my lab, has missed out a lot of her young adulthood as she has had to take a back seat whilst I spend the majority of my time looking after Diesel.  In true lab tradition, she has been an angel and is so very gentle and loving towards Diesel.

Living with a disabled cat is becoming the norm for me now.  I have almost forgotten what it is like to have an unaffected cat.  I have come this far, and I will continue to care for Diesel and give her the best chance of survival.    However, Champion need to ensure her vet care, so far and moving forward, is covered.  Champion have not had to live with the 24/7 care of their loved ones.  Champion imported their food into Australia and failed to do the correct due diligence.  It is their duty of care to provide us with pet food that is not harmful to our animals.  Champion need to pay all costs incurred by those who have had to endure this nightmare.  Champion also need to be thankful that dogs were unharmed as this nightmare would’ve far exceeded the 100 or so animals that became ill.  The dog community are very, very unforgiving too….

I simply am amazed that they are going about things the way that they are; ignoring letters, emails, phone calls, failing to advise us of changes in their policy, failing to do what is right.   Such a positive spin could’ve been put on this whole horrid situation by stepping up and doing the right thing – instead they are potentially alienating a lot of would-be buyers of their food and becoming labelled as an unethical, unworthy and uncaring company.   Not good PR in my eyes…

Sorry for the long post.

Thank you to everyone who is supporting us; it really means a lot and it gives us the strength we need to carry on.

Welcome nksyd ! I truly hope for improvement for Diesel and response from Orijen. Please know you are all in our thoughts and prayers.

I hope Diesel and other affected cats will recover. Champion needs to fully cover the vet costs, as well as and perhaps more importantly fully share the information on what has been discovered about causes with the vets treating affected cats. They were supposed to post some updates and they were discussing it with toxicology expert, weren't they? So where is the info?