((((HUGSS))) to all the petparents who have had furkids go to the Rainbow Bridge and to those still suffering the after effects.

The furkids that were murdered and sickened by greed and corruption should never have become the unwilling victims of the PFI, but the gallant and selfless efforts of the petparents  speaks volumes of the love that exists between people and animals. Your efforts and continued fight for safe food have made a timeless memorial for all furkids and pet parents everywhere.

Our 2 year anniversary of losing KiKi is today.  Im not as upset as I would have been because like a dope, I got mixed up and thought last Wed was the 11th so got alot of it out of my system then.      

She was a most beautimous girl and she was a mama's girl and we were very lucky to have her.   

And can I just say KiKi didnt BITE or ATTACK or PULL HAIR like some other little kitty I know......ouch, Im presently being beat up on right now by the little darling.  lol  Off to get myself a little juvie kitty that thinks she's the boss of me.....oh thats right, she is.   

It was a Sunday night, March 11 2007 that I couldn't wait for time to rush by.  Smudge had become ill quickly like Jessica had 3 weeks before...I knew I wanted Dr S to see her as she had the same thing as Jessica had and I knew it must be some kind of cat flu.  If I took her to the ER I knew they might not listen to me about Jessica's illness and how eerily similar it was and put her through hell and Jessica had gotten better with the help of Dr s..... Even DH with his intense medical (human) background knew it was the same thing.....so Sunday night we waited...my daughter wrapped her in a blanket and sat for hours on the couch holding her to keep her warm....her paw pads were so cold...I remember trying to find something out on the computer about cat flu...nothing was helpful...I was not very good on the computer in those days...I had done lots of computer entry but never really cared to stay on it for the internet..saw no point in it...I never ever thought it was going on with pets across the US and Canada...Oh how I wish that this forum and others were typing away with the same eerily similar symptoms we all were experiencing...I know many of you either had already gone through this...or were about to...or worse...even lost your beloved cats and pups...I still feel like the lucky one...I was able to still have my two beloved, yet very different, kitties with me for months...I must remember those good times and not dwell on the sad as it is too painful to know that I had a hand in their pain...March used to be the time of the year where I could not wait to get outside and rake, plant and see the promise of a new day...but now it is a reminder of what March 2007 was...I do not only grieve for Smudge and Jessica...I grieve for all of you here that went through this too...I grieve for the sadness I had seen  and still read on the pet blogs....all feeling helpless..all feeling like no one was listening or helping...all wondering what to do or feed next...all wondering how this happened...

I thank God for this forum...it allows us to tell each other what we feel and to be understood why we feel this way...this is a hard time for so many...but as I have said before...misery does not only  love company---misery needs company...and that is what this place is..wonderful company...whether we are pulling together for prayers for a lost pet, or sick pet, or dying pet, we are together in our concerns for each other...I hope this part of the March 2007 never changes....the part where we all met.

The rollercoaster of emotions that you went through, Carol, and so many who had
more than one pet falling ill from eating the same da*n tainted pet food, just shreds
my insides all over again. I can say thank you for expressing it so well, knowing how
painful it was for you and all the others, too, but you really said it well and as it was
felt.
I soaked my house in bleach and threw out all my shoes thinking it was something I brought
into the house that was contagious, no one having an explanation for what was happening,
when my second cat of three was diagnosed in January 2007.
I think the depth of painful memories was something none of the lawyers in the pet food
recalls cases ever appreciated unless they went through it themselves.
And the enmity created against the pet food companies for their carelessness and greed has
never been perceived properly either. March 2007 is not something convenience commercial pet food
consumers who lived through it can ever forget, and these consumers will pass the knowledge on
to their children and grandchildren. Two years later, and this is part of 2007's legacy, too.

Carol, you did say it very well.  Its sad to think how many families on March 11th and earlier were already dealing with the problem and know one knew what was happening which makes me all the madder because Menu knew at that time and didnt let on.  All the different diagnosis that were being made at vet clinics around the country and all of them wrong. 

Mandy ,thank you and I am doing fine today and just remembering the funny things about our KiKi.  I already got alot of it out last week so I dont want to go down in those depths again today, its too hard to pull out of it.  Sophers has helped keep me occupied today by getting into a bag of my rice cakes, what a mess and I wonder what we will have in the litterbox later on...

Sandi, KiKi was indeed a lovely girl.  Thank you for posting her picture in her memory.   She looks like the kind of cat I would have liked to meet!  (Well, Sophers does too, but in a different way, if you know what I mean. )

I hope that all who lost pets to this horrible tragedy will be able to find comfort in the good memories of the pets themselves.  I am very moved by all the comments on this thread.  Thank you for sharing these very personal stories.  I hope they will be read by many who will take them to heart.