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I feel compelled to share my family's story with the community. My family has been tremendously affected by the tainted pet food epidemic.

Two of our dogs, which were otherwise very healthy, were hospitalized due to kidney failure. On the morning of March 22nd, we took our 4-year old Rottweiler/German Shepard mix, Roxy, to the veterinary hospital. She died that afternoon. 

I had another pet at home who I had fed the same food as Roxy. I immediately took her to the veterinarian. The blood work indicated that she, too, was experiencing kidney failure. Savannah, a Siberian Husky, has been at the veterinarian since the 22nd of March. Her prognosis is not good, her values are high and she is in need of kidney dialysis. Kidney dialysis might be the only treament for her to survive. Kidney dialysis is very expensive and a cost that our family just can't afford.

Both the veterinarian, Dr. Kim Bonham, from Stockdale Veterinary Hospital, and my husband have made numerous phone calls to the pet food manufacturer, Purina, informing them about Roxy and Savannah's medical condition. They were made aware that both dogs had eaten their canned food.

We informed Wal-Mart that we had purchased Alpo Prime Cuts in Gravy from their store on Fashion Place in Bakersfield and that our pets became sick after eating the food. We also hoped that the food would be removed from the shelves. Finally, on Friday, March 30th, Purina recalled selected cans of Alpo Prime Cuts in Gravy wet dog food. 

Our veterinarian has confirmed that the labratory indicated that our dog, Roxy, died of kidney failure as a result of eating contaminated food.

After several requests to Purina to authorize my surviving dog's treatment, we have been referred to a claims adjuster. Right now we are waiting for the company to approve treatment for our dog Savannah. If the treatment is denied and Savannah is not making progress and she is experiencing pain, we will have no choice but to put her down.

The past few weeks have been emotionally draining. Dealing with the sudden illness of our beloved pets has been like riding a roller-coaster. Losing Roxy was very hard.  The stress of not knowing from day to day if Savannah will recover has been even harder. 

Our family is all-too-familiar with kidney disease. Two years ago my husband donated his kidney to his sister who was on dialysis 10-hours a day and who would have died had she not received a new organ. Our middle daughter, too, has had to deal with kidney infections and chronic kidney disease since she was a toddler. 

When we were informed that our dogs were suffering from kidney failure, it was heartbreaking for everyone in our family. It reminded us how traumatic it is to deal with this disease. The very idea that we unknowingly subjected our pets to this painful disease is very hard to deal with and tugs at our hearts and conscience.