TakeYourMedicine

Here's Maddie, in happier times. She'd been for a swim and was entreating me to throw the ball, just one more round, heady with the pleasures of summer.

Today she's downstairs with a mild case of pancreatitis. Even a mild case of pancreatitis isn't mild. After a foodless weekend, three drips of intravenous fluid, two injections, and multiple pills, she's up to "eating" three small meals of pureed chicken and rice a day. There is now a flicker of interest in the old pleasures: sniffing her world, putting younger dogs in their places, greeting the people who walk down her street. But we are so far from the swimming Maddie, the romping, hiking, ball chasing Maddie. It's going to take time.

We've taken turns sleeping on the futon beside Maddie's bed on the first floor each night, since she isn't up to the stairs and has needed to go out in the middle of the night. One of her anti-puke medications has a side effect of depression, and we don't want her to be alone.

All this happens as I read and post on our library blog site about the FDA's less than stellar performance on the dog food recall continually in progress.

From the current FDA report:

* Total reports of illness or death: 17,000
* Total cats reported dead: 1,950
* Total dogs reported dead: 2,200

Then there are reported cases from the Pet Connection:

* Total reports of illness or death: 14,228
* Total cats reported dead: 2,334 cats
* Total dogs reported dead: 2,249

Itchmo has more bad news: Melamine contamination spreads to millions of chickens in the human food supply and possibly hundreds of food supply plants. Spiking going on for 15 years. (Speaking of chicken, The American Chemical Society reports of arsenic risk.)

We have avoided giving Maddie canned pet food for years, have instead roasted chicken and fed it to her with her Wellness kibble (still not on the recall list). But we wonder: is this pancreatitis, or is she poisoned? The blood counts say pancreatitis, and we may only have ourselves to blame. Maddie has been a successful beggar for years, elevated to the position of Scullery Dog, who cleans plates, mixing bowls, and pans. We have loved and indulged her to illness, probably--no need to blame anyone else so far.

But we see the Itchmo story on chicken feed and wonder. Do these shadowy worlds intersect?

Maddie is looking better, to be sure. There are signs of life in her that weren't there two days ago. I have hopes of seeing her in her summer elements. Still, I wonder whether we can keep her safe. So many of the recalled feeds are so-called premium brands. Is it a matter of time till Wellness hits the list? What about the chicken?

Such are the streams feeding the creation of that coming ocean, the practices of the localvore.