Something that may be worth looking into is aflatoxin contamination from moldy grain. It seems to happen on a semi-regular basis to dog and cat kibble.

Aflatoxin primarily attacks the liver. From Cornell Vet School,
http://www.news.cornell.edu/stories/Jan06/dogs.dying.ssl.html

From the Whiska's ingredient list. That food is largely corn and grain based.

POULTRY BY-PRODUCT MEAL (NATURAL SOURCE OF GLUCOSAMINE AND CHONDROITIN SULFATE), GROUND YELLOW CORN, CORN GLUTEN MEAL, ANIMAL FAT (PRESERVED WITH BHA AND CITRIC ACID, SOURCE OF MEATY FLAVOR), GROUND WHEAT, NATURAL CHICKEN AND TURKEY FLAVOR, WHEAT FLOUR, BREWERS RICE, BREWERS DRIED YEAST, POTASSIUM CHLORIDE, SALT, CHOLINE CHLORIDE, TAURINE, DL-METHIONINE, CALCIUM CARBONATE, DL-ALPHA-TOCOPHERYL ACETATE (SOURCE OF VITAMIN E), ZINC SULFATE, YUCCA SCHIDIGERA EXTRACT, NIACIN, COPPER SULFATE, VITAMIN A ACETATE, VITAMIN B12 SUPPLEMENT, THIAMINE MONONITRATE (VITAMIN B1), RIBOFLAVIN SUPPLEMENT, MANGANESE SULFATE, D-CALCIUM PANTOTHENATE, PYRIDOXINE HYDROCHLORIDE (VITAMIN B6), BIOTIN, VITAMIN D3 SUPPLEMENT, FOLIC ACID, POTASSIUM IODIDE

http://www.truthaboutpetfood.com/articles/the-fda-four.html

http://www.pet-food-choice.co.uk/pet_food_ingredients.htm

http://www.optimalpetfoods.com/index.php?page=article-whats-really-in-pet-food-ingredients-to-avoid



There are other reasons for avoiding Whiskas:
http://www.optimalpetfoods.com/index.php?page=article-whats-really-in-pet-food-ingredients-to-avoid

BTW, Laura, a zillion people feed foods just like this. It's not "your fault" even if it IS the food.

 Quote: Laura Dobson

Thanks Connie, she is pretty much the same. She ate about 1/2 cup today, I added some chicken, but she didn't finish it. I just hope the pathology reports show something, anything, so we know where to go from here. I feel so bad that I may have caused this, and the poor girl, she looks so miserable.

I don't think I'd wait for the path reports before getting a referral to a vet internist (a small animal internist - a specialist). Not after this much time with no improvement and no diagnosis.

http://www.vsnt.com/faq.htm#smallanimal

The corn gluten meal = distillers grain.
The post regarding mold is a consideration, the crop 2 yrs ago was very moldy, there was a terribly wet fall during harvest. Corn is bought a long time ahead.
Your county extension agent would be able to test for aflatoxin.

Wow, thank you guys so much for doing all that leg work and research. I have printed the list of pet foods and I will look into a specialist to see if there is one here locally. Thanks again.

Laura, I hope all the animals are doing better and you find out the cause.
Is there any chance of getting the dogs and cats at least transferred to a raw diet once you get a handle on this? I know cats are sometimes difficult to change.

I'm late getting in on this, do you have any of the food left? it can be tested for toxins, etc. My last dog got ill after eating and I contacted the pet food company to report it and they tested the food to see if it was a cause. I hope your animals get well. Good luck.

Update: Shena ate pretty good yesterday and last night. Today, she is not eating anything. I noticed something, she is acting like anything she puts in her mouth tastes really bad then spits it out, but she has been doing it with anything I try to give her today. The vet says lets wait until results come back tomorrow from pathology of the rat. She really wants to play fetch today and I don't know if I should. Will it make her want to eat or will it make her very weak. I don't know. I have never seen anything like this before. I'm so puzzled by this whole thing. I did email the cat food co. to see if they know anything. Hopefully. But they will probably deny anything. We will see.

Can you see any injury or sore in her mouth? If you blend up poached chicken in tepid water to make a pea-soup texture pourable food, will she slurp that?

Can you play that kind of fetch where the ball is rolled along and the dog doesn't have to run to get it?

It's shaky to try to advise on this ..... lack of exercise is a stressor on its own, but who knows if there has been heart damage, etc. So maybe a little gentle exercise and relief from boredom will stimulate her appetite.

BTW, please don't throw away that food. And please make a note of the lot number. (This is usually a black or blue typed-looking number, unobtrusive, obviously not part of the color-printed packaging, but added later .... a little like the "use by" line on a dairy product.)

Do you have ferrets too? If so, have the dogs had distemper vax? (I know this is reaching; dogs in this country are extremely unlikely not to have had distemper vax.)

The rat path tests include lepto?

(I'm really searching my memory for what species can transmit what diseases to what other species.)

I appreciate anything you think of Connie. No, no ferrets. I do still have the food and the bag. The vet did tell me to keep it. I put the food in a ziplock bag and put it back into the bag and put that in the fridge outside. I don't see anything in her mouth, her breath stinks bad lately, which made me think kidneys, but lab work says other wise. The vet also checked her mouth. He thinks the bad breath is due to an empty stomach. I don't even know if that makes any sense, but thats what he said. We did go out and play roll the ball, she liked that. Then I brushed her some, she liked that too. I pray something, anything, comes back on that report tomorrow. I'll let you know. Thanks again.