Lynne wrote:
on Sat, 31 Mar 2007 17:48:46 GMT, Dale Atkin wrote:

The increase in observed kidney cases could easily be due to simply an
increase in looking for problems. People are worried about their
animals, so they bring their dog/cat in for a blood test. Guess what?
Some of them will have kidney problems. These are going to cause quite a
bit of statistical noise in whatever numbers you are looking at.

Another thing to keep in mind is that the increase in kidney disease was
noted by some vets during the month(s) prior to the recall... Which tells
me these vets didn't go looking for it, which implies that the statistical
noise to which you refer may be insignificant.


Things tend to go in phases in veterinary practice. You'll go months
without seeing a case of x, and then all of a sudden 5 will walk through
your door. Its not surprising that at least some of the vets were
experiencing an upturn in cases of renal failure. Looking back its easy
to 'tie' it to the problems we see now, but is it? Do they have any data
as far as what food these dogs/cats were eating?

I'm not saying its not caused by the food, but just trying to point out
that there are other possibilities.

Dale