I think my little pal Lloyd got his fatal kidney infection from one of the raccoons that always prowl through our yard--a neighbor dog died before Lloyd did, from a similar infection. We don't leave food out at night any more and they keep coming back anyway. I have a pellet gun, but despite my shooting them repeatedly they don't even detour--they run when they see me, that's it.

I called Fish & Wildlife, thinking that maybe the possibility the animals are diseased might get some action out of them. They offered to refer me to a trapper who I could hire to catch the animals at my own expense.

If we didn't live inside city limits I'd get a shotgun and kill the bastards. I didn't use to feel that way--I don't fault wild animals for coming into town to eat--but these raccoons are big, 35-40 pounders, they're aggressive, and they won't stay away.

Not to debate the issue (oh, hell, why not!), but "kidney infection" is what they were calling it when all those dogs and cats were dying from tainted dog/cat food.

Raccoons shouldn't be allowed access, this is true, but don't let the pet food industry off the hook for the crap they are killing pets with.

More information available upon request. I even have a book I would loan out, with a suitable deposit.

Do you have pets, MH Lady? If so, do you feed them ala BARF? I've been pondering switching my Baby to that.

Yeah... but the neighbors had two dogs that ate the same food and only one of them died, and it wasn't the same brand or type of food I fed Lloyd.

We have a cat.
I make her food for her. She's been eating this way for 2 years now, and the vet thinks she's the healthiest cat she's seen.

Yeah...I'm leaving toward a combo of BARF and just table-scraps and bones.