Comments on: Pet-food recall: The big picture http://www.petconnection.com/blog/2007/04/13/pet-food-recall-the-big-picture/ Blogging by a team of pet-care experts led by Dr. Marty Becker. Fri, 19 Mar 2010 05:55:38 -0400 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 hourly 1 By: MaKo http://www.petconnection.com/blog/2007/04/13/pet-food-recall-the-big-picture/comment-page-3/#comment-31617 MaKo Tue, 17 Apr 2007 00:16:35 +0000 http://www.petconnection.com/blog/2007/04/13/pet-food-recall-the-big-picture/#comment-31617 Michelle, tens of thousands of 'little fish' make a mighty BIG SPLASH! :) Michelle,

tens of thousands of ‘little fish’ make a mighty BIG SPLASH!

:)

]]> By: MaKo http://www.petconnection.com/blog/2007/04/13/pet-food-recall-the-big-picture/comment-page-3/#comment-31616 MaKo Tue, 17 Apr 2007 00:15:14 +0000 http://www.petconnection.com/blog/2007/04/13/pet-food-recall-the-big-picture/#comment-31616 >>Quote from Michelle, snipped for brevity: This week I made a difference. Don’t often feel like I can say that out loud, but today I am. Gladly. I’ll try to give you the Reader’s Digest version, in the hope that my actions will maybe prompt someone else to consider doing the same thing. So I guess this little fish maybe made a little splash. >>Quote from Michelle, snipped for brevity:
This week I made a difference. Don’t often feel like I can say that out loud, but today I am. Gladly. I’ll try to give you the Reader’s Digest version, in the hope that my actions will maybe prompt someone else to consider doing the same thing. So I guess this little fish maybe made a little splash.

]]> By: joe Romano http://www.petconnection.com/blog/2007/04/13/pet-food-recall-the-big-picture/comment-page-3/#comment-31159 joe Romano Mon, 16 Apr 2007 00:46:59 +0000 http://www.petconnection.com/blog/2007/04/13/pet-food-recall-the-big-picture/#comment-31159 The Re-enactment:I opened the can Of Alpo(Nestle-Purina),spoonen it into Mittens,our Black and Tan Shepard/Rotti mix's bowl.She became sick that evening,Vomitting,the shakes,...The next morning she would not eat,could not urinate,did not want water.Took her to the Vet."2" is a normal reading,her's is "15".possible Poison.The next time the Vet(Dr.Bower) called,..."It doesn't look good."That Saturday I drove there ,for what would be Mitten's Last Brave attempt to Walk on her leash out in the doctors yard to look up to the sky at the falling snow.Her tail wagged for the last time.My wife and I ,The next morning were called into Dr.Bower's office.Mary and I layed Mitten's in her Favorite Blanket as the Acute Renal Failure was Too much for her.We both got down on our knees,My Wife Mary holding Mitten's head in her arms,and I Joe, alongside Dr. Bower ,holdingMitten's around her waist.Mary's Head And mine touching,the tears flowing as the lethal injection was given.Mitten's suffering from the Alpo Prime cuts poisoning was over.Our's was just beginning.We held Mitten's Sreaming;WHYYYYYY....Our poor dog WhYYYYYY!!!!Mary's Screams,our tears were burning,Our Heartswere heavy.Even the Doctor wiped away a tear.We kissed our ,now Rigid Mittens,Mary was helped out to our Truck.I had to lift Mitten's eyelid,had to look into her eye one last time.The Hand that fed her Alpo one last time,helped pull it from the market on 3/31/07!Nestle-Purina's Alpo Killed my Mitten's,and I haven't heard from them since 3/31/07-Assured that it was not a December or January Shipment,when they know it was!Gerber Baby Food ,$ 55 BILIION Dollar's Cash by Nestle,they killed our baby,now allow them to kill yours,.... The Re-enactment:I opened the can Of Alpo(Nestle-Purina),spoonen it into Mittens,our Black and Tan Shepard/Rotti mix’s bowl.She became sick that evening,Vomitting,the shakes,…The next morning she would not eat,could not urinate,did not want water.Took her to the Vet.”2” is a normal reading,her’s is “15”.possible Poison.The next time the Vet(Dr.Bower) called,…”It doesn’t look good.”That Saturday I drove there ,for what would be Mitten’s Last Brave attempt to Walk on her leash out in the doctors yard to look up to the sky at the falling snow.Her tail wagged for the last time.My wife and I ,The next morning were called into Dr.Bower’s office.Mary and I layed Mitten’s in her Favorite Blanket as the Acute Renal Failure was Too much for her.We both got down on our knees,My Wife Mary holding Mitten’s head in her arms,and I Joe, alongside Dr. Bower ,holdingMitten’s around her waist.Mary’s Head And mine touching,the tears flowing as the lethal injection was given.Mitten’s suffering from the Alpo Prime cuts poisoning was over.Our’s was just beginning.We held Mitten’s Sreaming;WHYYYYYY….Our poor dog WhYYYYYY!!!!Mary’s Screams,our tears were burning,Our Heartswere heavy.Even the Doctor wiped away a tear.We kissed our ,now Rigid Mittens,Mary was helped out to our Truck.I had to lift Mitten’s eyelid,had to look into her eye one last time.The Hand that fed her
Alpo one last time,helped pull it from the market on 3/31/07!Nestle-Purina’s Alpo Killed my Mitten’s,and I haven’t heard from them since 3/31/07-Assured that it was not a December or January Shipment,when they know it was!Gerber Baby Food ,$ 55 BILIION Dollar’s Cash by Nestle,they killed our baby,now allow them to kill yours,….

]]> By: Tammy K http://www.petconnection.com/blog/2007/04/13/pet-food-recall-the-big-picture/comment-page-3/#comment-30838 Tammy K Sat, 14 Apr 2007 22:27:25 +0000 http://www.petconnection.com/blog/2007/04/13/pet-food-recall-the-big-picture/#comment-30838 Obligate carnivore means that cats MUST have meat in their diets. It doesn't mean that the only thing they should eat is meat. Cats don't manufacture taurine in their bodies (taurine is an essential amino acid) and therefore must be fed it as a supplement or in its natural form - raw meat. Feeding it in COOKED meat products and canned foods only provides a small amount of taurine because the heating process destroys most amino acids. For this reason, you will see taurine listed specifically as an ingredient on most canned and dry foods. It has to be added back in. Yes, cats can and will eat a wide variety of foods - especially if they eat the exact same brand of food day in and day out. It is actually thought to be better to rotate a 3-4 different brands of food throughout the year because each brand provides a different amount of various nutrients. Rotating through different brands could routinely cover more nutritional bases than feeding the exact same food forever. I know cats are much pickier than dogs, but I'm sure most of you with cats feed a variety of "flavors" of canned foods... that's a good first step in the variety theory. But rotating through brands is even better. Each brand has its own "selling points", and each brand adds in different vitamins and minerals at different levels. Feeding a cat a vegetarian diet with no added taurine is a death sentence. Vegetarian diets for cats can be done, but it takes a lot of supplementation simply because their bodies cannot function indefinately without taurine supplementation. Dogs, on the other hand, manufacture some of their own taurine, but still not quite enough - so it, too, is added in to most commercial dry and canned foods. Those dogs and cats who eat raw (meaty) foods don't need the extra supplementation. Hope that clears up the idea of "obligate carnivore" a little better. I wasn't stating that they ONLY eat meat... it means they MUST have meat (i.e. taurine) to survive. Obligate carnivore means that cats MUST have meat in their diets. It doesn’t mean that the only thing they should eat is meat. Cats don’t manufacture taurine in their bodies (taurine is an essential amino acid) and therefore must be fed it as a supplement or in its natural form - raw meat. Feeding it in COOKED meat products and canned foods only provides a small amount of taurine because the heating process destroys most amino acids. For this reason, you will see taurine listed specifically as an ingredient on most canned and dry foods. It has to be added back in.

Yes, cats can and will eat a wide variety of foods - especially if they eat the exact same brand of food day in and day out. It is actually thought to be better to rotate a 3-4 different brands of food throughout the year because each brand provides a different amount of various nutrients. Rotating through different brands could routinely cover more nutritional bases than feeding the exact same food forever.

I know cats are much pickier than dogs, but I’m sure most of you with cats feed a variety of “flavors” of canned foods… that’s a good first step in the variety theory. But rotating through brands is even better. Each brand has its own “selling points”, and each brand adds in different vitamins and minerals at different levels.

Feeding a cat a vegetarian diet with no added taurine is a death sentence. Vegetarian diets for cats can be done, but it takes a lot of supplementation simply because their bodies cannot function indefinately without taurine supplementation.

Dogs, on the other hand, manufacture some of their own taurine, but still not quite enough - so it, too, is added in to most commercial dry and canned foods.

Those dogs and cats who eat raw (meaty) foods don’t need the extra supplementation.

Hope that clears up the idea of “obligate carnivore” a little better. I wasn’t stating that they ONLY eat meat… it means they MUST have meat (i.e. taurine) to survive.

]]> By: MR Bruno http://www.petconnection.com/blog/2007/04/13/pet-food-recall-the-big-picture/comment-page-3/#comment-30760 MR Bruno Sat, 14 Apr 2007 17:16:54 +0000 http://www.petconnection.com/blog/2007/04/13/pet-food-recall-the-big-picture/#comment-30760 One of the things that I have mentioned to my readers is to err on the side of caution with regard to any dog food on the recall list. if you are unsure if your specific type of food is impacted , don't feed that brand to your dog until you get verifictaion that it is ok from your veterinarian One of the things that I have mentioned to my readers is to err on the side of caution with regard to any dog food on the recall list. if you are unsure if your specific type of food is impacted , don’t feed that brand to your dog until you get verifictaion that it is ok from your veterinarian

]]> By: Jenny http://www.petconnection.com/blog/2007/04/13/pet-food-recall-the-big-picture/comment-page-3/#comment-30725 Jenny Sat, 14 Apr 2007 15:23:44 +0000 http://www.petconnection.com/blog/2007/04/13/pet-food-recall-the-big-picture/#comment-30725 Maureen, thanks for pointing that out. I hadn't noticed it previously. Maureen, thanks for pointing that out. I hadn’t noticed it previously.

]]> By: Maureen http://www.petconnection.com/blog/2007/04/13/pet-food-recall-the-big-picture/comment-page-3/#comment-30696 Maureen Sat, 14 Apr 2007 13:18:07 +0000 http://www.petconnection.com/blog/2007/04/13/pet-food-recall-the-big-picture/#comment-30696 Re: Comment by Jenny — April 13, 2007 @ 9:27 pm Jenny commented on this site which has good information about cats' nutritional needs: http://www.maxshouse.com/Database_toc.htm The interesting thing is that Dr. Claudia Kirk is a signatory to the info about nutrition! If this paper is accurate, and it appears to be from everything we are learning about cats' needs for protein from meat sources, then shame on her for her pro-commercial food statements at the hearing. Re: Comment by Jenny — April 13, 2007 @ 9:27 pm

Jenny commented on this site which has good information about cats’ nutritional needs:
http://www.maxshouse.com/Database_toc.htm

The interesting thing is that Dr. Claudia Kirk is a signatory to the info about nutrition! If this paper is accurate, and it appears to be from everything we are learning about cats’ needs for protein from meat sources, then shame on her for her pro-commercial food statements at the hearing.

]]> By: CatLady http://www.petconnection.com/blog/2007/04/13/pet-food-recall-the-big-picture/comment-page-3/#comment-30674 CatLady Sat, 14 Apr 2007 11:54:50 +0000 http://www.petconnection.com/blog/2007/04/13/pet-food-recall-the-big-picture/#comment-30674 Wow, Michelle. That's fantastic... and inspirational. Just goes to show that speaking up really does make a difference. Wow, Michelle. That’s fantastic… and inspirational. Just goes to show that speaking up really does make a difference.

]]> By: Nadine Long http://www.petconnection.com/blog/2007/04/13/pet-food-recall-the-big-picture/comment-page-3/#comment-30600 Nadine Long Sat, 14 Apr 2007 04:18:16 +0000 http://www.petconnection.com/blog/2007/04/13/pet-food-recall-the-big-picture/#comment-30600 Way to go, Michelle! That was huge. We all need to follow your example. Way to go, Michelle!

That was huge. We all need to follow your example.

]]> By: michelle http://www.petconnection.com/blog/2007/04/13/pet-food-recall-the-big-picture/comment-page-3/#comment-30584 michelle Sat, 14 Apr 2007 03:44:16 +0000 http://www.petconnection.com/blog/2007/04/13/pet-food-recall-the-big-picture/#comment-30584 This week I made a difference. Don't often feel like I can say that out loud, but today I am. Gladly. I'll try to give you the Reader's Digest version, in the hope that my actions will maybe prompt someone else to consider doing the same thing. I'm not a complainer. I usually just accept and make do, can't fight every battle. But this week I fought by sending an e-mail to the corporate headquarters of my local (and only for a 30 mile radius) grocery store. I went to the grocery this time last week and found recalled food still for sale on the shelves. After requesting that the tainted food be removed from the shelves, which it was immediately, I went home and started thinking. We as consumers are having trouble keeping up with these recalls, maybe the stores are, too. The manager of my store was sincerely very appreciative of the information I gave them. They were NOT getting good information from their corporate headquarters and were also having trouble staying on top of the Friday afternoon press releases. My point is this -- Last week my sadness at my own pet's recall-related illness and my anger that this junk was still on the shelves waiting to poison someone else's pet prompted me to contacted the CORPORATE headquarters of our local grocery chain. As a result, I learned today that not only did the ownership of our store and five other stores in our area check their shelves for recalled pet food, but the CORPORATE office has drastically changed the way they are communicating ALL of their recall information the ALL of their franchises, and have also instituted new verification procedures to assure that all recalled products are removed as quickly as possible. Even the Listerine they recalled today. So I guess this little fish maybe made a little splash. At least I know there is no way a pet will be eating anymore of this food bought in my town. And maybe not at any other stores in the same chain, either. And maybe since they are dealing with recalls differently, us humans might be a little safer too. So if you can, check the shelves. If they are in good shape, thank the store manager and send an e-mail to corporate to say thanks for their effective communication. If they aren't in good shape, politely ask that the problem be corrected, say thanks after they have, and ask corporate to improve their communication since it apparently is not as effective as it needs to be. Worked for me, maybe it will for you too. Don't think we can depend on the FDA, guess we are just going to have to depend on ourselves. This week I made a difference. Don’t often feel like I can say that out loud, but today I am. Gladly. I’ll try to give you the Reader’s Digest version, in the hope that my actions will maybe prompt someone else to consider doing the same thing.

I’m not a complainer. I usually just accept and make do, can’t fight every battle. But this week I fought by sending an e-mail to the corporate headquarters of my local (and only for a 30 mile radius) grocery store.

I went to the grocery this time last week and found recalled food still for sale on the shelves. After requesting that the tainted food be removed from the shelves, which it was immediately, I went home and started thinking.

We as consumers are having trouble keeping up with these recalls, maybe the stores are, too. The manager of my store was sincerely very appreciative of the information I gave them. They were NOT getting good information from their corporate headquarters and were also having trouble staying on top of the Friday afternoon press releases.

My point is this — Last week my sadness at my own pet’s recall-related illness and my anger that this junk was still on the shelves waiting to poison someone else’s pet prompted me to contacted the CORPORATE headquarters of our local grocery chain. As a result, I learned today that not only did the ownership of our store and five other stores in our area check their shelves for recalled pet food, but the CORPORATE office has drastically changed the way they are communicating ALL of their recall information the ALL of their franchises, and have also instituted new verification procedures to assure that all recalled products are removed as quickly as possible. Even the Listerine they recalled today.

So I guess this little fish maybe made a little splash. At least I know there is no way a pet will be eating anymore of this food bought in my town. And maybe not at any other stores in the same chain, either. And maybe since they are dealing with recalls differently, us humans might be a little safer too.

So if you can, check the shelves. If they are in good shape, thank the store manager and send an e-mail to corporate to say thanks for their effective communication. If they aren’t in good shape, politely ask that the problem be corrected, say thanks after they have, and ask corporate to improve their communication since it apparently is not as effective as it needs to be.

Worked for me, maybe it will for you too. Don’t think we can depend on the FDA, guess we are just going to have to depend on ourselves.

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