Pet-food recall: It’s Wiki time … news round-up, too
By Gina Spadafori
April 14, 2007
- If you have a sick pet or a question on your pet’s health, call your veterinarian.
- If you’re new to the site, please check out our general information page (includes links to recalled foods).
- If you’d like suggestions on what to feed, click here.
- If you want to report a sick or deceased pet, click here.
- If you want to know what you can do, please read our call to action
- If you want to read all our recall-related blog posts, click here.
Just got a note from John Wambaugh, who has created an entry in Wikipedia about the pet-food recall. As most of you likely know, Wikipedia is an online resource written by its users, with the idea that over time, a consensus on the facts will emerge for the entry on any given subject.
So … you be the judge — and the editor, if you want to be:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2007_North_America_pet_food_recall
Round-up of reader-collected articles (thanks, Cathy, Mike!):
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18096481/site/newsweek/
http://www.ocregister.com/ocregister/life/pets/abox/article_1650154.php
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/life/4712986.html
http://morningsentinel.mainetoday.com/news/local/3806042.html
http://www.whas11.com/topstories/stories/41207whasjnTopOrganicpetfood.3736661.html
http://www.venturacountystar.com/news/2007/apr/14/pet-owners-feel-guilt-uncertainty/
http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/2007/04/pet_food_recall25.html
http://www.moneyweb.co.za/mw/view/mw/en/page94?oid=85863&sn=Detail
http://www.13wmaz.com/news/local_story.aspx?storyid=37660
http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/2007/04/pet_food_recall24.html
We’ll add more throughout the day. Did we miss something? Some news story or media release? Drop us a line.
Go to the latest blog post | Go to the PetConnection home page
|Technorati Tags: pet food recall, dogs, cats,veterinarian, veterinary
I checked the Wkiki out - great. Really like the info and so concise too.
Linda MS.
Comment by Linda — April 14, 2007 @ 9:46 am
Everyone here knows that Senator Durbin will be on Dog Talk today - 11:00 to noon right?. You can access it from howl911 news headlines section and it will be stored there too for later listening. I’m not sure what time zone the 11:00 is - check it out.
It should be good.
Linda MS.
Comment by Linda — April 14, 2007 @ 9:52 am
One more for the list - NPR did a story this morning looking at what the pet food scandal means for human food safety - “Monitoring Food Imports to the U.S.” at http://www.npr.org/templates/s.....Id=9585226
Comment by Laura — April 14, 2007 @ 9:58 am
RE: Wikipedia entry: If he’s going to report Banfield NUMBERS report THEM ALL! Include the number who had kidney failure. By doG, let’s at least get an entry that reflects the totality, not the hype.
Comment by CathyA — April 14, 2007 @ 10:52 am
RE: Wikipedia entry also needs a link to Paul Pion and VIN. I didn’t see it next to the Banfield “data”. When the Banfield link becomes active, I’d like to see a financial history of the company.
I also think a link to the VIN page open to the public about treatment specifically for this issue should be entered.
Information from VIN on treating aminopterin poisoning:
http://tinyurl.com/2od87e
Ultrasound results of some affected pets:
http://tinyurl.com/2fuajo
Comment by CathyA — April 14, 2007 @ 11:03 am
I will look for more info on the Banfield numbers and get them in as soon as I can. For the record, I didn’t actually start the Wikipedia, I’ve been helping create it along with several other concerned people. If you’ve got info please add it in.
Comment by John Wambaugh — April 14, 2007 @ 11:16 am
West Hollywood, CA, an incorporated city, within surrounding Los Angeles passed a law in the last few years that designates its residents as pet guardians rather than pet owners. I wonder if there are other communities with such laws in the country? It would be great if a lawsuit within that legal structure were to be brought against the proper defendants, including any federal agency not enforcing its legal mandate or trade association that makes claims that it certifies its products with guarantees that we now know to be false.
Does anyone know of another community with a law like that in West Hollywood, CA?
Comment by Maureen — April 14, 2007 @ 11:45 am
Count Boulder, CO in with West Hollywood, CA!
Comment by Evy — April 14, 2007 @ 1:19 pm
RE: Comment by John Wambaugh — April 14, 2007 @ 11:16 am
Sorry, didn’t mean to yell. It’s in one of the main blog posts here. Banfield put out a press release recently on PR Wire mentioning only 6 dead and since then that’s all anyone’s been quoting. Here’s an old one (March 24) with the original numbers:
http://www.usatoday.com/news/n.....food_N.htm
Over the three months the food was on the market, the more than 600 Banfield
hospitals in 43 states saw 200 to 250 cases of kidney failure in cats above
the usual number that would have been expected, says Hugh Lewis, president
of Data Savant, Banfield’s data collection arm.
During that period the Banfield vets saw 100,000 cats. Extrapolating to the
entire cat population of the USA, that could mean “we’re probably talking
several hundred cats a week across the country being affected,” Lewis said.*
Banfield financial ties:
http://phoenix.bizjournals.com.....ily26.html
The pet supplies retailer also said it will increase its portion of the
voting shares of MMI Holdings Inc., which operates the Banfield veterinary
hospitals inside many PetSmart stores. That will result in PetSmart
accounting for its share in MMI by using the equity method of accounting. As
part of its agreement, PetSmart said it would sell some of its shares to
Mars Inc., which owns the largest portion of MMI.
I do like the timeline!
Comment by CathyA — April 14, 2007 @ 1:52 pm
BANFIELD PET HO$PITAL LIST OF COMPLAINTS:
It appears a lot of pet owners are not very happy with Banfield. This has nothing to do with the pet food recall.
If you google “Banfield Pet Hospital” complaints a lot comes out. They are there for money and money alone. First one is from consumer affairs:
http://www.consumeraffairs.com/pets/banfield.html
http://www.petwalk.com/ubb/Forum6/HTML/000083.html
http://www.banfieldsucks.net/
There are lots of others to look at if you are interested.
Comment by mal — April 14, 2007 @ 2:50 pm
Link to info on the Royal Canin South Africa recall, FYI
http://www.news24.com/News24/S.....24,00.html
Comment by michelle — April 14, 2007 @ 2:52 pm
Comment by Maureen — April 14, 2007 @ 11:45 am
Found this at the website for National Association for Biomedical Research (!!) :
OWNERSHIP V. GUARDIANSHIP
INTRODUCTION
The effort by activist groups to change the term “owner” to “guardian” in local ordinances and state laws relating to pets continues in a number of jurisdictions. While this campaign is marketed as a feel-good exercise, this “simple” change in language elevates animals above their current status as property - with potentially enormous legal implications.
There are 15 cities, towns and counties that have adopted such an ordinance. One state, Rhode Island, has included similar language in its constitution.
Guardianship designation agreed to:
Location Date
Santa Clara, CA April, 2006
Bloomington, IN January, 2006
St. Louis, MO August 9, 2004
Albany, CA June 7, 2004
Wanaque, NJ May 13, 2004
Woodstock, NY February 10, 2004
Marin County, CA December, 2003
Sebastopol, CA December, 2003
San Francisco, CA January 13, 2003
Amherst, MA April 24, 2002
Menomonee Falls, WI March 11, 2002
Sherwood, AR September 24, 2001
State of Rhode Island July 5, 2001
West Hollywood, CA February 19. 2001
Berkeley, CA February 27, 2001
Boulder, CO July 12, 2000
Interesting site. Link to the story is http://www.nabr.org/AnimalLaw/...../index.htm
Comment by Christi — April 14, 2007 @ 3:08 pm
Another post from the South African news, pre-food recalls, about how we Americans treat our pets. Clearly, I have nothing better to do with my time this aftenoon
http://www.news24.com/News24/E.....67,00.html
Comment by michelle — April 14, 2007 @ 3:21 pm
Linda MS
Yes I did see your post on Dr J.
I only asked about it because of that story about things that get thrown into the mix before rendering. One of the lines said food and beverages. I was just curious if the beverages might have been diet beverages. Of course it’s not approved to go into the mix, but given what it said about employees tossing meat packages without removing the wrappings caused me to wonder.
Comment by Kathi — April 14, 2007 @ 3:33 pm
Help! I don’t know how to edit Wikipedia but someone needs to add some important info. Hill’s Pet Nutrition had TWO recalls. They had a recall of canned cat & kitten food called “Savory Cuts”. The link to the press release is http://www.hillspet.com/menu_f....._en_US.htm I don’t like that they keep saying they had only ONE
recalled item.
Comment by Christi — April 14, 2007 @ 4:01 pm
If someone posted this before, my apologies.
As to the question of home fed vs. commercial, check this out for fun:
http://www.cnn.com/US/9702/06/fringe/oldest.cat/
according to another article about this which I can’t seem to locate now, owner also fed eggs, bacon, broccoli, coffee with cream (don’t think I’d do that) and asparagus & tuna.
Comment by Kathi — April 14, 2007 @ 4:23 pm
From Wiki, and we’ve all read this:
“Menu Foods received the first complaints of sick pets on February 20.”
I would love to see it edited on Wiki and all timelines to say:
“According to Menu Foods, they received the first complaints of sick pets on February 20.”
Do any of us really know whether they’re telling the truth on that? If their taste-test animals died in a few days, how do we know they weren’t receiving complaints of sick pets back in December? Are we to believe the lag time from manufacture to distribution and ingestion took from December 6 to February 20 before the first complaint came in? Nearly 3 months? How do we believe anything they say?
And what about each of the recalled brand names… when did THEY start receiving complaints of sick/dead animals? If I had bought Iams cans/pouches of contaminated food and my pet died or got sick, I wouldn’t know to call Menu Foods and complain, I would have called Iams. Someone else would have called Nutro. Someone else would have called Brand X. Etc. As a result of their being 100 different brand names, EACH of those brands would have continued to rack up complaints (deaths/illnesses) independently, and none of them would have realized the total magnitude of the problem… all caused by a single manufacturing source.
If they had all been connected by a central database, then when all the complaints came in from all the different brand names, someone would have noticed how big and widespread the problem was… and recognized that it all pointed back to the same manufacturer. And it all might have been stopped sooner.
Emphasis on the word MIGHT. :-(
Comment by Sarah — April 14, 2007 @ 4:57 pm
RE: ownership vs. guardianship
I’m not for it. I can imagine some busy body deciding my guardianship was inadequate and endangering my animal because I home prepare food. Imagine the equivalent of Child Protective Services for animals. There’s a 10 yr old kid right now the “authorities” may take away from his parents because neither he nor his parents want chemo - as if a chemo treatment was 100% effective - ya right. He’s currently in remission. They’re calling it child endangerment. Shudder…want them coming to your house? …..keep the govt out of my home…..no thanks!
I can more easily control the fate of my pets, including making choices regarding food and health care if I’m an owner. They don’t care what they’re called as long as it’s not late for dinner.
I’m pretty sure Christie wrote about this at one point.
Comment by CathyA — April 14, 2007 @ 4:58 pm
Here is a better link to Hill’s recalled products. Even has pics!!
http://www.hillspet.com/menu_f....._en_US.htm
Thanks to whoever can add this to Wiki!!!!
Comment by Christi — April 14, 2007 @ 5:04 pm
This timeline thing really bugs me. SEE comment by Debra April 13, 2007 @ 3:16 pm on “hearings over what’s next page” and compare what Debra says about the food sales of Nutro to the email I recvd 12 Apr 07 @ 9:17 pm from online store. I am only quoting what Dave Kravis/Nutro says within this email. His quote date is 10 Apr 07: ” I had previously ordered a broader recall of affected products than what Menu Foods had suggested. Given this new information from Menu Foods, I have ordered all wet pet food products containing wheat gluten to be removed from store shelves.”
——-Now as I recall myself, there have only been two recalls of Nutro, one being the initial recall and the other as a result of UC-Davis findings. You betcha he knew. And WHY did he not demand his broader recall or just issue one himself. YOU’RE FIRED, DAVE.
Comment by Kathi — April 14, 2007 @ 5:14 pm
Yesterday, I bought a large package of Shortribs at Sams Club and thought I’d give it to my dogs to see if they liked eating raw meat with alittle bone.
These were rather long so I cut them up. Well I tossed one to my Samurai and he gave me a funny look than wolfed it down, and I tossed one to another dog and he sniffed it and looked at me like “Well cook it will ya.” (I gave that too to Samurai.) Then I gave one to my youngest dog, and crunch crunch - it disappeared.
So I headed to Safeway to pick up some meat on sale to add to the mix of hamburger I boil for my dogs. I asked the meat manager for dog scraps - Lady we aren’t permitted to sale scraps - so I asked him what they did with the scraps. He said they go into the meat bin and in the garbage - (no I don’t dumpster surf.) So I called around to get some of those good scraps from a local meat company and the best I could come up with was beef tongue at $1.79 per pound. Well, I just bought some Tri Tip Roast on sale for $2.16 a pound so I figure the sale meat would be good enough for my crew.
I tossed all the meat in a big pot of boiling water and it’s cooking up a tornado right now on the stove top and all dogs are hanging out eyeing my every move - well the pot of sale goodies seem good enough. Do we want to talk about cost, not really.
Linda MS
Comment by Linda — April 14, 2007 @ 5:16 pm
PS: My vet said my youngest dog should top at 120 lbs when he matures - and I keep looking at those paws and thinking maybe a real giant and no he is not part Great Dane. Right now he eats four times a day and still looks thin to me, healthwise he’s fine and recently vet checked, but the meat and bone needs are really growing - and I don’t feed lots of rice. They don’t like it -
Well, that’s my story that applies just to me and no one else but I thought I’d share it anyway.
Linda MA
Comment by Linda — April 14, 2007 @ 5:22 pm
I must caution on the use of Borax. I used to sell orthboric acid (borax) as a roach powder when I lived in Texas. It can harm if ingested ie: paw licking. Borax/boron sticks to many surfaces and insects and animals end up licking themselves thereby ingesting it.
Comment by Kathi — April 14, 2007 @ 5:27 pm
When I was a kid, my cat Kitty, seal point siamese, ate Tender Vittles, Purina Cat Chow, and Dr. Ballards. She also had a daily serving of some beef liver, she didn’t like pork liver as much. That was the main food that was available about 30 years ago, not like today. She lived 22 years and only had to deal with bladder infections in her old age.
I do think our food is adulterated now. It’s a shame we have to pay so much to get good food but you do save in the vet bills.
I’m now using Merrick wet, Innova Evo dry. My cat doesn’t like the EaglePac dry too much. I’m also going to try some Pets4Life next week as I’ve found a store that sells it.
Comment by Sindy — April 14, 2007 @ 5:43 pm
Linda MS go find a real butcher, they will hook ya up.
I love mom and pop butchers, I have one and they know the Nebraska farmers. I won’t buy beef, pork, or any other meat unless its from them.
Eating it right now, its good eats…
Comment by MonkeyKitty — April 14, 2007 @ 5:57 pm
Everytime I go they have a freezer bin for dog bones. But I bet if you find one they will take care of you.
I always stock up for my neighbrohood dogs, I have cats mind you.
They still know what house to come to for a good treat;)
Comment by MonkeyKitty — April 14, 2007 @ 6:01 pm
Interesting article in UK paper about US recall. Look at their numbers:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/new.....pets15.xml
Comment by Christi — April 14, 2007 @ 6:03 pm
Thanks MonkeyKitty, I’m going to look around next week - there’s a local butcher near me. Maybe she’ll throw a few scraps our way.
Linda MS.
Comment by Linda — April 14, 2007 @ 6:07 pm
Kathi:
Re: Nutro’s second recall. I read something about this that infuriated me…..the people whose pet got sick (can’t remember now if it was canine or feline…..reading too much & getting it all confused) sent a sample of the food to Nutro telling them their animal got sick. Nutro got back to them & said they tested it & it was fine. The people didn’t believe them (good for them) so they then sent it to UC Davis (I believe it was) & they tested it & found it to be contaminated. They reported it to the FDA & it was then & ONLY THEN that Nutro did the second recall. Scratch Nutro off my list, along with a gazillion other companies.
Still say there are contaminated foods on the shelves & these companies know it. Very sad state of affairs. Scary for our little fur babies. I have switched over to an all natural dry food but I’m even nervous about treats so I bought all natural little biscuits for her.
Here’s a little humor (which I think we all need about now). These organic biscuits I bought had a lot of writing on the back….as you can imagine, silly me stood there in the store & read every last bit of it. In the corner it said “no humans were harmed in the making of this product”…..maybe I’m just getting a little loony from all that’s been going on but it cracked me up.
Comment by Jan — April 14, 2007 @ 6:07 pm
Christi - nice read - they can report more because they don’t have to fret about stepping on toes.
Linda MS
Comment by Linda — April 14, 2007 @ 6:08 pm
I did get a good email today from the KC Star.
Dear Jonathan,
Thanks for the e-mail. This is a bad situation that seems to just get worse
with every passing day. It’s frustrating that some in the media report that
the melamine is THE cause, when from my perspective that’s far from certain,
And that comes from my conversations with experts, including a veterinary
Toxicologist with ASPCA.
Again, thanks for e-mailing and looking out for the cats and dogs of the
World.
Not going to say who it was, but at least there is some good reporting out there the star has done a good job, too bad my own local papers in Denver does not seem to care about this issue.
If you see a good article that covers the story accurately then don’t hesitate to reinforce the need for good journalism.
I am in it for the long haul and I hope we all stay interested in this. It does have some huge impact to our future and everything else living.
Cheers KC Star!
Comment by MonkeyKitty — April 14, 2007 @ 6:20 pm
I guess the freedom of speech doesn’t apply in Canada and the US but only in the UK. We are truly fed crap in our food and in the news.
Good link, Christi. I’m glad the world isn’t that dumb.
Comment by Sindy — April 14, 2007 @ 6:25 pm
would this link help??
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,264972,00.html
Comment by Evy — April 14, 2007 @ 6:25 pm
Jan,
that was funny - pays to read the fine print.
Linda MS
Comment by Linda — April 14, 2007 @ 6:27 pm
Jan
I was stunned when I received the email. For one thing the letter intro had a date of March 19, 2007, but sent to me 12Apr 07. The press release within that email was dated 10 Apr 07. But more importantly was Dave’s admission to knowing on the March recall date that more of his products needed to be recalled and he failed to tell us.
I’ve had this can of MaxCat sitting on my desk since day one. When I opened email, I sat there for hours just staring at it. I felt ill for the next 24 hours and still feel queasy. I’m glad I didn’t trust the recall list or my Bean’s wouldn’t be here today. She ate about 7 cans but never finished each feeding and would vomit shortly after.
Comment by Kathi — April 14, 2007 @ 6:27 pm
Evy post at 6:25 14 Apr 07
I reread the part about more toxic to cats but that isn’t necessarily true because cats eat more wet food than dogs. But it’s nice to see the numbers still exist.
Comment by Kathi — April 14, 2007 @ 6:38 pm
Linda, my Dad has been feeding his 4 dogs “scraps” that he gets from the butcher’s at the local Giant grocery. He has the guy pack up the ribs and end cuts that are not saleable. He’s been doing this for years. He pays for them, of course. The butcher should have some discretion with things like this. You might want to speak to the store manager about it too.
Dad actually slow cooks ribs for the dogs for hours in the over. They eat better than we do :) Thank the good Lord not one of his critters got sick from all this garbage food on the market. He returned a ton of food after the recall.
Comment by Sharon — April 14, 2007 @ 6:40 pm
Linda MS.
If its a good butcher not only will they save your the scraps they will grind it fo you as well.
I am sure you can get heart and liver from them also, usually they use it for sausage so tell them to save it and freeze it for you (tiping the counter person always helps) I usually bring in a few cases of beer since I know they work hard.
I LOVE my mom and pop butcher, nice going to the counter and having them ask how thick you want it and having it wrapped for the freezer. I haven’t bought any meat at the grocery in 2 years. Even eating out I notice the difference in taste even at high end resturants such as chop house and Mortons.
God love mom and pop butchers, they rock!
Comment by MonkeyKitty — April 14, 2007 @ 6:48 pm
MonkeyKitty I’m with you. In it for the long haul.
Listened to Sen Durbin on DogTalk and found it much more encouraging than the hearing yesterday.
Even the good senator ridiculed the people there who didn’t have answers for him.
Comment by VJ — April 14, 2007 @ 6:49 pm
Thanks Sharon. I’ll do some searching around. Tonight they ate up about $15.00 worth of meat not to mention the sweet potatoes and carrots and bone meal oh yeah, and chicken livers and tripe. It didn’t smell too good but they seemed to like it okay.
Safeway has funny rules that they must follow -liability I suppose.
I thought about buying a big slab of ribs at Sams club - you can get a lot for $15.00 or so.
My Snoopy is a 90 lb red Doberman about 4 years old and he has lots of stomach problems. When he was a year old, I took him to a very nice Vet and Holistic doc because of his cow patty stools and sometimes even soup stools, and this very nice vet said Snoopy had an enzyme deficiency and would needs lots of meds his entire life - at about $100 a month. I gulped and bought them and Snoopy did get better but not great. One the vet didn’t like his name, said that was a little dogs name. Well, Snoopy was bought from a nice lady who lived near the Charles Schultz ranch and museum outside of Santa Rosa and I named him Snoopy to honor my favorite cartoon. Plus, he is very gentle and sweet and a real big lovie sort of in a comical too.
Snoopy was on Innova Green Bag and seemed to do the best on it. But then nothing helped, meds or slippery elm or pumpkin.
Well, long story short, I started homecooking his meals and like magic he doesn’t need meds anymore. This is just our experience - he has a sensitive stomach.
I just think we need to experiement and try to figure out what works best for our dogs. Snoopy can’t eat cottage cheese or eggs or wheat and rice doesn’t work too well either.
I should have figured something was wrong when the very nice vet told me he didn’t like my dogs name.
Linda MS.
Comment by Linda — April 14, 2007 @ 6:55 pm
Thanks MonkeyKitty - tipping the counter person sounds like a great idea. Gives me a place to start. I can handle the beer too!
Linda MS
Comment by Linda — April 14, 2007 @ 7:01 pm
I actually golfed today with a person who deals in plastics. I asked him about melamine, he basically eluded to me that it was not melamine but the way they manufactured it. I am looking at some of the web sites he pointed me to, still think there is something else going on here. If it was produced in china then who really knows what was in it.
Nothing new, just thinking out loud.
Really fed up at this point, I sure hope Durbin makes some head way or this is just the start of things to come. I try to remain hopefull.
Comment by MonkeyKitty — April 14, 2007 @ 7:02 pm
Linda MS
Ya if you get a bad vibe from you Vet, then do a bout face to the door.
I am a cat person now, but grew up with hunting dogs. We used to feed them sweet corn and raw meat sometimes with boiled barley or rice.
Barley worked well, not sure if anyone else thinks its bad. I am not a vet so who knows.
Comment by MonkeyKitty — April 14, 2007 @ 7:17 pm
Linda MS, can your dogs handle poultry? I’ve found buying larger quantities of chicken quarters on sale really helps with the overall price of home cooking. And for veggies I’ll be stocking up on seasonal items at the local farmers market. I bought a small chest freezer which really helps for buying at meat sales/bulk etc. My 50lb dog’s meals average out to about 1.50-2.00 a day if I remember correctly (it’s been awhile since i did the math and that may be on the high end) I also cook stews and soups for myself that are cat/dog friendly. I get a few meals as do they. I also try and get as many supplements as i can as powder or liquid and that helps with the cost.
When i was feeding commercial, the cat’s food was really getting up there in cost (merrick, etc) for 5 cats, so I feel like I’m doing better on home prepared.
Comment by straybaby — April 14, 2007 @ 7:19 pm
Lina, I love Dobies. And I loved Snoopy when I was a kid (showing my age here :) ) My Dad picks up things at Sam’s and Costco for his pups too. Just check the sales. You might even be able to talk to the butcher at Sam’s. It’s definitely worth a try.
As for the dog’s health, this whole pet food nightmare has been a real eye opener for me. Do what you need to do to keep them healthy. I don’t trust the pet food manufacturer’s anymore. I even have a heard time buying litter from the jerks.
I’m trying to home cook these kitties some food here and it’s depressing :( I made them some giblet stew last night and just complete rejection!! Argh! Nothing has an attitude like a cat does :) I’ll keep trying different things as I would really rather that we feed them home cooked things and just add a can of California Natural or Van Patten’s food as a snack. So far, they are thwarting our every attempt to make them healthier kitties.
My vet is 100 percent in agreement with what I’m doing here. He agrees with no more shots for my older kitties and said simply, make them happy and get them to eat.
Comment by Sharon — April 14, 2007 @ 7:33 pm
Sharon,
Send the Giblets here, that is a thanksgiving ritual for us. The cats always eat first!
Try to put heart, liver, gizzards (turkey and chicken) in a small sauce pan and browning it. Then deglase it with low sodium chicken broth (I use either swansons or Wolfgang Pucks). Stay away from additives.
Then with a sharp knife dice it into a near paste. The heart will be rubber like, but it has good stuff in it.
I am making myself hungry now…lol
Comment by MonkeyKitty — April 14, 2007 @ 7:44 pm
Monkeykitty -
Beware of Swanson’s low-sodium broth. Kind of silly, but I had a can of it in my hands today - label reading…it has MSG and GMG? Low-sodium so they add MSG and GMG for flavor. I know that these cause ME problems (headaches, skin problems), maybe not very good for my kitty-girls?
Comment by PJ — April 14, 2007 @ 7:58 pm
Ya you are correct that is why I have been now using wolfgangs stuff which is “organic”.
Campbell soup all has MSG as well, my body hates MSG.
I think Pacific is non MSG so that could be another option, that or you can cook your own bones and make your own. Foodsaver vacume sealer works well. I have had mine for 2 years and I have put it through hill and high water with good results.
Comment by MonkeyKitty — April 14, 2007 @ 8:02 pm
Also in a pinch just use water to deglase the “innards”. I know my cats go nuts just with the smell.
Too bad corporate america sucks, no such thing as an easy lunch.
Bastards the whole lot,
Comment by MonkeyKitty — April 14, 2007 @ 8:06 pm
Thanks Sharon and everyone. We all love our pets and do our best.
Linda MS
Comment by Linda — April 14, 2007 @ 8:06 pm
I know in our household we hold our cats dearly.
How dare them, yes I am still angry and I don’t see getting over this in the next decade. I am really a person to forgive and forget.
Still looking for heads on this!
Comment by MonkeyKitty — April 14, 2007 @ 8:12 pm
Just wanted to update on my kitties condition since switching them to Drs. Foster and Smith regular adult dry food, Merricks canned (no fish), and cottage cheese, etc.
My two persian’s coats have gotten a “softness” to them, and are thicker…and they are “muscling” up, and are getting chunkier. It’s amazing already!
My poor JuJu is still fighting to live…I feel so badly for her, but she continues to take in nourishment…so I am not going to deny her the right to keep on going, if that’s what she wants. We are taking it a day at a time.
Comment by Marcy — April 14, 2007 @ 8:32 pm
this was on fri.’s inside edition homemade pet food. go to http://www.insideedition.com and your see homemade pet food from fri show
Comment by Marry Ann — April 14, 2007 @ 8:44 pm
HERES WHAT MINE HAD FOR DINNER:
1 lb. ground turkey ($1.50 frozen in tube)
1 egg
1/2 C. uncooked oatmeal
1/4 C. Parsley (For digestion & fresh breath)
Handfull of frozen greenbeans
1 Fresh chopped apple
Mixed it all up into a meatloaf. Baked at 350 for 45 mins. Cut into slices. They ate like pigs! However, they are dogs. This one was easy and we have leftovers for tomorrow!
Comment by Karla T. — April 14, 2007 @ 9:13 pm
Is it true? I just saw a cross post from a Sheltie list saying the FDA indicated tests on the recall products in South Africa tested for melamine??
Wish us luck,my dog is seeing her vet on Tues and new blood work being done against blood work in Feb to see why she had those symptoms since last Dec that stopped with home cooking?
Got an email from Euk.,seems now their concerned….I emailed on March 23rd and they didn’t care….PR is working overtime….
For those homecooking,(I don’t know if it’s okay to mention these sites)K9kitchen and K9nutrition on yahoo have lots of info. And,lots more good info. on the net.
You’d be surprised that it doesn’t need to cost an arm and a leg to buy good food to cook for your dog. And,your crockpot and rice cooker can do it for you.
Also, I found out from golden friends who have been cooking for their dogs for 10yrs. Meat can be grilled,baked,broiled,or boiled. 14 days of food,cooked in the crockpot for 6hrs yesterday and now in the freezer.
Makes me feel good to see my dog happy,alert,energetic,healthy and no money going into the pockets of those criminals.
There must be a lot of people cooking-Vit E 200IU,salmon oil,chicken livers and bone meal non-existant on the shelf where I live.
Katie
Comment by Katie — April 14, 2007 @ 9:20 pm
Comment by Kathi — April 14, 2007 @ 4:23 pm
What a fabulous story - thanks for posting! The best part? The tuna and asparagus birthday cake. LOL. My cats can have my piece. :)
BTW, I hope all the folks who like to argue that cats are “pure carnivores” read the part about what this 32 year old cat eats. I.e., asparagus and broccoli, as well as a lot of other stuff. Some of it’s probably “bad” for him, but he’s clearly a Texas kind of cat all the way around. :) Here’s to Gramps.
Comment by Laura — April 14, 2007 @ 9:23 pm
I do know they don’t need 60% grain…
Comment by MonkeyKitty — April 14, 2007 @ 9:57 pm
And by the way - here’s the article Kathi must have seen on Gramps. Hilarious. (He died at 34, by the way.
http://www.petpublishing.com/c.....ndpa.shtml
Comment by Laura — April 14, 2007 @ 9:58 pm
90% meat and 10% other isn’t bad. What the industry was trying to feed them was just wrong.
Comment by MonkeyKitty — April 14, 2007 @ 9:59 pm
Fair enough, monkeykitty. Mostly meat is better than not for most. The point is that you have to know what’s right for your cat, and worry less about what the experts (either vet or holistic) *say* you ought to do.
Comment by Laura — April 14, 2007 @ 10:21 pm
Re: Borax
The borax I mean is “20 Mule Team Borax”,
http://www.dialcorp.com/index.cfm?page_id=56
which is “100% Borax, a naturally occuring mineral composed of sodium, boron, oxygen, and water.”
Borax is not the same as orthoboric acid.
Orthoboric acid has a higher toxicity rate than borax.
Borax info:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Borax
Borax MSDS sheet:
http://ptcl.chem.ox.ac.uk/MSDS.....drate.html
Orthoboric acid info:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boric_acid
Orthoboric acid MSDS sheet:
http://ptcl.chem.ox.ac.uk/MSDS/BO/boric_acid.html
Obviously everyone should make their own informed decisions about any chemical they use in their homes or around their pets. It wouldn’t matter if only 1 in 10 million pets dies from a given chemical if it happens to be your pet.
Comment by Sarah — April 14, 2007 @ 10:33 pm
Ya, agreed.
My cats love beef jerky and cheeze-its, it doesn’t mean that I will ever give it to them.
I also have a cat that likes the little furry covered plastic mice that you find at petco.
That was a 500 dollar vet bill before we knew what was going on. He finally puked it up in my laptop bag (joy).
Just because they eat it doesn’t mean its good for them. Monkey will eat anything, including PC power cables and tostitos.
Still better than menu foods!
Comment by MonkeyKitty — April 14, 2007 @ 10:35 pm
Oh ya I forgot to mention,
Don’t give cats the cute little furry mice from petco, they are death traps to cats, they will swallow them (plastic shell) and could die.
It’s like a pinto for cats.
Comment by MonkeyKitty — April 14, 2007 @ 10:38 pm
It’s hard to find safe toys for cats and small dogs when you have one of each. Beans (cat) weighs 8# 8oz and Anna (dog) weighs 4# 8oz. The toys Beans likes plush fur mouse, I can’t let Anna play with. One toy they both absolutely love is the pop-up cube. I bought two and put together(they come with velcro to attach as many cubes as you want). Beans wasn’t pleased when I brought Anna home, but the cube tube became their common ground. They taunt one another to play chase running thru the cubes. Now they share a few other toys. I was surprised Beans was even interested in dog toys like the barbell. Now they both like to crowd onto my lap. Once in awhile I catch them sleeping together.
But I’d really like to find some chew-proof material to make some “soft” toys. I thought of stuffing them with cheap washcloths instead of poly-fill which is annoying and fearful they’ll choke on it.
Any ideas are welcome.
Comment by Kathi — April 14, 2007 @ 11:37 pm
I was just looking at some dog related sites on Google, and was disturbed by the rash of new ads that have popped up recently stating “Approved by FDA” and “tested as safe by FDA”. I know the FDA isn’t testing or approving any food, but does the public know that? And one was Whiskas…
Comment by carly — April 14, 2007 @ 11:43 pm
I meant to say, Beans’ plush fur mouse (without plastic). Anna likes to chew and can’t play with the mouse. That’s why I’d like some tips on a strong but soft material so they can both play safely. Anna may have stubby little teeth but she is persistent. So far she’s chewed thru my printer usb cord, a nintendo cube controller cord, electric toothbrush cord and electric blanket cord. Thank God I remembered to keep the cords detached.
Comment by Kathi — April 14, 2007 @ 11:49 pm
I know some new ads are out but I couldn’t look at them because I’m so angry that they nearly killed my Beans. She’s all I have left of my beautiful daughter. It would have ripped my heart out. My daughter and I pledged to each other that if one of us dies the other would care for our pets. It was painful enough when her other cat Sassy had to be put down. Both cats witnessed my daughter’s murder and were in her house for three days without food and water. Poor Sassy went crazy from it and would not eat or let anyone touch her. Two weeks later she was so disturbed, they suggested I let her go. I still cry, even now. That;s why it bothers me so much how close I came to losing Beans.
Comment by Kathi — April 14, 2007 @ 11:59 pm
After a rough 3 weeks of trying to take my kitty of off the corn laiden commercial dry foods, he finally liked Chicken soup for the cat lovers soul, and today a pet store in a nearby town gave me 3 sample packs of the Felidae and he loves it. I am know wondering which is better, the Chicken Soup lists chicken as the first ingredient whereas the Felidae lists chicken meal. Can anyone tell me about “meal”
Comment by Brenda — April 15, 2007 @ 12:03 am
I don’t recall the FDA approving or calling any as safe as far as testing is concerned. I know Nutro keeps saying their food is safe. Which is another issue. On 10 April, Kravis/Nutro said he told Menu back in March to broaden recall. But that doesn’t make sense because during first recall, Nutro claimed only recalled food in pouches were tainted but not cans or dry. Now since UC-Davis tested for melamine, Nutro now claims dry, biscuits and treats are safe. So how can he claim he told Menu to broaden recall in March, when he claimed and continued to sell cans as safe from March to April 10. That is why I want to go after this guy. Maybe ask the SEC if he dumped any stock related to the industry.
Comment by Kathi — April 15, 2007 @ 12:12 am
I’m getting skeptical of all dry food. My cat and dog both have some but since I’ve been giving them some can and some homecooked three times a day they haven’t really touched the dry stuff all week. Right now I give them Van Patten’s can cat and Van Patten’s Eatables for the dog. I guess if we had a choice between crackers and meat and potatoes, we’d choose the good stuff, too.
As far as what meal is, I guess these days that would be open to interpretation considering the bull they’ve been feeding us for all these years anyway.
Comment by Kathi — April 15, 2007 @ 12:30 am
Brenda, with the premium brands like Felidae, chicken meal (not chicken by-product meal) is supposed to be the same as chicken, except the moisture is processed out, so you have more chicken for the weight. it’s a more concentrated chicken protien.
another cat kibble to look into is Artemis. My five cats all seem to like it. I have one that will eat Felidea when she feels like it, and the same with EVO. Haven’t tried Chicken Soup, but she’ll eat both of the Natural Balance drys. She’s not super picky, but just picky enough ;)
Comment by straybaby — April 15, 2007 @ 12:39 am
When I first got Anna (dog) in Oct I bought the Chicken Soup - Lovers and as I was checking out the clerk was trying to sell me Nutro. I told her maybe next time. In Jan, I caved and bought the Nutro dry for dog. In Feb I bought Nutro dry for Beans (cat) and Nutro MaxCat , but I bought Canidae for dog. They didn’t start eating it until March since I finished up their other foods first. Within days Beans was vomiting and not wanting to finish her food. By the 7th can Menu recalled the pouches, but I stopped all Nutro and ordered Van Patten.
Comment by Kathi — April 15, 2007 @ 12:46 am
straybaby
I think that’s why I’m upset by this. The labels very so much. It makes it difficult to tell the difference. Like the average shopper has time to cipher the water weight, dry weight and choose between dozens of brands to decide which is best. I guess the market strategy would be keep em confused, then they’ll just say the heck with it and throw the bag in the cart.
Comment by Kathi — April 15, 2007 @ 12:56 am
Kathi
what i’ve learned from this seems to be, the better the product, the better the label. and when i say better, we aren’t talking advertising. if you go to web sites and read labels in stores with our new found knowledge, it’s pretty clear. artemis has their organic product ingredients identified. i think it was NB that states they use US ingredients. i found the same thing when i was looking at supplements, basics (human), etc. I haven’t done a major grocery store shop recently, but i know my stores and they carry natural/organic products right along side the others, so i don’t think i’ll have too much trouble avoiding major brands or reading labels.
i think this has been a major eye opener for many, and label reading will fall into place for most. we just got a crash course we weren’t expecting! My shocker was the vitamins and supplements being exported/imported from china. OY! i’ve been doing home prepared for a few years and it never occured to me the supplements i was putting in their food could be suspect. but now i have more info. thank dogs n’ cats for the internet! ;)
bottom line, look for as many whole foods and identifiable ones in your pets food. and look behind the marketing slogan and see if the label backs it up. also, who *really* owns the brand.
Comment by straybaby — April 15, 2007 @ 1:31 am
straybaby
who *really* owns the brands speaks volumes to me now.
Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.
I’m still irritated with the press releases not explaining the low numbers as being test animals by Menu. I know Sen. Durbin’s really busy, so I wish we had a well known spokesperson who could easily get airtime and tell the truth about what’s going on. It’s frustrating to contact local media with the facts because they choose to believe the “experts” without question. Although some reporters are doing their job in some places around the country.
Comment by Kathi — April 15, 2007 @ 1:47 am
my old dog is 14 years old,she never had any trouble with her weight before this year. i buy old roy brand dog food at wal-mart. in december she stopped eating it.i gave her people food for a while then slowly tryed her on old roy food again new bag i bought in january , she stopped eating , i have been trying ever sense to get her to eat. the onlything she will eat is people food and a dog food i got from my local co-op called lean cuts it is made in bc. she is slowly improving. i would take her to the vet but it will be a big expence for me. they said all they could do is test her. i have been feeding old roy dog food for about 6 years and never had a problem before. this is OLD ROY DRY DOG FOOD not the canned. they say it isn’t on the list of bad food but you tell me why this is happeneing. if anyone else has any problems with any dry food would they please let me know.
Comment by wendy — April 15, 2007 @ 1:56 am
VET SAYS HOMECOOKED IS BEST:
From Howl911 - This Vet recommends homecooked and not store bought food - but do your homework!
http://pressherald.mainetoday......tfood.html
Linda MS
Comment by Linda — April 15, 2007 @ 6:15 am
Chew toys don’t have to be expensive/dangerous.My dogs have always thought tied-together socks(sockos)and knotted-up,worn-out turtlenecks make fantastic ‘toys’ to swing around,chew on and play tug-o’-war with,drag around.
Comment by Lorna — April 15, 2007 @ 6:32 am
I Still don’t know why they didn’t have on the recall yet IAMS SAVORY BEEF AND GRAVY IN A BOTTLE ON THE RECALL LIST? WHATS GOING ON HERE?
I WENT TO THE STORE TO SEE IF ITS ON THE SHELF AND ITS NOT? BUT WHY ISN’T ON THE RECALL LIST? wWHY IS IT OFF THE SHELVES BUT NOT ON THE RECALL LIST? MY DOG DIED FROM THIS? CAN SOMEONE TELL ME WHY THEY ARE DENYING THIS AND WHY ITS NOT ON THE STORE SHELVES?
Comment by Georgeann Heckman — April 15, 2007 @ 7:14 am
With all the talk about wet pet food & MF’s (the scum of the earth) ingredients, let’s think about dry food. We all agree that animals have gotten sick or died but it was never recalled….safe, they say. Oh please, gag me with a spoon……
How about this? Who makes the dry? Do we have a MF lurking out there that makes all the dry food for the pet food industry? And what great garbage from China are they putting in the food? They have been silent on a lot of things but I’d like to know where the dry is made & packaged.
If you go to websites & look at the ingredients in dry (the big names, not organics), there are a variety of additives at the end that look to me like chemicals that should be in cleaning products. Maybe I’ll write them down & Google them to see exactly what they are.
If we could truly get honest numbers, I bet the big pet food companies aren’t selling a lot of their garbage these days. I’ve been in the small pet stores & holistic pet stores & they are all busy busy busy. If we all unite & use our anger for something positive, as in not buying their crap, perhaps we can make a difference. However, no matter how much they change their “wholesome” ingredients, I will never buy that crap again. I’ll stick with the organic & all natural. My dog is everything to me, as all of your pets are to you.
At one point I was feeding her Nutro Ultra, which advertises all natural….yet the wet was recalled & made by MF. I think that tells you exactly how all natural that stuff is. And it’s expensive. Bet me they didn’t change much, just changed the bag & charged more.
I do add people food to her dry but I’m not sure I’d have the patience to make all her food. However, I am going to check some of the websites some of you were kind enough to post to see exactly what they recommend & maybe make her food now & again.
Comment by Jan — April 15, 2007 @ 7:22 am
THIS IS SINFUL, and just awful, THAT ALL THESE PEOPLE HAVE A PROBLEM WITH DRY DOG, AND DRY CAT FOOD THAT ISN’T ON THE RECALL LIST? We need something done here. If all these people outthere are having problems with all these foods that are not on the recall list, this is scary? What are these manufacturer’s doing to us as a consumer and to our pets? My dog died from eating IAMS MINI DRY DOG FOOD AND IAMS SAVORY BEEF GRAVY IN A BOTTLE? NOT ON THE RECALL LIST. THIS WAS A HEALTHY 6YR OLD AIRDALE TERRIER? I DON’T TRUST ANY PRODUCT THAT ANY OF THESE COMPANIES ARE PRODUCING AND WILL NEVER TRUST THEM BECAUSE OF THIS IRRESPONSABLE BEHAVOR ON THERE PART. LET THEM GO BROKE. FEED YOUR PET A BETTER SMALL COMPANY FOOD. LIKE CANIDAE OR FELIDAE.
Comment by Georgeann Heckman — April 15, 2007 @ 7:28 am
KATHIE,
I have the same problem with testing? IAMS WANTS ME TO SEND THEM MY FOOD SO THEY CAN TEST IT JUST LIKE NUTRO? I NEVER SENT IT TO THEM BECAUSE I DON’T TRUST THEM. LIKE NUTRO, THEY WILL COVER THERE BUTS. I CALLED THE FDA AND
I WILL GET TO THE BOTTOM OF THIS ONE WAY OR ANOUTHER.
Comment by Georgeann Heckman — April 15, 2007 @ 7:44 am
Georgann:
I was feeding my dogs Iams Mini Chunks all that time too. One of my two dogs developed blood in her urine. I didn’t notice the blood until January… but I remembered that she had peed about 8 times in 15 minutes when I dropped her off at a sitter’s house back in (either October or December). So it had been going on for awhile. We never found a medical reason for the blood. Urinalysis showed no bacteria. X-rays showed no kidney or bladder stones. We put her on 10 days of antibiotics and there was still blood. We extended the antibiotics by 10 more days, and on day 17, I could still see visible blood. I finished the last 3 days of the antibiotics, but our plan was to give her 2-3 weeks off antibiotics to let any possible bacteria grow and then do another urinalysis to see if there was any bacteria that we didn’t see the first time. At about the 3-week point, she was no longer symptomatic (no longer peeing every couple hours, no longer having accidents in the house, no longer any visible blood). Then the recall happened. I called both FDA and Iams to tell them about the blood in the urine on DRY food. They both called me back. They both told me it didn’t have anything to do with the recall. I told them both, I KNOW, I’m trying to alert you to ANOTHER possible problem. I have changed her food now. She has no more symptoms. I will be taking her in for a confirmatory urinalysis this week to confirm there is no more blood.
If there is no more blood…. that means there was no medical reason for the blood in the first place… because there was never any bacteria and there were never any kidney/bladder stones. So unless there was divine intervention to some medical cause that we never found (such as a bladder tumor that miraculously healed itself), then the only thing that could have caused it is the food.
What is odd in my case is that both of my dogs were eating the same food, but I only noticed symptoms in one of the dogs. That’s not to say the second dog didn’t also have blood in her urine, but she never exhibited any symptoms (frequency of peeing, accidents in the house, no visible blood - but I never looked at her urine because she wasn’t symptomatic), so I never tested her urine. Also, the affected dog is about 9.5 yrs, and the unaffected dog is about 5.5 yrs… so it could have been the older dog was more susceptible.
Iams said they were referring my case to a specialist and they would call me back. At least that’s what I think they said… it’s been so long now that I’m a little fuzzy, maybe they said “they will review it and if they determine a specialist should call you back, then a specialist will call you.” At any rate, no Iams specialist has called. But I am on record with both FDA and Iams with undiagnosed blood in urine of a dog eating Iams Mini Chunks. My dog got no other foods or treats, except for the occasional pizza crust.
Kim
Comment by Georgeann Heckman — April 15, 2007 @ 7:56 am
Thanks Lorna for your voice of sanity about chew toys - I guess we are so used to the plastic/rubber junk that we sometimes overlook the simple things.
Linda MS
Comment by Linda — April 15, 2007 @ 8:10 am
Couldn’t the big companies have a little bit of the bad food - you don’t need much to test that way if they find out sooner maybe more pets will be saved.
Just don’t see how sending a little bit will hurt anything.
Let’s not get too nuts about these companies, and I know that their food didn’t work for my dogs - but at least if they are willing to test - I’d send some of it with a polite letter too.
Not to diminish anyones anger and outrage here because I do have a lot of it - and still have nighmares of starving dogs and dogs dying it seems lately - so I too am very bothered by all this.
Linda MS
Comment by Linda — April 15, 2007 @ 8:14 am
Here’s a news report that mentions thousands. It also references Pet Connection. Story dated April 15.
http://www.consumeraffairs.com.....all26.html
Comment by Margaret Bridge — April 15, 2007 @ 8:15 am
I also found 2 reports just out today, 1 from Peurto Rico and an update from South Africa. I have included 2 pages of pet recipes, one for dogs and one for cats.
Tainted Food Kills 2 Dogs in Puerto Rico http://www.baynews9.com/conten.....rto%20Rico
Jury out on pet food poisoning http://www.int.iol.co.za/index.....138C442109
Basic recipes for homemade dog, cat food http://www.sunherald.com/160/story/31854.html
Basic recipes for homemade dog, cat food http://www.sunherald.com/160/story/31854-p2.html
Comment by Margaret Bridge — April 15, 2007 @ 8:35 am
My youngest dog needed a chew toy - so I tied two large tube socks together and he’s quite happy. Don’t know why I didn’t think of that myself?
Linda MS
Comment by Linda — April 15, 2007 @ 8:42 am
what has me freaked is IAMS,NUTRO, OLe ROY and BEnIFULL Dry pets are dying from.what is safe california NATURAL i heard is good can’t find it, candadie i also heard is great no one sells it. the PFI BETTER GET THEIR DAM ACT TOGETHER.
Comment by Marry Ann — April 15, 2007 @ 9:07 am
What is safe?
This is the root question. Any manufacture can say just about anything and there is no easy way to validate their claims. I think many of us want to believe this brand or that brand is safe - where is the proof that ANY brand is safe?
For my surviving pet I’m cooking his food and adding vitamin and mineral supplements. I used to think that it was too much trouble and I didn’t have the time. With the poisoning death of my best pet friend I’ll live with the trouble and make the time to keep my surviving cat healthy. It really doesn’t cost that much either.
Comment by MFEMFEM — April 15, 2007 @ 9:23 am
UK Newspaper website has a headline that is the pet food industry’s nightmare:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/new.....pets15.xml
Comment by MFEMFEM — April 15, 2007 @ 9:51 am
Linda said:My youngest dog needed a chew toy - so I tied two large tube socks together and he’s quite happy. Don’t know why I didn’t think of that myself?
I didn’t think of it myself either,Linda,but it works like a charm.You can stuff one sock inside the other and tie the end,for variety.Not nearly as cute as the toys in the stores,but not nearly as expensive/unsafe either.The ‘toy money’ goes towards frozen, whole animal patties.
Comment by Lorna — April 15, 2007 @ 9:59 am
A nationwide march is planned in response to the pet food recall tragedy that seems to grow by the day.
The website for Pets Need a Voice Too, or PNV2 reports that the march will take place on April 28th, and states that “We are marching in memory of our pets…as pet owners, dog lovers, cat lovers and average citizens.”
The April 28 march is set for the following cities, with others possibly added in the days ahead: Boston, Massachusetts; Reno, Nevada; Kitchener, Canada; Ottawa, Canada; Jacksonville, Oregon; Uniontown, Pennsylvania; Portland, Maine; San Diego, California; Orange County, California; and Austin, Texas.
http://www.pnv2.com/
Comment by Steve — April 15, 2007 @ 10:08 am
Mary Ann:
You must live in the boondocks. Sometimes I have to search around for what I want, but I seem to find it. But then I live near a fairly big city. I wonder if a pet store will special order it for you?
Linda MS
Comment by Linda — April 15, 2007 @ 10:15 am
For some reason baby likes the wet dish rags too - so I wet a hand towel, tied it in a knot and he’s happy sucking away.
Chew toys last about 15 min in my house with my large dogs - even the non-destructible kinds too - they are expensive and I think, this should work - and it doesn’t.
Linda MS
Comment by Linda — April 15, 2007 @ 10:17 am
Something quite annoying is going on here. I placed a call to Menu Foods almost 2 weeks ago. Since then, I have been getting “restricted” calls on my cell phone. If I answer it, a computer generated voice says “please stay on the line” then it hangs up. If I don’t catch it, it rings only 3 times.
Sometimes it also comes in from a 519 (Canada) area code. I’ve tried calling the number back but no luck. Every call lasts for 3 seconds then disconnects.
Just another example of the complete ineptness of Menu in dealing with their former customer base.
Comment by Sharon — April 15, 2007 @ 10:22 am
Remember the FDA said, melamine was found and could be a marker for something else. Melamine has been talked about a lot here, with many articles and quotes posted. The consensus has been that melamine does not add up to being the problem at least as far as dogs go.
There have been a couple of studies with dogs (not cats), at up to 6 months with different dosing amounts, and none of the dogs in the studies died. Don’t lose sight of that, I think it is important!!!
Comment by DeeAnn — April 15, 2007 @ 10:26 am
“what has me freaked is IAMS,NUTRO, OLe ROY and BEnIFULL Dry pets are dying from.what is safe california NATURAL i heard is good can’t find it, candadie i also heard is great no one sells it. the PFI BETTER GET THEIR DAM ACT TOGETHER.”
Marry Ann, I am feeding my cats (all recovering from the tainted food) California Natural and Van Patten’s food. One is getting Hi_tor for her kidney problems. You should really go to the products website and use the “contact us” feature to find out a vendor near you. If you can, maybe you can order it on-line through an on-line pet food store.
Good luck.
Comment by Sharon — April 15, 2007 @ 10:27 am
DeeAnn, I think everyone has forgotten than. I read repeatedly that melamine didn’t even kill rats when tested. So what does that leave us? Another big question mark.
I don’t trust these people at all. It’s all about the almighty dollar.
It’s incredibly disturbing to read so many reports of the dry food causing illness but yet, no one is acting on this information.
Pet parents need to completely STOP feeding their critters anything from a company on the recall list, anything produced in a Menu Foods plant, anything even remotely connected with these murderers.
Comment by Sharon — April 15, 2007 @ 10:30 am
Pet owners are too trusting - they look at their codes on the cans and thank goodness theirs do not match - and they feed it to their little babies. Tragic and Senseless - now is not the time to trust companies that have had their food recalled.
Linda MS
Comment by Linda — April 15, 2007 @ 10:33 am
Sharon, My two cats are recovering also. They are acting young again and their fur is getting soft and silky. I took them off all wet food mid Feb. because I thought something wrong with the food. They got sick very quick.
For about the last three years their fur turned as dry as straw with dry flaky skin. I just did not realize it until having my eyes opened and focusing more on them.
Comment by DeeAnn — April 15, 2007 @ 10:37 am
That happened to me too with my dogs. My large coonhound’s hair was brittle and always shedding, all year long - and his stomach would bloat and he’d drink lots of water. Lots of ear infections - even with dry SD.
I combed my coonhounds thick hair yesterday - and it’s silky and lovely and no shedding and he’s happy and his stomach is not bloated and he has stopped drinking tons of water.
Linda MS
Comment by Linda — April 15, 2007 @ 10:45 am
SHARON,i did go to the store locator on the web site but when i called the store they told me they can special order it and will take 4 weeks. do your pets like california natural?? i heard canidae platium is good and innova also but no one sells it in my area even though the web site says these stores have it.i have the dogs on nutro and i notice they will not eat the dry food now.something is wrong and i’ve read too many horror stories of pets dying from dry food.
Comment by Marry Ann — April 15, 2007 @ 10:54 am
They—-the FDA have calmed people down by saying the wheat gluten has not gotten into the food supply.
What about the “other” ingredient(s)? I read here on pet connection from an article posted, that the CDC has been notified to be on the lookout for an increase of kidney issues in humans. They have to be looking for something else.
Here is why I believe that is the case:
Melamine is a breakdown product to Cyromazine. In other words Cyromazine metabolizes to melamine. Cyromazine is used on vegatables in this country as an insecticide. Tolerance levels have been established in cows, sheep, and cattle, goats, hogs, horses, sheep and chickens. In fact the tolerance levels of cyromazine and melamine had been submitted for review to increase the allowable amounts in 1995. It is already in many foods we eat. Cyromazine/melamine has been used for decades now.
I have links to all of this. I posted it before, but if anybody wants to review it again, let me know.
Comment by DeeAnn — April 15, 2007 @ 11:14 am
I Want To Know When The FDA Is Going To Say WHich 3 Dry Foods is all so bad.
Comment by Marry Ann — April 15, 2007 @ 11:29 am
I have gotton the same response in regards to the cell phone calls from the 519 area code number. Menu foods have two other alternative landline phone numbers to call, but they seem to be only calling the cell number. I phoned the company yesterday and requeswted them to stop calling me due to the fdactg that I have now joined the class action suit. I have received 2 additional phone calls today. I will no longer answer them and will block the number. Had I called that number I would have been billed additional fees on my cell account since it is out of the US. Considering they have the other numbers, I can’t understand why they would continue to only call the cell number. I really don’t think the company wants to speak to me directly since I lost one pet to the tainted food, and my other one is ill. Nevertheless, the company has had adequate time to contact me since I first phoned them on the 18th of March. I also phoned many times after that to update them on my surviving pet that is ill. Has anyone spoke to Menu foods directly?
Comment by Denise — April 15, 2007 @ 11:37 am
DeeAnn - that’s very interesting about the Melamine
Linda MS
Comment by Linda — April 15, 2007 @ 11:43 am
Dog food recipe.
I was just sitting here and mentally browsing the meat market counter then it struck me. To save time home cooking, why not make doggie or kitty meatloaf in the crockpot. I haven’t tried it obviously but it would be simple enough to prepare and vacuum seal for the freezer in smaller packages. Just alter your meatloaf recipe for them. Ground beef (I prefer ground round - less grease), ground pork (if that’s good - anyone know??), ground turkey and chicken, eggs, grind or chop kidney, liver, gizzard, brown rice (precooked???-I’ve never used rice in my recipes), oatmeal, chopped broccoli, carrots, peas, then slow cook in crockpot. I have a really big one I bought on sale for $35 - a turkey fits in it. Oh yes for those new to this site: NO ONIONS, GARLIC OR TOMATOES. You could slice it into daily portions and freeze. I would recommend investing in a vacuum sealer to prevent freezer burn and ice crystals. For kitties maybe a fish, chicken, egg, etc meatloaf. Then add a little water to mash it when serving.
I’d like to hear of some treats but not made with flour and stuff. Just maybe a little oatmeal to bind the meat. There was an old recipe for no-bake cookies but I think you had to cook it on the stove.
Any other simple slow-cooked recipes, guys and gals? From what I’ve read slow cooked leaves more of the good stuff in the food.
Comment by Kathi — April 15, 2007 @ 11:44 am
To the posters commenting about the dry dog food:
My dogs were on Nutro Natural Lamb and Rice for years—no wheat, no wheat gluten. For a couple of months, they seemed lethargic, drinking a lot of water, and the oldest one was throwing up several times a week. Blood and urine work showed no problems.
I moved everybody to California Natural and in two weeks, the difference is amazing.
I don’t care what the company said, something is/was wrong with the dry food—and not just the wheat gluten, either.
Also my cat was getting sick on Chef’s Blend, again a food with no wheat. He’s now on Friskies Special Diet mixed with Innova Senior, and seems to be doing better. I don’t think there’s any problem with the Friskies, but he’s picky and likes more than one flavor of food.
Comment by carly — April 15, 2007 @ 11:46 am
Marry Ann
I don’t know about the FDA, but I can assure you reading the comments here in Wilmington, NC, Special Kitty DRY has caused at least 5 urine bleeding cats, others here are also saying SK dry but didn’t elaborate on blood in urine. Those people just said their cats were ill on dry food.
Comment by Kathi — April 15, 2007 @ 11:53 am
carly
My friend’s Scotty was on Iams dry only, I think she said the weight management kind. She complained to me in late Jan and thru Feb that her dog was not seeming her usual self. I’ll have to call her again for specific symptoms. Day of 1st recall, I told her to stop feeding. She did and replaced with Van Patten’s dry. And she has been supplementing with homecooked.
Comment by Kathi — April 15, 2007 @ 11:59 am
kathi i forgot sp.kitty alot of cats died from that food also.i think it’s it one of the blog’s on pet connection it has how maney pets have died from each brand of food.
Comment by Marry Ann — April 15, 2007 @ 12:01 pm
carly
Also about your earlier comment about the GOOGLE PAGE: FDA approved, etc., Whiskas, Good Life Recipe, Sheba and Cesar, those are all Mars brands and yes they are misleading.
Comment by Kathi — April 15, 2007 @ 12:03 pm
kathi,
At the begining of the recall, the FDA gave a warning to Iams/Eukanuba about something else in their food that they were supposed to have removed back in January, but hadn’t as of mid-March. (nice, eh?) It involved weight management.
Comment by straybaby — April 15, 2007 @ 12:05 pm
carly, my chows are doing the same thing on nutro.i deceided driving 45 min. to get california natural is worth it. my dogs life is more important.thank u so much.
Comment by Marry Ann — April 15, 2007 @ 12:05 pm
here’s a link to the FDA warning:
http://www.reuters.com/article.....5120070329
it involves vet diets weight management, but I would cruise through the labels and see if it shows up anywhere else as seems to be the case these days.
Comment by straybaby — April 15, 2007 @ 12:07 pm
There is another issue about the pet food that has come up. It seems the manufacturers can change the recipe at any time and have six months before changing the label. Could it be that food labeled as not having been made with wheat gluten DID in fact have it? ABSOLUTELY, especially in light of the fact that we now know they have carte blanch to do whatever.
There are way too many stories of pets eating one particular brand of dry food and all of a sudden with a new bag absolutely refused to eat it and some that did eat it got sick or died. That is very telling. It is evidence that something changed in some dry foods.
Finding out all the brands of dry foods that have affected pets, and if the manufacturer is the same will be a huge piece of the puzzle that may crack this mystery wide open. Focus some of your attention in that direction. Also hold onto any dry food you suspect.
Comment by DeeAnn — April 15, 2007 @ 12:17 pm
Kathi,
good idea about the meatloaf - really good!
Linda MS
Comment by Linda — April 15, 2007 @ 12:18 pm
Puerto Rico deaths now being reported - howl911 news headlines.
Linda MS
Comment by Linda — April 15, 2007 @ 12:29 pm
Kathi,
I’m having real good luck making dog food loafs. I cook mine in the oven. I posted the one I made last night under this blob at 9:13pm, with recipe. My dogs loved it. I’m heading to the store right now to buy more ground turkey. It’s Honeysuckle White frozen in a tube. $1.50 a tube, but I caught it on sale for $1.00 a tube. They are 1lb. size. Can’t beat that…..
Comment by Karla T. — April 15, 2007 @ 12:32 pm
From Ol’Roy dog biscuits.
Linda MS
Comment by Linda — April 15, 2007 @ 12:32 pm
Karla T
I’m sorry I missed your post last night. Sounds great! Glad your guys wolfed it down.
I know we can do better than those companies.
Meatloaf Rocks!!!!!!!!!!!
Comment by Kathi — April 15, 2007 @ 12:49 pm
straybaby
Thanks for Iams info.
I’m on phone with friend, she’s po’d.
Her dog didn’nt want to drink, was lethargic, and very dry, hot nose and just not acting right.
Comment by Kathi — April 15, 2007 @ 12:54 pm
Pedigree sued by dog owners
BARKING MAD: If your beloved pet died of renal failure after eating tainted food, maybe you too would feel entitled to a payment of US$100,000 By Chiu Yu-Tzu, STAFF REPORTER , Friday, Jul 02, 2004, Page 2.
An international class-action suit stemming from the deaths of thousands of dogs in Asian countries, including Taiwan, was filed against Pedigree, a US maker of dog food, in US Federal Court in early May, the Care for Animals and Protect the Earth Organization said yesterday.
Shen Jung-chen, founder of the association, said that a correlation between certain questionable batches of Pedigree dog food manufactured in Thailand and numerous cases of kidney failure among dogs in Taiwan early this year had been indirectly confirmed.
At a press conference, Shen said that component analysis of questionable Pedigree dog food done by experts for the Council of Agriculture in March showed that certain toxic chemicals existed.
Arsenic “From the governmental report, we see not only toxins but also heavy metals such as arsenic, mercury and others,” Shen said.
Shen said that US-based Mars, which sells numerous pet food products including Pedigree, had failed to control the quality of its products manufactured in Thailand. Questionable Pedigree products processed from raw materials that were already moldy and unhealthy were sold in several Asian countries, including Cambodia, Vietnam, Singapore and Taiwan, causing kidney failure in dogs, he said.
In Taiwan, it is estimated that at least 100,000 dogs were affected.
The rest of the story here: http://www.ukrmb.co.uk/images/.....owners.pdf
Comment by DeeAnn — April 15, 2007 @ 1:09 pm
Just now reading through the Sunday paper and see one of the mega pharmacies CVS has Pedigree choice cuts in sauce at 4 for $3.00. Sad to think there are people who think it’s safe and will buy it.
Was at the supermarket this morning and a lady at the checkout had Purina canned. Asked if she knew about the poisoned food and she said oh yes, this brand is safe. The checkout lady said she’s feeding her pet Iams. My take on this same as you all that continually check and blog here, so many, many people don’t think for themselves and believe what is told to them rather than question or check and recheck and recheck some more. Sad, sad, sad.
Comment by VJ — April 15, 2007 @ 1:24 pm
Those that have suspect dry food in your possession, what country was it made in?
Comment by DeeAnn — April 15, 2007 @ 1:26 pm
TREAT RECIPE:
I found a wonderful recipe for homemade SOFT treats (cookies) made with baby food. I did have to add alittle flour because I thought the batter was too thin. Also, it calls for cream of wheat.(?) My dogs go crazy for them. I need soft treats, as one of my babies has only 4 teeth left. Now, don’t think that I let him get this way…I pulled him from a shelter as they were taking him to the gas chamber. No one wanted him because he was very ill and too old! Not even the rescues. He was not suppose to live but a few days because he was too sick. Long story short: He has never been fed commerical food since he arrived here. I have always cooked for him. He has been with us for (Are you ready?), 15 mos. now, and I adore every minute that I have with him! He is 11 yrs. old we think. Hummmm……I wonder if homecooking played a role in this?? I think, YES!!!!!!! If anyone would like this cookie recipe, let me know and I will post it here. It’s a very easy one to make….Thanks
Comment by Karla T. — April 15, 2007 @ 1:48 pm
Maureen
Could you please cross post your turkey and giblets info to this page and reference it to the meatloaf recipes.
Also if anyone has info about adding ground pork as part of a meatloaf recipe and how it might affect cats and dogs either positively or negatively.
Comment by Kathi — April 15, 2007 @ 1:50 pm
Comment by DeeAnn — April 15, 2007 @ 12:17 pm
(re off-label wheat in dry)
DeeAnn, I’ve been thinking about that for about two weeks, ever since I heard about the six-month label change rule. Here’s my hypothesis in a nutshell. I’d actually feel better if someone could knock a hole in it for me:
These dry foods in question all contain “corn gluten,” according to their labels.
Corn is getting very expensive, because of increasing demand on global markets for biofuel (ethanol), sweeteners, etc.
Wheat, on the other hand, is in less demand than corn (no good for ethanol, sweeteners, etc.), so it’s cheaper.
Dry food makers see a bargain, and switch from corn to wheat - just till the corn market eases up a little - without changing the label. Then all hell breaks loose.
The companies say their dry foods are safe because they don’t contain wheat gluten. At least not officially. But what if the recipe wasn’t the recipe?
If this is what happened, the folks at the top might not even have known about the switch. But if they did, or they do now, they’re not about to ‘fess up and face probable legal action.
I hope I’m totally wrong. But I could see how it could happen.
Comment by Laura — April 15, 2007 @ 1:53 pm
Laura, I can not knock a hole in that. It is a real possibility.
Comment by DeeAnn — April 15, 2007 @ 1:57 pm
My dog refused to eat Iams dry Mini Chunks (green bag) in the first week in January ‘07. He had eaten this food all of his life. He refused Beneful dry food just shortly after in mid-January, and before he ate the Beneful dry, even as treats! I don’t know if it means anything, but thought I’d post regardless.
I wonder if we can petition/ask the dry food companies about a change in ingredient substitution, according to lot number / batch number codes on the bags. Certainly, they must HAVE to keep records. The corn getting more expensive due to farmers now raising corn for auto fuel and making more of a profit makes a lot of sense.
Comment by petlover — April 15, 2007 @ 2:07 pm
DeeAnn
I have been writing that my dog had respiratory distress,upset stomach,vomited a couple of times,hot dry nose and excessive water intake.
Food: Eukanuba - I only have the food in freezer,not the bag. They told me on the phone it’s made in a plant in the USA (Senior Maint.)
Healthy Biscuits(Euk.)- Made in the USA.(adult maint and sometimes the healthy ext. red. fat if adult maint were out of stock)
Now in reading comment by Kathi: my dogs symptoms sound more like her friends………
I keep hoping that since I changed her to homecooking and she did so much water drinking back in Dec-early March it flushed her kidneys and no damage was done..I just wished I knew what was causing the problem.
Katie
Comment by Katie — April 15, 2007 @ 2:18 pm
Pork for cats and dogs:
In another life I worked at a vet clinic,and we saw a lot of dogs with tummy aches(sometimes serious),especially in the summer(ham sandwiches),who had recently eaten pork or ham.For this reason I have never fed *cooked* pork,even when I was cooking their meals.
I feed raw now and I do feed raw pork to both the dogs and cats and have seen no problems over the past 7 or so years.It is not the staple meat source for my guys,but they do like it.They also love pork hocks,which they get to eat outside.
Just my spin….I know others disagree.
A word of caution about pork and other fatty meats - it’s good to keep an eye on how much fat(especially cooked fat)is being fed, as too much *can* lead to pancreatitis.
Comment by Lorna — April 15, 2007 @ 2:20 pm
http://www.iamscompanybreeders.....icleID=212
I don’t know how to link this into the blog: but this is an article by Iam’s re: chromium tripicolinate and other food additives for -
“Nutrionally Managing Glucose Metabolism in the Senior Dog and Cat”
I don’t know if any of these were ever used in the foods?
Katie
Comment by Katie — April 15, 2007 @ 2:48 pm
Lorna
I agree with what you say about ham, I haven’t eaten it in years, but I do like fresh pork.
Before we make meatloafs, I’d like plenty of imput on the various ingredients and definitely no processed meats like ham, turkey ham, bologna. The whole idea of a meatloaf is to make it with fresh ground cuts of meat and proportion it according to nutrient values, calories, etc. Meatloafs just seem to be a very convenient way to make bulk meals for busy folks.
I think if we work together here we can find a good all-purpose recipe for the average pet who does not have specific health problems.
I live by the ocean, so fresh fish is readily available for cats. Not certain here, but I don’t think mercury is an issue in ocean fish??? Someone jump in if you know about ocean fish.
And it would be great for more recipes for doggie and kitty stews which also freeze well.
Comment by Kathi — April 15, 2007 @ 3:06 pm
Regarding the comments that wheat could have been substituted for corn due to cheaper price.
My GSD mix Dani is my bellwheather for wheat. She is extremely allergic to wheat—digging in her ears, licking paws and generally climbing the walls.
And YES—I have noticed a mild allergic reaction from her all winter—not bad like when she ate a bowl of macaroni—but fairly mild, and I kept thinking she might have stolen some of my food (which she does.)
Just a thought.
Comment by carly — April 15, 2007 @ 3:11 pm
Also, I keep hearing about raw and those who don,t want to feed raw. From what I’ve read you can preserve enzymes by slow cooking at lower temperatures. A crockpot seems appropriate.
Comment by Kathi — April 15, 2007 @ 3:14 pm
I just saw on itchmo.com that Natural Balance is pulling its Venison dry dog formulas because of gastric upsets reported this week. I didn’t see anything posted yet on the Natural Balance website, though.
Comment by Marilyn — April 15, 2007 @ 3:27 pm
carly
My GS Chelsea Leigh suffered horribly for 7 of her 12 yrs with excessive paw licking, ear infections (yeast), black-belly (yeast infection), sebhorreah (sp.), hair loss, horrible nasty smell, dry brittle hair, large irritated red rash spots, nasty squishy, stinky, muscus filled poop. She would only get better with prednisone and KetoChlor baths but it didn’t last long. Vet’s and I changed her diets multiple times to no avail. Also her face was affected and rubbed raw from itching. Vet’s took every test known for fleas, mites, etc. Tests were always negative. I spent at least $3,000 for vet trips and vet baths not including all the medications for ear drops, prednisone, and special vet RX shampoos.
It had to be the food and the vet agreed, except Z/D didn’t work either and that stuff is $45.
Comment by Kathi — April 15, 2007 @ 3:30 pm
Kathi wrote and asked that the following message re: turkey be crossposted here and referenced to meatloaf recipes.
One of the meatloaf recipes using ground turkey is posted by Karla T. — April 14, 2007 @ 9:13 pm.
Re: turkey in dogs’ diets
I inherited a Westie who was being fed cooked ground organic turkey on top of her kibble (prior to all this mess). She had serious gastrointestinal symptoms, and her stomach growled loudly, all of which was undiagnosed by two vets. Shortly after getting her (as an adult retired show dog), her owner died suddenly and she came to live with me. I spoke to a Westie breeder who told me that turkey can be difficult for (some) dogs to digest. She’s fine now and tolerates a small amt. of chicken or beef and vegetables with her kibble, but I did find the following warning online about feeding dogs turkey:
Watch out for the following: rich and fatty foods such as giblets, dark meat turkey and turkey skin. Too much fat can result in pancreatitis, which is a potentially life threatening condition.
Pancreatitis occurs when the dog is trying to digest a very fatty meal. During digestion, the pancreas produces enzymes to assist in the digestive process, but with pancreatitis, too many enzymes are produced; as a result the pancreas becomes inflamed and can even begin digesting itself.
Comment by Maureen (Tulip, Cammy, Tigger's mom — April 15, 2007 @ 3:31 pm
Marilyn
Thanks for the heads up on Natural Balance Venison from itchmo.com.
I have the NB Ultra Premium dry for cat and dog, but my girls are eating home cooked and NB cat canned and NB Eatables. They haven’t shown much interest in kibble since they get the good stuff three times a day now.
Comment by Kathi — April 15, 2007 @ 3:41 pm
NATURAL BALANCE IS RECALLED
SEE ITCHMO.COM FOR DETAILS
Comment by Karen — April 15, 2007 @ 4:07 pm
CNN just did a piece on the recall http://www.loudobbs.com
Comment by Marry Ann — April 15, 2007 @ 4:15 pm
Incidentally,the practice of changing ingredients from cheap to cheaper without changing label information is carried out by some horse feed manufacturers,too.
I used to trust them the way I used to trust dog and cat food manufacturers….which are frequently the same company.
Comment by Lorna — April 15, 2007 @ 4:19 pm
Comment by Kathi — April 15, 2007 @ 3:06 pm
Kathi, there are some ocean fish that pose risks for high mercury. The biggest risks are from tuna, swordfish, and shark. Salmon (though not strictly ocean) also carry high mercury levels. A good rule to follow is size. If it’s an enormous fish, chances are good it eats other fish, which only adds to its heavy metals contamination. If you really want to be safe, stick to smaller, white-fleshed fish, like haddock, turbot, tilapia, etc.
Comment by Laura — April 15, 2007 @ 5:45 pm
Peace people
We love you
Comment by HelloWorld — April 26, 2007 @ 8:05 am