Pet-food recall: If the other shoe falls and nobody hears it, did it really make a sound?
By Gina Spadafori
April 18, 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.
One of my public-relations pals calls it the “look, a squirrel!” reporting cycle. He’s a dog-lover, see, and so are we, so we get the reference perfectly. You have your dog’s attention, and then a squirrel runs by and he’s off after it.
The pet-food recall story has “legs,” as they say in the news business, but the full impact of the revelation of contaminants in another food product — rice protein powder — hasn’t really been understood yet by most of the mainstream media.
USA Today’s Julie Schmit and Elizabeth Weise ”get it,” but then their coverage has been pretty stellar all along. Today’s piece is no exception:
The industrial chemical melamine has been found in more pet food, and suspicion is falling on a second pet-food ingredient imported from China as the source of the contamination.Natural Balance Pet Foods said Tuesday it found melamine in samples of some of its food, which led to a recall. The company suspects melamine was in a rice protein concentrate used as an ingredient, said President Joey Herrick in an interview.
Melamine is the chief suspect related to the Menu Foods recall, first announced four weeks ago for more than 60 million cans and pouches of wet dog and cat food. The melamine in Menu’s products was in wheat gluten imported from China and sold to Menu and several other pet-food makers, which also did recalls.
The rice protein concentrate was imported from China by San Francisco-based Wilbur-Ellis. Herrick says the concentrate, which is being tested, is suspected to have melamine, as it was the only new ingredient. Recalled Natural Balance products include Venison and Brown Rice canned and dry dog foods, dog treats and Venison and Green Pea dry cat food.
Wilbur-Ellis CEO John Thacher said his company sold the concentrate to five pet-food makers, but that most of it went to two firms. One of the primary companies was Diamond Pet Foods, which packs some of the Natural Balance product but doesn’t use the concentrate in any Diamond-made foods, says Diamond spokesman Jim Fallon. The other major customer, which Thacher would not name, tested the rice protein and found no melamine, Thacher says. Natural Balance’s rice protein concentrate is mixed with venison meal, Thacher says.
Sacramento Bee science writer Carrie Peyton Dahlberg, working her sources at the University of California, Davis, has also done super work tracking this thing. From today’s piece:
The monthlong pet food recall expanded Tuesday with a troubling twist, for the first time involving foods that do not contain wheat gluten but still tested positive for a potentially lethal chemical.
The finding makes it much tougher to tell people what to safely feed their pets and fuels suspicions that the chemical melamine is being deliberately added to some pet food ingredients to bolster apparent protein.
Natural Balance, a Pacoima-based company, is “99.9 percent sure” that a rice protein made in Asia is responsible for the melamine detected Tuesday in some of its venison-based pet foods, company President Joey Herrick said.
“It was pretty shocking,” he said in a phone interview after the company recalled several of its venison foods. “I was livid.”
Here are the Pet Connection, we just don’t know what to tell anyone about how to find a safe pet food. Will today’s safe food be tomorrow’s recall? It’s one thing to know — and yes, we do know — that the overwhelming vast majority of the foods on the shelf present no danger to pets. But even if 99 percent of all the food that’s out there is safe, would you want to be the person who recommends a food that isn’t? I can’t imagine that there’s a veterinarian out there who isn’t thinking the same when a client asks. Until this all shakes out for good, what’s the best advice to offer? I wish I knew.
In the meantime, the FDA’s improved list of recalled foods — now a single document, available here — is 5,000 items long. As of last night, according to The Bee, the latest recalls weren’t yet on it.
Update: Bringing up from comments, this link to a story on the AVMA’s Web site about the Senate hearing last week.
**
Reminder on comments: We’re letting everyone have his or her say, and have all along. The only comments that we’ve deleted from the first are ad spam and profanity. However, we’ve also seen a rise in racism, hate speech and even death threats to pet-food industry execs. We will be deleting these comments as well. They are simply not acceptable.
Don’t forget to use TinyURL to shorten your long URLs, and remember that posts with more than one hyperlink are automatically held for moderation (because of spam). So don’t keep posting the same thing over and over. We’ll get to them.
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Geez, guys I’m sorry you have to put up with culling spam from the comments section. ;-(
Perhaps now is the time for the Twinkie post!
The last paragraph is an appropriate summation:
What’s in your Twinkie
http://www.thestar.com/sciencetech/article/203199
[..] “For example, 14 of the most common chemicals we use are found in
Twinkies. I mention the Twinkie-Industrial Complex. It’s tied in with major
industries that are also often tied with government policy. This isn’t mere
food,” he says. “This is industry.”
……Yep, I get it.
Comment by CathyA — April 18, 2007 @ 10:14 am
It is difficult not to “hate” these companies and even more difficult not to voice disdain. I have sent them to the lower regions of the netherworld many times. I do consider them criminals and I hope the lawsuits against them mete out an appropriate sentence of monetary damages as well as “big house” time - if you know what I mean.
Linda MS
Comment by Linda — April 18, 2007 @ 10:19 am
“However, we’ve also seen a rise in racism, hate speech and even death threats to pet-food industry execs. We will be deleting these comments as well. They are simply not acceptable.”
No it’s not acceptable. But it wouldn’t shock me at the least if some people doing this are somehow connected to the Pet Food Industry on one way or the other and are trying to discredit this site and it’s efforts to find TRUTH.
The Pet Food Industry is dysfunctional, to the point of being downright dangerous and is in need of a complete overhaul.
Comment by Steve — April 18, 2007 @ 10:44 am
I wondered about that myself Steve with a few strange posts.
Linda MS
Comment by Linda — April 18, 2007 @ 10:46 am
ets Suspect 5 Foods, Will Test Soon
April 18th, 2007
From the Sacramento Bee article:
Local veterinarians who’ve tracked kidney ailments nationwide have tentatively identified five more foods, not at this point under any recall, that they plan to have tested as soon as possible.
The Veterinary Information Network, used by about 16,000 of the estimated 35,000 U.S. veterinarians, noticed the five foods kept recurring in vet-described disease reports, said Paul Pion, the Davis
Emphasis ours. The VIN will not yet release the names.
(Thanks mike with the sharp eyes)
http://tinyurl.com/ypsqo4
Comment by Steve — April 18, 2007 @ 10:56 am
There are trolls here and you do not have to be a genius to figure out which posters they are.
Comment by E. Hamilton — April 18, 2007 @ 10:59 am
Since the recall , I have switched to different brands. Not because the dry food that I was feeding my cats was on recall( I feed 47 cats, most of them outside fixed strays/ferals) but because I finally educated myself and started reading the ingredients. I was feeding Purina One varieties and Whiskas. Gradually switching over to Chicken Soup and Felidae. THe NB recall scared me again because Chicken Soup is also a Diamond product. They were quick however, to put a notice on their WEB site that Chicken Soup does not contain Wheat, wheat gluten or rice protein concentrate(the list of no no’s keeps growing). Does that make me feel better? Not! Who the heck can you trust anymore. Felidae , I have to order over the internet. No local retails in my neck of the woods. Plenty of Iams,SD , Nutro, Eukanuba etc on shelves ofcourse.
Wonder how many other consumers changed their brands? However, if one of the lesser sold brands gets a bigger share of the market, one of the biggies will buy them out and we are back to square one.
Hey, pet food makers, pet owners like me, would rather see a small price increase than have you dicking with around with cheaper ingredients. Also, there is no need to add coloring, fancy shapes to dry food so it looks like meat,cheese etc and makes it look more attractive to humans. Our pets could not care less.
Comment by Serijna — April 18, 2007 @ 11:01 am
From Steve:
“No it’s not acceptable. But it wouldn’t shock me at the least if some people doing this are somehow connected to the Pet Food Industry on one way or the other and are trying to discredit this site and it’s efforts to find TRUTH.”
Good point. It’s just the kind of thing they would do. Remember the MenuF person that wrote here saying to “have some class?”
Reminds of the time when black churches were burning and it turns out, a black man was setting the fires.
Comment by Gary — April 18, 2007 @ 11:02 am
For what it’s worth, Toronto Globe and Mail carries a piece on human food, apparently if you live in Hong Kong you are careful not to eat food from China! Can’t send URL as it’s one of their locked up pieces only available to subscribers.
Comment by Nancy Nielsen — April 18, 2007 @ 11:03 am
Comment by E. Hamilton — April 18, 2007 @ 10:59 am
Yes indeed they are. It’s the Wild Wild West.
Comment by Steve — April 18, 2007 @ 11:07 am
I thought about TimberWolf being bought out in the future but for now I’m going to give it a try.
I called my sister-in-law that is feeding IAMS and tried to tell her it was worrisome, but she says her two dogs are doing fine. I told her to watch for extra thrist.
One can only do so much to help people, they rest is up to them.
Linda MS
Comment by Linda — April 18, 2007 @ 11:16 am
Whats Next. The Pet Food Institute on behalf of it’s members and clients demanding an apology from the America public for inconveniencing them?
Comment by Steve — April 18, 2007 @ 11:20 am
I just spoke to someone in customer service at Merrick Pet Foods (after a long wait) and she assured me that Merrick does NOT use any protein concentrates in its food. So, until the next go-round with suspect ingredients, my puppy Ariel will continue on Merrick.
Comment by Valerie — April 18, 2007 @ 11:25 am
I just called Purina and I kept getting a recording then I asked for the President and the auto-voice transferred me to another voice mail and then I got to the operator after several attempts and finally I asked my rice protein question and then put on hold Linda Barretshaft (?) - and it was lunchtime and so I got another voice mail and left a message but they promised to call me back - if she doesn’t I will call her again.
I did consider switching to Purina only because I hadn’t heard anything bad about them - so I hope I get an answer soon.
Linda MS
Comment by Linda — April 18, 2007 @ 11:27 am
Well all we can do this afternoon is wait for those Vets from VIN to complete their tests then give us the news on which 5 brands are considered contaminated-toxic and should be removed from the market and our shelves.
Comment by Steve — April 18, 2007 @ 11:31 am
Comment by Linda — April 18, 2007 @ 11:27 am
Purina Adds Alpo To Recall List As Pet Owner Outrage Grows
North Country Gazette, NY - Mar 31, 2007
Two days after the Nestlé Purina PetCare Company “reassured” the public that Mighty Dog 5.3 ounce pouch-packaged products were the ONLY Purina® brand ..
Comment by Steve — April 18, 2007 @ 11:33 am
Unfortunately, I can’t afford to buy all of the expensive foods for my cats because I have so many. I have been using Whiskas dry and wet food for them but only after I have called the company three times for their assurance that their products are safe. Right now, it’s just a chance that I have to take. My PooPoo who was suffering from acute renal failure is eating the Hills k/d diet which I am scared to death of using but he seems okay right now. My other cats haven’t experienced any symptoms from using the Whiskas dry/wet food so I will continue to keep my fingers crossed. When this all started, all of my cats demonstrated varying degrees of symptoms but since they have been off of the contaminated food and eating the Whiskas, they seem to have improved. Trust me, I am watching every single one of them like a hawk and I follow them all around continuously to make sure they aren’t drinking excessively, etc. Right now though the focus is on keeping PooPoo healthy. He has had a rough couple of months with three hospitalizations for the acute renal failure and the various complications that have arisen as a result. It’s just a crying shame that this has happened and it is even more frustrating now that the media is completely overlooking the story. I understand that the news has to cover the tragedy at VT and Lord knows my heart goes out to every single one of those students and their families, but this recall has affected my family now for more than 2 months and I get very angry when I see very little being covered about it any longer.
Comment by Adrienne — April 18, 2007 @ 11:36 am
I want to hear it myself Steve. As odd as that sounds.
I just don’t understand any of this. And to think that spies would be here trying to hurt us and our efforts just isn’t right, hasn’t enough damage been done to our pets.
My poor Moses had a hard stomach and drinking tons of water, and my youngest had a fever and high liver enzymes and the my Mercy vet bills skyrocketed with so many test and they were going to do a liver biopsy and I switched foods and started homecooking.
Comment by Linda — April 18, 2007 @ 11:37 am
Was it researchers at Cornell that were looking into a 2nd contaminant… is there any word on this yet? have they given up? or have I missed the report?
So if something had both wheat gluten and rice whatever, does that mean there was a double dose of melamine?
Comment by Cynthia — April 18, 2007 @ 11:37 am
And am I correct in thinking that this announcement about more harmful food will happen today? or am I misreading posts?
Comment by Cynthia — April 18, 2007 @ 11:39 am
I have to know the truth for the sake of my dogs - they depend upon me to find out what’s going on before I feed them one more store bought thing.
Linda MS
Comment by Linda — April 18, 2007 @ 11:40 am
Well I’m going to take a break from todays dance of death. Maybe if we are lucky we’ll get through a day and the tests on those five additional brands being checked for toxic contamination will come back negative.
Comment by Steve — April 18, 2007 @ 11:46 am
Comment by Cynthia — April 18, 2007 @ 11:39 am
No your not dreaming.
From the Sacramento Bee article:
Local veterinarians who’ve tracked kidney ailments nationwide have tentatively identified five more foods, not at this point under any recall, that they plan to have tested as soon as possible.
Comment by Steve — April 18, 2007 @ 11:47 am
Someone made a good point above. When this dies down, and it will, some of the smaller companies are likely to be bought out by the larger suspect companies.
I used to trust Purina and I think they used to be trustworthy. Then they were purchased by Nestle and now we hear of recalls and cost-cutting. I’m sure the buyout resulted in new management practices.
Thank you Pet Connection for all the great work you’ve done. I had switched my animals after one of our pets died in November. I have no proof it had anything to do with this recall, but I felt the food was a factor.
Keep up the good work!!
Comment by Kathy — April 18, 2007 @ 11:53 am
Another recall from Menu:
Natural Life
Nov/22/09
Vegetarian 13.2oz
Can
13.2oz
12344-07114
Linda MS
Comment by Linda — April 18, 2007 @ 11:54 am
Steve: I don’t get your point about VIN. The owner of the company who sold the rice protein concentrate knew a week ago it had melamine and won’t tell us who the companies are even though he knows. If the object is to gore someone, go after them.
VIN is a bunch of vets who are stepping up to the plate with suspicions and trying to get it confirmed. Let’s not get rabid and bite anyone in sight. I think it’s a good thing someone is trying to get confirmed information out to the public, since those that ALREADY KNOW won’t say one blessed thing.
Comment by CathyA — April 18, 2007 @ 11:56 am
http://tinyurl.com/36rpxf
The AVMA just posted an article about the Senate Hearings.
Comment by Carole — April 18, 2007 @ 11:57 am
I started to do a preliminary search of pet foods that use RICE PROTEIN CONCENTRATE (RPC). I also did searches under RICE PROTEIN and RICE GLUTEN.
This is just a precaution until we know more, i’m not sure who supplies to the companies below but i’m doing this to be safe and to make sure the food I feed doesn’t include this filler. (As of Monday I am feeding Merrick to all my pets - they were on Natural Balance since January of this year).
I have found these companies so far that have/or continue to use RPC:
NUTRO - Natural Choice & Natural Care Adult CAT food (dry)
PROPAC - Lamb Meal & Rice DOG food (dry) lists RICE GLUTEN as their 4th ingredient
BLUE BUFFALO (in their top 10 ingredients for dog food they list rice protein concentrate at #7… http://tinyurl.com/2zje3k)
SENSIBLE CHOICE - RICE GLUTEN appears in a lot of their products
CASTOR & POLLUX - Natural Ultramix Canine Weight Mgmnt.
WELLNESS - WellBars - 2 of the flavors contains RPC
LIVESMART - Weight Mgmnt. Chicken and Brown Rice formula
BLUE SPA SELECT - Hairball Control Cat (dry)
HILL’S - Rx food Z/D for cats (dry) RPC IS 1st INGREDIENT!!
HILL’S - Rx food K/D for dogs (wet) RPC is 5th ingredient while something called “Maize starch” (hmmm) is the first ingredient
Also, I’m noticing a lot of other concentrates and glutens in my searches.. i.e. Soy Protein Concentrate (Fancy Feast, Nature’s Recipe), Fish Protein Concentrate (Newman’s Own), Vegetable Protein Concentrate (Advance Pet Foods) and Corn Gluten (meal) - that one is in too many to name. The reason they piqued my interest in because a lot of these companies from China that made the wheat gluten also make these items above.
I hope they release the names of all companies who receive the RICE PROTEIN CONCENTRATE because many of them, just like Natural Balance, might not even be listing it on their ingredients.
Comment by Monika — April 18, 2007 @ 12:02 pm
Thanks PetConnection but as a responsible petowner I have to comment on this :
“yes, we do know — that the overwhelming vast majority of the foods on the shelf present no danger to pets.” — you mean immediate danger I think? The maj. commercial petfoods are crap as folks are now learning. It’s time both petowners and veterinarians learned the facts about this.
Comment by 4lgdfriend — April 18, 2007 @ 12:08 pm
there is alot of posts that their cats or dogs are drinking lots of water please whatever your feeding your pets now stop, i really think that the pets drinking all this water is the first way of telling us SOMETHING IS WRONG WITH THE FOOD. I took my pets off the food they were on because they were drinking so much water,in less then 24 hours they stopped drinking all that water. we need to know what other 4 co’s got the rice.
Comment by Marry Ann — April 18, 2007 @ 12:09 pm
I just happened on this website for help with making your own pet food. I didn’t click on any of the buttons on the bottom but, on the first page, I thought some of those recipes looked yummy…..as in something I could share with my dog….tee hee.
http://www.healthrecipes.com/pet_supply.htm
Comment by Jan — April 18, 2007 @ 12:14 pm
That’s what I did Marry Ann. My Moses was drinking so much water and also my Snoopy and both were on different foods but now with the homecooked no one is drinking excessively and no one has smelly foul BM movements either.
And on the NB Duck and Potato the BM’s were so smelly that they could hardly stand it let alone me. I didn’t understand this - but it’s true.
Linda MS
Comment by Linda — April 18, 2007 @ 12:15 pm
…and also on this: “But even if 99 percent of all the food that’s out there is safe, would you want to be the person who recommends a food that isn’t? I can’t imagine that there’s a veterinarian out there who isn’t thinking the same when a client asks. Until this all shakes out for good, what’s the best advice to offer?” — I know vets are in a world of hurt now - they couldn’t identify a healthy nutritious food even before this scandal. Go elsewhere for nutrition info folks. Even decent Vets are just going to cya on this. When I alerted mine to possible untested gluten in Nutro dry (in case it might help other clients) she cya’d by repeating the mfr statement that wheat gluten was not in the food. As if I would not have bothered to check the ingredients. CYA’ing is more important to most vets. But as I’ve said umpteen times most vets know zilch about animal nutrition to begin with and are afraid of being tarred by the scandal. Get a holistic vet but do your own research. It’s easier than this emergency has been and far less costly. Again thanks to petconnection - but this is my experience and should be represented in fairness to petowners.
Comment by 4lgdfriend — April 18, 2007 @ 12:15 pm
Mary Ann, what food were they on?
Comment by Carole — April 18, 2007 @ 12:15 pm
There are trolls here and you do not have to be a genius to figure out which posters they are.
Comment by E. Hamilton — April 18, 2007 @ 10:59 am
OK at the risk of me appearing as not one of the brightest bulbs on the tree or one fry short of a Happy Meal, what are trolls? I am simply a pet owner trying to keep up with info to learn more about what killed our kitty, can someone let me know what trolls are? Hopefully its not something else thats in the food along with melamine, protein, rat poison and whatever else they find….
Comment by Sandi K — April 18, 2007 @ 12:18 pm
Sandi, trolls is a way to refer to folks who are ‘trolling’ for info. Apparently some here believe there are trolls on this board, folks who work for or are associated with some of these pet food companies.
No doubt there are readers here who are given it is a public domain.
As for posters, it would fairly simple to eliminate some folks as trolls by checking out their email address.
Comment by Carole — April 18, 2007 @ 12:23 pm
I don’t trust ANY pet food right now. All of these companies have “assured” the public that this and that is safe and ‘we don’t use xyz ingredient’. Then next thing ya know it’s being recalled.
Just because a pet food maker “assures” that it is safe and their packing says their safe and have a seal of approval and certified does not mean it is truth.
The truth is in all the dead and sick pets. And the ones that are still getting sick.
Comment by Tammy — April 18, 2007 @ 12:24 pm
A troll is someone out to do harm I think, not genuine, out to cause trouble for one reason or the other.
That’s just a guess. I still don’t know exactly who they are, I think I can pick one out - some comments were taken off - about not buying from a certain country or something.
But E. Hamilton and Steve seem to know more about it but I must be not too bright too.
Linda MS
Comment by Linda — April 18, 2007 @ 12:24 pm
my dogs were on nutro lite and they were drinking so much water,their urine stunk and i was reading so much about how pets were drinking all this water, so i put them on california natural reduced calorie rice and lamb meal and they stop drinking all the water, my dogs would wake me up 3 to 4 times a night to drink water.while they were on nutro .i really feel thats our first sign the huge drinking of water . the food is the reason for it.i was filling their water dish at least 5-6 times a day and i got 1 dish in kitchen and 1 in bedroom.
Comment by Marry Ann — April 18, 2007 @ 12:27 pm
I was exhausted from filling water dishes all of them several times a day and now I clean bowls, fill, and go about my business of living life. Dogs are happy and I’m happy.
Linda MS
Comment by Linda — April 18, 2007 @ 12:29 pm
Wow, when I think about drinking a lot of water I didn’t realize it was being measured in bowls for some.
Comment by Carole — April 18, 2007 @ 12:34 pm
Oh great. We switched our animals to Natural Balance after two of our cats died, and now they are recalling some of the canned stuff we were mixing with the dry food. I just heard. What’s up with this? Rice bran protein concentrate??? Who or what foods can we trust to be safe for our pets now? I feel let down, anxious, angry.
Oh we only have one can left? Again, we have no cans to compare with any lists. I am fed up.
Comment by Grace — April 18, 2007 @ 12:35 pm
For Adrienne,
None of my many cats got sick of dry food Whiskas(boy , do they love the Whiskas meaty flavor with the soft centers) or any dry Purina food. I do have some problems with obesity in some of my cats. Less carbohydrates(from corn etc) is the main reason I am gradually switching their dry food to Chicken Soup(same price as Purina One varieties) and Felidae, a little bit more pricier but not as high as Iams etc… I also cannot afford the top premium brands with so many tiny mouths to feed. The Chicken Soup seems like a good value based on the ingredients(if you can trust them). Mind you, if you live close to a Costco, their very affordable Kirkland house brand( Diamond also) looks very close to Chicken soup in their ingredients and IMO better in nutritional Value than Whiskas and cheaper.
Comment by Serijna — April 18, 2007 @ 12:37 pm
OK thank you for the blogging 101 lesson! I guess I was dumb enough to not think of “troll” kind of stuff happening, in other words they are people not representing who they truly are? Wow thats pretty sneaky! Kind of like some of the pet food companies. OK I think Im catching on!
Separate question for those who have pets that became ill from the products….our kitty before she died was vomiting every day, has anyone had that same thing going on with their pet? It got so bad & we were so tired of cleaning the carpet (sometimes having to get up at 2 or 3 in the morning) that we ended up buying a Costco packet of bath towels and spreading them all over the carpet so when she would throw up we could just grab up the towel and throw it in the washer. Our poor girl!
Comment by Sandi K — April 18, 2007 @ 12:38 pm
carole, 5 gallons of water in 2 days. that’s alot of water. and my vet said they were drinking way to much water.
Comment by Marry Ann — April 18, 2007 @ 12:38 pm
We need to know exactly who used this inigredient and exactly what products, pet or human it went into. This is no longer just about petfood. Seems to me that’s the key to getting investigations going again. The FDA seemed to snap it up after Sen. Durbin gave them a date. This stuff could be in a panoply of human foods too.
Comment by 4lgdfriend — April 18, 2007 @ 12:41 pm
My cat’s a rescue/was addicted to Nutro dry crap (not the worst)/was weaning onto Wellness DRY but the 20-25% Nutro dry caused the recall symptoms w/in days(Dec.!). Nutro=corn gluten meal. Still using Wellness dry (old formula)better qual ingred. (still grains no wheat/corn/soy). That’s planB towards better. New Wellness dry formulas all contain fish (OUT for kidney probs) and I think cheaper ingred. more meals. Seeing no problems from old DRY Wellness Super5 Chicken, if you can still get it. I’ve fed raw and would but mine won’t touch it so I’m stuck with the lesser of many evils. NONE are perfect. I’ve suggested cat feeding lists holisticat and yahoo for advice on feeding cats. Get info from those who know somethin.
Comment by 4lgdfriend — April 18, 2007 @ 12:52 pm
Could corn be involved too??
Post from another site yesterday:
“Earlier today, after receiving a tip from an industry insider that products containing tainted rice and corn gluten were about to be recalled, I contacted an FDA Public Affairs officer for confirmation, and received a quick and firm response:
From: Castro, Veronica Sent: Tue 4/17/2007 12:37 PM To: David Goldstein Subject: RE: From FDA
Rice gluten and corn gluten are not being recalled. The latest information we have is on our website. It is up to date.
Then again, this was the same spokesperson who emailed me that she had no information about a previous recall… six days after it was issued. I can only conclude that the FDA is keeping its Office of Public Affairs as much in the dark as it is keeping the public.
I have received no confirmation that tainted corn gluten is also suspect, but at this point I have no reason to doubt my original source. Given this new information and past experience, I personally will not serve my pets — or my family — any product containing wheat, rice or corn gluten until the FDA and the industry have proven to me that their products are safe to eat.”
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/.....46116.html
There really seems to be a lack of centralized official information on this on-going recall. Thank goodness for sites like Pet Connection and Itchmo. They are doing what the regulatory agencies are not..keeping the public informed!!
Comment by mal — April 18, 2007 @ 1:07 pm
For Adrienne again,
Correction, Kirkland is about the same price as Whiskas. Also, Special Kitty 5.5 oz can is identical to Del Monte’s 9Lives in like flavors. Confirmed , reluctantly, per phone call with Del Monte. Just compare the ingredients of Super Supper(R’d) 9 lives with super supper dinner Special Kitty. The paper label is the only difference. Runs on the same production line. Just like Peter Pan peanut butter is the same as Wal-Mart Great Value peanut butter. Recalls quite often brings that out of the wood work.
Comment by Serijna — April 18, 2007 @ 1:16 pm
I still want to know WHY they put a rice protein concentrate in a cat food that was supposed to have no rice, and only a single source (venison) protein? To save money? They dropped venison and venison meal BELOW peas in the ingredient list, obviously they were trying to make up the lost protein.
NB lied about this, and because of it, I put my cats in danger. Their ingredient list on the website has changed.. and if I had read the CURRENT list of ingredients, I never would have fed it to my cats.
Comment by Andrea — April 18, 2007 @ 1:21 pm
Andrea, I Think All These co.’s Are Lying To Us.1 Day They Tell us The Food Is Ok ,Next Day It’s on Recall List.
Comment by Marry Ann — April 18, 2007 @ 1:29 pm
The definition of a troll (from http://tinyurl.com/bm3u8)
“As a verb, the practice of trying to lure other Internet users into sending responses to carefully-designed incorrect statements or similar “bait.” In a real example, a Usenet newsgroup contributor mentioned the discovery of an ancient African carving containing a list of prime numbers. The contributor further listed some of the prime numbers found and included some numbers that, in fact, are not prime numbers. Other contributors then sent serious replies, correcting the list of prime numbers cited.”
In other words, someone who makes comments just to stir up a response. The usual advice is to ignore trolls, since they are looking for attention. It is generally hard to do, becuase they are good at “pushing your buttons.”
Comment by CatLady — April 18, 2007 @ 1:35 pm
I suspect that the person who told the Huffington Post blogger that there’s a wider recall coming was absolutely accurate. But they’re probably waiting for Friday’s news cycle. Disgusting.
Comment by CatLady — April 18, 2007 @ 1:36 pm
Has anyone updated Sen. Durbin with the two sources of melamine: RPC & WG?
Can’t seem to read all comments fast enough.
Comment by Kathi — April 18, 2007 @ 1:49 pm
Hi,
Im the person who had just posted a message
claiming a known threat to all my countrymen.
i suspect im also being labeled a “trol”.
before you delete my post? let me inform you/
the fact is you’v lost animals? i’was lucky
i saved mine. if you think for 1 minute that
you’l be safe by turning away from this threat you face, well i’l post no longer on your “liberal”
little web site? it’s YOUR safety i was concerned over? let me share a bit of my history
I am a vietnam veteran a Marine who fought for
your freedom’s, i watched my friends die for
this country? now i see a new threat, from a conutry that WILL continue to undermine YOUR
way of life..
i only wish you’d open your eyes.
sincerly, Art wolff Us.Mc. 1968-1970 (your friend- johnypaycut
Comment by johnypaycut — April 18, 2007 @ 1:57 pm
johnypaycut … I deleted your previous posts because they were racist. Keep your discussion civil and on point, and your posts are welcome.
Comment by Gina Spadafori — April 18, 2007 @ 2:02 pm
Interesting post by blogger David Goldstein on HuffingtonPost.com
Tainted Rice Gluten Now Linked To Expanded Recall
Hours after a Food and Drug Administration spokesperson denied that the already massive pet food recall would be expanded to include products containing rice and corn gluten, Natural Balance has confirmed that it has found melamine in its rice gluten, and is now recommending that customers avoid all of its products containing this ingredient.
Melamine-tainted wheat gluten, imported from China, had previously been blamed for what has grown to become largest pet food recall in U.S. history, with over 39,000 dogs and cats sickened or killed. Natural Balance says that the contaminated rice gluten was produced by a U.S. company, raising further questions as to the broader safety of the food supply.
Earlier today, after receiving a tip from an industry insider that products containing tainted rice and corn gluten were about to be recalled, I contacted an FDA Public Affairs officer for confirmation, and received a quick and firm response:
From: Castro, Veronica Sent: Tue 4/17/2007 12:37 PM To: David Goldstein Subject: RE: From FDA
Rice gluten and corn gluten are not being recalled. The latest information we have is on our website. It is up to date.
Then again, this was the same spokesperson who emailed me that she had no information about a previous recall… six days after it was issued. I can only conclude that the FDA is keeping its Office of Public Affairs as much in the dark as it is keeping the public.
I have received no confirmation that tainted corn gluten is also suspect, but at this point I have no reason to doubt my original source. Given this new information and past experience, I personally will not serve my pets — or my family — any product containing wheat, rice or corn gluten until the FDA and the industry have proven to me that their products are safe to eat.
Story link: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/.....46116.html
Comment by Brooklyn Stargazer — April 18, 2007 @ 2:07 pm
Natural Balance has put out a nice FAQ’s on their website…this is just one part that I thought was interesting. It’s so sad that Menu Foods and the other co’s didn’t pull their foods as quickly knowing now that there were many more calls than six to their complaint lines. Think how many more pets could have been saved…so I do think NB is being as helpful as possible in their shoes, I can’t think of more they could do (other than not try and boost protein).
From their FAq’s:
How were you able to act so quickly?
We acted so quickly because our Registered Veterinary Technician/ Customer Service Representative received six calls on April 12th (Thursday) and April 13th (Friday) all from dog families who had started using a “new” bag of our Venison & Brown Rice Formula Dry Dog Food.
Because we never see a cluster of six phone calls about one of our products we decided Friday afternoon that there must be a problem with the newest batch of the dog formula even though we did not know what the problem was.
We decided at that time to initiate testing to try to determine the problem, but at the same time, we decided to stop the further distribution of the Venison Dog and Venison Cat dry formulas, as we received one call from a cat family on Friday.
Calls were made to Pet Co and our distributors to stop distribution of the food and to start contacting our retailers to pull the affected foods off the shelves, while we monitored calls over the weekend.
Comment by Becky — April 18, 2007 @ 2:08 pm
As to the use of protein concentrate from rice, I believe it might be a shortage of good venison.
Just a guess here.
Linda MS
Comment by Linda — April 18, 2007 @ 2:10 pm
Venison is deer meat. How can there possibly be a shortage of deer!
Comment by elizabeth R — April 18, 2007 @ 2:15 pm
Can’t someone provide a list of companies that don’t include any imported products from CHINA?
I used “The Pet Food List” to help me make an informed choice of foods. Under Natual Balance, verified by company 4/4/07 - All ingredients are from the US except for lamb and venison from New Zealand. So I started feeding my cat Moe Natural Balance. He had been eating the recalled Nutro products. Then I read today that Natural Balance imports Rice Protein from China!!!!!! Is their any Pet Food List I can trust? Why can’t someone product a list of pet food that doesn’t import ingredients from CHINA. A list that is accurate!!!
Comment by George Nagle — April 18, 2007 @ 2:20 pm
Do they have deer farms the pet food companies are using?
It isn’t like our rendering plants that have cows and horses and whatelse.
Where are the large deer farms? Maybe I just don’t know about them and they are all over, that could be. It’s just a guess on my part.
Linda MS
Comment by Linda — April 18, 2007 @ 2:23 pm
Again, Johnny … stay civil and on point. If you can’t, the next deletion (your third) will include a ban from commenting on our blog.
Comment by Gina Spadafori — April 18, 2007 @ 2:26 pm
For Serijna:
Thanks for your replies to my post. Unfortunately, I don’t have a Costco anywhere near me so I am out of luck in that regard. Special Kitty products were what my cats were originally eating when my PooPoo got sick and I really don’t feel secure buying any of their remaining products. Out of all of the “brand names” out there right now, Whiskas is what I am more comfortable with right now and I know that all of my cats are doing okay right now. Of course my PooPoo has to eat the k/d. I have 12 adult cats with 3 mama cats who have just given birth to kittens (5 a piece). We are so fortunate that our baby kittens came through this without any problems (at least that we know of) since the mothers were eating the Special Kitty. I was really very worried about it but they all seem to be thriving right now. In fact, the oldest litter is 2-1/2 weeks old and we have joked that the melamine must have caused a rapid spurt in growth and development because these little boogers are already up walking around without wobbling, coming out to see us when we talk to them, have had their eyes and ears opened since they were a week old, and look like they are about the size of 5 week old kittens. It’s really amazing. Of course, it’s definitely not a laughing matter but I guess having these precious little ones around have taken away some of our sadness in dealing with the two cats that we lost and our PooPoo.
Anyway, thanks again for your comments. I really appreciate it very much!
Comment by Adrienne — April 18, 2007 @ 2:37 pm
Linda MS
Yes there are numerous deer farms in New Zealand.
Comment by Kathi — April 18, 2007 @ 2:38 pm
WILBUR-ELLIS PHONE NUMBER
415/772-4000 Wilbur Ellis - tell them that disclosing who the companies were that also received the rice protein concentrate HAVE to be disclosed
(found in itchmo blog comments)
Comment by petlover — April 18, 2007 @ 2:38 pm
Oh I didn’t realize that - thanks for the info. I hadn’t seen any here in the U.S. I didn’t buy the venison because I love Bambi or something like that - deers are so sweet - I don’t consider them proper dog food. Not to diss anyone who does, that’s just me, and I know it may seem silly to some here.
Linda MS
Comment by Linda — April 18, 2007 @ 2:42 pm
Now I wonder about the ducks, where do they get all the ducks from? I suppose the same place we get down feathers from - must be duck farms around.
Linda MS
Comment by Linda — April 18, 2007 @ 2:46 pm
Maryann and Carol:
My dog went from drinking 128-256oz of water a day to 42oz of water on home cooked. Veternarian was shocked yesterday, based on her calc.,42oz would be the expected normal for a dog weighing 47lbs.
Please those of you noticeing huge water intake - please report it to the pet food company and get your pet to the vet!
When I called Eukanuba yesterday, they said they had no complaints like mine … also told me they have made no changes to formulation since March 2006 when they added fish oil and flax meal. I feed Senior Maint.
Pet Conncection, thank you for all your time and hard work and timely info. and this blog so that we pet owners know what is going on. I would be in the dark otherwise. I’m finally getting educated and learning to ask questions. This has been a big wake-up call for me.
Katie
Comment by Katie — April 18, 2007 @ 2:46 pm
Linda MS
Yes there are duck farms in China. Many are tied to tilapia farms.
Comment by Kathi — April 18, 2007 @ 2:48 pm
Linda MS
Don’t panic, we have ducks, too.
Comment by Kathi — April 18, 2007 @ 2:51 pm
Well I just heard back from Wellness/Old Mother Hubbard:
It’s only because of my S&R dog I think as I simply cannot take any risk with him, but with any dog really. I love him no more or less than my other pets.
Well in the simple solutions line (dog food) and yogurt one (and I can’t remember the formal name) and white fish and sweet potato they do use a rice protein but not the one that Natural Balance is using, how they know that I do not understand, because I asked her for the supplier’s name and she said they didn’t have it - but the President of the company is checking out their sources but she knew it wasn’t the same one????????
All the other products of their company have no rice protein in it.
I don’t use Wellness but was thinking of switching trying to find something.
Linda MS
Comment by Linda — April 18, 2007 @ 2:57 pm
On the Wellness website, Allergy Formula - Simple Solutions, the brown rice protein is listed as an ingredient.
No rice protein is used in any other product line except this Simple Solution one.
Linda MS
Comment by Linda — April 18, 2007 @ 3:02 pm
George-
“The Pet Food List” has spent a huge amount of time compiling their list. The list is a public service to help pet owners make informed choices in selecting a pet food. I know it has provided me valuable information so I can further research pet foods. They are not psychic - they have no way of knowing when if a company is lying to them. They posted what Natural Balance told them.
Comment by Sheila — April 18, 2007 @ 3:10 pm
Linda,
I got this from the itchmo.com blog:
(see post by cejhome at 1:44 pm today)
“This is something I heard from the owner of our local healthfoody pet supply store - again, it is NOT confirmed, just what he was told in conversation w/their regional mgr…the regional mgr said she/he “wouldn’t be surprised if Wellness is next to be recalled”, that “they have heard of quite a few problems w/pets w/it recently”. I don’t want to panic anyone or start rumors, but simply wanted to let y’all know - I think w/any commercial pet food these days, no matter who makes it or what form it is it, we need to be extra paranoid and watch our pups and kitties very very closely.”
Just wanted to inform you.
Comment by FMtz — April 18, 2007 @ 3:12 pm
I’ve been doing more online research in order to try to figure out who the FDA is protecting. All you really have to do is follow the money all the way to the White House. Which large company gives money to Republicans, imports wheat gluten from China and has not denied it is the source of the tainted product, and just announced today a new agreement with China related to rice. ADM, supermarket to the world. I’m not saying they are responsible but they have been in trouble with the law before regarding how they conduct their business and the only person that went to jail was the whistleblower. There’s a book about it written five years ago called “Rats in the Grain”.
Comment by Sharon — April 18, 2007 @ 3:24 pm
Adrienne,
I was only referring to the 5.5 oz cans in Special Kitty, just as safe(is there really such a thing as safe) as 9lives IMO. Not the dry food or the recalled Menu foods Special Kitty pouches( had one small cat get sick on those lethal pouches but she recovered after taking her to the vet within 48 hours and feeding her unflavored Pedialyte in the mean time).
Hope, you will consider having your mama cats spayed. Many animal groups around that will do it for a small cost or no cost at all.
As for small kittens getting them weaned , do not trust ANY commercial pet food company. Make my own, with boiled chicken , eggs, cottage cheese and plenty of Pet-Ag KMR.
Good luck with your kittens and hope you will find safe homes for them.
Comment by Serijna — April 18, 2007 @ 3:40 pm
Help me out here - is Whiskas safe? Who makes it?
Comment by JudyR — April 18, 2007 @ 3:43 pm
I went to a B.A.R.F (raw diet) for the wee dogs. I’m feeding the others Canidae for now.
The raw foods I’m feeding are Aunt Jeni’s, Nature’s Variety, The Honest Kitchen(Verve), & Primal. They absolutely LOVE it, and their poo hasn’t changed a bit. But some dogs can get the runs or even throw up when you are changing them to a raw diet, or for that matter any diet. After reading Canidae’s statement on their front page today I’ve decided to stick with them for now. We’ll see what the next few hours or days bring…
Comment by FMtz — April 18, 2007 @ 3:50 pm
hi kati,i did call nutro and of course i called my vet 1st. i took them of nutro yesterday and saw a big differnce. they love california natural.and most of all they stop drinking all that water. i have a water cooler and that’s why i know it was 5 gallons in 2 days.plus reading all these comments also helps .i know now other pet owners were seeing their pets drink huge amounts of water. i called the vet today and told them since i change food they have not drank alot of water. please everyone what ever food you have your pets on ,the drinking a great deal of water is the 1st sign it’s the food.STOP that FOOD and give something differnt.
Comment by Marry Ann — April 18, 2007 @ 3:54 pm
So I just got a phone call from Blue Buffalo…
They do use it in only four of their foods, and this information is and always has been identified in the ingredients on their website. They use it in their day kitten and hairball foods for cats, and their Lamb and Brown Rice and Lite Dog Foods.
They have not been contacted by the FDA but are already testing their rice protein just in case. They are also working on making sure that their supplier did not / does not use suppliers outside the US, as is their expectation.
They have not had any complaints about illness from these foods so they have no reason to believe any of their food was affected. They said their website should be updated within the next 24 hours with a final statement.
Comment by Carole — April 18, 2007 @ 3:57 pm
Also, I have noticed my pets drinking a lot less water.
Comment by FMtz — April 18, 2007 @ 4:00 pm
if thats true that wellness is next,alot of pet owners have switched to wellness since march 16. Oh My God this is horrible.
Comment by Marry Ann — April 18, 2007 @ 4:08 pm
Please,please anyone with a dog or cat drinking excessive water - get them to the vet!
I just got a call back from my vet, she thinks my dog probably has only 25% of her kidney function left.
My dog is 11yrs old,I know age is a factor but………
Katie
Comment by Katie — April 18, 2007 @ 4:57 pm
Fabulous, where was all this helpful info about pets drinking too much water FOR THE LAST 2 MONTHS?
Was it on TV, was the humane society out there saying it?
Where was it?
Is it on TV tonight?
Is there a darned thing on this anywhere but here?
I am furious at all the people who had the power to get the news out and JUST DIDN’T.
Just could not quite get off their butt and SAY something.
The ASPCA? They could have said something.
The Humane Society? They could have said something.
The Vets in my state and yours COULD HAVE SAID SOMETHING.
We are 2 freaking months into this disaster and NOT A ONE OF THEM COULD GET UP AND SAY IT!!!???
I am so far beyond disgusted that I cannot take a deep breath.
Public service anyone.
I know what killed my pets, I know it now and I might have known it IN TIME, if public service was real.
Comment by E. Hamilton — April 18, 2007 @ 5:09 pm
Okay, so here’s the response my friend with the Wellness fed kitties got today. If you think about it, like Marry Ann pointed out, a TON of cats were switched to Wellness recently. It does make total sense they would all be adjusting to lots of protein and good food, combined with our justifiably paranoia about food, would account for the increase in complaints. So, maybe this makes sense. It does not appear to contain any rice protein or wheat gluten, nor apparently garlic anymore.
What do you all think?
From OMH:
Thank you for taking the time to write Old Mother Hubbard regarding your
experiences with Wellness® Core Cat. At Old Mother Hubbard we are committed
to providing the highest quality pet foods and treats available. Our expert
staff of engineers is continuously improving our products to ensure that
they are tasty and nutritious for your pet.
An increase in water intake and thus urine volume could potentially be seen
in some cats. Protein is broken down by the kidneys and that is why you are
seeing an increase in urine. Since the kidneys are breaking down the
increased levels of protein the end result is more urea, which means more
urine. If your cat was eating the Core and drinking more water but you were
not seeing an increase in urine volume, then that would be a concern. But
eating our protein focused COre diet, seeing an increase in water intake and
thus seeing an increase in urine volume is ok and normal.
Also, for your information we have actually taken garlic out of all of our
dry cat diets. AAFCO regulations let us us old bags for a certain period of
time to allow for run-through.
I am sending coupons towards your next purchase of Wellness® Core Cat.
If you have further questions or concerns please feel free to call us on our
Consumer Affairs line at (800) 225-0904.
Comment by Becky — April 18, 2007 @ 5:30 pm
fwiw - the other thing I noticed upon discontinuing the Nutro dry kibble, in addition to the cessation of vomiting light stuff frequently, was a great reduction in water intake.
They are now drinking a normal amount for their weight.
Comment by TC — April 18, 2007 @ 5:59 pm
I am trying to follow all this as best I can. It seems that things are changing not daily but almost hourly. I lost my kitty back on 2/21/07, while my other kitty was sick. He’s still sick and dying. It pains my heart to see him wither away. He’s lost alot of weight and at this point there is nothing we can do. I just hope he has fun with his brother in kitty heaven. I have joined a class action lawsuit here in Florida. I weighed the options carefully. I opted out of the claim form, for different reasons. I did not throw away any of the food I have left. I have all my vet bills and any other information that may be needed. All I can hope for is that the people that are responsible for this come forward, which will probably never happen, and admit whatever the problem was. I have changed food (special kitty) to Friskies. The dry is the same. Purina cat chow. Every time one of my 3 kitties coughs, spits up, sleeps too much, is drinking more often, I panic. I know that all this is normal for them, but since this has happened, I am on “panic mode” all day long. Words can not describe the pain that I know all of us are feeling. Has anyone in Menu Foods, the FDA, the ASPCA or any other corporation involved in this really thought about the casualties? Think about it. They recalled 60 million items of food. From back in Mid November. How many of us still had food left from then, when they first told us of the recall? If that much food has been recalled, how much of it was consumed. ALOT!! And, with that consumption, comes pain and suffering. I look into my kitties eyes and can’t help but wonder what he’s thinking. Probably “why me?”
Thank you for listening, I visit daily so if someone wants to respond, I’d like to hear from you. Let’s all keep each other in our prayers. Even if you don’t pray, it might be time to start.
Comment by Sharon Gilbert — April 18, 2007 @ 7:28 pm
has any one been to Dr Michael
Sorry-Has any one been to Dr Michael
Fox’s website lately?
Comment by elliott — April 18, 2007 @ 8:14 pm
RE: “They recalled 60 million items of food. From back in Mid November. How many of us still had food left from then, when they first told us of the recall? If that much food has been recalled, how much of it was consumed.”
Sharon G., I’m so sorry about your kitties and am hoping your sick one rallies and beats the odds. You make a very good point. There’s not going to be a way to tally food used vs. not used. I wish there was. Some people just tossed it out rather than take it back for a refund. Retailers probably have some general figures for how often they have to reorder products - how long they stay on the shelves. Would be nice if one pet food retailer could crunch some numbers. Out of the 60 mil, how much was really on the shelf at the point of recall?
Comment by CathyA — April 19, 2007 @ 6:26 am
RE: Blue Buffalo…
They have not been contacted by the FDA but are already testing their rice protein just in case.
Carole, yes this is exactly what pet food companies need to say and do. Please tell them when they’re done testing to post the test results on their website. Proof of safety is needed and it’s nothing personal.
Here’s a company stepping up to the plate. Just saying we didn’t get any of that shipment is not going to cut it. Actions, not words are needed.
How about the rest of you pet food companies? Willing to test your ingredients to make sure? Your future could depend on it. Believe that, if you believe nothing else. Oh and fix those labels….today.
Comment by CathyA — April 19, 2007 @ 6:34 am