So … what are you feeding your pet now?

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So … what are you feeding your pet now?

By Gina Spadafori

July 12, 2007

Analysts say the multibillion-dollar pet food market is up for grabs, with what we previously “niche” players in the shadows of the big boys posting huge gains in sales. I know that’s true anecdoctally, by talking to my friend who runs a pet-supply and grooming business. She has always stocked these “niche” products, and not a single brand or product she stocked was recalled. (She’d mighty proud of that!) She has had a difficult time keeping up with sales now, as people head down the street from the big-box to her modest storefront.

After taking a deep breath and (we hope) a vacation to recharge, USA Today’s Julie Schmit is back on the pet-food story:

Almost four months after the pet-food industry’s largest recall began, its sales growth is off, and many products still are missing from store shelves.

Only about 15% of the dog and cat foods recalled are back, says Petco,the nation’s No. 2 pet-food chain. It expects to stock half by July 31, says Dave Bolen, chief merchandising officer. He says dog and cat food sales are below pre-recall levels but ahead of last year.

PetSmart, the biggest pet-food chain, also says few products have returned but that the bulk are expected in the next few months.

Some products will take longer to return, and some have been discontinued, says Michelle Friedman, PetSmart spokeswoman. The recalled Iams products aren’t expected back until next year, she says.

Have you returned to an old brand? Changed to a new brand? Tried home-prepared meals? Stuck with home-prepared meals? Worked out some combination of commercial and home-prepared? If you’ve gone to preparing meals for your dog or cat from scratch, how are you determining what to feed? Following a recipe or recipes? Using guidelines? Getting help from your veterinarian? How did you decide what to do, and will you keep doing it? Tell us!

Filed under: 2007 food recall,animals: pets,news — Gina Spadafori @ 3:13 pm

Comments (86)

86 Comments »

After having a sick dog in Feb and March, I started home cooking. I am still doing so and will continue forever. Having been hurt, frustrated, disillusioned, etc. with commercial pet food companies, FDA, USDA, gov’t agencies in general - I’m no longer supporting the big guys.

For a quick fix, I followed a simple formula from the net. I picked up Dr. Pitcairn’s book, books by Monica Segal, subscribed to Whold Dog Journal and Animal Wellness, joined Yahoo groups:K9diet,nutrition and kitchen and started to educate myself. Now I have spreadsheets and keep track of meal contents and nutrient value. And, I might add, having fun doing it.

My dogs bloodwork two weeks ago, is back to that of four years ago! She’s more energetic,great coat,no skin problems,smells wonderful! and vet says: whatever you’re doing..keep it up. That has encouraged me to keep with it.

I owe a lot of thanks to bloggers here as well as Itchmo and the Yahoo groups for making me successful. I was always afraid to give my dog human food for fear of hurting her.
Now, I feel empowered to make a change in my animals life and my families life. We are all eating healthier, thanks to all of you.

Katie

Comment by Katie — July 12, 2007 @ 3:37 pm
We have seven dogs, mostly schnauzers. They have been mostly on home cooked for the duration. (We lost a corgi before the recalls started and I blame his food although his brand was not recalled. We were feeding various Hills products, some Nutura, and some Eukanuba)

The dogs always got a fair amount of “people food” so it wasn’t a big switch for them to go home cooked. When I decided to go all home cooking the first thing I did was go hunting for books (hey I’m a librarian, can’t help myself)

Some of the more useful were:
Barker’s Grub : Easy, Wholesome Home-Cooking for Dogs

The Good Food Cookbook for Dogs: 50 Home-Cooked Recipes for the Health and Happiness of Your Canine Companion

Better Food for Dogs: A Complete Cookbook and Nutrition Guide

Real Food for Dogs: 50 Vet-Approved Recipes to Please the Canine Gastronome

Home-Prepared Dog & Cat Diets: the Healthful Alternative

We have just recently started feeding some Sojos European-Style Dog Food Mix (they have cat food too) from http://sojournerfarms.com/food.html
The dogs really like it, both the sojos, and my cooking, and are doing well. The girl who needs to gain a little weight has put on a pound or two. The boys who need to loose a bit are. All are bright eyed, shinny coated and active. We have had a little “looseness” if I change things too much too fast, but nothing to serious.

My vet is interested and supportive, but admits that in the “old days” when he was in school they didn’t talk about nutrition much. (I can’t wait till he gets home from AVMA to hear what the buzz was there.)

Most of the meat we use is either “quality leftovers” or cooked in the crock pot. Not interested in going BARF. I know that supposedly salmonella etc. isn’t an issue for pets, but my young nephew nearly died from salmonella he got from his pet iguana, so we are paranoid about such things. I expect to continue what we are doing. Never going back to kibble.

As a side note, I think the humans in the house are eating better too. After all, if I don’t want to give the left overs to the dogs, why would I eat it?

Comment by Schnauzer — July 12, 2007 @ 3:45 pm
Be aware that the fruits and vegetables in the Sojo’s Europa mix come from China. I contacted them about this, and they were less than concerned in their response.

Comment by The OTHER Pat — July 12, 2007 @ 3:47 pm
We’ve switched to feeding our cats Organix, and we’re not planning on switching back (used to feed our cats Nutro dry foods.)

Comment by Chris Knight — July 12, 2007 @ 3:49 pm
The Westminster Dog Show is now in its’ 125th year. What did they feed those dogs for the first 75 years??..well, “real food” and the show still produced 1,000’s of champions. Many raw fed winners of the show today leave their winnings of bags of the sponsors dry pet food behind. I have been feeding raw for over 7 years and will never go back to commercial pet food. For those who can’t get past the raw part, then feed cooked. You do not need a PHD to feed your pet as your vet would suggest. You don’t need to be “100% complete” every day or for every meal as EVERY dry or canned pet food claims to be….how can they ALL be “100% Balanced”, “Holistic” or Natural” or “Organic”.

There are many books and Yahoogroups (under “raw feeding” by breed or location) that will help you feed real food. Our pets have a heart, lungs, kidney, etc. and deserve real food. Many are getting highly cooked foods with preservatives and chemicals…no wonder so many have cancer, alergies, teeth problems or are sick today even with the non-recalled foods.

Comment by Dave — July 12, 2007 @ 3:57 pm
I’m trying the home-cooking approach, but the cats refuse as only Siamese can do :(

So I am on a mix between ‘Natural Whiting Fillet’ which will be softly boiled, Merricks canned food (mostly ‘New Egland Boil’ which is the only one cat A eats, sigh) and as dry food ‘Orjien’ and ‘Evo anchestral diet’.

In between I try home cooked again and again, and ‘Prowl’ (first time in my life that I heard a cat laugh out loud when I put the bowl down!), California Natural, and a variety of other smaller companies that haven’t been involved in the pet food scandal (yet).

I try to mix and match as much as possible to prevent another ‘but he eats only Iams Pouches’, and I am confident that in the long run the cats will give in and try some alternative foods, including home cooked.

I am the eternal optimist.

When shopping today at Wallyworld (they are the only ones who have the Belgian Milk Chocolate, groan) I passed by a heap of Iams dry food, and I surprised myself by telling everybody who was standing around that Iams is the company that poisoned my cats with expensive *Premium Poison*, and I also had a few interesting (biologically probably not feasible, but interesting) suggestions what Iams could do with their overpriced rendering-plant poison….

Comment by MaKo — July 12, 2007 @ 3:58 pm
I am apparently in the minority, I was already steering towards a more natural kibble diet, and the recalls helped me commit. For the kids here, Natura pet foods win all our business. Innova for the cats, Cal Nat for the dogs…everyone is healthy and happy. While I aspire to one day feed a home cooked, natural diet….I am also a vegetarian, so have some conflicts about meat in general, much less handling and preparing it….someday!

Comment by Terri — July 12, 2007 @ 4:13 pm
Terri,Natura pet foods is the ONLY co i trust.my dog loves califorina natural.my dog was on nutro always vomiting since i switched to cal.natural he has not vomit al all.

Comment by Mary Ann — July 12, 2007 @ 4:54 pm
After losing two precious kitties from Menu via Nutro food (which was SUPPOSED to be natural - ha), we have three cats remaining. I try a variety of canned brands such as Merrick, Precise, Felidae,Newmans Own, California Natural, Pinnacle, Innova, Wellness. I also feed Wysong dry (one cat HAS to have his “cookies”). Just working through different foods, finding flavors they’ll like. They shunned home-cooked cat food like it was medicine from the Vet. Too bad, too, as every time I open a can now, I worry. We will never buy Nutro again.

Comment by Linnea R — July 12, 2007 @ 4:59 pm
Natura is manufactured by Menu foods. I trust nothing that is made there.

Comment by JAG — July 12, 2007 @ 5:20 pm
Gina,thanks to Pet connection and Itchmo reading comments really help me pick cal.natural and when i went on to their web site I was really impressed the CEO of the co. was the first one to come out and say they will build their own plant for can food.I asked customer service questions and i was not given a run around.How’s the kitty??

Comment by Mary Ann — July 12, 2007 @ 5:22 pm
Homecooked forever….human diets more sound too. Hope all continues well. Thanks Folks for all your support and efforts.

Comment by Bee — July 12, 2007 @ 5:36 pm
I have had to change my dogs food several times. I will not go back to the old brands,the trust is gone. I have found strange objects protruding from the most recent food and am going to have it tested. The company said it could be sheep hair. My dogs had vommitted, some had diarhea, intense thirst and incontinence. Blood levels showe dehydration for dogs that had stopped vommiting ,& stopped diarhea . Currnetly I am feeding a small amount of kibble from a company that hasn’t had a recall , yet!

I am gradually changing my group to home cooked. I will not trust the companys that have recalls again.

Comment by thomas — July 12, 2007 @ 5:38 pm
I have six kitties, and I’m cooking for them. I started when I ran out of food the weekend that the FDA wouldn’t say who else got the poisoned ingredients, but my elderly cat responded so well that I never switched back. He was kind of a slow, grumpy old man, and now he’s wrestling with my two year old and running around the house. They’re all sleek and glossy, and the fat one has lost weight.

Comment by Katherine — July 12, 2007 @ 5:49 pm
I was already feeding Chicken Soup for the Cat Lovers Soul, which was never recalled, but as the recalls continued, I became nervous and opted to switch to a grain-free brand, and chose Innova Evo. The cats are also getting Wellness canned as a recent diet addition.

I discussed my concerns with my vet, who provided a list of the foods that had not been recalled that he felt comfortable recommending.

I’ve considered doing some raw feeding, possibly not as an entire diet change. I already prepare a large part of my parrots’ diets for them, so I’m no stranger to that, but it’s a bit different to make grains and veggies for birds compared to raw meat parts for cats. :)

Comment by Cody — July 12, 2007 @ 6:03 pm
Well, my dog is dead - so what does it matter? After 3 months, I still feel as if I’m not fit to be a pet parent. I should have known and seen the signs. I thought it would be a long time before I would have another dog.

Well, life isn’t always what we want. My son brought home a stray. We got her into a rescue and are fostering until she finds a home. I’ve tried several brands recommended by the rescue. She gags, sneezes and eats grass constantly. I have no idea what to try next.

I don’t know how long it will take for my heart to heal. I’m sure most people think - “get over it”. When I’m ready to give my heart again, I will go totally home cooked. I do not trust any commercial food now and I never will.

Comment by Cathy — July 12, 2007 @ 6:55 pm
Unrelated to pet food, just human food.

On two TV networks, I saw that a Chinese manufacturer is making buns to eat out of cardboard. CNN was lst, then MSNBC. Yikes!

Thanks to all the bloggers, I am feeding sometimes California Natural, sometimes Felidae
wet and dry besides human food. I am a vegetarian, also, so I hate cooking meat or fowl.

Glad the fast food companies are not serving the cardboard buns!

Comment by Evelyn — July 12, 2007 @ 7:06 pm
Cathy, no one here is going to tell you to “get over it”.

Your heart will heal in its own time. Grief doesn’t follow a schedule.

Give yourself permission for your sorrow, and know that there are many, many who understand your pain and extend heartfelt condolences.

Here is a book you may find helpful. The author has published it online in its entirety to make sure it’s available to those who truly need it:

“How To Survive the Loss of a Love”
http://www.mcwilliams.com/books/sur/srtoc.htm

Comment by The OTHER Pat — July 12, 2007 @ 7:08 pm
We went from Nutro & Science Diet wet and dry to Innova EVO and Blue Buffalo Dry, Natural Balance and Weruva wet. My cats go crazy for Weruva (its not widely distributed unfortunately). If BB comes back with their wet I will use it again. My cats have more energy and we haven’t had a single incident of kitty barfing since we made the switch.

Comment by Andrea 2CatMom — July 12, 2007 @ 7:21 pm
Our Cats were fortunate to have a homecooked diet for the last two years. We used Anitra Fraziers book The Natural Cat. Occasionally we let them have Pet Promise from the Health Food Store. We were surprised recently to learn that Pet Promise is a Purina company…although not recalled, we feel deceived as this is not apparent from the label. We were switching them from Purina dry because they had all sorts of symptoms. We would never have switched them from Purina to Purina. We were tricked. While our animals were safe from the recalled food poisoning; our friends and families pets were not because we were seen as radical finatics. We will never go back. The recall only affirmed what we already knew that pet food is made from the 4Ds (dead, dying, disabled and diseased) meat. I wouldn’t eat it, and my pets are not going to eat it! We have been doing this so long now it is all just food…no cat food, dog food, people food….just food!

Comment by Concha Castaneda — July 12, 2007 @ 7:41 pm
I’m still feeding what I was before. . . Canidae and/or Honest Kitchen. And my dogs are in excellent health.

Comment by Bonni — July 12, 2007 @ 7:53 pm
We’ve tried multiple “better” kibbles[cat & dog]. The cats have been fine ,but the dogs have all had problems. If they did ok I would find that the food was made somewhere that had other brands recalled. Now it is all homemade,even the treats.
Terri & Mary Ann- Check the Itchmo fotums about Natura.
Evelyn- How do we know that the fast food restaurants don’t use cardboard buns ?

Comment by Leslie k — July 12, 2007 @ 7:53 pm
It’s not the buns that are made of cardboard — it’s a dish “boazi” made of stuffed pork & buns. The pork is fake.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/.....01965.html

Comment by Kat — July 12, 2007 @ 8:00 pm
Just read the WApost link. Wonder what the Chinese consider safe for our Olympic athletes considering what they have been exporting to other countries?

Comment by PM Hill — July 12, 2007 @ 8:24 pm
I was very lucky in that none of the foods I had been feeding my cat (a 10 yr old Orange Tabby DSH named Tyger) were involved in the recall.

I started reading up on pet foods several years ago and decided to switch to some premium brands. I had been using Science Diet and then Prescription Diet dry foods for the first few years after I got Tyger.

I started out with Wellness dry and then moved to California Natural dry (less expensive). I tried using Orijen for a number of months, but Tyger decided recently that he didn’t want it anymore. So, I have gone back to California Natural dry. The dry food is supplemented with Wellness canned varieties.

Comment by Tom G. — July 12, 2007 @ 8:27 pm
Kat - in CA we know them as pork buns. If made “correctly” they are great.

Comment by PM Hill — July 12, 2007 @ 8:27 pm
Somebody’s probably chopping up all those rats/mice running around over there now, with all the floods.

Every day, it’s like waiting for the comics to come out — “Let’s see what the Chinese are doing today!”

Comment by Kat — July 12, 2007 @ 8:35 pm
The Washington Posts states that the Chinese mess halls are being monitored for safety in foods. Unsafe foods would affect the combat readiness of their troops.

Well, if the Chinese are worried about the troops eating safe food in China, are the Amercans in charge of the food worried about t food safety of our soldiers? Especially before they get wounded or killed?

Sometimes it is so hard to read the posts in this blog because I am so emotionally affected, but I learn so much.

I think it is the convenience of the already prepared food that got some of us hooked on to the PFI foods.

Comment by Evelyn — July 12, 2007 @ 8:42 pm
Evelyn - blame the “now” generation. With the flattening of the world everything speeded up, including our food! Today even a “home cooked” meal might include a simmer sauce from Trader Joes with ingredients from who knows where. I’ve noticed a lot more organic products at COSCO and Safeway in the past few months. But it’s still hard to find any prepared human or pet food that identifies all of the ingredient sources.

Comment by PM Hill — July 12, 2007 @ 9:12 pm
Just got an email from Drs. Foster and Smith. Their canned and dry dog foods, plus other dog related items will be coming to Target stores on July 15th…..

I’m so thrilled…………snark snark

Comment by PegH — July 12, 2007 @ 9:58 pm
I’m feeding a variety of foods.. I rotate between Merrick canned (the seafood flavors- one of my cats is sensitive to something in the other varieties), Felidae canned, Pet Promise canned, Nature’s Variety raw chicken medallions (sadly, they’ve discontinued the chicken and turkey medallions, which my cats greatly preferred), and CORE grain-free dry.

When I feed the dry, I offer my cat who was poisoned by recalled food a prescription renal failure dry instead, as the CORE is quite high in protein, and I don’t want to tax his kidneys while they’re busy repairing themselves. His labs have returned to normal, so I’m looking into a number of non-prescription drys in an attempt to find something he and I can both live with. Not knowing what degree of permanent renal damage may have occurred thanks to the Menu product he ate, I’m not comfortable feeding him the CORE.

The cats are loving the new foods and looking great.

Comment by Gwen — July 12, 2007 @ 11:13 pm
lESLIE,ON ITCHMO’S WEB SITE THERE IS A STORY ABOUT Nutro not paying vet bills for pets that died eating Nutro. Nutro and Natura are 2 differnt pet food co’s Natura makes Innova and Cal. Natural. Nutro Makes natural choice,ultra and max.

Comment by Mary Ann — July 13, 2007 @ 2:56 am
We used to do Nutro pouched food every morning for the 4 cats- now we do Fancy Feast (corn, rice, soy free because one cat is allergic to these). Their free-fed dry is Innova EVO which I adore. The 2 dogs still get Iams Dry and Pedigree wet. However, when I went on vacation this summer, I fed the dog I took with me what I ate. She enjoyed that.

I used to BARF, but not all of the cats and none of the dogs would eat it. So I had to stop it. I’ve been re-reading the Pitcairn and other things and considering homecooking for them.

Comment by Georg — July 13, 2007 @ 4:07 am
Cat is dead so I don’t have to worry about him anymore….
Dog is getting a species appropriate raw meaty bones diet…and has been for almost 2 years now. Thank God, I had already switched her to a raw diet. Poor Lil Bear wasn’t so lucky.

If all the pet food companies closed up totally it would be justice to those pets who died such horrible deaths. Mine died in my arms after a massive seizure. And Del Monte can go broke also. I will never buy another thing they have their label on. EVER.

Comment by Lil Bear's Momma — July 13, 2007 @ 4:52 am
I am happy to see that so many people posting here are now feeding a VARIETY of foods. I have been homecooking for my pooch since the recall started. I make up good sized batches containing meat, a starch, and pureed veggies when I have time, (and when I can obtain the meats at a good price) and freeze them in individual meal sized portions. At first, it was a big mess as I was learning and experimenting. But by now I have amassed quite a variety of meals ready to go in my freezer—running the gamut from dishes containing beef, chicken, pork, turkey, and veal or lamb hearts. My dog and I now have a morning ritual. I ask him , “so, what do you feel like having for dinner tonight?” He cocks his head and wags his tail as I remove a container from the freezer to thaw for later.

I also make all his treats now, too. I don’t bother with the fancy bone shaped cutter any more, I just form the dough into balls or cut it into rectangular pieces to bake.

Finally, a sort of amusing observation. I realized that I needed to have VERY obvious containers to use for the dog food when my family started holding up plastic containers and asking, now, is this people food or dog food?

Comment by elizabeth R. — July 13, 2007 @ 6:21 am
Mary Ann- Check in the Itchmo forums,theres a topic called problems with Innova. Also Donna’s lab test results are on the petfoodrecallfacts site.Natura makes Innova. My neighbor had a problem with the Cal Natural dry adult cat herring & sw potato yesterday. Its the same date & code as the last bag-10/20/07 14:16. Her cat would not eat it & is trying to cover it up.She didn’t find anything strange in it;but it is much darker than the last bag.I realize that the co is trying to keep up with increased demand & that could be affecting the quality of the food.

Comment by Leslie k — July 13, 2007 @ 6:43 am
Comment by Leslie k — July 13, 2007 @ 6:43 am

don’t know where you are at, but the bag of food could have spoiled due to heat. wouldn’t take too long with some of the heat that’s been around.

Comment by straybaby — July 13, 2007 @ 6:52 am
The OTHER Pat wrote: “Be aware that the fruits and vegetables in the Sojo’s Europa mix come from China. I contacted them about this, and they were less than concerned in their response.”

Huh?? I’m sure I called them and asked, when this whole mess started, and am *sure* they told me their ingredients were from the USA, otherwise I wouldn’t be feeding it to my dogs!

Comment by Heather — July 13, 2007 @ 7:21 am
We lost a cat in February. We were feeding the Iams pouch food. Our 4 other cats didn’t care for the pouch food so, thankfully, they’re still here. Poor George loved it. Since then we have tried a variety of canned and dry foods like Felidae, Pet Promise, and some others. The criteria is that the ingredients must all be USA sourced. No imported ingredients. At this point Merrick seems to be the canned food that they like most and the dry food favorite is Evo. They really, really like that. I only wish George were here to enjoy it with them. Procter & Gamble, the parent company of Iams, paid our claim for George’s veterinary costs in full.

Comment by Needles — July 13, 2007 @ 8:24 am
We have switched our kitties to EVO dry which is made in Natura’s own plant but we are not using the EVO canned because it is made at the Menu foods plant and even though Natura has their own quality control people at the Menu plant I WILL ABSOLUTELY NOT PURCHASE ANY FOOD THAT HAS ANYTHING TO DO WITH MENU (NO MONEY TO THEM FROM ME - I WANT TO SEE THEIR PROFITS HURT)

here is a link to the information that Natura has posted on their website regarding their products and they are looking to purchase or build their own canning facility
http://www.naturapet.com/image.....-facts.pdf

For canned food we are using Merrick - they manufacture their own products but they don’t make a dry cat food and we have one kitty - Shadow, who prefers dry over canned, although he does seem to like some of the Merrick canned.

All four of them are looking healthier and are much more energetic since we switched foods.

My babies threw a hissy when we tried to switch them to a more raw home made diet - they wouldn’t even eat home made when we cooked it.

Although they do eat some cooked liver and they get meat table scraps from our dinner as a treat sometimes which they seem to think they are entitled to. Yes my four are horribly spoiled, they even have their own room (the one with 2 big windows on the front of the house with a bird feeder right in front) and their own furniture and believe me they know it’s THEIR room and act like it to.

Comment by Deborah — July 13, 2007 @ 9:34 am
Comment by Heather — July 13, 2007 @ 7:21 am

“I’m sure I called them and asked, when this whole mess started, and am sure they told me their ingredients were from the USA, otherwise I wouldn’t be feeding it to my dogs!”

Heather, in April, when I was looking for an alternative, I looked at Sojo’s Europa. I called the company to ask where the ingredients came from, and the gal on the phone said the grains were all grown in the US, but the dehydrated fruits and vegetables came from China.

I was a bit startled, but thanked her for her honesty. She was puzzled about my reaction and said she hadn’t heard anything about any problems with food. I gave her a quick synopsis and hung up. But it kept bothering me, so I emailed Sojos suggesting that they should probably re-think getting any of their ingredients from China. On April 12 I got the following response:

“As far as I know, most dried fruits and vegetables in the US are imported, mostly from China. In fact, when we used to buy our fruits and veggies domestically, we found out those ingredients originally came from China. The thing to remember is that China differentiates between human-quality and feed-quality ingredients just like we do. The same protocols for human-quality are followed over there as they are here. The wheat gluten from the recall was feed-grade by-products — which in a lot of cases are just as poisonous here as they are there.”

I’ve been posting about this on Itchmo whenever I see someone mention using Sojo’s, and a couple of folks over there also contacted Sojo’s, and got essentially the same response, with the added comment that Sojo’s is “testing” everything. Of course, they haven’t told anyone what kind of “testing” they’re doing, nor are there any test results posted on their website (that I’ve been able to find.) The only discussion on their site that deals with the recall only talks about wheat gluten, and there is no indication that they’re aware of or have reacted to any of the new findings since then.

So I won’t touch Sojo’s with a ten foot pole. And whenever I hear of anyone using it, I make sure they understand how this company has chosen to respond to the recall.

Comment by The OTHER Pat — July 13, 2007 @ 10:16 am
the dogs’ food wasn’t affected by any of the recalls (they eat canidae), but i switched the cats from chicken soup to california natural. they like it and all is well.

Comment by elegy — July 13, 2007 @ 10:29 am
Not one bite of commercial food in this house since one dog died and the other became seriously ill. I’ve had a little trouble getting the one who survived back into a normal eating pattern, but it isn’t because he doesn’t like the food - all home cooked and of a quality that I eat myself (organic where possible, natural at least, no imports). Some things, like buffalo, he likes raw as a treat. We eat a lot of fresh wild caught fish (coastal Maine) and that’s a real favorite. He’s finally coming out of the strange aversion that he had - he simply couldn’t bear to look directly at the food or would try to bury it, but would eat it from a hand. Vet said that was an after effect of poisoning. Even with these problems, his coat is better and he looks healthier and has even put on a little weight, which is a good thing as he had gotten quite thin. I do season the food, low salt but with black pepper and some garlic (home grown organic) and the added seasonings don’t seem to cause trouble. We miss the little guy who’s gone but his pal has stopped searching for him at last.

Comment by Nancy Nielsen — July 13, 2007 @ 10:40 am
I’m feeding Orijen Adult kibble to our two dogs, plus a dollop of “home-made” on top. The homemade contains rice and/or oats, plus fish like canned mackeral or ground turkey, sometimes added cottage cheese, plus organic vegetables like peas, spinach, brocoli, carrots. They’re getting carbohydrates mainly from my home-made. Orijen is 42% protein and has no grain products, so I am adding back whole grain - organic US rice and oats. I’ve also cooked this in a crock pot.

In addition, I’m using the kibble as a treat, rather than buying potentially contaminated treats.

Went to the bank w/my dog. They gave her a dog treat - a Milk Bone, I believe, that was the most violent shade of red/magenta I’ve ever seen. How did they get that color? And WHY?

Comment by Kristi — July 13, 2007 @ 10:40 am
We went to a town meeting last night, and started talking about pets - to my amazement everyone was homecooking,feeding BARF or using Candidae with added goat’s yogurt,meat, etc. And, on the local news last night, the weatherman remarked he was still homecooking for his dog since he hadn’t heard any “all clear” (they did three segments on food; Co-ops, COOL and the cardboard dumplings).

I did chuckle too, when I read the email this AM, alerting me to Foster & Smith coming to my local Target - mail order food business must be down.

Katie

Comment by Katie — July 13, 2007 @ 10:53 am
I’ve been feeding my cat Meow Mix brand dry and wet foods, with the occasional chicken plank from Long John Silvers (minus the breading; he loves the stuff). The one time I bought Iams canned food, he mostly ignored it. Just as well; the recalls started less than a month later.

Comment by Reg DeCurry — July 13, 2007 @ 11:00 am
Since my pets are dead I no longer need to feed them.
Instead of spending money on poison, vet bills to treat the poisoning and pet supplies- I spend it on printer ink and feed the truth to everyone I know, everyone I can reach and everyone THEY can reach!

You know, if the pet food companies and the FDA had not lied and covered up, I would have been satisfied with the vet bills being paid, an apology and the food being cleaned up.
It is the lies and cover up that are making even people who do not have pets take a hard look at things, it is the lies and the cover up that will take them down.

I do know lots of people with pets that are still alive.
Several groups get together and cook or prepare various types of raw or homecooked food for both cats and dogs, a months worth at a time.
Takes very little time, the cost is very reasonable and with no need to worry about poison it is a RELAXING experience.
When was the last time you could relax about pet food?
When was the last time you could feed your pets without knowing that you were putting money into the PFI?

Various recipes are used, as suits the person and their pets, we even solved the vitamin C problem by using local citrus, it does NOT have to come in a pill you know!

So, I feed the truth. And by the way, it is becoming a sport among my friends to scream “lying bastids!” at every ad on TV by one of the pet food companies that is still denying claims for vet bills or has unrecalled foods that is still killing and sickening pets.

Most of these people have children or grandchildren who see a pet food commercial and yell “liars!”.
The kids are pretty sharp and oh do they talk to THEIR friends!

Comment by E. Hamilton — July 13, 2007 @ 11:14 am
I have been feeding my dogs Wenawaie food that is 95% organic. It is expensive, but so was the vet bill to check to see if there were problems with my dog when I was feeding them Natural Balance (what a disappointment) Venison that was recalled. I am feeding my cats a mix of EVO and Cal Natural as I have an older cat that may not drink the water he needs which could cause complications with such hi protein (based on what my vet said).

Comment by Marie — July 13, 2007 @ 11:29 am
To Linnea R.:
Newman’s Own also has at least some of their stuff made at Menu. I was considering it as an option months ago, checked, and backed away like it was - POISON!
BLESSED BE.
WOLFIN )O(

Comment by WOLFIN — July 13, 2007 @ 12:16 pm
I have just come from Itchmo and there is a 33 page thread on problems the Natura Innova and EVO dry dogfood and catfood and a customer’s test results. I have been feeding it to my many cats since the crisis began, and thought it was safe. My cats liked it very much, but now I have temporarily stopped feeding it to them till I can get more information.
There have been complaints of substances which do not look like they should be in the kibble, and a customer complaint regarding private test results which has not been handled well at all by the Natura company.
I am temporarily not able to reply or post on the itchmoforums site, (they are working on solving the problem) so I thought I would come here and ask if anyone else here is having any concerns about their Innova EVO dry petfood.
I must admit I am quite upset to think the EVO dry catfood is not what we all thought it was.
I do not use the EVO canned since it is made my Menu, and I will not give them my money.

Comment by BW — July 13, 2007 @ 12:40 pm
I’m currently feeding Wellness Indoor Health and am working on adding Pinnacle dry to their diet. I like that they are high protein but have lower phosphorus and magnesium. They get Fromm for wet food. I’ve tried every wet food imaginable and it’s the only one 2 of mine will eat.

Comment by Brandi — July 13, 2007 @ 1:09 pm
FOR THE SUPPLEMENTS, TWO OF US USED DR. PITCAIRN’S RECIPE, PAGE 53 OF HIS BOOK:

HEALTHY POWDER:

2 CUPS NUTRITIONAL OR BREWER’S YEAST
1 CUP LECITHIN GRANULES
1/4 CUP KELP POWDER
4 TABLESPOONS GROUP 1 BONE MEAL POWDER
1,000 MILLIGRAMS VITAMIN C (GROUND), OR 1/4 TEASPOON SODIUM ASCORBATE (OPTIONAL)

THAT’S HOW IT’S PRINTED, WITH MUCH INFORMATION BEFORE AND AFTER. WHAT FOLLOWS IS THE BOILED DOWN VERSION OF THE “PUT-INTO-PRACTICE-TRANSLATION” OF WHAT THAT MEANS, AFTER MUCH TRIAL AND ERROR OF BUYING AND RETURNING THE WRONG THINGS. REMEMBER THAT I HAVE AND LOVE ANIMALS BUT AM NOT A TRAINED VET NOR NUTRITIONIST. THIS IS A STORY OF WHAT TWO OF US ARE FEEDING OUR THREE ANIMALS.

WARNINGS: DO NOT CONFUSE BREWER’S YEAST WITH THE STUFF IN THE BAKING SUPPLY SECTION, WHICH COULD KILL YOUR ANIMALS. WE FOUND BREWER’S YEAST INSTEAD OF NUTRITIONAL YEAST, AND USED THAT. FOR THE VITAMIN C, NOTE THAT YOU DO NOT USE THE 1,000 MILLIGRAMS. YOU USE ONLY THE 1/4 TSP. OF THE SODIUM ASCORBATE. DO NOT SKIP, THOUGH IT SHOWS “OPTIONAL”. I MADE PHONE CALLS.

IF YOU DECIDE TO TRY THIS, YOU CAN FOLLOW WHAT I HAVE HERE EXACTLY, ESPECIALLY FOR LOCAL (OHIO) PEOPLE. IF YOU DON’T FEEL COMFORTABLE WITH THAT, BUY THE BOOK (I RECOMMEND THAT YOU DO THAT ANYWAY) AND FIGURE IT OUT BASED ON THE EXACT INGREDIENTS THAT YOU CAN GET WHERE YOU LIVE. BUT, THE AUTHOR HAS NOTES AND EXCEPTIONS ALL OVER THE PLACE, PLUS COMPLICATED CHARTS ON CALCIUM VERSUS PHOSPHORUS LEVELS. ALTERING THEM THE WRONG WAY COULD CAUSE SERIOUS IMBALANCES. WHICH IS WHY IT TOOK ME TWO MONTHS TO FIGURE IT ALL OUT AFTER I STARTED HOME-COOKING…

PLEASE NOTE THAT I LIST THE SIZE TO BUY, BUT YOU WILL, IF DOING THIS, STILL NEED TO MEASURE EVERYTHING OUT. YOU’LL HAVE VERY LITTLE LEFT OF SOME ITEMS, MORE OF OTHERS. WE MADE A DOUBLE BATCH, SINCE IT WAS GOING TO TWO DIFFERENT HOUSES.

BREWER’S YEAST - TWINLAB GENUINE BREWERS YEAST, 18 OZ. JAR, SOLD IN ORGANIC SECTION OF GIANT EAGLE, WESTLAKE, OH. (THIS IS A BEIGE POWDER. JAR IS THE SIZE OF A STANDARD MAYONAISE JAR.)

LECHITHIN GRANULES - SOLGAR NATURAL SOYA LECITHIN “95” GRANULES, 8 OZ. CAN, SOLD AT NATURE’S BIN, LAKEWOOD, OH. (SUGAR, SALT, AND STARCH FREE. THIS IS A GOLD AND RED “PAPER CAN” WITH BROWN PLASTIC LID.)

KELP POWDER - SPICE GARDEN GRANULAR KELP, 2-3/4 OZ. JAR, SOLD IN SPICE SECTION OF NATURE’S BIN, LAKEWOOD, OH. (THIS IS A COMMON SPICE JAR.)

BONE MEAL POWDER - NOW BONE MEAL POWDER, HIGH IN CALCIUM, 100% PURE, 1 LB. JAR. MUST SHOW 1,000 mg. CALCIUM AND 500 mg. PHOSPHORUS PER TEASPOON ON LABEL. (THIS IS A WHITE PLASTIC JAR WITH ORANGE LABEL AND BLUE LID.) SOLD AS ITEM ID N1220, BY VITANET HEALTH FOODS, 235 MARKET AVE. N.W., HARTVILLE, OH 44632, 800-877-8702 AND/OR 330-877-8786, FAX 330-877-8787, E-MAIL Sales@vitanet.net, WEBSITE: http://www.vitanet.com.

SODIUM ASCORBATE - SOURCE NATURALS VITAMIN C SODIUM ASCORBATE CRYSTALS, 8 OZ. JAR. (THIS IS A WHITE PLASTIC BOTTLE WITH WHITE PLASTIC LID AND BLUE LABEL.) SOLD AS ITEM ID SN0442, BY VITANET HEALTH FOODS, 235 MARKET AVE. N.W., HARTVILLE, OH 44632, 800-877-8702 AND/OR 330-877-8786, FAX 330-877-8787, E-MAIL Sales@vitanet.net, WEBSITE: http://www.vitanet.com.

SO, TO RECAP, IN ORDER TO MAKE THIS SUPPLEMENT, YOU’LL NEED TO VISIT GIANT EAGLE IN WESTLAKE, GET ONLINE FOR THE LAST TWO ITEMS, AND VISIT NATURE’S BIN IN LAKEWOOD.

HOW TO MIX: CAREFULLY! CLEAN MEASURING SPOONS, CLEAN DRY MEASURE CUPS. LEVEL OFF THE TOP OF EVERY SPOON AND/OR CUP WITH THE BACK OF A CLEAN KNIFE. MIX TOGETHER WELL IN A LARGE, DRY, CLEAN, MIXING BOWL. CAREFUL, I SPILLED SOME OF MINE. PLACE IN CLEAN, DRY, JAR, THE SIZE OF A STANDARD MAYONAISE JAR, AND REFRIGERATE. I PUT MINE IN A LIDDED CONTAINER LARGE ENOUGH TO HOLD THE JAR AND THE SET OF MEASURING SPOONS, WHICH YOU’LL NEED AT EVERY MEAL.

IF ANYBODY ACTUALLY DOES MAKE THIS BREW, LOOK IN THE BOOK OR E-MAIL ME TO FIND OUT HOW MUCH TO USE PER MEAL. IT’S BASED ON BODY WEIGHT. THE BOOK, BY THE WAY, DOES NOT MENTION, BUT I RESEARCHED AND DISCOVERED, THAT BREWER’S YEAST IS A SUBSTANCE TO WHICH THE BODY MUST ADJUST. YOU DO NOT GIVE THE FULL DOSE RIGHT AWAY. WHAT WE DID WITH THE TWO DOGS AND KIMTARE IS GIVE THEM A HALF-DOSE AT EACH MEAL FOR A WEEK, THEN IT WAS OKAY TO USE A FULL DOSE. NO PROBLEMS. THEY’RE ALL DOING GREAT.

WHAT I DO FOR MEALS, WHICH I ADMIT WILL NOT WORK FOR CATS, AND CAT OWNERS WILL HAVE TO DIG DEEPER INTO BOOKS AND THE INTERNET, IS AS FOLLOWS:

PROTEIN:
TURKEY THIGHS OR BONELESS/SKINLESS CHICKEN BREASTS (BOILED, NO SALT, NO BONES, NO CARTILAGE, BUT THE SKIN’S OKAY.)
EGG (PAN SCRAMBLED IN SALTED BUTTER, NO SALT.)

RESEARCH YOUR POULTRY AND EGGS, SINCE MANY OF THEM DO HAVE MELAMINE. I SETTLED FOR GIANT EAGLE, AFTER THEY REASSURED ME. I’M UNEASY WITH ORGANIC IN THIS CASE ONLY, SINCE I READ THAT MANY OF THE SMALLER FARMS GOT HIT HARDER. THE LARGER SUPPLIERS HAVE THEIR FEED SOURCES IN PLACE. THIS IS THE THIRD TIME THAT I REPORT THIS. SORRY, BUT, BETTER PARANOID THAN DEAD.

DAIRY:
STONYFIELDS WHOLE MILK ORGANIC YOGURT, VANILLA FLAVOR, CREAM ON TOP (THAT’S THE VARIETY NAME, BUT YOU MIX IT ALL TOGETHER WHEN YOU OPEN THE CONTAINER.)

CARBOHYDRATE:
BOILED GRITS - QUAKER OATS BRAND
BOILED BARLEY - QUAKER OATS BRAND
MASHED POTATOES (HOMEMADE ONLY. LITTLE BUTTER AND MILK, NO SALT, NO PEPPER, NO CHEESE.)
BOILED CORN (NO SALT, AND ASOLUTELY NO CORN COBBS!) YOU CAN SLICE SOME OFF INTO THE MIXING BOWL AT MEALTIME.
SLICE OF MULTIGRAIN BREAD - NO RAISINS.
1/2 OF A REGULAR-SIZED CHEDDAR CHEESE AND POTATOES PEROGIE

FRUITS:
ORANGE SECTIONS, NO SKIN NOR MEMBRANES
PEAR OR APPLE SLICE, NO SKIN, SEEDS, CORE, NOR STEM
FRESH PEACH SLICE, NO PIT, NO SKIN
PIECE OF BANANA, NO SKIN NOR THREADS
PIECE OF WATERMELON AND/OR HONEYDEW, NO SKIN, STRINGS, NOR SEEDS

VEGETABLES:
FRESH BROCCOLI, PEELED & RAW
FRESH GREEN BEANS, FROM BAG, & RAW
FRESH WHOLE CARROT, CUT OFF TIPS, RAW
FROZEN MIXED VEGETABLES (CORN, PEAS, GREEN BEANS, AND CARROTS MIX) OR FROZEN CALIFORNIA-STYLE VEGETABLES (BROCCOLI AND CAULIFLOWER) (SERVE RAW AFTER YOU THAW FOR A FEW MINUTES IN A BOWL OF COLD WATER.)

THE ABOVE ARE SAMPLES. THERE ARE MORE. IT’S IMPORTANT TO LOOK UP FOODS THAT ARE POISONOUS TO OUR CRITTERS. MANY SITES HAVE THIS. THE ABOVE ARE OKAY, THOUGH.

I FEED THE EGG IN THE MORNING IN ONE BOWL, AND ON THE SIDE I HAVE A FRESH VEGETABLE, A FRESH FRUIT, A SLICE OF BREAD, AND A TSP. OF THE YOGURT. I SPRINKLE 1/4 TSP. OF THE HEALTHY POWDER ON THE EGG - AFTER IT’S COOLED OFF. I MIX IT IN WITH A SPOON OR TWO FINGERS (IT TASTES GREAT!) AND SERVE.

I USE MORE POWDER AT NIGHT BECAUSE THERE’S JUST NOT ENOUGH EGG TO SUPPORT A 1/2 TSP. POWDER WITHOUT OVERPOWERING THE FOOD.

FOR DINNER, I CUT UP SOME TURKEY OR CHICKEN, ADD SOME GRITS OR BARLEY, AND SPRINKLE 1/2 TSP. OF THE HEALTHY POWDER AFTER IT’S COOLED OFF. AGAIN, MIX IN. AND, ON THE SIDE, SERVE UP THE YOGURT, FRUIT, AND VEGETABLE. SOMETIMES I USE LESS BARLEY OR GRITS AND INCLUDE SOME BOILED CORN AS PART OF THE CARBOHYDRATE, IN THE MAIN COURSE. IN THAT CASE, I DO NOT USE CORN AS MY VEGETABLE.

ALWAYS MONITOR THE OUTPUT OF THE ANIMAL, AND BALANCE IT AGAINST THE INTAKE. I KNOW WHAT TO GIVE KIMTARE. YOU’LL HAVE TO EXPERIMENT WITH YOUR OWN ANIMALS. I.E., IF TOO SOFT, FEED BREAD. IF TOO HARD, FEED GREEN BEANS.

WARNING… STAY AWAY FROM MILLET. ALTHOUGH IT’S IN PITCAIRN’S BOOK, IT GAVE KIMTARE A POSSIBLE MILD CASE OF PANCREATIS, FROM WHICH IT TOOK HIM FOUR WEEKS TO FULLY RECOVER (SOFT STOOLS, AFTER ONLY 1-1/2 SERVINGS OF IT.) THE VET SAID THAT IT’S A FATTY GRAIN THAT SHOULD NOT BE FED, AFTER I CALLED HIM IN A PANIC.

BLESSED BE.
WOLFIN )O(

Comment by WOLFIN — July 13, 2007 @ 1:19 pm
The big lie that only a few “dozens” of pets died is STILL being reported as fact.

The “wonderful job” the FDA has done is being reported as fact. Sarcasm fully intended.

The lie that the pet food on store shelves is safe is being reported as fact.

The people I know who have pets that they are homecooking for, or feeding raw diets are relaxed and pleased with the amazing results!
NO and I mean NONE of the kitty barfing, shiny dog coats and a sudden lack of allergy problems. One man says he will NEVER return to the vet who sold him expensive allergy shot visits for the dog who has stopped itching and is now a wonder to behold, because the vet kept saying the food could not be a problem and that homecooking was dangerous!

None of the people who goes to the monthly pet food making sessions has reported any problem in getting the pets to eat, of course, they make a variety of stuff, let the pets taste each kind and then use that to guide them.

They make extra each time for newcomers to take home and sample and THESE samples do not cause the fear that pet food company sample cause!
Just as free and not near as deadly.

Comment by E. Hamilton — July 13, 2007 @ 1:32 pm
Years ago I realized that I was not going to cook (or raw feed) for my hounds so I searched until I found Canidae. They love the food and are healthy and fit.

I am so angry that so many innocents suffered as a result of greed.

Comment by Cate — July 13, 2007 @ 3:40 pm
I’ve tried about everything that was “safe” until it wasn’t, and every time I find a canned food that’s at least acceptable to me and my kitty likes, I learn something awful about it. I chose Felidae but she won’t eat it. She burned out on Wellness, which is just as well; it made me nervous. She accepted Innova-Evo, tho it’s too high in phosphorus for a CRF kitty and I have to put binder in it. Now that’s dangerous, too. I found one thing she would eat, Evangers pheasant, but she’s not impressed enough for a steady diet of it and neither am I. She won’t eat home cooked. With CRF she has inappetance problems anyway, and she doesn’t get dry food, which only makes CRF worse faster. I have been in tears every day for nearly 4 months, and I didn’t lose my baby, I only want something safe to feed her. So I’ll tell you what, she’s getting Fancy Feast. She can only have one kind that has no glutens or powders or fish and is reasonably lower phosphorus. But she eats that one kind happily, cleans her dish, and feels good, too. I have a lot of internet friends in various cat groups and they just about all feed Fancy Feast, tho they don’t have to be as chintzy with it as I do. None of them lost a kitty, none got sick, they have healthy cats who live to be 20. I have a 15 year old CRF kitty I’d been trying to feed the “good” stuff to all her life. You know what? There’s no such thing. She will continue to get her Fancy Feast.

Comment by Sharon G — July 13, 2007 @ 5:26 pm
Feed what you have to feed to keep your pets alive BUT if you must feed a food made by a member of the PFI, if you MUST, can you call them , at the 800 and complain about the PFI lying and insulting those that lost pets?

I want you to keep your cat alive but damned if I like the money spent by you being used to spread lies and the cover up.

And NO pet food company that is a member of the PFI can be trusted.

I make you one promise that is far better than a free can of food or a coupon for the food, the people here and other blogs care a lot more about your cat than any pet food company that belongs to the PFI ever will, we are trying, the PFI is lying.

Comment by E. Hamilton — July 13, 2007 @ 6:05 pm
I switched my 8 yr old Cocker/Golden mix from Nutro Ultra dry to Innova Evo dry (plus some table scraps when they’re safe for her). She’s doing quite well and likes the taste of the Evo better.

Comment by John — July 13, 2007 @ 8:00 pm
I have spent a lot of time trying to convert to homemade cooked food, and finally had some success! What worked was first figuring out what foods he didn’t like, (rice was a no, but organic barley is tasty). Then, with homemade cooked food, I’ve found feeding WARM food,not cold, really helps. Finally, try sprinkling a few bonita tuna flakes, or other treat on top. The tuna flakes add a wonderful smell/flavor—doesn’t that sound tasty?

I’ve read several of the popular recipes, (Strombeck, Pitcairn, Frazier,etc.) and have been using several recipes, rather than one.

As far as pet food, I don’t trust them, and haven’t found one that I would recommend. I’m still searching for a good commercial food, and won’t trust it unless it is fit for human consumption.

Comment by Boot — July 13, 2007 @ 8:07 pm
Since the pet food scandal and the inadequate enforcement and inspection, I ceased using all primary brand cat foods, meaning probably every pet food sold at the Grocery stores and the two main national Pet store chains. Instead I am buying the true premium human grade brands sold by small pet food and pet supplies stores. The dry brand is Eagle Pack Holistic Select Chicken. The canned brands I am offering her include Eagle Pack, Innova, Evangers, Pinnacle, and Fromm. I see that some still can in China, although those are using their own inspectors and quality assurance. There just aren’t too many alternate canneries for good non-recall pet food companies to choose from instead of using MENU, ANI, and the ones in China, particularly if the product is seafood.

Most of us with cats will experience how they are finicky eaters. Early on, I tried rabbit, pheasant, duck, salmon, seafood, tuna, mackerel, turkey, beef, etc. She likes and wants to stick with chicken dry and tuna canned. Not the others. But I have gotten her to try pheasant and even turkey a bit. I will continue to try others as long as they aren’t using wheat/corn/rice proteins and Chinese ingredients until the problems are completely fixed, not just glossed over in the media. For those sold in the grocery store and national pet chains, I won’t be back.

I wish those making their own cat foods good luck. The tips I’d offer would be to read up on onion, garlic, and taurine in a cat’s diet. I’ve read that taurine is an essential additive ingredient in a cat’s diet, one which should be supplemented in the food. Onion is considered by several vets to be dangerous to cats due to a chemical in onion that binds to their red blood cells and while not killing the cells, it causes them to not be able to carry oxygen for the life of those red blood cells. Given enough, it was suggested that onion could cause anemia in a kitty. Garlic has the same chemical in it as onion, although several times less. Garlic is less an issue than onion, but not an ideal food. Onion should not be in kitty foods in any form, not even powder from my readings. I’d also point out that some older kitty home cook books have advice in them that may be questionable depending upon which experts are asked. It is not uncommon to see in some books onion, garlic, and a lack of taurine in the foods mentioned, and some of the recipes are intended for occasional feedings more like treats, because they might not be nutritionally balanced food. Research, ask a vet with nutritional background, and be careful. Those making their own foods need to pay attention to how many hours they leave those foods at room temperature as they will spoil rather quickly.

Because much of our nutritional supplements are made in China, I expect it will be very hard to avoid their present ingredient taints entirely, especially with corporations lobbying Congress not to impose Country of Origin labeling laws.

As to PFI, I listened to a vet testifying in the House subcommittee about how the members could “test” one food and then when passed, they get to put the PFI approval seal on every other food that manufacturer makes without each food being tested. That vet’s description of their limited testing made the PFI seal on the pet foods seem meaningless to me.

As to those with CRF kitties, I had my kitty pal for 21 years. He had manageable FUS and kidney problems. From my reading on this on multiple sites, somehow many of the owners agree that their CRF kitties like liver based canned foods. They also like Duck. So did mine. And getting him to eat was an exercise at the end. Warming the food just slightly, adding hard boiled egg, adding a tiny pinch of Nu-Salt (potassium chloride) were all tricks I used. Giving him Five Flower Remedy drops was another (like Bach’s Rescue Remedy). And there was the a single drop of homoepathic No 18 and No 27 for cystitis and kidney stones. For many years, it was fascinating to see how quickly the drops would get him to pee when just prior he was straining. I miss my buddy a lot. Blanchita is attached to another family member.

From my travels along the pet food recall, I know what I would not do now. I stopped offering Fancy Feast. I didn’t care for some of the ingredients which I felt were lower grade than what I’d want in such a premium pet food. I started and then stopped feeding Pet’s Promise from Purina. While Blanchita liked the dry, I think she gained excess weight on it. I also didn’t like what I read online about Purina Beneful. It’s responses to those dog owners’ concerns troubled me. So I stopped buying Pet Promise. I tried Diamond’s Solid Gold dry Katz-N-Flocken and Solid Gold canned tuna. She liked those. But I read here that tuna and tapioca might not be ideal as a kitty food constantly so I called Solid Gold. I got referred on the tuna and tapioca to another person. That person never returned my two voice mails. The customer service never responded to my three emails. So I decided their customer service was inadequate for my needs and ceased buying their products. I went to the local Brookside Barkery pet supply store and a thoughtful owner handed me several handfuls of free dry sample bagged foods to try and I purchased various cans to try. I was impressed by Nature’s Variety going the extra mile to answer my tapioca questions. Unfortunately, their dry Raw Instinct wasn’t a Blanchita favorite. I may try it again. Sometimes we may see advertising counter-product hype to demote the competition’s products while promoting their own. Such issues may or may not be important.

For now, and until things change, we’ll stick with safer human grade ingredients in our pet foods, non-China made foods and ingredients, non-rendered ingredients, non-by-product ingredients, as much as possible, and pay a lot more attention to what is in the food and where it was processed. Any company playing the obfuscation game of not saying what is in their food, or where it was made and where the ingredients came from, or having poor customer service, will quickly loose our business going forward. I am not making any recommendations, as everyone else’s mileage may vary.

Comment by Dennis — July 13, 2007 @ 8:45 pm
Boot - that’s funny - my cats like wild rice, but spit out the barley. They like oatmeal & salmon.

Comment by Kat — July 13, 2007 @ 8:48 pm
Dennis: One sample of Innova dog food tested positive for acetaminophen & cyanuric acid by an independent lab:

http://www.petfoodrecallfacts.com/lab.html

Comment by Kat — July 13, 2007 @ 8:56 pm
Scooping up a roadkilled skunk and leaving it in the heat for a few days before serving is a less lethal pet food than what was fraudulently sold as “premium” pet food.

NO animal on this planet got pet food 75 years ago, NONE, NOT A SINGLE species exists BECAUSE of
commercial food. If people threw food on the floor in 1650 and the dogs died then those dogs had very little value and did not get bred.Those weaklings DIED OUT. Every single dog on this earth comes from a really long line of dogs that CAN eat scraps, or kill vermin and SURVIVE!.
It is not rocket science to feed a pet,or a pig, or your self, if it was, there would be far fewer people and darned few poodles!

Here is a big hint, DON”T PUT POISON IN THE FOOD.
There you have it, the secret to feeding animals.
Most animals live longer if they are not fed POISON. This includes humans.
It does not have to come in a bag or a can and as radical as the idea seems you do NOT need to wrap it in plastic or fry food to make it safe.
It just needs to be POISONFREE!

And a lot of places on this planet would be happy to have ANY food, nevermind the poison, because they have none at all.

Comment by E. Hamilton — July 13, 2007 @ 9:06 pm
i have 2 dogs with Ideopathic Epilepsy (littermates). One is more adversly affected than the other. They will be 10 in 3 weeks. Since the male first showed symptoms when he was 1 1/2 yrs old, I have sought alternatives to help him with his condition. One of those alternatives was to change his diet to raw and by default, everyone else’s.
It’s been 8 1/2 years now I have fed the dogs raw. My youngest was weaned on raw. One of my dogs who came to me at the age of 2 ( he’ll be 5 in 2 weeks)and has liver issues, gets his meals based on Dr Jean Dodd’s liver support diet. Their treats come either from Bravo or HolisticHounds or my own cooking.
Nothing has changed in our kitchen except my own personal food purchasing and eating habits.
My state is seriously considering allowing BT corn to be grown, giving in to the pressures of Monsanto. Unless the corn I buy is locally and organically grown, I won’t be adding it to my list of consumables. FDA is probably going to allow irradiated meats, and predictions are that cloned beef will be on our tables in 2-3 years.
Food in this country is so not about what’s good for the consumer, and soo much about what is good for big agribusiness and the CEO/stockholders. Talk about a “barf” diet!

Comment by Deb — July 14, 2007 @ 4:38 am
West Nile Virus is spreading. More & more mosquitoes are being found, birds, a horse, people all being infected. 11 states have humans testing positive; 23 states avian, animal or mosquitoes testing positive Two people have died.

San Jose, CA is considered a “hot zone”

30 of CA’s 58 counties have positive tests for West Nile Virus.

http://www.medicalnewstoday.co.....wsid=76841

http://cbs5.com/topstories/loc.....21706.html

http://cbs2.com/local/local_story_195014806.html

Comment by Kat — July 14, 2007 @ 8:45 am
Yes, I do think home-feeding a cat is complicated, because they have so many strict requirements. You have to feed the right amounts of taurine, calcium, vitamins, protein, carbs, etc. There are books and expert advice available on home feeding.

With the pet food crisis, it’s hard to know which commercial food to feed, and the pet food industry should be ashamed of itself, to say the least.

Comment by Boot — July 14, 2007 @ 2:09 pm
Cats, dogs, people, all of these existed and survived for a long long time before commercial food was dreamed up.

Yes, the pet food companies have a lot to answer for but once people THINK about the entire matter and how laughable it is that some “expert” wants to SCARE you into thinking you can’t do the basic food handling needed to survive and THRIVE without them, for yourself and your pets, well, they laugh.

Do you really think that cats are in danger of becoming extinct without desperate and expensive intervention? Now THAT is funny.

And it is not hard at all to feed em well at home, if you start when they are kittens there is nothing to it.
Like all nasty habits, in people or pets, just don’t start. Teaching a cat to smoke is less risky than feeding commercial food.
People will do as they please and that is fine, but the whole line of bull about how hard it is, is just that, bull.
Feed em decent fresh food and they live long lives and develop very few of the diseases so often seen in cats fed commercial food.
I just came from a farm, getting supplies, and the farmer had some real choice things to say about the “city” cats dying and HIS cats can scare off stray dogs that get abandoned by the “oh I have a baby now, I can throw away my dog and let it suffer and die out in the woods” folks. There plenty of those type around and I wish, I wish with all my heart that there a chance bad nutrition would kill THEM off, but it won’t. Just one of those cats could whip up on that big dog that was pictured on this website a day or so ago and a few of them could drag it off and eat it! Not a darn thing wrong with a single one of them and they have never seen a can of cat food or a bag. One cat was over twenty and going strong.
Instead of taking the advice of someone who has sickly cats that see the vets every month and have all these diseases, I think I am gonna listen to someone who has healthy sassy felines and active feisty dogs.
Buy into whatever scare tactic makes you feel better but make sure you KNOW it for the con job that it is.

Comment by E. Hamilton — July 14, 2007 @ 5:23 pm
Comment by E. Hamilton — July 14, 2007 @ 5:23 pm

heh, i’ve got some pretty damn sassy city cats. one former feral who thinks nothing of trying to take down my dog on occassion! Next time you see that farmer, you let him know not all city cats are sickly wimps! ;)

when I brought home my farm haul today, Dot (the Dal) was quite intrigued with the carrot greens and started munching on them while they were still in my bag! She never steals food, so I got a good chuckle and gave her some more because it was so cute watching her conflict about munching on them without permission :D

Comment by straybaby — July 14, 2007 @ 5:32 pm
Comment by straybaby — July 14, 2007 @ 5:32 pm

And how oh how did your former feral ever even get born when there was no nutritionist involved?
My gawd, did it spring full grown, some new creature brought forth on this planet by a miracle of the PFI?
Or did it actually come from a line of creatures that has been here from the time of the pyramids and not a vitamin tablet to be had?

Sarcasm intended.
Yeah, I know, I am having a bad case of pet withdrawal right now, but I must not weaken.
If I get a kitten or a pup I would have to do the right thing and take them to get shots and all and I refuse to pay a vet a dime until this whole mess is resolved and maybe not then.
Money is better spent on printer ink to take customers away from the pet food industry and teach children to know what liars the ads are, make them smart enough to see through the bull.
I get my fix when I see friends and help cook or chop stuff for the raw diets for their pets, some of them are getting the sassy back and it is a pleasure to see.

Comment by E. Hamilton — July 14, 2007 @ 6:10 pm
they were raised on pasta via my LL along with what they caught ;) they still go for the sauce when i’m making a pot! lol!~

glad to hear that the future may hold another pet (or few) for you! also nice to hear your friends have converted to the ‘darkside’ and are defying the all knowing industry that doesn’t know how to feed it’s own pets much less ours. we’ve just upped things around here since the recall and all the sorid food details (some i knew, some i couldn’t have known). now ALL food in our bellies is inspected and certified safe by *ME*. all meats are from known ranches/farms, seafood from the day boat or if canned, carefully traced (minced clams of scottish origins). it’s so not that hard! and i just found out there’s a couple of farmers at the market that have grains, so i may hunt them down so i can make the Dot some treats! i have a grain mill that i usually do ric/oat flour with, but maybe some NY State grain needs to run through it ;)

And i’ve got a pet supply trying to get me Good Mews litter so i don’t have to use Purina’s Yesterday’s News. I have fired every singlke large corp involved from my life and a few others just on general principle.

off to make a crushed tomato/fennel sauce to go on my fresh pasta as a side to my grilled grass fed rib eye ;) again, good to hear you may open your home in the future and can enjoy time with your friends furry ones :) and buy those printer inks so you can refill your own cartridges!

Comment by straybaby — July 14, 2007 @ 6:45 pm
I’m home cooking, based primarily on Strombeck’s ‘Home-prepared dog & cat diets’ and Pitcairn’s ‘natural health for dogs & cats’ (one dog, 2 cats). The vitamins and minerals are based on foods – stuff like taurine from clams, calcium from egg shells, B vitamins from nutritional yeast – so I don’t need to worry about vitamins from China. No regrets, and I don’t plan to ever go back to commercial pet food. I also stopped buying any products made by P&G, Del Monte, Colgate/Palmolive, Nestle etc.

Yesterday at the grocery store (Fred Meyer) I saw no one in the pet food aisle. Near the checkout lines (in the prime impulse-purchase location) was a rack filled with the books Barker’s Grub, Real Food for Cats, and Real Food for Dogs. I think it’s going to be a very, very long time (if ever) before things return to business-as-usual for the PFI.

Comment by Carol PW — July 15, 2007 @ 9:02 am
Comment by straybaby — July 14, 2007 @ 6:45 pm

Don’t hold your breath waiting for me to get a new pet, I made a young girl cry when I refused to accept her money for the adoption fee to get a kitten, that is how much she wanted to do something for me because the loss of my pets hurt her too.

A very young girl, with challenges of her own to battle, wanted to do the right thing.

Someone several states away just heard of the deaths of my pets and there was a wail, sound I am struggling to find the words to describe.

But I WILL find those words and I will find the words to defeat those who poison and deceive.
Count on THAT!

Comment by E. Hamilton — July 15, 2007 @ 10:31 am
And just to be very clear, I DID explain WHY I am not going to get a kitten, no matter how much I miss the purr and the touch of kitten fur.
I showed her my taped copies of the lying “promise” commercials and others and then I showed the months of pleading by pet parents who have dead or damaged for life pets and the info about how the pet food companies are not paying the vet bills.

And she cried at the injustice of it all, the cruelty. And she said she understood why I could not take the kitten or her money and why I would not cry.

straybaby, there will be many tears before I get another pet, both friends and enemies will weep rivers before that day and I will be as hard and dry eyed as I must be, to bring that day.

Comment by E. Hamilton — July 15, 2007 @ 12:36 pm
“If I get a kitten or a pup I would have to do the right thing and take them to get shots and all and I refuse to pay a vet a dime until this…”

But E.,who said giving kittens and pups shots is the “right” thing?
Don’t answer,I know who.
There are lots of us though,who don’t vaccinate anymore,and our pets are the stronger for it.
I HAD TO give my dobe pup a rabies shot years ago(no other shots) and gave homeopathic support beforehand.Half his face swelled up.When I phoned the vet to report this,she said,”Only one half? Usually the whole face swells.Just give Benadryl.”!!
I treated him homeopathically,not enamoured by Benadryl,but was really gobsmacked to know that it’s a given for rabies shots to make a dog’s face swell.

Lorna

Comment by Lorna — July 15, 2007 @ 1:27 pm
I have been feeding my cat Nature’s Logic Rabbit Dinner for the past year and a half and she has been thriving on it. There are no chemical additives and all ingredients (plant and animal based) are from the USA.
Nevertheless I almost killed my poor baby when I gave her a ‘treat’—Natural Balance Venison and Green Pea dry—back in April. She vomited at once, then walked over to the container with the rabbit dinner and meowed piteously. I thought she couldn’t digest the peas.
Voila, that food was recalled for melamine poisoning two weeks later. I’m fortunate that the cat’s sensitive stomach led her to evacuate immediately after eating the tainted food.
She’s had no symptoms since then and is continuing to thrive on the Nature’s Logic Rabbit Dinner, which I plan to feed her for the rest of her life. There is no sense taking chances, and we had a very close call with the other food.

Comment by catmom — July 15, 2007 @ 6:38 pm
Lorna, mine are pretty much unvaccinated by me for several years (over 15!) aside from kitten shots. Since they came out of the shelter system, they were all boostered there, but that’s basically it. On my last, I did finish his kitten series. I have a vet who will turn head on the Rabies (required for cats here even though licensing isn’t). I just can’t see subjecting them to it unless needed and I don’t see them catching Rabies in my home. If they bite some one, UTD on Rabies or not, quarantine by law if reported. And same with my dog. My vet will also not vaccinate yearly nor give certain boarding required shots a couple of days before the boarding without calling the kennel and explaining why it’s not a good idea (KC sheds, etc) I feel very fortunate that I can take my pets to the vet and they can be treated with out being subjected to vaccinations. They don’t even mention it when I bring one in (they know me well! lol!~) They also don’t push the Hill’s and other food. OY! Moving away and finding a new vet will be a challenge I’m not looking forward to!

I can’t believe the vet’s reaction to the Rabies reaction!! And also know there are vets out there that would just have you be prepared for the reaction instead of forgoing the shot. GRRR!

EH, I totally understand. You need to do what you need to do, but I still like to hear your love is still there and you can find enjoyment through others. And for the record, I have 3 that rarely if ever purr! lol!~ they can be very affectionate, but make sure they purr before you bring one home if yer lookin’ for the purr factor! And give that young girl a hug for me. Sounds like she has a heart in the right place :)

And remember, I’m in this fight with you as are MANY others! Can’t comment much more because G & C would have to censor me ;) But to put it mildly, I’m only just begining and angry as all heck, which I doubt will go away anytime soon.

Comment by straybaby — July 15, 2007 @ 7:08 pm
Oh and EH, I did not question that you explained to the young girl :) Your reasons are sound and true and you share them freely. I’m sure, as you said, she did understand. Sad lesson for the young ones in this country though.

I remember when my UPS guy first met my Dot and invited her on the truck. True animal lover through and through. He had a rottie that lived until 16 or 18 (memory is failing me!). Said he never knew it would hurt so much and to this day, can’t imagine going through it again. I hold hope that he too will someday bring home another pet, but am glad that he enjoys my spotty monster and all others along his route. The animals need people like him and you. Fighting for them and loving them, even if they don’t live with you :) He’s also the guy that ended up delivering all kinds of safe food items for them along with my fed ex guy. They had no problem about all the stairs knowing the purpose ;)

Comment by straybaby — July 15, 2007 @ 7:22 pm
straybaby,
there are a LOT of young ones who are going to cry and become angry and IMMUNE to the lying ads before I am done!
Not just for today but tomorrow, they will not be the sheeple the pet food companies want.
The only vaccine needed is the truth.

One every front, in every way, for every pet that died or lives with illness and every pet parent betrayed.

Comment by E. Hamilton — July 15, 2007 @ 7:51 pm
Don’t forget, yell “lying bastids!” or a version thereof, EVERY time you see those ads on TV!

Comment by E. Hamilton — July 15, 2007 @ 7:52 pm
I was wondering if anyone knows of an on-line place that mails food like California Natural without using FedEX or UPS? I live in SE Alaska and we dont have the places locally that sell good food so we have to resort to having it mailed in. Everytime I find a website that sells it, they want to charge $45.00 to $75.00 to send it by UPS. It is much cheaper and just as fast to ship pet food via USPS Priority mail to Alaska but so far I cant find a company that does that. Any ideas or suggestions?

Comment by Sandi K — July 15, 2007 @ 8:48 pm
Did you try Kumpi? I haven’t tried it yet, but it is one that is mentioned as good, and the online price includes shipping, however I think it was Fed EX shipped, but they may make an exception if you asked.

They say the price includes shipping and handling anywhere in the continental U.S., and that would include AK wouldn’t it?

Phone number for Kumpi is 303-693-6533

Comment by Elaine — July 15, 2007 @ 9:31 pm
Elaine, Alaska isnt considered contintental US. Unfortunately for us, they treat us more like were a European country more than part of the US. Even though we are only a 2 hour flight from Seattle….its strange because shipping to an East coast state is cheaper than 2 hours from Seattle, if it has AK attached to the shipping address….

Comment by Sandi K — July 15, 2007 @ 10:41 pm
Sandi,

If I lived somewhere that I could buy the food and ship it to you via USPS, I would! But I live out in the middle of nowhere and only have access to the grocery store and vet office pet foods.

My daughter spent some summers in Alaska working at hunting/fishing lodges on the Aleutian Islands and the back side of Kodiak Island, so I understand the shipping problem.

My dogs seem to be doing well on the food I have, but I am going to change even if I have to ship food in, just because of the irresponsible behavior of the pet food companies.

Comment by Elaine — July 16, 2007 @ 7:02 am
********PLEEEAAASSSSEEEEE….. All you brave “Feline Chefs” out there, could you share some of your successful homemade recipes? I’ve switched to the high quality canned and dry foods, but the cost is really taking a chunk out of my budget. Any recipes would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks >^=^

Comment by laura S — July 16, 2007 @ 1:53 pm
Let’s say some mega-conglomerate thought it’d be a great idea to distill the foods the FDA considers the most healthy for humans to consume into a “complete for all (human) lifestages” wafer…

Ignore the the obvious problems with this and answer just one question - does anyone really believe that we would be able to subsist, let alone thrive, on this diet?

If your answer is “no,” how can you expect your dog or cat will fare any better kibble?

Comment by B. Schlottmann — July 17, 2007 @ 3:45 am
B.W. acouple of months ago one of my cats got seriosly ill from eating Innova red bag cat food that i had just brought back from the store he got a systemic infection and was on antibiotics for 2 weeks vet said it could have been from the food cat is an indoor cat my other cats only ate a little bit of the food and did not get sick i could not afford to get the food tested i still have it and did not think it made sense to send the food to natura i figured they would not tested it and just say it was ok does any one if donna W. got any results back from natura? i tried giving my cats homemade they refuse to eat anything they are eating evo which bothers me everyday because it is the same company so far no one has gotten sisk on that i would love to find some cobo of homemade food that my cats would eat and get them off commercial food for good! about once a week they have a can of merrick food i do not trust any of these companies anymore! my dog is completely on homecooked food! i cook up a whole chicken With water to make a gravy in a stainless steel pot then later put in sweet potato carrots and other veggies sometimes egg and somedays i cut up raw veggies and fruits to have with it i add oils and organic yogurt he loves eating this way and i feel good that i am giving him a good meal with no fear involved! now if i could just get my cats on board! good luck to all!

Comment by lindak. — July 17, 2007 @ 2:03 pm
I am surprised! A lot of you folks are singing the praises of commercial/natural cat food saying that your cat is doing great, and you switched from this to that and all is well. All of the foods that you named are on the Recall list in some form or another. Wellness, Science Diet, Nutro, Natural Balance. It is July already. These brands have been tainted for months now. I was looking to you guys for advice but Yikes. I have been cooking for my cat since March. My problem is massive hairballs. He throws up hairballs every day now that we no longer eat packaged/dry food. That is the only drawback. Do you have any advice on that, please? Best of luck to you all. This is such a hard road.

Comment by msbrome — July 27, 2007 @ 3:28 pm

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