Tainted pet food

[Debau2005]

It is early and I hope I am reading this wrong!

This article states:
"As many as one in six animals died in tests of dog and cat food that is part of a big recall.

The manufacturer conducted the tests after complaints the products were poisoning pets around the country."

http://www.al.com/newsflash/regional/index.ssf?/base/news-27/1174390748324680.xml&storylist=alabamanews

They TESTED the tainted food on animals to see if it killed them?

I had given Menu Foods the benefit of the doubt and was going to continue to use their Nutro products, they have done wonders for my dog's coat, he is 15, and has horrible skin allergies. But after reading this, I am going to have to find a non-Menu Foods brand.

What is wrong with people?

[Critters2]

1. That is appalling!!

This whole thing is a mess, and the testing of animals just makes it worse. I'm amazed that companies that want to be thought of as "premium" are really manufactured by the same company (and apparently on the same lines) as store brands. Another reason to know where not only your food, but your animals' food is manufactured and under what conditions.

My dog eats this http://nlpp.com/products.html?topic=vegetarian

and this http://www.petguard.com/dog-products/canned-food/vegetarian-feast-dinner



My cats eat this http://petpromiseinc.com/

[Debau2005]

2. Thank you

I will look into the products tonight!

[peacebuzzard]

3. There is a new thread in GD which I just posted on; I am beside myself

since I also use the Nutro products. And I travel ..... I just called my pet supplier in my hometown (and I am not at home).

Apparently, what I purchased just a few days ago is not on the recall list, but I am now in grave doubt. I had purchased the "gravy" style, but fortunately set this in my closet for return to the store and out of the hands of my pet sitter.

I, too, will be discontinuing Nutro. It seems like Science Diet might be a good option. How about anyone else here in this forum?

[Critters2]

4. Science Diet uses Menu Foods as a manufacturer.

I have a cat on Hill's C/D, and am looking for an alternative. I don't want to give any money to Menu Foods or any company that uses them. I'd like to find a full list of Menu's clients, but can't seem to.

[peacebuzzard]

5. I was assuming all co's on the recall list were menufoods customers.

and in one of the posts circulating in GD mentioned that Science Diet was not a participant in the menufoods customer list. I will have to revisit the recall list ....

Before starting my crew on the Nutro, I was using a Vegetarian formula available at PetSmart. I decided to switch to Nutro because of the smaller stool. And with 6 dogs.....(I am only home around 5 days a month these days because of my job. And the pet sitter does not clean up the yards.)

But now, a smaller stool will not be a factor anymore in my next selection of dog food.

[flamingyouth]

7. Our cat was eating C/D and he died last Monday.

I don't think the food had anything to do with his death, but I agree with you. I don't want to give them (Menu) any more $ in the future either. :(

[peacebuzzard]

8. I am so sorry about your kitty.

So sad, I know you miss the baby....

My deepest sympathies.

:(

[melnjones]

6. Try Blue Buffalo...awesome food, no corn wheat or soy.

Sold in PetSmart. www.bluebuff.com

I switched my animals from nutro to this and am extremely happy.

[peacebuzzard]

9. Just bought the senior version today.

Tomorrow is their initiation on the BlueBuff, canned and dry.

[CountAllVotes]

10. I'm going to look for this too peacebuzzard

It sounds like a good food but it is not common where I live. Right now the cats are eating Innovo Evo dry food and enjoying it a lot (the dry type is made in Santa Clara; the wet type is made by Menu Foods ... :puke: ).

This is a real mess isn't it? What I did is order a bunch of samples from different places for small amounts of money to try them out.

I have Flint Ranch here too. They seem to like that too along with Royal Canin as well but Innovo Evo seems to be the favorite one so far.

I do however need a good senior cat food for my old kitty!

:kick:

[peacebuzzard]

11. ooops! dupe

[peacebuzzard]

12. It is a mess. I do not want to buy anything related to Menufoods.

I bought also the Innova brand biscuits, (made by Natura which is supplied by menufoods) and also the Mother Nature biscuit treats....(again, I do not want to make this a normal buying habit as it is supplied by Menufoods)

I bought the Bluebuffalo at PetSmart (on a watch list by PETA for mistreating small critters).

I also bought Merrick which is awesome. My dogs love it. (pricey) but careful with the chicken version.....I found a thigh bone in the can.

and Dick Van Patten's Natural Balance Organic Formula is what I am using for dry kibble for my 15 lb Katrina dog with health issues and my dog that somehow became ill with elevated liver metabolism last week. (she had been on the Nutro dry for a long time, but my vet said that was not why she became ill last week.----she is doing much better now. I tried Blue buffalo dry with her and she was hesitant with the new food but is chowing down on the Merrick canned, Natural Balance dry and I am at home for a week and cooking for them too!)

Yes, I am cooking for 6 dogs now. And mixing in the Blue Buffalo dry. It is actually easy with a slow cooker and cheaper than feeding my sick rottie mix solely canned food.

They are all napping after a big meal. Life is good today.....

[CountAllVotes]

13. sounds like a great effort on your part!

I commend you! I'm glad to know the Blue Buffalo food is working out ok and I don't think I'd ever buy that stuff that you found the thigh bone is as a dog can choke on a chicken bone and end up with splinters in the throat, stomach, etc. :(

I got a sample of this food from Healthypetnet and it is called "Immune and Body Support" for cats (one of the several samples they sent for $2.95). The cats love this and it is to be fed as a treat (only a few nuggets a day). After they ate this, my tomcat (aka the pig) was scouring the carpet looking for more. Even old kitty had a couple of them and wanted more. It seems to be a vitamin formula for cats and the ingredients are:

Brown rice, chicken fat, chicken liver meal, chicken meal, herring meal, natural flavorings, oatmeal, salt and vegetable oil it says are the ingredients.

Link for samples (dog & cat): http://www.healthypetnet.com/HealthyPetNet/Products/ProductList.aspx?realname=10042285&Ath=False&hdr=&cat=0&category=Free_Samples

I've noticed just after the past couple of weeks of feeding them no more Nutra food that their coats are much healthier looking (esp. old kitty) and that the kitten is thriving and enjoys the Royal Canin chicken food (dry) and the Innovo Evo. I would not buy Innovo Evo if it had any connection to MenuFoods!

I find it amazing that you are able to do all that you do and still manage to find time to cook for 6 dogs! :D :toast:

CountAllVotes

On edit: Wow! The price of a 4.6 oz package of the above named cat supplements/treats is $18.95 and that is BEFORE postage (I think I'll strike that one off of the list!).

[peacebuzzard]

14. Have you heard about Natural Balance???

I am getting ready to go out of town again, and I ran by the closest store yesterday and stocked up on NB. I should have driven a little further and gone to the Pet Smart. I do not feel so good about patronizing them, after the issue of mistreating small animals. But that is where I bought Blue Buffalo.

Now I have to return the Natural Balance, and get a sub...It has been fun hanging out here and cooking and trying to get caught up on my home issues.
But this tainted food crap never ends. Someone here also suggested Solid Gold, but I think for now I will go back to the Blue Buffalo.

P.S. I spent a couple hours at my country vet's waiting room with my male mix who has had an ear problem. I have been cleaning his ears daily and I may have irritated his tender ear with a Q tip, he has been having trouble with the ear yeast infection. There was a poor sick dachshund with food poisoning from eating the Ol Roy Jerky Treats. Damn, this is so bad. The little dachshund had to be hospitalized for dehydration and kidney failure.:(

[CountAllVotes]

15. I heard about Natural Balance!

I contacted healthypetnet.com yesterday. Seems they use organic chicken in their food. My cats liked the samples I got from them. I may order one bag of their food and see how that goes over.

I'd stay away from Natural Balance if it was me.

This whole thing is just AWFUL peacebuzzard!

I hope your dogs will be ok!

:hug:

[CountAllVotes]

16. now Royal Canin ...

Although we have no confirmed cases of illness in pets, we have decided to voluntarily remove the following dry pet food products that contain rice protein concentrate due to the presence of a melamine derivative.

ROYAL CANIN SENSIBLE CHOICE® (available in pet specialty stores nationwide)

- Chicken Meal & Rice Formula Senior
- Lamb Meal & Rice Formula Puppy
- Lamb Meal & Rice Formula Adult
- Lamb Meal & Rice Formula Senior
- Rice & Catfish Meal Formula Adult

ROYAL CANIN VETERINARY DIET™ (available only in veterinary clinics)

- Canine Early Cardiac EC 22™
- Canine Skin Support SS21™
- Feline Hypoallergenic HP23™\

ALL PRODUCTS WITH AN EXPIRATION DATE OF APRIL 19TH, 2008 ARE MADE WITHOUT CHINESE SOURCED VEGETABLE PROTEINS AND ARE SAFE.

[peacebuzzard]

17. and now Blue Buffalo....with melamine.

shit. And I am hundreds of miles away from home. I Just left Blue Buffalo at home for my pet sitter to feed the critters.

[melnjones]

18. Blue caught it way early...

A friend of mine who works for the company said that like maybe 50 bags from the contaminated run even hit the shelves. Nationwide. They pulled all of the 3 and 7 pound bags of kitten food off as a precaution to make sure that not one of those contaminated bags was purchased, but yeah, Blue has excellent testing procedures for all their products and they caught this without getting a single complaint from a customer. And the company is mad- this was the first and only time that products from China were ever in one of Blue's food runs, and I'm sure it will not happen again. See their statement at www.bluebuff.com. They are still the only pet food brand I will buy! They probably could have just not bothered pulling all the food off the shelves and just thrown away what had yet to get shipped to stores, but from what my friend says, they knew they had to take this precaution.

[peacebuzzard]

21. after reading their statement on the website

I have concluded that I will keep the products I purchased from them, which even included a huge bag of the dry and several cans. I am returing Old Mother Hubbard's Wellness formulas though because they are still producing foods from international rice protein.

I am going to keep my Merrick's products and try a new food suggested by my pet sitter: Blackwood. I am on my way now to pick a bag up.

All my days off (I don't get many) are spent this way lately.

But I will hold on to the Blue Buffalo in case this new one doesn't work out.

[peacebuzzard]

22. Blue Buffalo now recalling canned and treats....

http://www.bluebuff.com/

I am taking back my what is left of my purchases tomorrow.......

[CountAllVotes]

19. oh my god how scary!

I hope it isn't the stuff that has been recalled peacebuzzard!

This is really AWFUL!!!

[peacebuzzard]

20. I reached my pet sitter and all is well.....

but, yes, the whole situation is awful.

I am wondering, was the Natural Balance voluntary recall also controlled as well as the bluebuff? At least the Blue Buf website explained the actions.

But this whole thing really has me alarmed..

I should be home late tomorrow and, now, I am so unsure what to feed my dogs.....

[CountAllVotes]

23. peacebuzzard ...

I'm feeling my cats Life's Abundance. You buy it on line and you can get a sample first. It is made by a company called "Trilogy" - Planet, People and Animals is their motto. I got a bag of it and the vitamins for my cats and they seem to like it a lot. The also make dog food, supplements, etc. You might want to give it a try or buy a sample of it for $2.95.

I hope this helps.

CountAllVotes :D

[peacebuzzard]

24. Well I purchased 80 pounds of Blackwood dry

for my farm hands (!) and the inside kitty has stayed on Purina One. I have been buying Merrick canned for a treat for the rowdy fur team whenever I am home for my limited and very few days off.
I hope for the best, I am working away from home again for most of the month....but I track every post and news item I see on these recalled expanded dog food lists. Thanks for your concerns and help, too. I do appreciate all the information I can get. I never tune into television anymore(it helps my blood pressure to not be bombarded by all that frenzy) and so I solely and primarily rely on internet based information.

By the way CAV, I am sure you saw the new thread started by fivegan on the new ordinance enacted by California restricting breeders?

It is a fine day and great that is going on somewhere!!! Now, if all states could follow up we would have a really really wonderful day.....

When I can, I am going to start looking into getting some muscle into this movement for the state of Tennessee. All of breeders need to be stopped.

[CountAllVotes]

26. I'm not certain I agree with it peacebuzzard

There are some dogs that are bred for specific reasons, like Service Dogs and Guide Dogs for the Blind. Would this new "law" affect this? Is there an answer or would there be an exclusion in place for not making breeders of service animals have to comply? I find this a bit disturbing to be quite honest with you.

I'm all for rescuing and adopting animals as you know, but when it comes to service animals and guide dogs, I draw the line right there.

They need to come to some sort of viable compromise IMO.

We shall see I suppose.

CountAllVotes

[flamingyouth]

25. Our cats eat California Natural and seem to do well on it.

One has really bad skin allergies and it's just about the only food that doesn't aggravate them. So far they haven't had any products recalled. I still can't help but wonder, though - our cat who died was eating Hill's Science Diet C/D (not part of the recall, I know) and the rest of the cats weren't. He was only five. We all try to do what we think is best for our animal companions, but looking back, I still wonder about that food he ate. :(

[CountAllVotes]

27. I still wonder about my poor dog that died

it was such a tragedy. I wonder if the food she'd been eating (before and after I got her) had something to do with it.

Have you tried Life's Abundance? I am feeding my cats this now and they seem to like it a lot and love the vitamins you can get for them.

I just hope to god this stops soon. It is so very sad and horrific that our food supply seems to have been intentionally poisoned and that our beloved pets are dying (how many god damnit? HOW MANY have died?). :mad:

:wtf: next ...

:kick:

[peacebuzzard]

28. and also, for how long has this been going on?

I remember decades ago when we used to give our family collie those hamburger patty style dog food that came preserved in boxes and were individually separated by a plastic container inside the box. This is no longer manufactured and disappeared as far as I can tell many years ago.

But this was way back in the infancy of my awareness of label reading. I do recall one of the highest ingredient was sugar based.

This sweet collie had numerous health problems and a very early demise.

We also had a sweet kitty die suddenly and he had a diet solely on one of the recalled pet foods; he died from complications related to kidney failure ... this was just 7-8 years ago.