Hope all fritter pet owners have read the pet food recall

maybe it's a good thing we feed Purina Beneful or Paul's.

our cat's food is not on that list luckily. he eats Fancy Feast for his wet food, and Meow Mix for dry. good thing neither are on that list.

be careful.

-digital

Thanks for that, MaxTek. Might not of spotted it otherwise. Google reveals the story ran in one of the papers I deal with, but I'm on holidays and would have missed it.

We feed our two dogs home-made food, but sometimes buy a can of dog food as the canine equivalent of McDonald's as a treat. They love it, but dogs also like eating cat poop.

The brand we buy is on the list, but not the specific product. But it concerns me enough that I'll have to re-evaluate that practice.

maybe it's a good thing we feed Purina Beneful or Paul's.

Looks like everything Purina is safe. They're recalling one dog food product, but say it's just because they want to be overly cautious -- that product wasn't even on the recall list.

Purina's one of the better brands anyway.

We saw that Iams was on the list, and we ran to check the cans of dog and cat food that we had in the pantry. We feed most of our animals Iams, but lucked out in that all of our cans came from Dayton, OH.

Our 2 dogs, 4 cats, 2 hamsters, the bird and the fish are our babies. We ran to check that pet food like some parents ran to check peanut buttter jars a few weeks ago.

I hope that whomever is responsible is sued over this. I just know how devestated I would be if one of our "kids" experienced renal failure due to food that I gave them.

Thanks for the heads up, though, Max.

when feeding animals, you need to make sure that the first ingrdient listed on any food you purchase is a meat or a meat byproduct. thats to make sure they get the proper what nots they need. you want to stay away from foods that list a grain as the fisrt ingredient. unless you plan on providing real meat to supplement the dry food.

That's why we also feed Paul's. Sometimes we can't get a bag of Paul's when we need it, so we fall back to Beneful.

http://www.paulspetfood.com/

My puppy in my lap

My puppy the Technician

Lying on the floor:

Albeit, he's not longer a puppy, but i need to take some new pictures

EDIT: just in case you don't know/can't tell:
Farley is a Miniature schnauzer that we got from the Local human society after a pet store was shut down for having parvo and many diseases running through it. Farley was one of 4 puppies that were there, we got to go into the back of the facility because my aunt (which co-owned a video business) made all of the human society TV ads between 1990-2006 (i think those were the dates. i know that the 2006 is correct)

Anyways, he is a VERY loving dog, and I think is the best dog I have EVER seen. And I know everyone says their dog is better than others, so I think the same. I wouldn't trade him for ANYTHING in the world. After all, a dog is a man's best friend

We just found a can in the pantry with the recalled plant code... and we've given the dogs that particular style of Iams about one a week during the winter.

So, I'm off to the vet tomorrow to find out what I need to keep an eye out for...

I just heard that the recall has been expanded to include more brands, Including purina. I'm not sure why it has not been added to the list, but it should be soon.

-digital

For those who might be interested, here's a couple links outlining a raw-food diet:
http://www.rawlearning.com/rawfaq.html
http://www.njboxers.com/faqs.htm

I've been picking up carcasses at local butchers for nearly 10 years now, and our aging dogs are very healthy and active.

I was checking the Purina site today for that reason and saw that one of the Mighty Dog products was on the list. Purina says that is the only one, thankfully- so I hope I can rule out my cat's food. Cats don't need any help with kidney and urinary tract issues.

The Menu site is dead slow from traffic load right now, so if you are checking it, be patient.

mike

FACT:
I saw a new report ( http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/03/17/petfood.recall.ap/index.html ) that the ingredient causing the problems was wheat gluten from a new supplier.

FACT:
Wheat gluten is a source of protein.

Opinion:
As wheat gluten is a source of protien, a strong batch could cause the kidney's to fail in animals who are susceptible to kidney problems.

Incomplete conjecture:
There are no confirmed reports of dogs experiencing kideny failure or death at this time. There are 10 reports of cats with kidney failure, 7 of whom died. I posit that this issue will affect felines more, but only those who might've already had a kidney issue.

more facts and opinions as more data becomes available.

It's all part of the junk pet-food fraud:

See: Open Secret: Giant USA corporations poison pets

http://secureshop.rawmeatybones.com/newsletter/view.epl?id=45

They make 17 out of the top 20 pet foods (which is strange in itself).

I haven't read it through yet, but Tom Lonsdale's book "Raw Meaty Bones Promote Health" looks really good. He's got it on his website as a series of PDF chapters you can download., or you can of course buy a copy.

Chapter 8 looks to be especially useful for changing from canned/packaged food to what he calls the RMB diet (raw meaty bones) with lots of detailed practical advice. This is exactly the sort of detail I need as I transition from our pets' current packaged food diet to a healthier solution.

dan k

here's the negative complement, the pet food isn't just poison, its pets:

Food Pets Die For

The most objectionable source of protein for pet food is euthenized cats and dogs. It is not uncommon for thousands of euthenized dogs and cats to be delivered to rendering plants, daily, and thrown into the rendering cat—collars, I.D. tags, and plastic bags—to become part fo this material called "meal meat."
[Ann N. Martin, Food Pets Die For, 2003]

(hey eeun and dankephoto, thanks for those links)

I haven't read it through yet, but Tom Lonsdale's book "Raw Meaty Bones Promote Health" looks really good.

We own a copy, and it is a good book.

I did see yesterday that the recall had expanded - again- and also found this link which really makes me worry about -any- food product coming from China. It's worth noting there may be crossover into feed products for other animals, and since some companies are even making a point to list where they get their gluten from, human food.

my 13 year old "pup" is showing sighns of kidney failure.
Excessive water consumption, panting/distress etc
She eats none of the items on the recall list,
but I am suspicious of some cheapie dog bones she has eaten for years.
I have eliminated these from her diet and she seems to be improving.
Scaring the hell out of me...

Dave

You have to remove protein from the diet... its hard on the kidneys. Seems counter intuitive... our pets are carnivores. Doesn't make sense that most pet food is filled with carbs... and still, the kidneys go. IANAV, however, I have a friend who is, and I have a pet with kidney troubles. Ask your vet for some prescription food, NF (kidNey Formula) from Purina is what I'm using.(Hills prescription diet is on the recall list, and though Science Diet is the darling of the vet industry, and their k/d kidney diet food isn't on the list... I think they have other brands that are.)

nyt article

Yes I am removing some protein from her diet,
also supplementing B,C, and calcium.
and yes it does sound counterintuitive...
Thanks,

David

At 13 years, it may be natural causes. Most dogs have a life span of 8-15 years. Do all you can, of course, but it may be simply the aging process taking its toll.

Sure, It may be natural causes,Iam just very suspicious as the symtoms started at the same time as the food issue.
Dave

I totally agree with you, it can hurt us so much when one of our pet is ill. I have dogs and cats too and they live together, i thin, it's the coolest thing
At the time of the recall, i was cooking chicken recipes for them lol, no more pet food for now! They bring so much joy, they really deserve that we make sure they are safe.

FDA's updated list as of May 3, 2007
The more I read on this topic the more I am disgusted. Disgusted with the Chinese for their manufacturing practices, disgusted with America with their outsourcing practices, disgusted with the useless FDA and disgusted with people in general. It all goes to show you that the majority of people in this world are scum (fellow animal loving fritters excluded).

Since someone else reopened this old wound of a thread, I figured I would add my 2¢, but I ran out of battery just as I had finished a long story of the life and death of our cat Einstein from appearent poisioning on November 24, 2007 just two days before his appointment to see the vet. I had links and information etc. but don't feel like typing it all again.

I thought after you got the low battery warning you had at least a couple of minutes before it shuts down (my sleep doesn't work on this Pismo, sort of like me! - you'll see posts from me at 2 or 3AM sometimes). I ran to get the power adapter in the other room and it died in less than 30 seconds...

I am having a rather bad day as I have had two 'episodes' or 'seizures', whatever my doctor wants to call them. Oh well, I guess it was good to get it all out even if no one saw it...

A couple of old photos of Einie are on this page: Amazon Woman's Page A Note, he was born in 1990, not 1987.

Fortunately, I got a 15 minute video of us walking aroound the ranch with the kids and Einstein about a month before he died. Gotta edit it and post it on youtube or something....