[NA]Pet Food Recall[NA]

Isn't it nice to discover that the the Vet Recommended "quality" Iams and the cheap Wal-Mart "Ol Roy" come from the same line?
 
ugh. Thankfully, Kibbles n' Chunks ain't on there.

Cheap food, but its the only big bag I can find at the grocery store, and Piper eats a LOT of food.
 
KennyFlys said:
And someone told me Science Diet was inferior? :dunno:
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I have found it to be very much the opposite of that statement. Hill's is not affected by the recall. They are voluntarily recalling some food but that is only because some items were procured from the same source as Menu did theirs.

Had a cat that is now gone that had continual bladder infections and urethral stones. Turns out the Purina was the cause, went to Science diet on the basis of vet and two breeders recommendations and all cats since and that cat have never had any food related issues.
 
mikea said:
Isn't it nice to discover that the the Vet Recommended "quality" Iams and the cheap Wal-Mart "Ol Roy" come from the same line?
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Actually the manufacturers of the food are probably going to take the hit for a problem with the supplier of an additive (wheat gluten is suspected, the pundits are saying its likely going to turn out to be a mycotoxin, although this is all speculative). The only Hills product recalled was a couple cans of cat food.
 
Dr. Dave - what's your recommendations? Our Akita/Shepherd turns up her nose at everything we've tried except Pedigree dry with a packet of Pedigree wet on top. Ok stuff? (Noted that Pedigree is NOT on part of the recall)
 
Greg it would be really risky for me to make any pet food recommendations at this time (other foods may be added to the recall later).
I am tempted to tell people to cook for their pets in the short term til it gets sorted out (this has its own set of hazards but is usually not life threatening).
 
gkainz said:
Dr. Dave - what's your recommendations? Our Akita/Shepherd turns up her nose at everything we've tried except Pedigree dry with a packet of Pedigree wet on top. Ok stuff? (Noted that Pedigree is NOT on part of the recall)
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They're only recalling "wet" pouch and canned dog food. No dry food is being mentioned.

I fed Purina Pro Plan to my dogs with great results. You can only get that at pet and feed stores.
 
This is absolutely dreadful - and can you believe they actually tested some of it directly on healthy animals? 7 of them died. They can't figure out what it is by the animsls who already died?

I'm really glad I went on Hills ZD many months ago...
 
smigaldi said:
I have found it to be very much the opposite of that statement. Hill's is not affected by the recall. They are voluntarily recalling some food but that is only because some items were procured from the same source as Menu did theirs.
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My pooch has had Science Diet from day one, and is now a healthy 12 years old.

He has something to say to Purina too:

DSCN1594.jpg


:rofl:
 
All of my dogs(4) have been fed Blue Seal since they've been born. None have ever had a gastro-intestinal problem. The problem with the cheap foods is the development of allergies, high fat content, high corn content, and low nutritional value. One trip to the vet for a food related deficiency or allergy will wipe out all the money you saved on the cheap stuff. My girlfriend is a vet-tech and she sees countless cheap food problems. Get 'em off that garbage. As a side note, less corn means less cleaning up too.
 
It's been so long since I discussed this with my dad (he's a retired veterinarian, taught small animal surgery at WSU for 30 years before retiring over 15 years ago) that I don't recall his recommendations. But our pets have had a lot of Purina over the years. Cats were 17 1/2 and 18 1/2 when they died, so I guess we weren't abusing them too much.
 
I use Purina Cat Chow for Amelia, and so far she seems fine with it.
 
Tarheel Pilot said:
I use Purina Cat Chow for Amelia, and so far she seems fine with it.
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It never hurt those folks who ate at Jack-in-the-Box fast food restaurants. :D

For those who don't know, Ralston Purina used to own that chain. The joke in St. Louis at the time was the restaurants got the by-products from producing animal foods. :)
 
Ghery said:
It's been so long since I discussed this with my dad (he's a retired veterinarian, taught small animal surgery at WSU for 30 years before retiring over 15 years ago) that I don't recall his recommendations. But our pets have had a lot of Purina over the years. Cats were 17 1/2 and 18 1/2 when they died, so I guess we weren't abusing them too much.
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There's a lot of excellent foods on the market and Purina is one of them. My comments are directed at the people who unwittingly feed their animals Dad's,Ol' Roy, and anything else labled "Econo-Meat". Most of that stuff is pretty much poison.
 
michael Killacky said:
There's a lot of excellent foods on the market and Purina is one of them. My comments are directed at the people who unwittingly feed their animals Dad's,Ol' Roy, and anything else labled "Econo-Meat". Most of that stuff is pretty much poison.
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But as we've seen by what was revealed by this recall all many of those brands are made at Menu Foods.
 
smigaldi said:
That has one of the highest ash concentration of all pet food. just watch out if she starts getting bladder infections and stones. Some animal's systems cannot handle all the extra ash.
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Hmm, we never had any problem with our previous Siamese, Sara, and she lived to be 15 until she died.

I love Siamese cats, what can I say. lol.
 
smigaldi said:
That has one of the highest ash concentration of all pet food. just watch out if she starts getting bladder infections and stones. Some animal's systems cannot handle all the extra ash.
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Scott,
I just spent 1200 bucks on our new cat. Vet bill for 5 days. Bladder infection/stones. They gave us special food to feed the cat, but said not to let our other cat eat it. Whats up with that? Do you know a good cat food that will help prevent the stones??
I would rather not pay what the vet charges for this food, but i also dont care for another 1200.00 bill.
 
Michael said:
Scott,
I just spent 1200 bucks on our new cat. Vet bill for 5 days. Bladder infection/stones. They gave us special food to feed the cat, but said not to let our other cat eat it. Whats up with that? Do you know a good cat food that will help prevent the stones??
I would rather not pay what the vet charges for this food, but i also dont care for another 1200.00 bill.
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I have been using the Science Diet hard food for all my cats for years and have always had good luck with it. The one cat we had years ago had things similar to what you are saying. She had been using Purina Cat chow and the vet mentioned the ash content. We went to the Sci-Diet Adult and then mature food and she never had a problem again. Take a look at the labels and then check with your vet.

I have no clue why they would give you a special food and then tell you to not use it, I would question them about it.
 
smigaldi said:
I have no clue why they would give you a special food and then tell you to not use it, I would question them about it.
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Here is a guess involving completely hypothetical diagnoses:

Cat A has a tendency to develop struvite (a type of urinary crystal). That means she needs a special food that results in a low pH urine, to dissolve and or prevent struvite.

But Cat B is an unknown - we don't know if she tends to make urine favoring struvite, oxalate, silicates, urates, etc. Put her on the diet above and we could promote the formation of the one of the others. This is contrary to our favorite maxim, "First of all, do no harm"! i.o.w., cat B is doing just fine, why mess with it?

Occasionally owners will do some 'research' (probably internet, haha!) and find a cheaper food with great promises; but many times now I have seen such owners again with a recurrence of the problem. Usually the second visit makes them a believer!
 
So, Dave. Slight OT, but where did you get your DVM? Dad taught at WSU most of his career, but started out at UC Davis in the 1950s. I'm not a vet cause I grew up with one. Calls at 3 in the morning "Dog's been sick for 2 weeks, now it's an emergency" just didn't hack it with me. :D
 
Ghery said:
where did you get your DVM?
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http://www.uoguelph.ca/
although I feel quite out of place to not be an 'Aggie' in Texas!

Ghery said:
Calls at 3 in the morning "Dog's been sick for 2 weeks, now it's an emergency" just didn't hack it with me. :D
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My all-time fav is, a 2 am call by a drunk person: "My dog's rabies vaccination just expired." (meaning midnight the previous day and it was now an emergency that I should take care of)
 
We feed our three dogs Hundenflocken dog food. It's a little pricey, but since we began there has been no canine atophy (summer itch), or pica behavior like eating dirt and other stuff. Their coats are bright and shiny and they are not overweight. We also give them raw meat, broccoli, carrots, and flaxseed oil too. Never onions or raisins, or grapes though they do like other fruits and veges.
 
Let'sgoflying! said:
http://www.uoguelph.ca/
although I feel quite out of place to not be an 'Aggie' in Texas!



My all-time fav is, a 2 am call by a drunk person: "My dog's rabies vaccination just expired." (meaning midnight the previous day and it was now an emergency that I should take care of)
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I would imagine someone who went to school in Ontario would feel a bit out of place in Texas. :D

I'll have to share your experience when I see Dad in a few weeks. That's incredible. Sadly, not too surprising, though.
 
According to the LA Times the contamiant is aminopterin at 40ppm. The stuff is used as a rat poison in other countries but banned in the US.

I guess we were lucky as the wet food treats we feed our cats was not made by menu foods.

Joe
 
You have any idea what I would have done had Piper died from a dogfood that contained rat poison?

I would not be pretty, and I'd be in jail right now.
 
Who would you go after, Nick. It is a difficult question that has not been answered completely as far as I've heard.
You have a line up of organizations and the culprit may not even be among them.



The retailer (grocery store)
The distributor
The manufacturer (pick one from the list)
The sub (Menu Foods)
The processor/supplier of the raw ingredients to M.F. (wheat gluten)
The manufacturer of the raw ingredients
Those responsible for ensuring purity and safety of pet foods
Those responsible for " " " of imported raw materials

Heck it could have been a malicious act by a disgruntled employee, and all the above are taking the fall for it.

I am hearing now, "Why aren't they testing pet foods for aminopterin on a regular basis?!" (with anger)
Well, it may be impossible to test for every last toxin/bacteria/virus that is available on this planet.

The outshot of all this...expect pet food prices to rise.
 
Let'sgoflying! said:
I am hearing now, "Why aren't they testing pet foods for aminopterin on a regular basis?!" (with anger)
Well, it may be impossible to test for every last toxin/bacteria/virus that is available on this planet.
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True but it might be a good idea to delay shipments until they feed a random sample of the stuff to their in-house dogs and cats for a week. As much as I'd like to see it fed to their CEOs after this one.

Let'sgoflying! said:
The outshot of all this...expect pet food prices to rise.
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Sigh - that's probably true.

It will be interesting to see what falls out. I saw an article that fresh spinach sales are down 50% since the e. coli outbreak last Sept. I know my cats won't be getting slices in gravy for a while.

Joe
 
After the announcement that the cause was wheat gluten (with rat poison), it was also mentioned that wheat gluten is used in human food as well. Also mentioned was the FDA does not screen pet food producers UNTIL there is a complaint made against them. And at that, less than 2%.
Oh, and the wheat gluten comes from a CHINA supplier. Wasn't that long ago they all hated the US, and some still do. How far are we likely to see this "accidental" poisoning go? Let's not give away the farm just yet. Some things should just be "MADE IN AMERICA".
Is any of the processed foods we use safe? And what about our military? Who makes their food and what inferior product do they use?
We take a lot on faith. Faith that our processed food is safe, faith that our government is doing its best to protect us, faith that we're not accidentally poisoning our loved ones. Short of growing your own, what can we do?
 
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