Blue Buffalo Spa Select Dry Formula for Cats Recalled
Due to the melamine found in the Wilbur-Ellis rice protein, Blue Buffalo has recalled one production run of their Spa Select Kitten dry food marked “Best Used By Mar. 07 08 B.”
Of the 4,752 bags produced in this one run, we were able to prevent the majority from ever entering retail distribution.
FDA confirms that Blue Buffalo is one of four other companies that received this supply.
Full release after the jump.
(Post bumped. Original timestamp 4:45pm Eastern)
IMPORTANT NOTICE
Voluntary Recall of Spa Select Kitten Dry Food
Dear Pet Parents:
The Blue Buffalo Company has undertaken a voluntary recall of one production run of our Spa Select Kitten dry food. The production code on the recalled product is:
“Best Used By Mar. 07 08 B.”
We have taken this action because the rice protein concentrate used for this run was obtained from Wilbur-Ellis, the same company who supplied this ingredient to Natural Balance. Test results received late last evening (4/18) indicated that this rice protein concentrate tested positive for melamine. This is the first and only time our manufacturing partner sourced an ingredient from Wilbur-Ellis, and we had no knowledge that they had imported the ingredients from China.
We have advised the FDA of this finding and will be working closely with them on this issue.
Of the 4,752 bags produced in this one run, we were able to prevent the majority from ever entering retail distribution. We are working closely with our retail partners to remove this product immediately and will be re-stocking the shelves with Spa Select Kitten dry food that was produced without any rice protein sourced from Wilbur-Ellis as soon as possible.
If you currently have a bag of Spa Select Kitten dry food, please check the code date and if it matches the one shown above discontinue use immediately and return it to the place of purchase for a full refund. If your cat has eaten any of the recalled food, please call your veterinarian immediately to discuss if there are any risks to your pet.
Should you have a specific question call our Customer Service Department at 1-800-919-2833 or email us at info@bluebuff.com. We understand your desire for immediate answers and we will be working to get back to you as quickly as we can.
No other Spa Select cat food or dog food, canned or dry, is included in this recall.
As a family owned company whose reason for being is to provide cats and dogs with the highest quality natural foods, we are extremely upset by this recall and can’t begin to apologize enough to our customers. From our perspective, it is unacceptable to produce even one bag of food with the potential to cause a pet to become ill, and we will further tighten our ingredient sourcing and quality assurance procedures as a result of this incident.
Sincerely,
Bill Bishop
President
The Blue Buffalo Company
April 20th, 2007 at 3:19 pm
Lori,
I’ve been looking for the info. about Menu doing Newmans food. Where did you find that? I’ve been looking.
April 20th, 2007 at 3:22 pm
Lori,
What about Newmans dry?
April 20th, 2007 at 3:35 pm
Newman’s Own Organics (verified by company PR firm 3/30/07)
At least some products made by Menu Foods but not involved in the recall.
Products not produced in the suspect Menu Foods plants.
Products do not contain wheat gluten.
All ingredients are certified by Oregon Tilth.
http://thepetfoodlist.com/petfoods_pg2.htm
April 20th, 2007 at 3:59 pm
THANK YOU!
April 20th, 2007 at 4:17 pm
Please let me say thank you to the folks out there willing to boycott all products made in China. What you all have to remember though, is that some of these companies that made the deadly pet food such as Iams, Eukanub and so forth, have many other products. Proctor and Gamble makes Iams. They also have many cosmetic and hair products. I had used Pantene for years. I will no longer use it. We as a people, need to not let our pets sickness and deaths go without making a stand. If everyone would just stick together and quit supporting this horrible, anti pet country, our pets deaths would not be unnoticed. There is not a single pet food out there that I now trust. Some of them seem to be taking advantage of the situation by raising the cost to such an amount that it is impossible for some multi pet households to buy it. Does anyone out there have good information on Innova? I surely would appreciate some feedback on it. I actually went out yesterday and bought Chicken Soup for Dogs made by Diamond because it didn’t have any of the deadlyl products in it, or so it said. I still don’t trust Diamond, but I had been using Blue Buffalo up until then.
April 20th, 2007 at 4:31 pm
Everyone,
I agree with Kathleen! I have already started. I haven’t heard anything about Innova, but if I do, I’ll let you know. I think it’s GREAT that so many of you have spent so many hours doing research. Boy, I thought I spent alot of time, but not near as much time as you all have. It’s ashame we have all meant under these condictions, but we all want the same thing. It’s so nice everyone is trying to help one another. See, there still are nice people in the world. Sometimes hard to find.
Guess what my kitties are getting for supper? HOME MADE HADDOCK!
Lori, thanks again for the site. I was just on it.
I’m sorry to hear of so many losses. My heart goes out to you. I know what it’s like to lose your friends.
April 20th, 2007 at 4:53 pm
Somewhere in the web of websites I read that Newmans was processed by Diamond pet food company.
So I went to the Newmans website and wrote an inquiry asking if that was true. No response. This was weeks ago.
Diamond had a recall on their dry dog food for toxins in Dec05 And Jan 06 after pets started to die.
During the subcommitte hearings on the pet food industry, it was said that the processing machines aren’t cleaned out but only when medical pet food was processed. Honestly, how truthful do you think this is?
And when tested other food kibbles were found mixed in a batch.
Personally, I wouldn’t buy any food that was processed by Diamond or Menu Foods.
Or IAM’s even though they are giving free food or coupons. My pet died after eating the dry food and they keep saying its safe.
And now its Blue Buffalo, after I had just spoke with them on Wed. and they come out Thurs that some of their food was tainted.
Now its the hogs being fed the tainted stuff and those are hogs processed for human food.
Purina has 2 companies in China, how safe do you feel feeding that to your pets. Beneful has come under fire for pets getting sick or dying.
April 20th, 2007 at 4:59 pm
Susan Pike. Help!!! I’ve tried sending an e-mail to the lawfirm you mentioned in your blog. It won’t go through. Do you know of another mailing address for them????
April 20th, 2007 at 4:59 pm
Kathleen,
I found info. on Innova. It sounds real good. Wet food made by Menu in the S.D. plant, but no racall. Verified 3-24-07.
Go to http://www.petfoodlist.com/petfoods_pg2.htm. Thanks to Lori, I now know this.
April 20th, 2007 at 5:06 pm
WHAT ABOUT THE BROWN RICE FLOUR. I FOUND THAT IN TUNA WITH SHRIMP IN NATURAL BALANCE? MY KITTIES HAVE HAD THIS AND SEEM TO BE DOING WELL, BUT I’M CONCERNED ABOUT THE FLOUR.
I’M TRYING MERRICK NEXT ALSO.
April 20th, 2007 at 7:17 pm
teric,
There’s a BB DISTRIBUTOR in CO. (I’m told by the owner of a small natural store here), but I’m not able to find out where it’s MANUFACTURED.
The address for BB is Wilton, CT so the manufacturer may be somewhere in that part of the country.
As screwey as the industry is, it’s hard to make an educated guess.
Maybe a BB employee will see this and post a comment.
How about it BB??????
April 20th, 2007 at 7:22 pm
I’ve found that Wellness Core Cat food and Caned except for their seafood variety have no grains in them at all. Finally a safe food! Fingers crossed and pray it stays that way. God Bless all of our furry kids.
April 20th, 2007 at 7:35 pm
Teric– thank you for your reply, and thank you for your research on Canidae. I really appreciate it, and the time you put in. Thank you.
Danielle– I did switch my pets and rescue dogs to Canidae about a month ago. I’ve been lucky to have dodged all the pet foods in the recall so far from the start of it, but I didn’t want to wait for new recalls to crop up, so I looked for a better food, which I want anyway. I’m far from rich, and have given up some pleasures and outings and such to afford to feed Canidae to my 5 dogs and 8 rescue puppies.
I knew nothing about pet foods, and believed Science Diet (which I had no problems with, senior feline hairball kibble and adult and senior dog kibble) and purina adult dog and purina puppy chow kibbles were great food!
But as I learned what’s in pet food due to the recall, and that there are actually healthy foods available, I switched to Canidae. I am still feeding Canidae as I research other options. I will probably stick with Canidae (grrrrrrrr) until the whole recall sorts itself out, since my dogs are doing fine on it. But after that, I’ll be switching. It’s important to me to be treated better than Canidae treats its customers, especially for my money.
Yes, you’re right — After reading so many posts, I do see it’s not just Canidae but lots of companies keeping information confidential. I just think it’s ridiculous not to know who owns Canidae or have a CEO or such to speak with. I couldn’t even report Diane because there’s no one to report to.
My big worry was that Canidae was secretly owned by a large commercial company masquerading as conscientious and healthy, but I’m beginning to think it’s small and family run, and the person who talked to me was sitting in a house somewhere with the main family. But that’s just a thought — I have no actual idea of the runnings of the company.
All of this is new news to me, as I research both the business and ingredient sides of the pet food industry. Since my cat won’t eat the Felidae, and is so, so finicky, I’ll be switching him to KumpiKat. At least Kumpi is forthright and the owner available.
In sum, I feel there’re two parts to a happy ending with chosen pet food — peace of mind, and healthy animals. Of course, I need both when it comes to what I feed my animals. They are my family members, my children, and mean the world to me.
Em
April 20th, 2007 at 7:43 pm
sherri,
I’m using Natura too, but switched from ECO to INNOVA because my vet was concerned about EVO having 50% protein.
He was concerned that my cats aren’t young and may have subclinical kidney damage, so the higher protein wouldn’t be the best choice for them.
Also, I tried KumpiKat, and my cats like it as well as the Natura.
April 20th, 2007 at 8:21 pm
I have been using Merrick also. I’m so paranoid over this and it’s taken on a life of its own with me. I have called Merrick several times… They don’t use rice protein or any other type of gluten type crap. I called them and asked what their “gravy” was made of and they said it was cassia gum. They have their own plant.. and said they only use U.S. ingredients according to the person I’ve talked with who also said their rice is the same rice that would be considered “store bought” by people. Having said that I still don’t trust anything any of them say. Im also concerned as I’m reading in different newpapers that some experts think that Melamine is NOT the culprit as even at higher levels it shouldn’t have caused the illness in dogs and cats…and I just heard the same thing on CBS news. I just read on another site that some vets think Cyanuric acid might be the culprit which has something to do with pool chlorine. Has anyone else heard this THIS IS NUTS!…
April 20th, 2007 at 8:38 pm
Gen — thank you so much for your reply and the link. I will definitely check it out.
Em
April 20th, 2007 at 8:44 pm
Kathleen,
That web site is htt://www.thepetfoodlist.com/petfoods_pg2.htm. Not petfoodlist although that is a web site also. Sorry for the confusion.
April 20th, 2007 at 8:46 pm
Thank you for the great new info, Danielle. As soon as my hungry animal mouths are fed, I’ll be spending my Friday night doing research with your clues. Your reply and your taking the time for me is very appreciated. Thank you so much! Knowledge is power, and it definitely makes me feel better to find out what I can. It’s the only way, at this point, I’d ever be able to forgive myself if one of my brood got the poisoned food.
Em
>>>>>Danielle Says:
April 20th, 2007 at 11:11 am
Em,
I did some research and I don’t think Canidae Corporation has a CEO. If it really is a fairly small corporation, it might not. Corporations generally are only required to have 2 officers, President & Secretary. Anyway, the President of the corp. is John Gordon. See here: http://www.manta.com/comsite5/.....;id=htzdj.
The California Secretary of State charges for copies of annual reports listing the officers. The only information available for free on their website is the agent for service of process (who to serve a summons on if you sue them.) If you don’t want to order a copy from the SOS, I would send a letter to John Gordon at the service of process address, which is usually the address where you are most likely to find the agent. Hope this helps.
Danielle Says:
April 20th, 2007 at 11:19 am
Em, Just noticed that link isn’t working. I found it by doing a Yahoo! search for “Canidae Corporation†& president (use the quotes) and it was #8 on the results list. >>>>>>>>
April 20th, 2007 at 8:56 pm
No problem, Em. I’m quite obsessed myself with checking all the blogs to see if there’s something I’ve missed. I feel sometimes like I’ve become a cheerleader for Canidae, but after all my research that’s the best I could come up with for my 3. I also think Orijen sounds good (but not available in my area) and Evangers (not big enough bags for my boxers). They are both produced in their own plants. I used to feed Wellness and the Canidae is about $10 cheaper for an extra 10 lbs.
April 20th, 2007 at 8:57 pm
Jenny– thanks for the extra info. on Canidae. I feel I’m finally getting somewhere with the generous replies here. Thank you!
Cheryl in CA.– you wrote:
>>The whole “confidential†manufacturing is just a big fat clue that they don’t trust where their food is being processed. >>
That’s also my belief and fear.
Em
April 20th, 2007 at 9:38 pm
What is the organization that certifies pet food - four letters that starts with an “A”? My vet mentioned looking for that certification on the smaller “natural” food lines. (Today she recommended Bill-Jac, but who knows what’s in any of the foods.)
KC
April 20th, 2007 at 10:01 pm
To: sheri in ct
Kay Says
Might be best to stay away from the BRANDS for a while, at least until they get their grain elevators cleaned out.
Also, the fact that some of the BRANDS decided to get involved with MENU foods is disappointing, and many folks have switched.
Also, we’ve learned that there many non-BRAND foods that are much better quality.
Lots of good info posted tonight about good foods.
April 20th, 2007 at 10:17 pm
Lorie,
Thank you for your response… I just bought a few cans of Merrick tonight and will try it. Do you think the smaller cans are safer than the large ones? I am so afraid to feed my babies any pet food now and I am even reading books on making my own dog and cat food. My husband and I feel that our dog and cats are our children… I am sickened by this recall. Companies selling any type of food in this counrty should be watched over more closely… we all need to write letters to our congressmen!
April 20th, 2007 at 10:24 pm
I thought “we” had mentioned in earlier posts that the Merrick’s have rendering plants in TX and that Mr. Garth Merrick sent a letter to the FDA denouncing them for not wanting to continue to allow them to use dead (downed) cattle from the Wisconsin Dairlyands. (Now if this company is in TX–I’m not sure how “fresh” those cows tend to be once the are found dead out in the pasture and then shipped to TX). I’m not sure Merrick is a safe food? Anyone find out the Merrick Rendering plant connection with the dog food producer Merrick?
April 20th, 2007 at 10:33 pm
Cattailgal,
Your vet may be referring to AAFCO, that’s the Association of American Feed Control Officials, Inc.
http://www.aafco.org/
“The term AAFCO stands for the Association of American Feed Control Officials. A basic goal of AAFCO is to provide a mechanism for developing and implementing uniform and equitable laws, regulations, standards and enforcement policies for regulating the manufacture, distribution and sale of animal feeds; resulting in safe, effective, and useful feeds. The Association thereby promotes new ideas and innovative procedures and urges their adoption by member agencies, for uniformity”
Just one person’s opinion, but if AAFCO was doing what they claim to do, I wonder why the recall happened?
That might be an interesting question to ask your vet.
April 21st, 2007 at 12:36 am
Concerned and Worried,
My heart goes out to you, I am so, so sorry to hear you lost your dog. Brought me to tears to hear you blaming yourself, although I understand your feelings and would feel the same too. But, really, it’s nothing you did — the responsibility lies with the pet food people and lax laws. You, nor none here would knowingly give a pet something poisonous.
Thank you so much for your words about Canidae — you made me feel so much better! : ) I ditto all you say. You said exactly what I think and feel. It’s such a sensitive, worrying time for pet owners, and our worries are well founded and documented. On top of that, we get lies and beytrayals for our money and trust, and no remedy, and never a remedy, when a pet has died. Nothing can remedy that. : (
We surely don’t need cust. service reps like Diane, when we just want some peace of mind and a safe food, and the right to know what we need to know to accomplish those goals.
you take good care, and please hang in there,
Em
April 21st, 2007 at 9:38 am
DOES ANYONE KNOW ABOUT A COMPANY CALLED AZMIA HOLISTIC ANIMAL CARE DOG FOOD……???????????
I was feeding my do Natural Balance Venison and Brown rice and have stopped. I am looking into Azmia Holistic food and was wondering if anyone can give me heads up about this food.
Thank you.
April 21st, 2007 at 10:20 am
I didn’t know that about Merricks owner…. it seems that greed has touched everyone in the pet food industry. Funny, when I called about the recall on the rice protein, the woman said they at first thought it was Venison and that they got their Venison from New Zealand to avoid any mad cow disease… yet the owner threw a fit when they told him he couldn’t use downed cows? This makes me sick….
April 21st, 2007 at 10:28 am
I did a careful search for new dry cat food and ended up choosing Fromm Gold Adult dry. The website lists quality, premium ingredients. so I went and special ordered it and picked it up yesterday. As I was starting to feed my cat the new bag, I started reading the bag!One of the top 10 ingredients is RICE GLUTEN!! That is NOT what their website lists, so I called them. I was told they stopped using RICE GLUTEN over 1 /1/2 years ago, but they are using old bags with the wrong ingredients list. So is this a case of an “innocent’ error in good judgement to save money on bags and most likely lose more customers in the long run. Or is a a big lie and there really is RICE GLUTEN in the food?? I just feel badly for the feed store where I purchased it, he had to buy 4 bags and now I am returning mine. BTW, Fromm said that my bag, dated Nov 07, was manufactured in Nov 06, well after the ingredients change, and gave me option of believing her and using it or I could return. Guess what I’ll be doing??They also said they were coming out with a press release this weekend. Buyer beware!How can it be legal or ethical to not have to change your ingredients list within a timely fashion (weeks not years)?
April 21st, 2007 at 10:31 am
I just wanted to post something about companies keeping the names of co-packers confidential. I used to work for a law firm that represented a major chemical company. This company would sign contracts with the company that was producing their formulas for them to ensure that both sides kept this agreement confidential. I believe the same thing is happening with pet food companies. Neither side wants the agreement made public in the event something goes wrong. Some companies refuse to give out the information about who produces their products because if they do, they will breach the contract, be subject to heavy damages and probably lose their packer. From a legal perspective, they are trying not to get sued by their packer. From a PR perspective with customers, it is not good for the company who is seen as lying. But the laws right now protect this secrecy and that is where the problem lies. The companies are caught in the middle, and the only way to get full disclosure is for Congress to pass a law mandating disclosure of where the pet food is manufactured. Then companies have to comply, no matter what their co-packing contracts say.
April 21st, 2007 at 10:33 am
I feed Merrick to my dogs. I have emailed them 2xs in past, one about a question about kibble style treats (there are none) and lately concerning the recall (I wanted to verify they are using US products, etc), they’ve never responded to either email, which doesn’t necessarily mean anything, but is suspicious, just in good customer relations .I usiualy don’t feed the beef variety, but I did buy one small bag as a variety, is there a problem with the beef? Anything else I should be aware of??
April 21st, 2007 at 10:40 am
Linda.. I have called them several times and the woman was very helpful (her name was Ruby). Try calling them during the week at 1.800.664.7387.
April 21st, 2007 at 10:49 am
Thanks Cathy , I will call them!
April 21st, 2007 at 10:56 am
A question regarding Newmans - the cans have a “certified organic’ by Oregon Tilth on them. (What the heck is “Oregon Tilth”?????), and how can they certify it as organic if there are imported ingrediants in it, without knowing what conditions the foods it contains are grown under or what might be added or done to them prior to the shipping?
And thinking on it, ditto for Blue Buffalo! “Organic” statements have an implicited meaning to them which would seem to be misleading, at best, if the maker cannot also “certify” that they are fully aware of the growing conditions of ANY items. Or do they just take the word of everyone from the grower, seller, manufacturer and distribution of ingrediants folks as true? I’m confused as to this…and as to what “organic” is SUPPOSED to mean as opposed to DOES MEAN. I now have to see if I can google “Oregon Tilth”! - Eileen
April 21st, 2007 at 11:40 am
Just found “Oregon Tilth”….and the organization indeed certifies organic foods……and certifies the products in them. The web address, for those interested is: http://www.tilth.org/
So, how can they certify the contents if anything might be imported. I’m going to have to ask them.
April 21st, 2007 at 11:46 am
e wem:…..
Just went to that link you posted …showing how China treats animals!
You were so right when you warned people about going to that link if they cry easily!!!!
My curiosity got the best of me…so I went to it!….But I couldn’t stand it..I was blubbering away not even 1 minute into viewing the utter cruelty!!!! I left the site immediately…..it’s so disturbing..and….unfortunately, it’s so real!!!………
Gotta’ go……I need a box of tissues!!!!
April 21st, 2007 at 11:56 am
Cory, I am only using the Seafood varieties of Merrick, there are the rumors about the rendering plant, but at his point does anyone really thing there are not render animals in all the food. At least so far it is not poison. Fingers crossed. People up until a week ago where praising NB Venison products do they really think those deer are not road kill. Deer carry more illness then cows, and the lady at the pet food store told me to stay away from chicken products not only for my cats but for me because the put arsenic in the chicken feed to keep the bugs out. GREAT.
April 21st, 2007 at 12:21 pm
Btw…..I also seen a comment above regarding “China’s hosting of the Olympics”.
I made a comment on here (Itchmo) yesterday….can’t remember where (sorry)….about doing the very same thing! It was after I had read the Pittsburgh Trib. article, which had commented on how Chinese Officials were hanging the phones up on people etc….and other non-compliance actions that they have taken……that I thought……hmmmm……these SOBs DO NOT deserve to host the Olympics (that they will no doubt make substancial gains from!)……
AND….since it has NO DOUBT trickled into the HUMAN food chain…..deserves the attention of the W.H.O and the U.N…….who could have China banned as the Olympic hosts….for safety reasons of course!!
There are many other countries (such as USA and Canada) who allready have the facilities (from past Olympics) to take over as the host country!!!
I say…..BAN CHINA’s HOSTING OF THE OLYMPICS!!!!!!!
Surely, if enough on-going action is taken that way…….it will also garner the attention of news networks!!!!
So…how should we go about this???? Who’s got some really good contacts to start this thing going?….Let’s do it!!!
I may lack the political savvy…..but hey!!!…..I’ll strap that sign on me and walk 24/7 with it on!!!!
Besides, it’s better excercise than sitting in front of the computer all day!!….Plus the weather is really getting nice!!
Any comments?
April 21st, 2007 at 2:49 pm
I started feeding EaglePack - I know they use menu but I asked them about their ingrediants and this is what they sent me. “We at Eagle Pack are being up front with all our customers. Our plant is in Mishawaka, Indiana and we do have an onsite lab, where all of our ingredients are tested.
We buy all our grains from the US, and they are all grown in the US. Our rice is from and farmed in Arkansas, Corn is from and farmed in our own state of Indiana, Oatmeal is from and farmed in Wisconsin, Flaxseed is from and farmed in North Dakota, and Beet is from and farmed in Michigan, and also processed into Beet Pulp in Michigan.
Our Pork & Chicken are from the US.
Are Duck is from Germany, Lamb is from Australia, and Fish is from the ocean waters or Argentina.”
Any thoughts or comments on EaglePack?
April 21st, 2007 at 6:38 pm
It sounds good, BUT who knows at this point. It would great to be able to believe someone now. I know I’m washed out from this. I don’t know about anyone else.
April 21st, 2007 at 8:29 pm
Eileen,
Thanks for the onfo. about Newman pet food. That was one guy I thought I could trust to put his name on something good. Well, wrong again!
Rhonda,
Where did you find the news about Merrick using dead animals?
Lori,
Do you know for sure if NB was using road kill in the Venison. I sure would like to know if thats true. I hope not.
April 21st, 2007 at 8:55 pm
As far as Eaglepack, I would check on thepetfoodlist to do more research.
April 22nd, 2007 at 3:17 am
Barbara, I am not sure o anything at least point it is 3AM an d I am up with my Cats, the little one is acting odd again…………………….now I am afraid of the food I have been using since March. Can someone please just make this madness end. I have all ready been burned once could I have possibly made a bad choice again. As far as the venison in NB goes where would they get all those that deer meat……………………….all I can figure after everything we have heard is slaughter house left overs at hunting season and road kill. My nail tech from Vietnam told me she only feed her dog people food because her uncle back home owns a chicken farm and has a specail dumpster on the property just for dead chickens to be put in for the pet food people to come and get. ICK
April 22nd, 2007 at 11:27 am
Lorie… I hope your little one feels better soon! Do you think this acting odd was from the Merrick?
Also, what do we know about Menadione?
This is absolute madness!!!!
April 22nd, 2007 at 12:20 pm
Summit Pet is another one who distributes Blue Buffalo, with sites in both NC and GA.
I still do not have information on who manufactures their products however.
April 22nd, 2007 at 12:45 pm
Some info for all of you. I DO NOT WORK FOR BLUE BUFF!!! I am active in the German Sheperd Dog Club of America and I co-authored the 2007 Blue Book, a health and genetics book, for the GSDCA.
I just got off the phone with a Blue Buff canine nutrionist. I had called Blue Buff, quite concerned, as I feed Blue Fish and Sweet Potato to my dogs. Blue Buff returned my call quickly and on a timely basis.
Blue Buff’s food is made at CJ Organic Foods and their canned foods and health biscuits are made at ANI- American Nutrition Incorp. Both of these facilities are certified organic facilities where human food is also made. These companies are members of the American Institute of Baking, where only certified organic goods can be made. The inspection records show these 2 entities to have a superior/excellent rating on their inspections. Sterilization of the equipment is mandatory in such facilities.
Blue Buff randomly tests all their food and continues to test until the expiration date on the food bag. They also save samples of every ingredient of every single batch of food, so retests can be made, if necessary! They have strict qualifications as to their criteria for ingredients that goes into their food. One of their suppliers ran out of an ingredient, and without notifying or authorization from Blue Buff, outsourced to China. Again, I reiterate, Blue Buff did NOT authorize this, and has FIRED the company that took this action behind their backs. The new suppplier hired by Blue Buff has guaranteed and signed an agreement they will adhere to Blue Buff’s high standards.
I hope this will clear up some of the confusion about where Blue Buff food is made, and the high quality of standard adhered to by Blue Buff.
April 22nd, 2007 at 12:47 pm
UGH- too hurridly posted, as I am going to mygrandaughter’s birthday party and I am late- I made the ridiculous mistake of typing sheperd- of course it should be ShepHerd… UGH!
April 22nd, 2007 at 1:17 pm
Lori,
How is your little one doing this afternoon? Hopefully she was just tired.
April 22nd, 2007 at 2:59 pm
Guys this whole thing has me drove crazy, now I am scared of Merrick also. Geisha was having the same funny mouth gestures but less severe she that she had when she was poisoned. Bigger cat Topaz seems fine though……………if I live through this ordeal it will be a miricale. I am trying to stick with cooked chicken for now and trying to tell myself maybe just the one can was bad for whatever reason that I feed them last night threw the rest away this AM.
Does any one know if cats who where all ready exposed to a tainted food can just have a relapse?
April 22nd, 2007 at 5:50 pm
Lorie,
I had a CRF cat (chronic renal failure, as opposed to an ARF cat, acute renal failure, as occurs with poisoning) and she did have periodic relapses due to her initial renal failure. I’m not saying that’s what’s happening to your Geisha, but with poisoning or CRF, the kidneys are damaged and the kidneys do not regenerate cells, so what you’re left with is what you’re left with, kidney function-wise. The kidneys do a lot of detoxing for the body plus absorption of needed nutrients, and it can be tricky to take over manually to help the damaged kidneys work most efficiently. If you can afford to, perhaps another blood panel could let you know where her kidneys stand. Renal failure cats need to be followed by a vet and meds/interventions adjusted from time to time.
good luck, I’m so sorry your babies were affected,
Em