Melamine in Corn Gluten Linked to South African Pet Illnesses
The 29 cases of renal failure in South Africa has been linked to melamine in corn gluten used in pet food. Corn gluten is used extensively in the US.
Tests have confirmed that Vets Choice and Royal Canin dog and cat dry pet-food products contained corn gluten contaminated with melamine, says the manufacturer.
The contaminated corn gluten was delivered to Royal Canin by a South African third-party supplier and appears to have originated from China.
We were tracking cases of the South African pet deaths before and have heard rumors of corn gluten contamination.
At this point, we believe that all corn gluten should be considered at risk for contamination and should be tested by every pet food manufacturer and the FDA.
Please help us track all pet food that contains corn gluten in this Forums thread.
Update: 30 pets die from contaminated food. A stunning quote:
An independent pathologist, Professor Fred Reyers said the outbreak may not be an isolated incident. He believed there was sufficient evidence to suggest a link between this outbreak and a similar one in Cape Town as well as one in the United States.
EDITOR’S NOTE: It was a difficult decision (and we know that some will accuse us of sparking panic) but based on patterns of development and expansion of recall in the US, Itchmo has issued an email Safety Alert to pet parents out of abundance of caution. We believe all pet parents should be given the information to make informed judgements to form their own reactions. We believe it is not up to us to decide what you should or shouldn’t know.
(Thanks to Howl911)
April 19th, 2007 at 6:54 pm
[i[Nancy said:
Here’s info that will make you sick—our pets were sacrificed to save 20 cents/lb of wheat gluten.
http://tinyurl.com/27qwlk
[/i]
Evy did mention earlier how production costs for pet food companies were forced up recently. I think some companies didn’t know if the increase in food would sit well with the general public. I’m able to barely pay $25 every two weeks for Natural Balance. Image if the cost all of a sudden rose to 28.00
I don’t feed my feline herpes girl, Paikea, any dry food. Others like to feed dry, but, low cost, good food is hard to manufacture, that’s a given. Hence, consolidation and such and bulk buying.
Has anybody really started to talk about good formulas for potential cat and dog food companies? A food that would be affordable yet nutritious, located in stores or online? I know a lot raw B.A.R.F. stuff has been talked about, but let’s face it: a lot of people can’t or aren’t going to pay a lot of money for pet food and even fewer are going to make their own food.
Anyway, just babbling again. OK, off to feed my cat. I hope she makes it through the expereince. sigh.
April 19th, 2007 at 7:19 pm
Dear All
If I have offended anyone by writing how well Kumpi has positively impacted my pets life…then I apologize. During all this time of recall as a pet person I wanted to let people know of a brand that I use and trust. Many people had been asking about that so I post. And when I see others make statements that are not accurate - then I will post as well. That is what forums are for.
To decide against a brand because folks believe I or others have posted so much about Evy and Kumpi then you are removing a good alternative to your pets diet because you got mad at me or others and your pets are the ones that might just be missing out.
So - for this post I will not write anymore about Kumpi or Evy. I know the results I see and I’m very pleased.
Best Regards,
Robert Davis
April 19th, 2007 at 7:27 pm
As someone who deals with product recalls as part of my job, I think it’s worth pointing out that it can take quite a while for a company to confirm information about manufacturing and distribution. Once they confirm they may have affected product, they test, communicate with the FDA, compose a press release, run it through all management and Legal, prepare phone operators with information for the inevitable calls, and then send out the press release and update the website. I’m not saying some companies don’t sit on the info for longer than they should, because I know for a fact they do. Some for a horrifying length of time. But, unfortunately, in the real world companies don’t tell the public “there might be a problem because we’ve used that manufacturer also”. They are in business to make money. They verify the info internally, then work to make the public aware in the best way they can without harming their business. The good companies are the ones who do it quickly (within days). The bad ones wait weeks.
April 19th, 2007 at 7:35 pm
evy - you’re heart IS in the right place. Sorry, I hit the submit by mistake.
April 19th, 2007 at 7:44 pm
I had a light bulb go off and hopefully someone here will tell me that I’m either right or wrong! I have carefully researched pet foods for years and not because of these recalls. In fact, I started because I always fed my vet’s preference (Hills) but still ended up with an obese cat who had IBD and diabetes and ultimately died of intestinal cancer. Thru my research, I came to believe that corn was not good for my cats and was likely the cause of the allergies that caused that IBD that ultimately created the likelihood of intestinal cancer and to top that off the diabetes issue. When we got our 2 kittens we began using corn free food. My vet is totally against raw diets and I respect that but work closely with my vet anytime I find a new food I’d like to introduce. Nothing gets fed that he doesn’t approve.
Many times I’ve read here that cats shouldn’t have grains, that they are carnivores and need meat diets. Okay, I think I understand the thought process. After all, years ago, before cats were house pets (and I do believe indoor cats will live the safest and the longest and the healiest) they ate birds, mice and other rodents rather than hanging out in the rice paddies or the wheat fields.
But this is where the light bulb came on. Years ago I worked at a brewery. GRAIN, grain and more grain is at a brewery. From the barley to the hops to whatever and the rodent population is incredible! Mice and rats eat grain. Birds eat grain, seeds, fruits and vegetables…I know, my garden gets carefully picked over when full! Since they are what they eat, doesn’t it stand to reason that cats were getting a well balanced meal by eating a bird and a mouse who first ate grains and fruits and vegetables? Taking that a step further, if we feed meats shouldn’t a well balanced food then include grains and fruits and vegetables to compensate for what the birds and mice ate?
April 19th, 2007 at 7:53 pm
Rhonda, I think I’ve read that by the time it gets through the mouse’s system, that the grains are broken down to a point where they aren’t nutritionally lacking at that point. But I’ll go ask on the yahoo group, Whole Cat Health that I’m on. I think I’ve read that someone there. It’s a good board for holistic talk on animal care. That and Holisticat, but their board has fees.
April 19th, 2007 at 7:56 pm
Thanks, I’d appreciate the input. I understand that by the time the cat eats the mouse that ate the grain that the cat isn’t eating the grain. But to me (and I’m not a rocket scientist) the cat is get the benefits of the nutrients that the mouse absorbed from the grains or that the bird absorbed from the fruits and vegetables.
Just trying to keep learning and making sound choices for my children…
April 19th, 2007 at 7:59 pm
Just feed your babies people food with veggies and other good things and a little olive oil in each batch. No worries then.
April 19th, 2007 at 8:02 pm
Fivecatsandadog - Honest Kitchen seems OK, not that it means much nowdays. Long before all this started I got some samples for my dog. He is a bit of a picky eater but he wanted NOTHING to do with it. I can’t really blame it, it reeked!
But, I do know some dogs who are on it and seem to like it. Just saying if they are picky try a sample first.
April 19th, 2007 at 8:13 pm
Chad, the Honest Kitchen smells like a health food store, when we mix it up thats what I think of. Very earthy smelling food, well at least Force is. My dog goes bizerk for it does a dance while waiting for it to hydrate and when the timer goes off look out. So just like us I guess they all have different tastes. We know a dog that turns up her nose at raw food, never saw that before, to each his own I guess. :)
April 19th, 2007 at 8:18 pm
roadchild - Seeing I’ve never been in a health food store I will take your word for it =).
Glad your dog likes it, I thought highly enough of it to try and switch him over but no go. Then again this is the dog who would much rather eat the .49 cent food that just reads “DOG FOOD” on a white lable then anything I would actually feed him!!
April 19th, 2007 at 8:22 pm
Rhonda,
In the wild, big cats take down their prey and eat the contents of the stomach. In most cases, this contains grains, grasses and veggies. They then eat the meat. Because of this, I’m not entirely convinced that cats don’t benefit from some amount of grain, and I certainly don’t think grain (in smaller doses) is harmful. Just because they are carnivores doesn’t mean then don’t eat (and need) other foods in their diet.
April 19th, 2007 at 8:33 pm
In the past when I had 1/2 time outdoor cats, I noticed that they would intentionally eat fresh grass.
April 19th, 2007 at 8:41 pm
Sorry Evy, my apologies, I would not want to hurt an innocent person’s feelings. I should not have made any assumptions regarding your motivations in writing your posts.
I had no way of knowing your true agenda, and you may indeed simply be trying to be helpful, probably are. Don’t know what got into me. We are all emotionally exhausted at this point, well, at least I know I am. I will try and find the itchmo forum.
I have many cats of my own and also that I foster, they will all probably wind up mine. I am a rescuer, love them all and am desperately trying to find out what is safe to feed them. So long, Have a good evening and good luck to you all.
April 19th, 2007 at 8:47 pm
“Evy I think it might be best if you refrained from posting your website or your company name in your posts as it is seen as a advertisement.”
I agree. Further, it’s considered a “no-no” on most blogs to mention one’s own business and products.
Here at Itchmo, we’ve read innumerable posts about the products. Itchmo has kindly featured your product several times — beyond what most bloggers would do. We’ve read enough. Thank you, but please no more.
April 19th, 2007 at 8:47 pm
Lori,
Thank you! It made sense to me that some grains, fruits and veges are beneficial. Your information confirms that for me.
Like Geff, past experience certainly showed an interest in grass, so they must know instintively that green things are or can be good for them.
Rhonda
April 19th, 2007 at 8:52 pm
For those who are interested, I just received an email from Natural Balance responding to previous a previous email from me stating:
We do use all US ingredients, and this is a case of one of our US suppliers not giving us what we asked/paid for. We directly requested US rice protein concentrate, and were obviously provided with something else. We will be making changes to our product purchasing to prevent such errors, and will likely be changing our suppliers.
April 19th, 2007 at 9:02 pm
Rhonda, thanks for that re: NB.
April 19th, 2007 at 9:13 pm
What about purina? like pro plan?
April 19th, 2007 at 9:15 pm
NB wrote Rhonda:
“We do use all US ingredients, and this is a case of one of our US suppliers not giving us what we asked/paid for. We directly requested US rice protein concentrate, and were obviously provided with something else. We will be making changes to our product purchasing to prevent such errors, and will likely be changing our suppliers.”
This humbled me for a moment. Then it dawned on me: How the hell can they claim this is the fault of their supplier? This ingredient WASN’T supposed to be in this product in the first place!! I printed out the google cached copy from 04/12 of the NB V&GP dry cat food that didn’t even list it as an ingredient. So how do I know if this crap wasn’t inserted into the normal/ultra NB food I’ve been feeding my animals?
I believe they made a better response than the other guys, but I’ve still lost all respect for them.
April 19th, 2007 at 9:26 pm
By “better response”, I mean their response in issuing a recall once reports of something wrong came in. I don’t mean their tap-dance explanation is a better response. If that wasn’t already apparent with my disgust. ;-)
April 19th, 2007 at 9:44 pm
Hey Chad,
You’ve got the dog that likes the toilet paper inner vs the $10 toy huh? That’s funny and I could see how that would be a benefit because HK isn’t cheap. ;) But I do understand picky eaters are no fun especially when you’re trying to teach them that just because they like french fries doesn’t mean they should eat them at each meal. Hope you found, or have already found a good healthy food he’ll eat. This thing is just wiping me out and we aren’t even dealing personally with a suspect food!
April 19th, 2007 at 9:58 pm
Usually I’ve heard estimates that the contents of the prey’s stomachs would amount to 5-10 % carbs and should be considered in a cat’s diet. It seems to make sense to me.
April 19th, 2007 at 10:27 pm
5catsandadog,
While I agree with your thought process, I also understand the flip side. From what I’ve heard other similar products were considered better because they had higher protein values so NB tried to boost their protein value with some rice protein concentrate in order to compete. It doesn’t make it right, but in the world of business you must be able to be above your competitor.
While everyone is very upset and angry over not knowing that this was added in advance I think that NB’s intentions were good and they believed they were adding a reputable product and intended no harm.
I was feeding this food and am incredibly thankful that I was not affected by the change. At the same time, even if they’d put the change on the bag, in all honesty I would have kept feeding it. I was avoiding ALL gluten and even purchased gluten free products for myself and my husband and this would not have been printed on the label as rice gluten. On the other hand I have to wonder why similar products had higher protein values…does that mean they were/are adding this protein without acknowledging it? That’s a scary thought!
April 19th, 2007 at 10:46 pm
Heather, my 5 cats have been on ProPlans (wet w/rice) and love it, but………….wheat gluten is the 4th ingredient (they said they don’t use the menu plant but do buy the gluten from all over including china, when i called), and the carb content is around 20%. We’re struggling with weight problems in a couple of my babies, so will be transitioning off PP to homecooked with no grains/low carbs.
April 19th, 2007 at 10:57 pm
Teric,
How did you find out Newmans food is made by Menu food. I couldn’t find anything like that anywhere. I keep changing food and the next thing I know, it’s recalled. I just bought some of Newmans food. I thought that brand was organic. When I looked at Merrick’s web site, it seemed ok, but farther into it I started to find Royal Canin products. I just throw out what I had left of that, which my babies love. I do have NB Venison can for cats and the Tuna and Shrimp which they love, but I’m afraid to give it to them. The tuna has brown rice flour. It gets more confusing everyday. I’m afraid I’ll hurt them just because of feeding them.
April 19th, 2007 at 11:08 pm
Hey everyone! I’ve been doing some research and I found this great site for homemade cat food. http://www.stretcher.com/stories/03/03jan27a.cfm
April 19th, 2007 at 11:09 pm
Oh, and can anyone tell me about Life’s Abundance cat food? Has it been recalled also? Thanks!
April 19th, 2007 at 11:40 pm
Rhonda - the mouse (or other prey) might have a bit of grain or other plant material in its stomach, but it would be a small amount and liely already partially digested. Cats lack the enzymes necessary to digest plant material.
In addition, cats often leave the intestines behind when they consume prey.
Even if the cat ate the entire mouse, and we assumed the mouse had just eaten and hadn’t digested much of the grains - it would be a very small amount. Certainly less than most commercial dry foods which are 25% or more carbohydrates. Mice are generally under 5% carbohydrate.
Check out catnutrition.org
April 19th, 2007 at 11:44 pm
Rhonda - I have to say NB intentions were not good. When I am evaluating protein in cat food, I want MEAT protein. They don’t need it from plants. The partially digested food from the mouse’s stomach and intestines contributes carbs and fiber - at about 5-10 %.
April 19th, 2007 at 11:47 pm
Rhonda, I was feeding my cat the NB venison and peas because I thought it was grain free. If I had seen rice protein concentrate on the label, I definitely would have questioned it. Also, that food is advertised to be a food for allergies….single source protein and single source carb. By adding a rice protein, doesn’t that defeat its purpose??? I think NB made a huge mistake by changing their food and I told them that.
April 20th, 2007 at 12:50 am
I have been reading the posts here almost from the get-go over food recall. I do want to say one thing before getting to my concern. The following is not screaming but emphazing my point. THE COMPLAINTS ABOUT EVY ADVERTISING HER PET FOOD I FEEL ARE UNFOUNDED. THE WAY HER POSTS READ TO ME IS THAT SHE IS SUGGESTING PEOPLE GO TO HER SITE TO READ AND LEARN ABOUT THE NUTRITIONAL FACTS OF THE ANIMALS’ NEED AS OPPOSED TO REPEATEDLY POSTING THAT INFORMATION. With that said I will also state that I do not use Kumpi dog food. so I do not have an agenda about Kumpi. I am on a fix income and have 3 dogs the smallest is 75lb and the largest is 110lb. I am worried and scared. I was feeding Nutro Max large adult to two and the Senior with glucosomine etc. Now that this brand and virtually all (barely) affordable foods are suspect— what do I feed my dogs? I agree with Barbara–it is getting confusing. I did learn years ago to only use foods that were preserved with natural preservatives when I raised GSDs. What good is feeding foods preserved with ethoxyquin, BHA etc even if they have the so called proper nutritional ingredients–still feeding killer food. So please someone tell me—is there a safe food that someone in my financial situation can feed the dogs? Or a recipe for homemade? I know dogs naturally eat grains. Mine would go to the barn and get an ear of dried corn and eat it on their own. Or catch fish out of the pond— so it is a natural food to them. Sadly we are not on the farm anymore and it gets scarier all the time having to buy processed food now. Do I have to give my dogs up and HOPE someone will adopt them that can afford the high quality food? There HAS GOT to be an acceptable medium somewhere. So please quit arguing about who is doing what and let’s just deal with the issues of bad food ingredients and what we can do for our animals. Yes write and b*tch to your representatives and congressmen. Get NAFTA repealed. But for here and how help those of us who are in a real bind about what we can feed.
April 20th, 2007 at 1:33 am
[…] rice protein concentrate. No illnesses are confirmed in relation to these items. Royal Canin also recently recalled pet food in South Africa due to melamine found in corn […]
April 20th, 2007 at 1:54 am
Royal Canin’s Veterinary diet Urinary SO 30 **may** also be contaminated.
In Feb ‘07, before the recall mess hit, Royal Canin’s Veterinary diet Urinary SO 30, both dry & canned, caused my kitty to have projectile vomiting within 10 minutes or so of ingestion. Regretfully, I tossed the bag of dry before the recalls started coming, but I do still have some of the cans. The ingreds list on Royal Canin’s website shows that the canned version is preserved with BHA/BHT (now THAT’S healthful, isn’t it?), and the dry version has …… corn gluten. Yep, gonna talk with my Vet re where to send that s**t for testing.
April 20th, 2007 at 2:26 am
Heather -
I’ve been using ProPlan Sensitive Skin & Stomach for my 3 dogs for years and all do well on it, including one who had GVD and is now tacked. That variety is fish based and has NO glutens, no rice, no BHA/BHT or ethoxyquin. Although I’m as twitchy as everyone else re waiting for the next shoe to drop, the ingredients so far seem safe. Per the ProPlan website, the food is mftd [i.e., not just distributed] by Purina in MO. Whether that is truthful or not, who knows.
Angel -
Yep, feeding 3 big kids is expensive. BUT, you will feed less with high quality foods because there are more nutrients and less filler, so the cost typically evens out. Of course, the question then becomes, WHICH high quality food is safe these days?
April 20th, 2007 at 2:53 am
At least Evy identifies herself as a pet food maker. My experience on the web is that whereever a controversy starts, stealth posters appear who pretend to be ‘average readers’ but are really there to do damage control and detroy any posters who have good arguments against their products. Evy behaves honorably, and doesn’t insult other posters. She is consistent and you can easily scroll by her.
I think itchmo posters have kept my cats alive. i am investigating all their suggestions and thank god have avoided two recalled foods that I had bought as substitutes for the food that sickened my babes.
I looked up Ohio Pet Foods mentioned above. They make dry food only, using only US grains. They also make their own brands which do include corn. http://www.ohiopetfoods.com/Recall.htm
I am keeping them under consideration as well as Life’s Abundance dry that the poster said is made by Ohio. However I have reached a point of distrust. Who makes their herring meal, or chicken meal?
I don’t care about a temporary ban on Chinese imports. I just want to know if an item is made in China. I can choose to buy something else.
Krogers labels their frozen Kroger vegetables with countries of origin. I check the label and buy USA, skip Mexico. That is why I only buy Krogers fozen veggies. That is why I buy only Ocean Spray cranberry juice - product of USA.
A lot of fish is Product of China. That means the ship is registered in China but the fish is from any waters. However, Chinese fishers use 50 mile nets that are destroying fish populations. Chinese ships are China or Latin America registered. And who regulates their food safety, freezer temps, or use of chemicals, insecticides or cleaning compounds?
I buy fish product of USA, Canada, Europe or New Zealand where at least the ships are paying Western taxes and subject to Western inspections. And frankly they have Western consciences, they aren’t police states run on bribery.
Give me the facts and I can make my own decisions.
If you don’t want to pay a web designer to update your web page ingredients list, take down that page. I coded screens for years. It is NO BIGGIE to disable a page. Takes about two seconds. Any company that publishes a false list of ingredients is commiting fraud.
If nothing else, go into the HTML text for that screen and simply insert into any sentence a statement that the list is ingredients is incorrect. The words on any screen can be located in the code with a simple search. use the edit key. NB has no excuse
April 20th, 2007 at 8:46 am
I’m with other posters on here that the safest thing to do (at the moment) is to avoid any foods with gluten or protein concentrate in them. If you google wheat/rice/corn etc. gluten, most of the manufacturers are in China so it’s not unlikely that there’s more China-product coming into the supply chain and we just don’t know about it yet. This is not meant in any racist way…I live in Asia and it’s just a fact that food process controls are not as tight here as they are in the US. Also, it’s quite usual for companies over here to “enrich” their product. So, for example, it might be that the Chinese manufacturers “enriched” the protein content in their Glutens by deliberately adding melamine (which was not known to be toxic at the time). Or, the other alternative is just that the controls are not in place to ensure the quality of the product. So, with what we know at the moment, I would advise everyone to avoid all grain glutens & protein concentrates.
April 20th, 2007 at 9:48 am
Nina,
Very well said.
Sounds like you’d be a good FDA commissioner!
April 20th, 2007 at 11:48 am
E Wem wrote: “At least Evy identifies herself as a pet food maker. My experience on the web is that whereever a controversy starts, stealth posters appear who pretend to be ‘average readers’ but are really there to do damage control and detroy any posters who have good arguments against their products. Evy behaves honorably, and doesn’t insult other posters. She is consistent and you can easily scroll by her.
“I think itchmo posters have kept my cats alive …”
How true about Evy, and that’s to her great credit. And it is insidious how marketing and PR people attempt to infiltrate boards all over the ‘net.
Your second paragraph — SO true. I have learned so much from all of you and from Ben/Itchmo, whose dedication and discipline in providing all the news constantly impresses me.
Separate thought re China/imports: It’s one reason I never go to WalMart. As long as American consumers reward companies like WalMart that make a fortune off cheap Chinese labor and lax oversight, we’ll never get these problems solved.
April 20th, 2007 at 12:23 pm
As responsible pet owners, we need to research what our pets need to be healthy, just like we do for our children. You don’t (I hope) stock up on the $.39 cent hamburgers at McDonalds because they are cheap and feed them to your family???
The ONE good thing, well good is probably not the right word..POSITIVE thing that has come out of all the pet food recalls, is people are FINALLY paying attention to what they are feeding their dogs and cats. There are MANY more bad foods out their than good foods and not just because of the Melamine and rat poison. There are some good quality kibble (a few), but as mentioned before, we may not know until it is too late if their distributors have made a switch on them. We don’t know if the “switch” has been made by our bread manufacturers, either.
If you are afraid of feeding kibble of any kind, you have 3 choices:
1. RAW, which requires much research to do it right or it will cause more harm and good. However, it IS the best, healthiest option for our pets.
2. RAW Frozen, from companies such as Natures Variety (there are others, but I can’t remember their names) which is sold in specialty pet stores. It has the meat, bone, vegi’s, and everythying you would put in RAW ground up into patties. Of course, it cost more than RAW, but is more convenient.
3. Dehydrated foods by companies like The Honest Kitchen and Natures Variety. These companies use human grade food, so if you are afraid to feed it to your pets, then you should be afraid of eating food yourself, because they use the same food we eat.
Of the three non-kibble options, RAW is the least expensive if you buy in bulk, which requires freezer space.
April 20th, 2007 at 12:30 pm
“Rhonda Says:
April 19th, 2007 at 7:44 pm
In fact, I started because I always fed my vet’s preference (Hills) but still ended up with an obese cat who had IBD and diabetes and ultimately died of intestinal cancer. Thru my research, I came to believe that corn was not good for my cats and was likely the cause of the allergies that caused that IBD that ultimately created the likelihood of intestinal cancer and to top that off the diabetes issue. When we got our 2 kittens we began using corn free food. My vet is totally against raw diets and I respect that but work closely with my vet anytime I find a new food I’d like to introduce. Nothing gets fed that he doesn’t approve.”
Rhonda, I am confused..you state that you fed your cat HILLS at your Vets recomemdation, and it killed your cat, yet “nothing gets fed that he doesn’t approve”????????????
Vets get most if not ALL of their “nutritional” training fron the pet food companies whose products (HILLS) they sell in their offices. I wouldn’t trust my Vet to tell me what to feed my animals anymore than I trust my Doctor to tell me what I need nutritionally….I would go to a nutritionist for that. And, most vets are against raw, because either they are completely uneducated about nutrition or they are concerned (rightfully) that people will not do it properly….here’s a steak fido….WRONG..
Please everyone….What a vet tells you is NOT gospel…do your own research.
April 20th, 2007 at 12:49 pm
Itchmo says:
“We believe all pet parents should be given the information to make informed judgments to form their own reactions. We believe it is not up to us to decide what you should or shouldn’t know.”
Thank you so much for this statement on your Friday home page! I do believe that I have the brain power to read and understand the written word and make up my own mind. Thank you!
I have just spent at least 30 minutes reading this thread and I must say, I am disgusted by some of the posts. The hostility is unbelievable. My mother used to tell me, “IF you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything at all.” Rather than trash someone or their post, try to post something positive and helpful.
In that vein…my cats absolute love it when I bring them cat grass from the little organic market by my house. It is organic wheat grass. They do not throw up after eating it, and I notice it in their stools when I clean the cat box. I would think that it is fiber and we all need fiber in our diets.
For those of you that would like to know what I am feeding my cats since the recall, since I didn’t feel comfortable with the Purina One Senior Protection Formula any longer:
1) Diamond Foods “Chicken Soup for the Cat Lover’s Soul.”
2) Wysong’s “Vitality.”
Both are holistic and dry foods. For a treat now, they get a tiny bit of raw hamburger (which they LOVE) or a tiny bit of cooked white fish. They did not care for the fish raw.
I am posting what I feed for distraught cat parents that are at a loss as to what to feed now. I have been feeding these foods for 3 or 4 weeks now and have noticed quite a difference in their energy levels. They eat less, which I attribute to the more meat vs. less filler grains in both foods. I am happy with both of these foods.
Please do not take this as some kind of advertisement, just a helpful post. I have had cats in my life for over 45 years. To me, life without a cat is not complete.
Sue
April 20th, 2007 at 1:48 pm
I decided to go to Wysong’s internet page to do some reading and I found the following:
http://www.wysong.net/menufoods.shtml
It is worth reading. They have addressed all the information and misinformation that they have found on pet blogs and message boards. They especially have answers to many of the questions and concerns from the posts on this thread today. I was surprised about what they said. These people are honest…I like that.
Sue
April 20th, 2007 at 2:13 pm
Mishele,
Sorry, I wasn’t more clear. The time span of years with pets has caused change of vets due to their retirement. My very first pets’ vet was the one who felt Hills was the best. So that’s what I fed. Some 28 years later I have new, young vets who are very open to “natural” and “holistic” foods. The new vets are not nutritionists, but I believe they have a better understanding of pet nutrition than I do, so yes, I do ask what they think and whether they consider the diet to be well balanced. That’s what I pay them for - their higher education and experience. That doesn’t mean they will always be right as no one is always right. But they are a resource. As for my old boy who died? I blame his diabetes and IBD on corn. But I fed the food. I was the one who wasn’t educated enough to understand the food allergies and the corn. So perhaps I’m the one the killed him rather than the food. Or perhaps I know that he and I had 15 wonderful years together and we loved each other and I cared for him to the best of my ability.
April 20th, 2007 at 3:24 pm
Rhonda, I am glad to hear you switched vets, the younger ones are definitely more aware of nutrition, just like doctors are.
I wouldn’t take all the blame for your babies illness. We (society) are taught to “trust” medical professionals, and if they tell us to do something, most will just do it becaue “they are the doctor”. That’s what I meant when I said the “positive” thing in the pet food recall is people becoming more aware and taking more responsibility in what we feed…We can’t kick ourselves for what we didn’t know in the past; we can only try to do better in the future.
April 21st, 2007 at 4:52 pm
I just found the ingredient corn gluten in Purina Cat Chow. I have been feeding my cats for a long time this product, but a few weeks ago I noticed that they threw up once or twice and today I see that you have posted corn gluten to be harmful. It is also found in Nutra Nugget Cat Food.
It is not used in the dog food by them, but it is in the cat food ingredient.
What can I feed my cats. It seems everything contains the corn gluten. I await to hear from you.
April 21st, 2007 at 6:40 pm
I’ve switched my cats over to Felidae. I have one dog on Science Diet Z/D Ultra and will probably keep him with it because everything else makes him throw up. I also have one dog on Science Diet Adult Small Bites. It does contain corn gluten, though, so I will try to switch him over to Canidae, but in the past he has always turned his nose up at anything but the Science Diet Adult. And my other dogs are on Canidae.
April 21st, 2007 at 6:45 pm
Gail King,
Check out websites for Felidae/Canidae and Natura.
http://www.canidae.com/
http://www.naturapet.com/
These two seem to get good comments here. Some other good foods as well.
I use Natura’s Innova. Tried Natura’s EVO, but switched to Innova because it’s lower protein. Vet was concerned that my kat kids may have subclinical kidney damage, so he thought the lower protein would be better for them.
Any questions, please post. Lots of folks here who know tons about the different foods.
April 22nd, 2007 at 8:00 am
I am the author of a couple of books on the pet food industry, “Food Pets Die For:” and “Protect Your Pet:” This is an industry that I have researched/investigated for over 16 years now. The Menu pet food is a massive recall but please stop to think about the other dubious ingredients that are in these products that our pets are eating on a daily basis. Pentobarbital, a euthanizing drug, was found in over half of the dry commercial dog foods the FDA/CVM tested a few years back. I believe about 42 foods were eventually tested (no cat foods were tested). Any drug in a food, human or pet, id deemed “adulterated” and pulled from the shelves. I questioned Stephen Sundlof as to when this drug would be removed from pet foods. His reply, “This drug is not approved for use in pet food; so it should not be present in these foods. That being said, CVM is not planning to undertake any special enforcement efforts to detect pentobarbital in pet food.” The reasoning is that pentobarbital was shown in low levels and therefore was unlikely to cause any problem in dogs eating this food. The reason it was tested in the first place was because vets were stating that it was taking more of this drug to euthanize dogs. If it was having no affect why in the heck did they test it in the first place?
Just my two cents.
April 22nd, 2007 at 11:22 pm
“e wem” wondered about OhioPetFood and the chicken meal and herring meal in HealthyPetNet’s Life’s Abundance. I just wanted to let you know that I received an email from Trilogy (the parent company of HealthyPetNet) and I posted it on my Safe Pet Food Blog. Yes, I am a distributor — none of the links on the blog go to my website so hopefully you will be willing to read what I post. Trilogy states that they use “only human quality ingredients from US sources”.
I have only the highest regard for the people I’ve associated with at Trilogy so I believe they truly do only source within the U.S. The formulator, Dr. Jane Bicks, is adamant about not using foreign materials because she has long known of their pesticide and fertilizer use.
Here it is if you’d like to see it:
http://safepetfood.wordpress.c.....s-sources/
And may I just say, I have always appreciate the Evy and the Kumpi presence on this forum.
There is an old saying by Martin Luther — I’ll convert it for pet usage rather than religious usage. It would go something like this: The city of [those who love pets] is like a walled city surrounded by death on every side. Each one of us has a place on the wall to defend. But we find ourselves pushing and shoving and trying to throw one another off the wall. We should be calling out encouragement to one another.
So, for all those who feel strongly about THEIR preferred safe pet food (and there are many great pet foods), God bless you! Hang onto your place on the wall.