Dog Community

Purina foods

Posted : 4/26/2007 7:02:20 PM

I know there are as many ideas on what to feed as there are pets in the world. We have fed Purina Pro Plan to our 5 Borzoi and 1 greyhound for the past year and their coats look great, they are in peak health (Alex and Ivy have taken points at the last three shows they were in) and if you read the ingredients this food rivals many small batch EXPENSIVE foods. Also see the following:
April 26, 2007

Dear Pro Club Member:

Nothing is more important to Nestlé Purina PetCare Company than the health and well-being of the pets whose nutrition has been entrusted to Purina products by their owners. The loss of a pet or a pet's illness due to pet food contamination is unacceptable to us, and a tragedy for those involved.

We want to take this opportunity to provide you with some valuable information about the recent limited recall of two Purina products - ALPO® brand Prime Cuts wet dog food and Mighty Dog® brand pouch-packaged dog food - and the possible confusion surrounding wheat gluten as a safe and good ingredient used in pet foods.

Nestlé Purina associates, most of whom are pet owners, feed Purina products. All of us are working diligently and with a total commitment to address and resolve this situation; to respond to concerns of consumers, customers and veterinarians; and to take the necessary actions to protect the health and well-being of the millions of dogs and cats who eat Purina foods.

We want you to know that wheat gluten, in and of itself, is not the reason for the recent recall of ALPO Prime Cuts canned and Mighty Dog pouch products. According to the FDA, the recall was due to a contaminant, subsequently identified as melamine, which was found in specific lots of wheat gluten.

Wheat gluten is a rich natural protein extracted from wheat or wheat flour. Purina has been using wheat gluten in its products for nearly twenty years without incident. In fact, the same quality wheat gluten that is used in pet food products is also used in human foods. Because we believe you might be concerned or get asked about the role of this ingredient as a result of the recall, please click here for a [linkhttp://www.purina.com/WheatGluten.aspx]summary[/link] of the current facts surrounding this issue.

On April 16, the FDA announced that a quantity of rice protein concentrate also was subject to melamine contamination. Purina does not use rice protein concentrate in any of its U.S. or Canadian products. We do know it as a commonly used pet food ingredient and normally another good source of protein when not inappropriately manipulated through contamination.

We also want you to know that our already rigorous evaluation and food safety program for our raw materials has been reviewed and enhanced to now detect melamine. Despite the fact that melamine is a completely foreign substance to food and should not be found in wheat gluten, we are now testing every lot of wheat gluten received for the presence of this contaminant. Further, we are implementing additional technology to further screen our pet food ingredients.

We encourage you to review [linkhttp://www.purina.com/WheatGluten.aspx]"The Facts about Contamination and the Pet Food Recall,"[/link] and share it with those you feel may be interested in the information, in order to provide clearer information surrounding the recall, wheat gluten and its important role in the production of our pet foods.

We pledge that Purina is doing everything possible to continue ensuring each ingredient that goes into our products is safe for pets. Please know that nothing is more important to us than protecting the health and wellbeing of the millions of dogs and cats who eat Purina pet foods. We continue to cooperate fully with the FDA during its ongoing investigation and rest assured, we will continue to take the appropriate actions necessary. This is a responsibility all Purina associates take very seriously.

We are confident that the Fancy and consumers can continue to place their trust in Purina products.

For more information and answers to [linkhttp://www.purina.com/recallFAQs.aspx]Frequently Asked Questions[/link], please click here.

Sincerely,

The Employees of Nestlé Purina PetCare Company

DakotaSpirit

Posted : 4/26/2007 7:05:57 PM

My golden retriever used to be on the Purina diet, but I switched her onto Canidae. As long as it is a food that works for your dog, that's great. I, personally, do not care much for it and will never go back.

jjsmom06

Posted : 4/26/2007 7:16:28 PM

Fooper, Welcome to idog and thanks for posting some info on the recall. If you look under the nutrition section you will find many more threads started regarding the recall and melamine if you are interested. As for Purina, if it works for your dogs than I think that is fantastic .. what I believe you will find many folks in disagreement about is this sentence:

and if you read the ingredients this food rivals many small batch EXPENSIVE foods.

Again, I think what you feed your dog is a completely personal decision, and if your pups are doing well on proplan than that is great.

Again, welcome to idog and can we see piccies of your sighthounds?? [

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sandra_slayton

Posted : 4/26/2007 7:31:55 PM

My golden retrievers are on Purina One, the senior formular for the 12 year old and the 7 3/4 year old, and weight management for the 5 year old. like you, i see my dogs doing great on and their physicals say the same. many here do not like purina at all, their dogs do not do well on it. I personally think it would be kinda silly of them to feed it if it doesn't work. On the other hand, some do feed purina and have great results and are sticking with it.

Not knowing from day to day what food will be recalled, I think every iota of information needs to be posted. It is getting down right scarey....correction, has gotten to be down right scarey.

tony

Posted : 4/26/2007 8:13:26 PM

I love Pro Plan and One, I have used many foods and Pro Plan gives me the best and most consistent results.

pudel

Posted : 4/26/2007 8:37:02 PM

I used to feed Pro Plan to my mini poodle and she did fine on it but since then I've switched to Canidae and Evo and never realized how dull her coat was before when she was on Pro Plan. Her poops were a lot bigger too. The reason I switched to begin with was because she stopped eating the Purina. Now she's losing interest in the Canidae - she's very picky.

mudpuppy

Posted : 4/27/2007 9:12:02 AM

you might want to go to [linkhttp://www.dogfoodproject.com/index.php?page=labelinfo101]http://www.dogfoodproject.com/index.php?page=labelinfo101[/link]
and check for yourself whether Purina's products really do have acceptable ingredients.

Rebecca Mallory

Posted : 4/27/2007 9:32:25 AM

I don't know if I agree with sticking with a food with (what I consider to be) inferior ingredients, because your dog is doing well on it now. I have known dogs who looked pretty good and seemed healthy on even the lowest grade foods- but paid the price later in life: Diseases, shorter life spans ect... That being said, I know there are dogs being fed low grade kibble who do exceed their life expectancy- but I don't want to take chances.

I agree with you about some of the so-called "premium" foods out there. I have seen many expensive foods that list corn as the first or second ingredient- yet still jack up the price for no reason, But there are plenty of premium foods that are worth the cost as well.

mudpuppy

Posted : 4/27/2007 10:24:37 AM

I have known dogs who looked pretty good and seemed healthy on even the lowest grade foods- but paid the price later in life:

yup. I used to feed Purina and sure thought at the time that my dogs were "doing well". Hah. Now I know better.

Phil Fennern

Posted : 4/27/2007 4:09:27 PM

Thanks for all the replies. As I first stated there are many different opinions and I would not think to say mine is any better than yours. All dogs are different just as people are.

Phil Fennern

Posted : 4/27/2007 4:15:02 PM

Alex is 3 yrs old and is field and conformation pointed

Margaret Tyler

Posted : 4/27/2007 5:51:12 PM

Beautiful dog. My opinion: I would wait until all this recall stuff has passed before switching foods. Purina has recently updated their testing equiptment to detect melamine, so I would say they are a pretty safe food to feed right now. Plus they do not use any rice gluten, which is the most current melamine infected ingredient.

While there are better foods to feed than Pro Plan, there are also worse, much worse. There's no doubt about it that Pro Plan does produce good results, but their are some concerning ingredients, like poultry by-product and animal fat and wheat, which is a common allergy in many dogs, including mine.

jjsmom06

Posted : 4/27/2007 8:07:27 PM

Alex is 3 yrs old and is field and conformation pointed

Alex is stunning... thanks for sharing his pic![

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