Dog foods tainted ...

ORIGINAL: MelissaDiscerningDog



Do you really want to be feeding your dog Wheat Gluten after reading that? I don't think so... I will admit I have never checked the dog food which I feed my pug with to see if it has wheat gluten in it or not but There are alot of dog products which advertise wheat gluten free and I guess everybody else has known something about the stuff all along...

Just so everyone knows... there is ZERO information on what is causing the toxicity, and therefore we cannot as of yet implicate wheat gluten as the source of the problem. Of course those companies that do not use this ingredient are going to go "sweet! we have a scapegoat" and wipe their hands clean. Very similar to wellness claiming that while their food was manufactured by this plant, it is not effected. I'd rather see them step up and be proactive like science diet was by recalling their unaffected formulas "just in case".

Lets all wait for some toxicology reports before we start jumping to conclusions.

Iowa State University, College of Veterinary Medicine
Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory –
RE: Pet Food Recall

There is a large nation wide recall of many different canned and pouched cat and dog foods from a number of manufacturers. The suspect pet foods contain ingredients from Menu Foods, Inc. manufactured in December at plants in Kansas and New Jersey. Wheat gluten is one of the possible sources of contamination being considered.

Affected animals have signs of kidney failure including mild to severe anorexia, lethargy, vomiting, increased thirst and urination. Laboratory results have included elevated BUN and creatinine. Fatalities have been reported. Autopsy and microscopic examination of tissues from affected animals indicate acute renal toxicosis including the presence of birefringent crystals, as well as other crystal formations. The effects are consistent with exposure to ethylene glycol and derivatives, mycotoxins, ochratoxin and citrinin, some heavy metals or vitamin D toxicity. At the present time the exact cause of this problem is not yet known. Investigations are continuing.

Consumers have been encouraged to stop using the suspected products immediately and consult local veterinarians if these types of symptoms are observed in their pet.

If you suspect that an animal has been poisoned veterinary toxicologists at Iowa State University College of Veterinary Medicine can confirm the presence of toxins in the food or samples from the pet. The Iowa State University Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory has the capability to analyze pet food for the suspected toxic agents described above and examine tissues from animals that have died. At least 2 cups of suspect food are needed for testing.

More information is available at the following Web Site:

www.vdpam.iastate.edu

The Iowa State University Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory will post information as it becomes available.

Sorry Dyan, I meant kennel_keeper... the "in reply to" at the side is confusing [sm=angel.gif]

Kennel, I appreciate you taking the time to explain your view... I am a business owner and a big part of my life revolves around my business...  It offends me very much when people discriminate against a business owner. It offends me even more when people call it spam. Because it's not... It's who I am... I own a dog store... you will hear me mention products every now and then. And you will hear about them because I endorse them. Does this not make any sense to anyone?

I do not know what you do for a living... but I am sure that someone must own a kennel here and there is not a doubt in my mind that they have used this as a means to find a dog a home. Which brings me to another subject... I am a volunteer member of Rescue. I do not profit from it in any way whatsoever. Will I get the boot if I post regarding that?

I mean? What do you guys do here?

Well... I think if you read the CNN article... One person says they are not 100% sure what the source of the problem is...

"At this juncture, we're not 100 percent sure what's happened," said Paul Henderson, the company's president and chief executive officer.

And right underneath that another person states...

However, the recalled products were made using wheat gluten purchased from a new supplier, since dropped for another source, spokeswoman Sarah Tuite said. Wheat gluten is a source of protein.

I think I'm going to trust the spokeswoman over the chief executive officer anyday...

And besides that... since when in history has soy-product been a part of a dog's daily diet... maybe a little grass here and there.... but soy? It's obviously filler... and you'll find many dog food manufacturers were promoting wheat gluten free prodcuts before this happened...

So basically if by some odd chance you can't pin the deaths on the soy product... you can at least pin it on the manfacturers of poor quality ( cheap ingredient ) dog food product...

You might want to change your sig.  I find it rather offensive when anyone ass/u/mes that we will dislike them because of what they do for a living and your sig really does go above and beyond taking the offensive.
 
I have spent my life in advertisng sales.  I also do rescue and fostering.  While I have placed pups through this forum, I did so privately and with folks that I have "known" for a long time and found to be extremely outstanding guardians.  The only part the forum had in the placement was that I knew folks and what kind of owners they were, through the forum.  And, yes, there was an adoption fee involved which is why all contact was done OFF forum.  We do have a section for people looking for pets and also for dogs needing homes though.
 
I think that it is foolhardy for anyone to point the finger at ONE particular ingredient at this point since an exact cause has yet to be pinpointed.  My son reps for Blue and I told him the same thing.....that I didn't advise that he make a big deal of the fact that Blue uses no corn, wheat or soy because while wheat gluten is the SUSPECTED culprit, it is not certain, but to rather focus on the fact that Blue does not buy product from this manufacturer and that Blue manufactures in a private facility.  In time this scare could trace all the way back to livestock fed tainted grain.  We just don't know at this point, so blaming wheat gluten isn't wise.
 
I would not feed wheat gluten solely because it is used as an alternate protein source.  I don't object to a "little", much as I don't object to a "little" corn in a formula, so long as the primary protein source is actual meat and meat meal.
 
FWIW, my job is a big part of my life and I rarely mention it on the forum.  I might talk about my foster pups when I have a litter, or I might talk about my volunteer work, but what I do for a living is not something most folks here are going to be terribly interested in.

You are right... it might be foolish to point the finger at any one single ingredient... But I am 100% against mass produced, cheap product food...

Did you know they recently banned Trans-Fat food in New York city... If we have been feeding ourselves such rotten food over, imagine what corporations have been feeding your dog.

I changed the signature because I was asked to by a fourm administrator do so... I have changed it to something that I hope both you, the admin and I can agree with... []

Sorry, but I don't believe that Big Brother has any right to tell me what I can and can't eat.  That just smacks my personal freedoms right in the face.  As it happens, I DO eat right and am very careful what I eat, and what I feed my dogs.
 
And yes, that sig is much more appropriate.

To stress my point ( since I am very upset that everyone is so easy going about this it seems ).

This is the list of recalled Dog Foods...

America's Choice; Preferred Pets; Authority; Award; Best Choice; Big Bet; Big Red; Bloom; Bruiser; Cadillac; Companion; Demoulas Market Basket; Fine Feline Cat; Shep Dog; Food Lion; Giant Companion; Great Choice; Hannaford; Hill Country Fare; Hy-Vee; Key Food; Laura Lynn; Loving Meals; Main Choice; Mixables; Nutriplan; Nutro Max; Nutro Natural Choice; Nutro; Ol'Roy; Paws; Pet Essentials; Pet Pride; President's Choice; Price Chopper; Priority; Publix; Roche Bros; Save-A-Lot; Schnucks; Springsfield Pride; Sprout; Stater Bros; Total Pet; My True Friend; Western Family; White Rose; Winn Dixie and Your Pet.

Nowhere on that list do I recognize any quiality dog food manufacterers... "Save-A-Lot"... I mean come on... the food which has been recalled all has one surpising thing in common... they are all bargain brand...

If this is not enough to make people realize that cheap dog food is the equivalent to living off MacDonalds, Burger King and Kentucky Fried Chicken... they I guess it will take a few hundred thousand pet deaths...

If someone can prove me wrong and point out one quality dog food manufacturer from that list then I will eat me words...


Here is a good article regarding bargain brand dog food... It is very common sense...

http://www.animalshelter.org/pet-tips/55/3_quick_steps_to_a_healthier_dog.html

ORIGINAL: MelissaDiscerningDog

If someone can prove me wrong and point out one quality dog food manufacturer from that list then I will eat me words...

Authority, Nutro Natural Choice, and Wegmans are all on the list. I consider those quality foods based on other peoples recommendations.

These foods are ALL "chunks and gravy" style foods. This has absolutely nothing to do with mass manufacture, and everything to do with the need for advanced technology and consumer demand. Hills science diet has foods on that list, and I consider them to be at the forefront of quality control (in manufacturing) having seen how their plant works. They cannot manufacture these special foods themselves, so they subcontract to a plant that meets their quality control specifications.

As of yet we DO NOT KNOW what the problem is, so playing guessing games and pointing fingers (I know, it feels good to say I told you so) is completely inappropriate at this time.

ORIGINAL: glenmar

Sorry, but I don't believe that Big Brother has any right to tell me what I can and can't eat. That just smacks my personal freedoms right in the face. As it happens, I DO eat right and am very careful what I eat, and what I feed my dogs.

And yes, that sig is much more appropriate.

I have nothing of quality to add to this thread, but I want to say a HUGE, HEARTY, AMEN to this quote.

I thouught Eagle Packs response to the recall was very diplomatic:

I know at some point any of the food companies could have a problem,,both pet and human,,,after all who would ever think they would recall Peter Pan...or spinach in a bag!!! But I'm glad that for now..us Eagle Pack users are safe!

They completely understood that if we don't know what is causing it, then there is no way to avoid it.

ORIGINAL: jenhuedepohl

I thouught Eagle Packs response to the recall was very diplomatic:

I know at some point any of the food companies could have a problem,,both pet and human,,,after all who would ever think they would recall Peter Pan...or spinach in a bag!!! But I'm glad that for now..us Eagle Pack users are safe!

They completely understood that if we don't know what is causing it, then there is no way to avoid it.

LOL, that's not Eagle Pack's response. [] Dyan wrote that. Notice the multiple commas that she uses.

oops! Sorry for the mistake! The kudos go to Dyan!

I went back and read the post and I can definitely see why you thought it was Eagle Pack's response, because it was added at the end of the same paragraph.

MissWiki said...

Authority, Nutro Natural Choice, and Wegmans are all on the list. I consider those quality foods based on other peoples recommendations.

You will have to dig for it but it is in the wikipedia itself which states the quality of Authourity dog food is a compromise of quality...

[linkhttp://www.google.ca/search?q=%22Authority+is+a+bridge+dog+food%22]http://www.google.ca/search?q="Authority+is+a+bridge+dog+food"[/link]

Apparently Nutro... is high quality... There is ingreient list is very healthy... I was worried that I was going to eat my words for a minute... Please read this...

[linkhttp://www.nutroproducts.com/mfrecall.asp]http://www.nutroproducts.com/mfrecall.asp[/link]

I will not bother looking up wegmans because I know they a grocery store... they will have no specialized interest in manufactering quality dog food...

I will say... Nutro Products looks like really good dog food to me and Petcurean ( Canadian ) is a good dog food brand as well...

If you want to pretend like something scientifically mysterious has happened which has killed pets then fine.... but I know mass produced corporate bargain brand dog food is crud...