NEW..Blue Buffalo Recalls ALL Canned Dog And Canned Cat Food

The frozen critters are "farmed" in sterile conditions. I actually did this too - I fed pinkie mice to Zhi when she was a puppy and my kitty when he was a kitten. I actually got them at the pet store! It's kind of odd - I have no problem feeding sheep's head and other bizarre, Wild Kingdom parts to my dogs and have no problem watching my cat eat a mouse he's caught, but it creeped me out to thaw and feed those bitty little things. [8D]

Always look for a company that raises the rodents/birds under humane conditions and euthanizes with CO2. I used to have a link to an online supplier I really liked, but that was many computers ago. []

ORIGINAL: Bobsk8

How do you know that the Rats don't have rabies?

Because they're raised in some pretty controlled conditions?? I certainly wouldn't want my workers raising half a million rabid rats, sounds like a bit of a lawsuit hazard to me...

www.rodentpro.com is my supplier of choice, check them out for yourself...

Q: Can feeder animals transmit diseases or parasites to me or my animals?
A: Yes, rodents in general are common carriers of sometimes fatal diseases such as the hantavirus and parasites such as rodent mites.  Your exposure to these diseases and parasites can be greatly reduced when your feeder animals are obtained from a reputable breeder and by never feeding wild caught feeder animals.  At RodentPro.com®, we take extra precautions to produce healthy and virus free feeder animals.  We monitor their health via laboratory testing to ensure you receive a premium quality, problem free feeder animal.  In addition, feeding frozen feeder animals will greatly reduce the risk of transmission of mites and disease pathogens to you and your pet.

How do you know that the Rats don't have rabies?

 
In addition to what others have posted, domestic rats are NOT carriers of rabies. Even in wild rats, rabies is VERY rare- and one the very rare occasion that they do get it, it kills them VERY quickly before any outward symptoms show and they have a chance to transmit it to anything else.
 
I'm sorry, but I have many pet rats, and I am offended by your suggestion that rats are filthy and rabid. They are as clean as the conditions they live in- and domestic rats are as different from wild rats as dogs are from wolves. How do you know your dog doesn't have rabies? Your cat? How do you know ANY of the animals you come into contact with don't have rabies? What about rats makes you think that THEY are likely to be rabid, just because of what they are?
 
Rats are clean, intelligent animals who make wonderful pets with personalities as individual as your dog, and they deserve the same respect. You don't have to like them- but you can respect the fact that other people do.
 
And either way, I never mentioned feeding my cat frozen rats- I'll feed her (along with my snake and ferret) frozen mice, who are not as friendly and personable as rats. Not that they're worth any less, just that I'm less likely to get upset over giving my cat a dead mouse than I am a dead rat.
 
Glenda, I'm sorry to derail- but hearing people make ignorant statements about rats offends me as much as people making ignorant statements about pit bulls. It's the same principal- don't judge something because you've heard nothing about it other than the negative stereotypes and misconceptions pushed by ignorant people.

I understand the digression, but now everyone please ...[sm=backtotopic.gif]

What's with the sudden obsession with always staying entirely on topic? Conversations naturally evolve into totally different conversations. If we have to start a new thread every time somebody wants to discuss something "off topic", this will quickly turn into a very boring message board IMO.

Some folks have plenty of time for this forum and don't mind the road suddenly changing directions.  But for those who have little time and are looking for specific information, imagine how frustrating it must be to click on the Blue recall thread and find a discussion on rats?
 
I'm willing to bet money that traffic on idog has increased dramatically since the first recall.....not neccessarily new members but lurkers looking for information.  And that's a big part of why this forum exists...to help share information and educate.  Consider the person who is at work and really, REALLY needs info clicking on this thread.....huh??  RATS???  What the heck does that have to do with Blue?  Are they using RATS in dog food?????  If they don't have time, which they probably don't at work, to read the entire thread, they are very likely to go away with some serious misinformation.
 
So while wandering around might be more fun and more interesting for US, I think we have to remember the original purpose of the forum.  Not that it can't grow and evolve, as it certainly has, but lets keep in mind that we, as a community, have a certain responsibility to JQP who stumbles into this forum for REAL information.
 
Janet is absolutely right.  We do need to stay on topic.  I too understand the digression, but it's time to take it back on track.
 
And just to be perfectly clear, this is NOT my personal opinion, but rather my official stance as the moderator of this area.  For anyone who doesn't LIKE that stance, I invite you to take it up with Kelly or Jaime.

I just want to say out of ALLLLL the companies involved with this most recent melamine situation with ANI, Blue Buffalo has impressed me the most in how they are handling the situation.

Even though their foods have not tested positive or caused any illnesses, as of yet, they pulled ALLL their canned food off the shelves in a TRUE "voluntarily" style. They're going to lose HUGE amounts of money from this recall, but the pulled all their canned foods because they couldn't be 100% sure and didn't feel it would be honest to "pet parents".
Sure, I know whent it comes down to it, it's ultimately the company's fault, but they seem to be handling it professionally and as compassionately as possible.

Are more recalls to come? I believe so. And it's SCARY as hell, but if ANI TRULY did this without informing the companies of what was going on (which is an answer we STILL do not have) then I feel bad for, at least, Blue Buffalo. Their message to their customers seems at least the most believable. And if ANI did do this without informing them, I hope they can prove it and sue the CRAP out of them and start manufacturing their OWN FOOD.

DS sold not a single bag of cat food yesterday and DID have a lot of questions to answer about the voluntary recall.  The dog food moved as well as normal, but many, many of the recalled products were the cat foods, and if folks buy wet for their cats they are less likely to go to kibble.
 
I too have been impressed with both the public response of Blue and the "inter-company" stuff thats gone on behind the scenes.

If you're up for it... the best home-made diet for cats is actually ground up small prey. You can order whole animals like rats, quail and rabbits (snake food) online, and have them shipped frozen to your door. Then you grind them up in a meat grinder and you have the perfect, home-made, balanced diet for cats.

 
 
I think I would pass out during the process......[sm=vomit03.gif]

ORIGINAL: chewbecca

I just want to say out of ALLLLL the companies involved with this most recent melamine situation with ANI, Blue Buffalo has impressed me the most in how they are handling the situation.

Its the opposite for me.  Any company that lied about who makes their food (which Blue did, imo) is on my crap list.  In the middle of this mess, that is just as dangerous to me as lies about what ingredients are in the food.
 
This wouldnt stop me from buying their product in the future, but it just means I'd go into it assuming the manufacture of the item I bought is outsourced like most of the other companies.

ORIGINAL: KCSO

ORIGINAL: chewbecca

I just want to say out of ALLLLL the companies involved with this most recent melamine situation with ANI, Blue Buffalo has impressed me the most in how they are handling the situation.

Its the opposite for me. Any company that lied about who makes their food (which Blue did, imo) is on my crap list. In the middle of this mess, that is just as dangerous to me as lies about what ingredients are in the food.

This wouldnt stop me from buying their product in the future, but it just means I'd go into it assuming the manufacture of the item I bought is outsourced like most of the other companies.

I didn't realize they had lied about who manufactured their food.

ORIGINAL: chewbecca

ORIGINAL: KCSO

ORIGINAL: chewbecca

I just want to say out of ALLLLL the companies involved with this most recent melamine situation with ANI, Blue Buffalo has impressed me the most in how they are handling the situation.

Its the opposite for me. Any company that lied about who makes their food (which Blue did, imo) is on my crap list. In the middle of this mess, that is just as dangerous to me as lies about what ingredients are in the food.

This wouldnt stop me from buying their product in the future, but it just means I'd go into it assuming the manufacture of the item I bought is outsourced like most of the other companies.

I didn't realize they had lied about who manufactured their food.

When the Menu Foods recall first started and [linkosted>http://www.thepetfoodlist.com]http://www.thepetfoodlist.com[/link] osted their list of who makes what, BB was listed (I am 90% sure) as "some foods made by CJ" and nothing else.  This was info supposedly confirmed with BB.  Then BB sent out an email directly to its customers saying something like "We do not produce any other products and are not produced by any other company."  Now when ANI is contaminated it comes out they make some BB products.
 
Dont get me wrong, I dont expect saintlyness from a business, but the deceptions just makes this recall business so much harder.