Scared about food recall and what to buy now

K

KimDW

Cathlete
I feed my dog NutroMax Mini Chunk dry food. I need to get her some more food either tomorrow or Saturday and even though this dry food is not on the recall list I am still worried about buying it. My groomer told me about an all natural dog food store locally that she's been going to and suggested I check it out. This seller used to buy her organic food online and got tired of the shipping charges so she opened her own store out of their home. Does this sound like a good idea to buy from her to you guys? I've always heard it's not a good idea to switch your dog's food all at once. I'm going to call my vet today and ask his opinion. He'll probably tell me not to worry about feeding her the Nutro since it is dry and not on the list. But this list just seems to keep growing.

I need advice.
Thanks,
Kim
 
Hi Kim,

I'd say the new store is worth checking out.

Here's a link to a list of foods that are NOT on the recall list, maybe it'll be helpful in finding another brand. http://www.thepetfoodlist.com/

The generally accepted method I've seen about switching foods is to do it over the course of a week or two, mixing the old food with the new and gradually increasing the amount of new food over that time. In my experience, however, I've switched my dogs' food all at once without ill effects. Every dog is different and some may have more sensitive stomachs than others, so YMMV.

HTH
 
Kim -

On the advice of many people - some on this forum, some not, I'm switching my dog and my new puppy to human grade food. It's not cheap, but it only uses ingredients that are suitable for humans (dog foods are actually quite scary!).

I'm using Canidae (www.canidae.com). But I've heard Newman's Own Organic is good as is Buffalo Blue. I'll bet that store carries a few of these. It's worth it to check it out, but do expect to pay for these.
 
thanks for the info. i have passed it on to my friends. greatly appreciated.

christine, not to interrupt this thread, but i read "new puppy". i am happy for you. would you mind sharing in a post? i checked and i dont think i missed anything.

suri
 
It's hard to believe any of the commercial dog food companies anymore. Before I started feeding a raw, homemade diet to my dogs, I fed Nature's Variety (www.naturesvariety.com), it is human grade ingredients. I was rotating dry and raw frozen.

I heard PetPromise is also a good brand. What is the brand that she is selling out of her home?

I know that it is generally said that you shouldn't switch your dog's food. I personally think it is a myth and a brilliant ploy of the petfood industry. I think like us, pets need a variety of food and not switching your pet food every once in a while may result in an overload of specific nutrients and toxins contained in the particular pet food.

When I was still feeding kibble, I would change around a lot, actually from one day to another, without any problems. Maybe I was just lucky that ALL of my dogs have robust stomachs :-

Good luck with finding the right dog food for your furry friends.

Carola
 
Thanks for the ideas. I'm going today to see what kind of food this lady has. I also talked to the vet and she said that I will be OK still feeding her the Nutro Max dry but if I do buy organic or all natural then I should look for a statement by the AAFCO saying that the food meets their guidelines and then it is safe to feed.

Kim
 
Tell me about it. I have 3 cats and just lost a 9 year old to renal failure. Don't know if it was food related, but I'm scared to death.

I just got a new kitty and they had her on Nutromax dry and sent her home with a bag of it. When I saw wet Nutromax (exact brand also) was recalled, I promptly returned it to the store. I'm afraid cuz the way I see it - if there was a problem with their wet food, I don't trust the dry.

I bought Purina One (which I've been feeding my adult cats). It doesn't have wheat gluten and I don't think any cat products of Purina's were recalled. From what I understand (and correct me if I'm wrong), they think it was infected wheat gluten that was the culprit. I bought food with corn gluten instead.

I am having difficulty finding treats for my cats though, as some have been recalled and I can't find many without wheat gluten.

This is terrible. It's ridiculous that we all have to worry about something like this. I love my babies!! I don't want anything to happen to another one!
 
From what I understand
>(and correct me if I'm wrong), they think it was infected
>wheat gluten that was the culprit.

The wheat gluten wasn't infected, the FDA thinks the culprit is the melamine (which usually is a component of fertilizer and plastic utensils) that was found in the wheat gluten.

One theory that was released by the FDA (I am not sure it is true but it wouldn't surprise me) said that at some point in the production the melamine was deliberately added to "boost" the protein content for either a bigger profit or to save cost. NICE!!

Carola
 
Hi Kim.
You might want to check out Whole Dog Journal. They have a list of approved foods. One of our dogs we feed raw diet but the other one couldn't handle it so we feed him Eagle Pack. It's so scary that you just don't know any more who to trust. I figure we are in control of what we put in our bodies but our poor four legged friends don't have control(except when they find something "yummy" in the pasture!).
Good luck!
Wendy
 
I just found her website and the brands they sell are:
Nature's Variety
Solid Gold
Eagle Pack
Artemis
Pro Pack
Merrick
 
I've switced over to Canidae. I did it slowly over a week or so, adding more Canidae as the days went by. My dog has a sensitive stomache and this seemed to work well for her.

I do alot of ordering from PetEdge and received an email about another recall on some jerky treats. It's not wheat gluten related. This one is from salmonella. Can you believe that? It's like our pets are getting the lowest quality of everything. The trust is definitely gone in the Pet food industry.


Here is the Email: NEW RECALL FOR SALMONELLA

Dear Valued Customer:
One of our suppliers, Eight In One, Inc. has issued a voluntary
recall of all Dingo CHICK'N JERKY treats due to company concerns
that the jerky treats have the potential to be contaminated with
Salmonella. Salmonella can cause serious infections in dogs and cats,
and, if there is cross contamination, in people, especially children,
the aged, and people with compromised immune systems. The Food and
Drug Administration is aware of this recall.

The products subject to the recall are Dingo CHICK'N JERKY 3.5 oz.
(ZX34125) and 8 oz. for dogs (ZX34108.) We have removed these products
from our warehouses. We recommend that you pull these items from
stock and dispose of the product. Whether you purchased these products
through PetEdge, or from another source, we felt it was important to
share this information with our valued customers for the health and
safety of your customers.


http://www.thesmilies.com/smilies/sports/barbell.gif ~Dallys~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

www.picturetrail.com/keeponthesunnyside

"The most effective workout isn't necessarily the longest or the hardest; it's simply the smartest."
 
Hi Kim,

Those look like good brands. I have my dog on Nature's Variety dry and Merrick wet foods, plus some fresh stuff here and there, and he's done really well on it.

I second the suggestion about checking out Whole Dog Journal. They're a good source of info.
 
Yeah, I know what you mean. You just can't be sure...It makes you wonder if our pets our better off eating clean human food with the rest of us...

Carrie
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http://www.picturetrail.com/uid6743693"
 
Kim and everyone,

I've started with my family of animals on a "make your own" pet meals. I feed them people meat, rice, oatmeals, egg shells (crushed) for calcium,.....Now I feel much better about their health and safety.

My cats hate theirs, but my dog loves it. I have to persevere and be patient with my kitties, but it will be worth it. It is more work, but they are worth it.

Janie

The idea is to die young as late as possible.

http://www.picturetrail.com/janiejoey
 
I have a lot of friends who feed Solid Gold, but with my new puppy, my breeder told me her dogs couldn't handle it because it was so rich. I had that problem with my Aussie as well. So I am going to start with Canidae, which I've also used in the past and have had great results with.

Personally, I think any human grade pet food is going to be okay. And anything made fully in the US with US ingredients. My dogs used to get IAMS for $18 for a 20 pound bag, but I'm willing to spend the $35 for a 15 pound bag if required. I can't risk losing another - losing one was way too tough and that wasn't even to bad food.
 
I hope they really know what caused this and aren't just guessing and that would be horrible if they did it "knowingly".
 
>I hope they really know what caused this and aren't just
>guessing and that would be horrible if they did it
>"knowingly".
>
I don't want to start throwing stones at them, but it was first reported on serious news outlets like CNN based on statements from Stephen Sundlof of the FDA and NOT some gloom and doom animal rights activist group.

http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/04/06/pet.deaths/index.html

It was also very interesting to read that Menufood's received first complaints around Feb. 20 and didn't react to recall until March 16. In the meantime Menufood's CFO dumped 45 % of his stock (14,000 shares) 3 weeks before the recall on March 16. Hmmmm???? Wonder what he knew that the rest of us didn't?

http://www.northcountrygazette.org/articles/2007/041007PetContamination.html

It just makes me sick to my stomach!!!

Carola
 
You know...all this pet food stuff....I just don't know. I was feeding my corgi Nutro Ultra and she was fine. Then I read one of the posts on here about dog food and there was a link to the "best" foods. So I bought her some Timberwolf Organic dog food. Well, she's been on it for about a week, and she had her first case of diarrhea yesterday - on my brand new carpet! The she went again (a large amount) in her crate, when my husband put her there so he could clean the carpet. The stuff was $50 for a 33 lb. bag. I'm very disappointed.

On the other hand, my "mature" dog has been on Authority dog food for years and has always been healthy. He's 10 years old and you'd never know it, except for the grey around his muzzle.
 
but if I
>do buy organic or all natural then I should look for a
>statement by the AAFCO saying that the food meets their
>guidelines and then it is safe to feed.
>
Kim,

I wouldn't solely rely on the AAFCO label.

AAFCO is an advisory body that proposes regulations for the production and labeling of animal feeds/ pet food. It defines quantity determinations for label titels (i.e. percentage of chicken that needs to be in to be called "chicken dinner", etc.) and sets criteria for the usage of "complete and balanced" and recommends min./max. percentages of various ingredients in pet foods, depending on age and activity level of cats/dogs

AAFCO has no regulatory powers, they recommend testing protocals but don't do or oversee the testing. And I don't think they inspect the manufacturers either.

Many of the recalled foods had the AAFCO "approval stamp" on it. So how much good did that do???

Also the labeling on pet foods may be a little misleading.

One label will say "AAFCO feeding trials confirm that "Dog/Cat Food Name" is complete and balanced for adult dogs of all life stages" (meaning they actually have fed this food for several weeks to dogs/cats and they didn't die - sorry to sound sarkastic, but that's basically it in a nutshell)

Some foods determine the nutritional values in the laboratory. That basically means YOUR dog/cat is the guinea pig. This statement regarding AAFCO might read something like this "Dog/Cat Food Name" has been shown to be complete and balanced using testing procedures as outlined by AAFCO". Sounds similar, doesn't it, but can you see the subtle difference.

Not easy being a pet owner nowadays! I am with you, who can you trust now??

Carola
 
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