Chemical Found in Second Pet Food Ingredient, Recall Expanded

http://www.foxnews.com ^ | Wednesday, April 18, 2007 | Associated Press

[PistolPaknMama]

Definitely I’ll check all that out. Do you mind if I FReepmail you if I need a little direction?

[lastchance]

It is easy to feed raw. And once you get the hang of it you can make large batches and freeze it.

Diatomaceous Earth with garlic, etc. is a popular form of fly control for horses. I wonder if it helps control fleas and ticks on dogs?

[nmh]

I’ve had to try allot of cat foods - IAMS with rice - didn’t work for me. She “ate” it up and them later vomited it. So I had a similar problem.

I was using that particular brand, at the time, to stop a diarrhea problem. Didn’t help at all.

[Arizona Carolyn]

The problem stems from melamine found in the rice protein concentrate. Natural balance, for instance, recently added Brown Rice Bran to their food and according to reports from some retailers that is the underlying cause of their latest recall... In addition the Monsanto GM corn is now starting to show liver failure in dogs eating food made from it.

[nmh]

I’ve had better luck with the crunchies.

I’m going to check out the links supplied here and see what else I can try. One kind of likes it the other eats it begrudgingly.

[lastchance]

I feel badly about recommending Natural Balance. I had checked the ingredients which seemed safe. I also had fed it to my dogs in the past as a treat. I did not know it was manufactured by Diamond. That would have sent up red flags. Yep BARF is the way to go.

[randog]

She eats the older dog’s poo, whom I suspect, like you said, is not digesting everything.

What is “raw”?

[Arizona Carolyn]

Onlynaturalpets.com carries it and they are very reliable in their shipping. I’ve purchased a lot of products from them and they only carry top grade products.

[Arizona Carolyn]

any time....

[Arizona Carolyn]

YES!!! and that reminds me.... several people on my cocker list who live in heavy heartworm areas as well as people on the jstsayno2vaccs list report that their pets on raw are not getting fleas and many have stopped giving heartworm because when they are not getting the grains (which turn to sugar and attract insects) they are no longer attractive to critters that cause so many health problems... but, DE is very good for our dogs...

[LucyT]

According to this article, several foods aren’t safe for dogs or cats:

The veterinarian group also warned that many common foods are not safe for pets, including salt, garlic, onions, grapes and chocolate.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070404/ap_on_re_us/homemade_pet_food;_ylt=AjXwOQmDn7pRADsbWYs6Mbis0NUE

[nuconvert]

Fancy Feast canned (ground varieties only, no slices or chunks in gravy) and Purina One dry. Haven’t had any problems.

[Chgogal]

Do not forget, my dog was lost (for God only knows how long) and hungry on some very cold days here in Chicago. Good luck with your search.

[TASMANIANRED]

Started cooking dog food last week.

Mom’s happy, dogs are happy.

[Arizona Carolyn]

Raw is just that, raw. Used to be popularly called BARF (Biologically Appropriate Raw Food) because that is the term Doctor Billinghurst applied to it when he wrote the book on feeding raw. It has evolved over the years and not everyone follows Dr. B's diet to a T... but there is an ever-growing demand and places like onlynaturalpets.com and sit-stay.com (and a local organic pet store in my town) sell pre-prepared raw -- which is probably the best way for anyone to actually start with raw feeding their pets..

I feed it ground, many people feed it whole and breeders on my Natural Cocker list are weining their new puppies on whole raw -- slightly chopped.. makes for great teeth, much fewer vet visits and a lot healthier dogs and cats. Cats are more difficult to switch if they are older..

What do I feed? Beef, Goat, pork, rabbit, lamb, venison, etc., Green Tripe, steamed or purreed vegetables...the meat all has bone ground in along with organ meats and some tripe... the green tripe and some different things like tongue, spleen, pancreas, I get from Greentripe.com...

If you have a strong stomach -- I buy most of my meat from Hare-today.com in Pennsylvania.... check out their website... it's a raw-feeders paradise.

[Chgogal]

Yikes, link does not work. But your post does sound interesting.

[Arizona Carolyn]

I agree on all but the garlic... you have to give a whole lot of garlic to cause problems and I’ve fed garlic for years to my dogs.

[mplsconservative]

We also switched our dogs to Canidae after all of this recall madness started to dry food for overweight or older dogs.

Yes, it seems the amount is so miniscule. Out 80 pounder Lab-mix is on 2 1/2 cups a day and the mini Jack Russell is at 1/2 cup per day.

They are absolutely ravenous!

I give them a couple of raw carrots and find they are really soothed by very diluted, low sodium chicken broth that I heat slightly in the microwave. They lap it up!

I guess, for us, this is a good thing. My babies are getting in shape for better health and we are much more aware of what we are ALL eating. :)

[Arizona Carolyn]

You should subscribe to Whole Dog Journal and there is an excellent book I recommend called: The Encyclopedia of Natural Pet Care — by CJ PUotinen also the Nature of Animal Healing by Doctor Goldstein.

[LucyT]

From another site:

• Avoid chocolate, onions, eggplant or tomatoes as they are hard for your pet to digest and could potentially cause health risks.

• Don’t add fillers (rice, wheat, corn, soy, grain, etc.) since your pet wouldn’t find these in the wild.

• Avoid sharing your dinner with your pet, unless what you are eating is fresh and doesn’t include any dangerous ingredients.

http://www.insideedition.com/ourstories/inside_stories/story.aspx?storyid=726