Posted on 04/19/2007 4:58:56 PM PDT by Arizona Carolyn
WASHINGTON // Federal investigators are probing whether Chinese producers laced a key ingredient in pet food with an industrial chemical in order to boost the price of their shipments
snip
Referring to the contamination that has prompted the recall of more than 100 brands of pet food, investigators are trying to determine whether Chinese producers purposely added melamine to their wheat gluten shipments to Menu Foods.
more.....
(Excerpt) Read more at baltimoresun.com ...
One of my kittys is already elderly and has a mass in his abdomen. Testing has not shown conclusively it is cancer, but I didn’t want to do exploratorey surgery at his age to find out. He’s had it for a while and I am able to keep him feeling good with fluids, vitamins, slippery elm bark etc...
I was worried about gastrointestinal problems, but Scott at the Nature’s Logic co. told me to expect it when you change their food. (If you call their 800 number he will consult with you—he’s very knowledgable about pet diets.) I’ve had a few spit ups, but I am going to give it another week before I worry too much. Are you using canned or dry? I’ve tried both—they seem to like the dry better. Arizona Carolyn suggests a raw diet, which they sell as well, but I’m worried about parasites and the fragile state my old guy is in.
Rat terrorist—funny! (They are adorable)
Carolyn
Please understand, I am not doubting your word, but I do need a source, I, like many judges, am expecting a number of civil suits resulting from these deaths and illnesses.
Several years ago, after having to put her dog down for cancerous tumors, a friend remarked about all the dogs she had or knew that had tumors. My return remark was I thought it was the dog food.
what about food products for human consumption??...
BTW, how does a country that’s full of thieves who don’t respect intellectual property and refuses to float it’s currency get into the WTO? Or can just anybody join?
Thanks for your post. We just switched our Pug from Iams Mini-chunks to Natural Balance Ultra Premium Dry Dog Food. She loves it, and seems to doing just fine on it.
From the Only Natural Pet Store site - http://www.onlynaturalpet.com/recall.aspx
Pet Food Recall Information
Natural Balance Venison Formula Food & Treat Recall
Natural Balance is issuing a voluntary recall of the following foods and treats:
Venison & Brown Rice Dry Dog Food
Venison & Brown Rice Canned Dog Food
Venison & Brown Rice Dog Treats
Venison & Green Pea Dry Cat Food
Venison & Green Pea Canned Cat Food is not affected as it does not contain the contaminated ingredient.
Natural Balance has indicated that Friday, April 13th, they began receiving reports of vomiting and kidney problems in cats and dogs eating the dry venison formulas. Natural Balance has confirmed that some production runs of the Venison & Brown Rice dry dog food products contain melamine. The source of the melamine appears to be a rice protein concentrate which was recently added to the dry venison formulas. Natural Balance does not use wheat gluten, which was associated with the previous melamine contamination (see below).
None of Natural Balance’s other dry formulas, none of their other canned or roll products and none of their other treats are involved with this voluntary recall. None of the other formulas contain rice protein concentrate. Natural Balance will continue to work closely with the FDA and we will continue to update this page as we have additional information.
Petconnection.com.... this is the number that has been reported to them by petowners who lost their pets... they are keeping a daily tally and owners are posting their stories on the site.. pretty heartbreaking stuff.
and, I don’t trust foreign nations (like China) to provide us with the quality of food we have become used to in this country, not to mention, can you imagine what that could do to us — without firing a shot — of they controlled out food supplies?
Cute dogs! A lot of people give smoked bones to their dogs, they even sell them on sitstay — I think smoked are not dangerous like the cooked bones are... used to be people could get large knuckle bones free from the butchers, but now (at least here) they sell them instead... and I’ve noticed since more and more of us raw-feed it’s not as common to get the necks, gizzards and liver in whole chickens.
Reason I ask is when we switched our youngest cocker to her raw diet she would eat and then vomit... she was just under a year old and a gulper and had eaten kibble all her life... it was very frustrating because I never had a problem with any other dogs before her.
Finally I bought babyfood meat and started giving her baby food and pureed babyfood vegetables and she kept that down, then I slowly started adding in the food I wanted her to eat and she kept it down, if I tried to go to fast she vomited and we started all over again.... finally her system (with the help of some homeopaty and slippery elm) settled down and now she eats with the best of them...
Lady was a good learning lesson to me... like people, not all dogs (or cats) are the same and with some we have to take it a little slower...
I live in Whatcom County, WA, dairy country. They don’t really use much grain for feed up here, and the grow their own hay. Our most successful dairy is being fined and forced to cut back production by the socialist dairy commune that Hillary forced on the country. It’s a crime.
Think what it will be if she is elected?
I’ve given my lab the dried out lower legs of deer before. She loves it. There’s everything in that...hide, bone, hoof, sinew...and it’s free. You don’t want that in your house though.
Bones do wear their teeth out fast. My dog is 5 or 6 and her molars are worn almost flat like an old dog. But they are sparkly white.
Steve Miller, CEO of ChemNutra, is scheduled to testify before the House Committee on Energy and Commerce on Tuesday, April 24 at 9:30 am Eastern time.
The Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations will hold a hearing titled “Diminished Capacity: Can the FDA Assure the Safety and Security of the Nation’s Food Supply?”
ChemNutra was the middleman that sold wheat gluten containing melamine to Menu Foods and other companies.
I’m just feeding the dry. Also got a bag of their dog food for our old dog, and husband’s been mixing it with his old food. The other day, though, he gave Maggie dog more of the Nature’s Logic, and she threw it all up.
I don’t feed wet food anymore, as a rule, unless I have to mix a med in it. Their teeth seem to stay healthier. I guess it may take a while for them to acclimate, as it sounds like you have the same problem. I started reading up on raw, but not at all ready to take that step.... My house cats turn their nose up at raw hamburger, so don’t think it would go over big, lol! How old is your old kitty? I had a 17 yr old boy with a mass in his abdomen, also. By the time we discovered it, it was obvious nothing much could be done and we didn’t treat him at all. He ate until the end, and didn’t seem to suffer for a long time, thank goodness. Good luck with him. I’ve done the subQ fluid thing on 3 cats over the years.
She just threw up the whole kit and kaboodle, lol. She eats more slowly than the boys, too. She hasn’t upchucked in a few days, but we’re just giving her a small portion of the Nature’s Logic mixed in with her reg. dry. For a few days, she ate around the NL kibble and let the others finish that. Now she’s eating it again, but still prefers her old food. I’ll call the guy at NL. Emma is our little princess- small size, probably due to the trauma of her kittenhood. She was a rescue at my animal hospital and had one operation when she was only 3 weeks old.(for an insect larva that had burrowed under her skin and grown large.) After that, she went home to wherever it was she was born, but just a few weeks later came in with a busted up hind leg. I met Emma the day before they amputated the leg, and fell in love:)
Hopefully the throwing up is just because of the change in diet. Nature’s Logic doesn’t have te wheat or rice, so it shouldn’t be a contaminant. Let me know what they tell you when you call the company. Have you heard of slippery elm bark? It is a natural herb powder that you make a syrup with water and it helps digestive issues and coats and soothes the stomach. It works wonders. It is a very inexpensive remedy.
My little old man is also 17. He is such a sweetie. He’s doing fairly well right now, but he’s crashed about 3 times in the last 2 years. I did a HUGE amount of research and decided he must not be absorbing nutrients very well and started him on some methyl b12 and liquid pet tinic vitamins. That helped a lot. I think the mass is sitting on the pancreas, so the crashes I believe are similiar to pancreatitis which is awful. I got really agressive with his fluids too (I was afraid to give too much for a while because he was anemic, but that is now improving too) His appetite is also better now, but I supplement a little bit by syringe feeding.
The vet did a fine needle aspirate but couldn’t determine cancer and at his age and the thought of abdominal surgery and his recovery from surgery—I couldn’t do it. i’m very afraid of anesthesia as it is. I’ve never hesitated in many other situation for my fur kids (like removing breast cancer) but this didn’t feel like the right thing to do.
Unfortunately I’ve had several kittys (now gone) that had kidney failure. (they all have it if they live long enough—cats are prone to it) I’m a pro at sub-q’s! It is such an easy simple thing that makes them feel SO much better. It is probably THE most important thing that can be supportive for a sick pet.
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