Posted on 05/07/2007 4:00:32 PM PDT by Dragonfly
Last updated May 6, 2007 11:05 p.m. PT
What's safe to put in your pet's bowl?
Weeks after tainted food killed dogs and cats, trust shaken but few answers
By CECELIA GOODNOW
P-I REPORTER
Ohio electrician James Spratt sailed to London in 1860 to sell lightning rods, but the sight of quayside dogs scrabbling for scraps set him on a more momentous course.
We know him today as the inventor of commercial pet food.
Now the industry Spratt inspired has itself become a lightning rod -- for distressed and angry animal lovers who wonder what to feed their pets as the seven-week-long recall of melamine-tainted pet food widens.
"I probably know a dozen people in my sphere of reference, and they're all struggling with the same thing," said Wynn Kerr, who has a 16-year-old dog and a 12-year-old cat and also cares for two foster dogs at her Central District home.
"They all are worried that they're not feeding their animals the right thing. Everyone's confused -- where to turn?"
Some are turning to "natural" or organic pet foods free of chemical preservatives and hormones, in the belief that whole, "human-grade" foods are less likely to contain Chinese grain tainted with melamine, a substance used in making plastic and fertilizer.
Some swear by raw meat, which they see as the closest approximation of dogs' and cats' diets in the wild.
Some are even making their own pet food.
These alternatives are contentious in their own right, and critics say well-meaning pet owners may cause more harm than good if they're not careful.
(Excerpt) Read more at seattlepi.nwsource.com ...
Ping!
leftovers.
Cats: mice
Dogs: cats
http://www.businessandmedia.org/articles/2007/20070506180903.aspx
You will more than likey find a lot of this is not by accident or carelessness.......there is more to what’s going on that people know.........off the scale.
A little bird told me that all this started to happen when a certain feed maker got fascinated with Asia, both sourcing and selling wise. As a result, raw ingredients which had long come from civilized countries started to, instead, come from the PRC, among other scary places.
I use Blue brand. It’s pricey but it has a fantastic ingredients list. Luckily I have a small foofoo dog who only eats about 2/3 cup of food a day. So it’s affordable for me. We get the lamb and brown rice recipe. I highly recommend it.
Perhaps that's some sort of comment on what I've feeding her lately!
We buy it at a counrty feed and lumber company.
Sure is a bummer when they won’t share, isn’t it?
They frequently do leave some for me, perhaps a head, a pile of feathers, or some internal organs. Yum!
My pups are getting rice (US GROWN) mixed with cottage cheese, veggies, eggs and chicken or ground beef-plus scraps
My kids are dining at McDonalds tonight!
The current pet food situation is frightening, but there are some safe pet foods out there. I found out the big name “premium” foods like Iams and Eukanuba were no longer trustworthy, when the big corporations like Proctor and Gamble and Colgate-Palmolive bought out these premium brands and changed the formulas. I would NOT TRUST any of the big commercial pet foods anymore, including Purina. Once you learn about what SHOULD and SHOULD NOT be in your pets food, you wouldn’t feed them that stuff with corn and other ingredients they can’t even digest. I found a food I really trust, formulated by a holsitic veterinarian (who ironically worked for Iams and Eukanuba to formulate the ORIGINAL formula.) If you want to watch a very interesting video about pet food and learn what to look for in a pet food, take a look at my website, familypetfood.com. In any case, feed your pet holistic food you have read ingredients throughly on (and know what you are looking for!) or make it yourself if you can be sure you are adding all the nutrients your pet needs, but stay AWAY from supermarket pet food!
And then a cat ate the little bird and died.
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