Another pet food recall

[Haudlady]

Hello everyone - I just got news that Natural Balance is recalling:

venison and brown rice dry dog food and
venison and green pea dry cat food

They are not sure what the problem is but customers have complained that some pets have become sick with vomiting and kidney problems.

I use the Venison & Green Pea for two of my cats - Edgar and Ranya - and am worried. Ranya had a urinary tract infection recently. I can't help but wonder if it is connected.

My local store is confirming the news, and is accepting the food back. :eek:

[mimitabby]

tonight i am getting set up to make my own cat food using chickens, livers, hearts & eggs.

if even the most prestigious cat foods are suspect, i will feed them people food which, of course; is suspsect.

[IFjane]

Strange thing happened this morning at my house. In my front yard was a dead chicken. Really. Complete with feathers & very fresh looking meat. Minus the head and some of the feathers. (The neighbors across the road have chickens.) My SO got the pitch fork & disposed of it. Perhaps instead, we should have just tossed it in on the kitchen floor for the cats. :eek: Can't be any worse, right?

[Eden]

This is so frustrating! From all outward appearances that one looks like a very good food too - good ingredients without fillers or a lot of junk in it and none of the things that were the suspects for causing the illnesses in the last recalled food. It makes me think that they still have not nailed down what was wrong before....

[mimitabby]

Strange thing happened this morning at my house. In my front yard was a dead chicken. Really. Complete with feathers & very fresh looking meat. Minus the head and some of the feathers. (The neighbors across the road have chickens.) My SO got the pitch fork & disposed of it. Perhaps instead, we should have just tossed it in on the kitchen floor for the cats. :eek: Can't be any worse, right?

send ME that chicken! :)

Yes, Eden, that's part of what's worrying me too.

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Yeah, I have NEVER bought any of the recalled foods, yet 3 of my 4 cats have gotten kidney failure in the past 4 years- all cats under the age of 6 and from different backgrounds. I've alternated among high end cat foods.
As I mentioned before- I've switched to Paul Newman's organic food and they seem to be loving it and not throwing up so far like one or another of them often does...
I believe there is a lOT more contamination out there than anyone has so far suspected. When I was a kid we always had cats- 3 to 6 of them at a time. They NEVER got kidney disease. Something is fishy.

[oxysback]

Well poot. That's the food I feed Frankie, our pug. She hasn't been showing any signs of illness, and we definitely haven't had any vomiting, but our vet says it's such a crap-shoot as to how long it takes and recommended a kidney test and urinalisys. So off to the vet we go.

Send vibes for normal puggy kidneys, everyone!!

[surgtech1956]

This is very disturbing this pet food recall. I can't believe there is no regulation on the pet food industry, look how much $$$$ we spend on our pets & their foods. I have 2 dogs & 8 cats. We were feeding the dogs the Alpo brand that was voluntarily recalled by the company. But they are OK. Our pets are like our children. I was talking with my vet about the lack of regulation. He told me that he visited the Hills/Science Diet plant - the plant that the prescription food comes from, well they actually have a guy who's job it is to 'taste test' all the food.

[Eden]

He told me that he visited the Hills/Science Diet plant - the plant that the prescription food comes from, well they actually have a guy who's job it is to 'taste test' all the food.

sounds like hooey to me - the some of the Hills stuff comes from the same d@mn plant as all the other contaminated foods. I was really, really suprised at how much pet food is all produced in one big vat basically and then lableled with dozens of different brand names all claiming to be the best stuff out there.

Even many of the "recipies" that you can find for making pet food at home are bad - so many that I just looked at contain onions/garlic - these are toxic to cats!! (not in small quantities but over time can cause anemia and death!). I don't know what to feed the poor kitties these days. Apparently good cat diets are pretty darn complex....

[mimitabby]

really Eden, if you feed them raw whole animals. horses, goats...no only kidding, chickens!!
I'll give a full report Thursday when i come back from my cat food preparation lesson.

[Eden]

maybe its time to start trapping mice and sparrows.....

[mimitabby]

the mice and sparrows have worms... :confused:

[lisa_b]

I feed my orange tabby, George, the Natural Balance venison/green pea. It is the allergy formula for Natural Balance and recommended by my vet. He seems fine, no vomiting/still has a big appetite, but the vet says to bring him in, so off to the vet we go as well. Poor baby, and here I thought I was helping him by feeding him the allergy formula to help with his ear/eye problems! So frustrating, I really don't know what to feed him at the moment.

[mimitabby]

i know it's gross, but laboratory mice would be great cat food. they are healthy.
but then you'd have to kill them! and that's no fun.

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

i know it's gross, but laboratory mice would be great cat food. they are healthy.
but then you'd have to kill them! and that's no fun.

Well remember all the animals that are killed in order to go into the pet food anyway. Cats are designed to eat meat, and that means some animal has to die somewhere in the equation...

[Pedal Wench]

I still wonder if that's what took my Dizz last week. He ate Pro Plan - not on the lists, but you never know.

[LBTC]

i know it's gross, but laboratory mice would be great cat food. they are healthy.
but then you'd have to kill them! and that's no fun.

That's what the cats are for. And I'm sure they would argue that killing the mice would be half the fun! :p

I hope all the kitties and doggies here are fully healthy.

H&B
~T~

[mimitabby]

yeah, but I don't want to have to do it. And I'm afraid my cats would starve before I could teach them to be great hunters..

[spazzdog]

give the catz canned people tuna and rice...

give the dogs ground beef or lamb and rice... or cooked chicken or turkey and rice.

the dog recipe takes minutes to prepare a few days worth (brown the meat, cook the rice, mix it up, put it baggies in the fridge.

[mimitabby]

you can't give cats too much tuna, they get fatty liver disease. Cats really do best on a whole animal diet. (but not whole tunas)
and whenever i have bought some kind of catfood with rice in it, the cats spit out every single little rice grain in it.

[LBTC]

actually, some specialists that I've talked to in the past have told me that dogs and cats don't really need grains, primarily they just need meat and vegetables, preferrably raw wherever possible. think of what cats in the wild eat.....they might need about as much grain as they would find in the stomach of a mouse.....that's a very tiny amount.

and, yes, I've read that tuna isn't so good for cats. besides being hard on their livers, it is also kind of addictive - once they start eating it they often won't eat anything else.

didn't seem all that complicated when I was doing it - except when we were going to go on vacation and needed someone looking after them.

Unfortunately, the cost is too much with our limited budget these days. I'm asking the universe to help out all the kitties and doggies and keep them healthy even though the food supply is so tenuous.....

Hugs and butterflies,
~T~

[Starfish]

I've been feeding my cat canned salmon mashed up with canned peas. She loves it. Is salmon bad the way tuna is?

[Velobambina]

Ironically, we switched from dry Nutro to Natural Balance (Venison and Brown Rice) after the first round of recalls. As soon as I found out about the NB recall, the remaining food went in the trash. The girls seem unaffected, thank goodness.

I was lucky because a couple weeks ago, I ordered a bag of food from Timber Wolf Organics (highly recommended by some Dog folks at work) so I have back up food ready to go. You can order it online and they will ship it for free. The girls love it--filled w/all kinds of good stuff. They make a feline formula, too. Website is www.timberwolforganics.com, I think.

[LBTC]

I've been feeding my cat canned salmon mashed up with canned peas. She loves it. Is salmon bad the way tuna is?

From what I've read, salmon is a very good food for your kitty (and you, too)

~T~

[KnottedYet]

Is it the mercury in Tuna that causes the trouble?

[KnottedYet]

He told me that he visited the Hills/Science Diet plant - the plant that the prescription food comes from, well they actually have a guy who's job it is to 'taste test' all the food.

I hope the "taste tester" is ok, cuz Hills was in the first round of recalls. I suppose with a larger body mass than a cat, and not living on the stuff, the "taste tester" wouldn't get as much of the rat poison as the pets.

[LBTC]

Hey, Knot

The reading I've done on tuna is that the mercury is much harder on a cat's little body than on ours.

Also, that the offending ingredient in the original recall was not rat poison, but plastic (melamine, I think). I imagine you're right that his larger body and the smaller quantities that he was eating protected him from harm.

H&B,
~T~

[KnottedYet]

have they figured out how the plastic got in the wheat gluten? (are they still blaming the wheat gluten from China?)

[mimitabby]

I'm not sure that feeding raw food to cats is going to be that much more expensive than the fancy cat foods I've been feeding them. Canned cat food
is 50 cents for a little can, i bought a chicken last night for 1.19 lb. Sometimes
chicken sells for a lot less than that even; and that's the main ingredient to homemade cat food. Now with dogs, I believe it if you say it's expensive.
because Dogs can eat a much lower protein diet, but they are BIG!

[KnottedYet]

All I have to do is forget to block the door to the garbage can...

My doggie is REAL cheap to feed! (just kidding!)

When Stinky Dog got into something and got gastritis, my vet had me making his food for a while. It was surprisingly cheap! It just took time.

Basically it was a big pot o' stew: rice peas carrots ground meat egg. I'd give him a dollop of plain yogurt with it. He liked it.

[LBTC]

I'm not sure that feeding raw food to cats is going to be that much more expensive than the fancy cat foods I've been feeding them. Canned cat food
is 50 cents for a little can, i bought a chicken last night for 1.19 lb. Sometimes
chicken sells for a lot less than that even; and that's the main ingredient to homemade cat food. Now with dogs, I believe it if you say it's expensive.
because Dogs can eat a much lower protein diet, but they are BIG!

True, Mimi, you're not far off with pricing, I found the cats to be similar to mid-high priced canned food. However, I only feed one of my cats canned food, the other gets kibble, and the dogs get kibble. That is how restricted the budget is right now.....and then, if I factor in time; I'm still making my own meals from scratch and finding that I rarely have an evening when I can manage to eat before 8:30 pm! so.....combine money and time and I'm sad to say it's not in the cards for my "kids" at this time. They've adjusted better than I'd expected, though, so I'm happy about that.

Knot, I'm not sure if they figured out how the plastic got in there, and yes, as far as I know they are still blaming the wheat gluten from China.

gotta get to work now,

hugs & butterflies to all of you and your four legged kids, too

~T~

[mimitabby]

the kibble i buy for my cats costs more than a dollar a pound! sure, since it's dry... you get more bang for the bucks but it is expensive!

[Eden]

I've been feeding my cat canned salmon mashed up with canned peas. She loves it. Is salmon bad the way tuna is?

I read something yesterday that said too much fish in a cat's diet can cause, I think it was, thiamine deficency. I don't think it was just tuna.

hate to be the bearer of bad news but, just read this...
"Fish, no matter if whole, dressed, raw, cooked, or canned will cause nutritional deficiency of some kind, which in turn will eventually lead to serious disease.
If fish is to be included in the meal plan of the domestic cat, one may only do so sparingly as treats, or to entice a sick cat to eat. Other than that, the story of fish and cats shall remain a fairytale."

[mimitabby]

An industrial chemical that led to a nationwide recall of more than 100 brands of cat and dog foods has been found to contaminate a second pet food ingredient, expanding the recall further.

The chemical, melamine, is believed to have contaminated rice protein concentrate used to make a variety of Natural Balance Pet Foods products for both dogs and cats, the Food and Drug Administration said Wednesday. Previously, the chemical was found to contaminate another ingredient, wheat gluten, used by at least six other pet food and treat manufacturers.

Natural Balance said it was recalling all its Venison and Brown Rice canned and bagged dog foods, its Venison and Brown Rice dog treats and its Venison and Green Pea dry cat food.

The Pacoima, Calif., company said recent laboratory tests showed the products contain melamine. It believes the source of the contaminant was rice protein concentrate, which the company recently added to the dry venison formulas.


link! http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/sns-ap-pet-food-recall,1,5790404.story?coll=chi-news-hed&ctrack=1&cset=true

[oxysback]

Sheesh...when will this end??

We got Frankie, our Pugs, tests back this morning and everything's normal, thank goodness. Better to spend a few dollars for testing than the alternative! :D

[KayTee]

We got Frankie, our Pugs, tests back this morning and everything's normal, thank goodness. Better to spend a few dollars for testing than the alternative! :D

So glad to hear the good news on Frankie! And you're right on about the testing.

[sbctwin]

I am desperate to find something to feed my Kallie. I had fed her some of the recalled Iams wet food long before it was recalled, but of the same lot that was recalled. In the past weeks, she has suffered from terrible asthma/allergies. Something she never had before. I was feeding her chicken breast meat (she only liked the white meat) but was then told that was probably to high of a protein diet. I was mixing it with rice and my vet said she didn't need the carbs. Because she is overweight, I give her about 1/2 cup of Hills perscription dry food as a staple and she nibbles on it during the day, but never eats it completely. I feel so desperate trying to figure out what to feed her. She is now on prednisone and an antibiotic trying to control her breathing problems caused by the allergies/asthma. It is heartbreaking to hear her struggle in her breathing and I worry what is best for her. Last night was a bad night for her. Last week was a very expensive week at the vet. Please give us a report. Mimitabby as to your success with your receipe. I feel at a loss. I can't comfort Kallie enough and when I do, I think her purring aggrevates her breathing....

[LBTC]

{{{{{{{{{{{{{sbctwin & kallie}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}

I hope that kallie recovers quickly. Don't worry too much about cramming lots of food into her, she may need a bit less than you think (and she can tell that you're worried and that gets in the way of her healing)

Cats need about 75% raw protein - and that really means carcass - they should get the nerves, skin, arteries, even, believe it or not, some of the bone and definitely the cartilidge....actually a vertebra from a chicken neck is perfect for a little cat (if she's not too small to handle that large a chunk.) the rest of the food should come from vegetables. many vegetables are good for your cat, although I know some to be careful of are onions and I think spinach, but you should check that out online. I used to cook squash (easier to handle than raw), and chop kale, broccoli or mushrooms. turns out my Teddy cat likes asparagas too. Check with your vet to see if you can get or buy from them a vita-mineral mix that should top up the necessary nutrients the other ingredients may not supply.

Protein sources - I used to use ground beef for 1/3 to 1/2 so that I had something to mix the vegetables with, so the kids would not pick them out. I would chop chicken breast, or chicken parts to make up another 1/3 or 1/2. Once in awhile - maybe once a week or so, 1/3 of the protein would come from a can of salmon or from eggs.

The dogs would get about a 55% protein diet, with the same veggies and protein sources, though I never did find a vita-mineral mix designed for doggies.

Oh, and when kitty just doesn't want to eat, you can feed her baby food: buy foods that don't have grains - no rice or barley or whatnot, and feel free to add a raw egg yolk or even a little butter to increase the fat - babies don't need as much fat as kitty does. Unless you buy the meat and veggies separately, you may not get the right %ages, but that's not critical for every single meal, but important to work towards. If it's a decision between her eating or not eating, don't get completely worried about the %ages!!

For more information, look up the BARF diet and other raw food feline diets.

You can do this, and you'll find what she likes!

Hugs and butterflies,
~T~

[makbike]

sbctwin - it is possible that the pred and/or antibiotics are upsetting kallie's stomach? Have you asked your vet about adding in some pepcid a/c to try and settle her tummy down some? Alsoo, you might want to ask your vet if you can discontinue the antibiotics for 24 hours to see if that helps settle things down some as well. You really should not stop the pred for this can cause major health issues but if you suspect this may be a contributing factor you might ask your vet to adjust her tapering dosage. Pred typically increases an animals appetite so I'm wondering if it is not the antibiotic at fault here. Is she licking her lips (a sign of upset GI tract)? It is important you keep her eating for cats can't go more than 24 hours without food or the run the chance of developing fatty liver disease so if the chicken is working for the time I would suggest you continue to feed it. Did your vet take x-rays of her lungs? Have you considered an inhaler for kallie (yes they make them for animals but if my memory is correct they can be expensive). Finally, if your vet suspects allergies you might also ask for prescription for an antihistamine for kallie which you can administer on a daily basis. I give my cat Figaroe a prescribed dose of chlorpheniramine 4 mg each day for his asthma/allergies and it does help. Note if you vet does go this route know that this is a human OTC drug so you can save yourself some money by going to the local drug store/grocery and purchasing the generic brands (the is also true for pepcid). I hope this helps and your buddy is feeling better quickly.

[KnottedYet]

I was talking to a vet today, and she said there are several good homemade pet food recipes (designed by a vet) at www.balanceit.com. This site also sells the vit/min supplements to add to your homemade food so it stays balanced for your critters' needs.

She also said that melamine is used as a component of fertilizer in China, which is why it's showing up in the imported ingredients.

(someone explain to me why US companies are importing wheat and rice products from China when we grow so much that we are a major exporter??)

[spazzdog]

Chinese rice is probably cheaper than American rice... labor cost, less regulation, etc.

i'm speculating... spazz

[Starfish]

I read something yesterday that said too much fish in a cat's diet can cause, I think it was, thiamine deficency. I don't think it was just tuna.

hate to be the bearer of bad news but, just read this...
"Fish, no matter if whole, dressed, raw, cooked, or canned will cause nutritional deficiency of some kind, which in turn will eventually lead to serious disease.
If fish is to be included in the meal plan of the domestic cat, one may only do so sparingly as treats, or to entice a sick cat to eat. Other than that, the story of fish and cats shall remain a fairytale."

Thank you! She loves canned peas and other canned vegetables, and I just thawed some chicken. Last night I tried a little mash of peas, ham and oatmeal, but she didn't like the oatmeal!

[sbctwin]

Thank you all for your suggestions....My Kallie slept better last night. I woke up several times when her wheezing got loud, but she didn't have the forced breathing episodes from the night before. My vet suggested I up her pred a little until he sees her on Friday. Yes, x-rays and an ultrasound were taken last week. The sudden onset of her breathing problems is what is so troubling. No liquids were found in her lungs. I know she is overweight and we are both working on this. Her treats consist of the pill pockets I got from the vet that I stuff her pills into. She is more enthused about eating those and I don't have to force her pills down her throat. I worry about what I feed Kallie these days because of all the food recalls. I am afraid that what isn't recalled today, will be tomorrow. Kallie is also diabetic. As I left for work this morning, she was purring and the sounds she made were not enhanced by wheezing or strained breathing. Something hopeful.

[mimitabby]

last night i went to the cat rescue lady's house and met all her cats and rescue cats and we made cat food.
I took 1 chicken, 1 1/2 lbs of chicken liver (at 5 supermarkets i couldn't find
chicken hearts) 5 eggs, some dulse, some salmon oil, some lysine and some taurine. we ground the chicken up in this huge heavy grinder she has
and mixed it with the other stuff and water and psyllium.

then i put it into little freezer bags and froze most of it. I took some and fed it to my dear little primadonnas.

well, two of them tasted it, but it was still in the dish this morning.

so I will cut back on dry catfood rations and try again tonight. hopefully hunger will do the trick.

[lisa_b]

My cat George's test results came back from the vet this morning and his kidneys are working fine! Am so relieved. Hope everbody's pets are feeling well. The vet gave me some suggestions on home cooking and I'm going to try it out, George is not at all picky about what he eats, so I don't think he will mind. I never thought I would have to cook for my cat!

[KnottedYet]

An interesting tidbit - I just did a little googling to see if my Kirkland Costco dog bikkies were safe. (so far so good) In the process I found out that the bad wheat gluten was "food grade" (suitable for people food) not "feed grade" (not good enough for people, but ok for animals)

Sooooo... that stuff could've been put into people food. Watch what you eat, ladies and gentlemen.

[mimitabby]

Today's Seattle PI finally discusses WHY melamine is in our pets' food. It seems that a little melamine makes the food test out as higher in protein. So it's a cheap way to boost that protein percentage that is so important for selling to owners of carnivorous animals. Except there really isn't that extra protein. instead you get lower protein than you thought + poison.

on the brighter side, my cats have had their new food for 2 days now. They wasted it the first night but last night i mixed it with canned catfood, and they ate all of it. I will continue mixing and gradually change it to all good stuff.

Knot, thanks for the link.

[Brandi]

Today's Seattle PI finally discusses WHY melamine is in our pets' food. It seems that a little melamine makes the food test out as higher in protein. So it's a cheap way to boost that protein percentage that is so important for selling to owners of carnivorous animals. Except there really isn't that extra protein. instead you get lower protein than you thought + poison.

on the brighter side, my cats have had their new food for 2 days now. They wasted it the first night but last night i mixed it with canned catfood, and they ate all of it. I will continue mixing and gradually change it to all good stuff.

Knot, thanks for the link.
Yea my dh read me that this morning too. I am a bit concerned and confussed. I don't know what to do. I feed them wet food only to get them in the house at night. They all get less then a tbl. my cats eat innova wet and Nutro dry. I just don't know. I want to stop feeding them this stuff all together but I travel for a living. How can I make them enough to last let's say two weeks at a time. Sigh!! I just want this to be over!

[mimitabby]

Brandi,
my new cat food is in little baggies in the freezer.
Nutro is one of the products that was just reported as causing sickness in some dogs in Seattle. (that's what i have in my house right now too!) I'm going to buy my cats some purina cat chow tonight because THEY haven't been in the news AT ALL. It's not the best, but it's not poisoned.

[KnottedYet]

Innova food is ok.

[Trek420]

An interesting tidbit - I just did a little googling to see if my Kirkland Costco dog bikkies were safe. (so far so good) In the process I found out that the bad wheat gluten was "food grade" (suitable for people food) not "feed grade" (not good enough for people, but ok for animals)

Sooooo... that stuff could've been put into people food. Watch what you eat, ladies and gentlemen.

Since Innova pet food is ok and some of this stuff could be in people food, should I eat Innova pet food? :rolleyes: :cool: ;)

[mimitabby]

that's a good idea Trek. but just eschew (don't chew) food with wheat germ
or corn glutin or rice protein in it.
Gosh, that's a lot of stuff!

this is making me nuts. Don't eat processed foods, bottom line.
and it makes sense. try to use all whole fresh ingredients for you and your pets.

[chickwhorips]

ugh this whole pet food recall is just so frustrating!

i thought about making food for peanut, but she would have a bigger portion than i would. :eek:

maybe we will both go on a rice, beef and beans diet. :rolleyes:

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

I'm going with the Paul Newman's organic dry cat food. No wheat, no "meat by-products" (meaning diseased or dead chickens, among other sordid ingredients of "meat by-products" which are not allowed in human food), and one would hope no pesticides because it's organic chicken and organic vegetables.
It's expensive- locally $10 for a 3.25 lb bag.(!) But that lasts a couple weeks for our 3 cats. Our cats seem to love it, and they are pretty picky.

[Starfish]

Someone mentioned baby food earlier, and my cat is loving a mixture of several baby food varieties with things like canned peas, cottage cheese, ground chicken, etc.