Jeff Orbach said,
Is
DAD’s dogfood ok? It is manufactured in Meadville PA
Caro said,
Do
you have information about Holistic Blend?
Debbie said,
If
anyone is looking for a high quality dry dog food, check out Cloud
Star Holistic Kibble. It’s the only dry food my picky Yorkie
will eat. It does NOT contain any corn or wheat, is made of all
human food grade ingredients, and has 30% crude protein.
With
the recall being exanded to include dry foods, I wondered where
this food was manufactured, so I emailed the company. I promptly
received an answer from Jennifer Melton. She wrote:
“Thank
you for contacting us. Cloud Star does our own manufacturing and
is in no way associated with Menu Foods or the tainted ingredients.
Take
Care,
Jennifer”
Jennifer”
Here
is a link to the product if anyone is interested:
https://www9.mailordercentral.com/cloudstar/prodinfo.asp?number=13100
https://www9.mailordercentral.com/cloudstar/prodinfo.asp?number=13100
Please
note that I do NOT work for this company. I am just a concerned
pet owner.
My
prayers are with all the sick pets and their owners.
Debbie
Linda said,
I
just wanted to comment that Old Mother Hubbard treats DO contain
wheat.
Also,
I took my dog off of his dry Nutro food immediately because I
just wasn’t convinced that dry food was safe. I fed him
home cooked food for a week and then started feeding him Canidae
Platinum dry food very gradually (mixed with the home cooked food)
He started getting diarrhea and I didn’t know if it was
a coincidence or the new food. I only fed him home cooked food
for a few days again until it cleared up. Now I am reintroducing
the Canidae dry food very gradually again and will see what happens.
I wonder if I should have stayed with the Canidae and the stomach
upset would have cleared up as he got more used to it.
Sue said,
To
Nan that asked about Natural Balance. If you check the list above,
Natural Balance is listed as not being on the list of recalled
foods. According to the list above, Natural Balance foods are
not manufactured by Menu Foods.
Pamela H said,
I
work in an emergency vet hospital, and I have to say, I have seen
a few animals affected by this food recall. It is a very sad thing
to watch animals only a year or so old struggle for their lives.
I myself have a young kitty, whom I feed Science Diet Maintenance.
She is at the end of a 20 lb bag, so feel the bag she just ate
is probably safe, but have to say, I am slightly nervous opening
the next bag, especially in light of the new SD recall. However,
I have read the bag, and there is no wheat gluten in it. I am
aware of possible cross-contamination, but feel that is a very
low risk.
I
am not going to jump on any band-wagon for or against any food…I
feel they all have benefits and risks at this point. I would like
to remind people however of a few things.
1.
ANY sudden change in food can cause vomiting and diarrhea. If
it is a choice between that, and feeding a recalled food, one
(I hope) would choose the vomiting and diarrhea. However, since
vomiting and diarrhea are symptoms of renal failure, I would STRONGLY
urge anyone who has an animal experiencing these symptoms to immediately
have them checked by their veterinarian.
2.
I strongly caution anyone considering a “home-cooked”
diet for their animal. Please check with your veterinarian to
make sure your animal’s dietary needs are being met. Some
dogs and cats have special dietary and/or caloric needs, and all
cats need taurine added to their diet.
3.
It is very easy to panic over something like this. I myself have
felt a bit of panic while watching my kitty eat her dinner, while
pouring over the hundreds of pages of information on the recall.
I know worrying over how much she is playing, how much she is
eating and drinking, and wondering if that hairball she just hacked
up is related to the food recall. Please try and keep perspective.
All of you know your animals better than anyone. If you feel they
are behaving oddly, even if their symptoms are not on “the
list”, please get them to your vet IMMEDIATELY! Renal failure,
like anything else, is treated most easily when caught early.
The symptoms can be vague and not as clear-cut as some people
might lead you to believe.
4.
The only way renal failure can be diagnosed is with bloodwork
and urinalysis. The only way it can be treated effectively is
with your veterinarian’s help. I understand a lot of vets
sell and/or recommend certain diets, but that is no reason not
to listen to them. It isn’t like the veterinary business
knew this was happening.
5.
If you are truly concerned about your pet, take them to the doctor
and have the necessary tests performed. It is worth the money
just for the peace of mind. (In my opinion). Discuss your pets’
diet with your vet. Any compassionate vet will listen to your
concerns and offer the best advice possible. If they do not, you
need to find another vet.
I
have said my 2 cents worth. I wish all pet owners the best of
luck, and hope that you and your pet is not affected by the recall.
Hopefully everyone can work together to find an effective solution
to a horrible problem. My personal solution is just to avoid the
foods with wheat gluten in them, and watch my kitty closely, and
try to give the best care possible to those who come into my hospital.
Geff said,
I
mentioned above that I’d tried Felidae & my cat wasn’t
really happy. Yesterday we switched to Felidae Chicken & Rice
(the version without Herring) & so far so good. He doesn’t
like it as much as he did Royal Canin, but his personalty is mostly
back to normal, & the allergic reaction he was having to Felidae
Cat & Kitten seems to have moderated considerably. So far
seems like a winner, & it’s one of only 2 brands that
my vet feels are safe at this time.
Most
importantly, he seems healthy. I hope this lasts. While I feel
blessed that my guy doesn’t seem to have been poisoned,
both of us have been miserable trying to find him a new food that’s
safe, that he likes, & that he won’t react to. I’d
forgotten how much trouble it was finding a fod for him when we
switched from Hills to RC several years ago; before trying the
RC (which I no longer trust) over the course of a year I tried
several brands that he didn’t do well with.
Sue said,
To
Pamela H, good post. I feel exactly the same way. Thank you for
your “2 cents worth.”
I
am concerned that people won’t take their pets to a vet
if they don’t have the money to pay for tests and/or treatment.
linda said,
When
we took our three dogs for a walk today, a woman driving by stopped
to ask us to give our dogs a kiss for her. She added that she
just lost her babies to this current food recall. I cry still
at the thought. I couldn’t imagine losing our 3 “kids”.
I wish these companies would just be honest to prevent any more
sorrow. My heart goes out to everyone.
cyndy said,
I
PURPOSELY LOOKED FOR A HOLISTIC FOOD FOR MY YORKIE SHE IS NOW
ONE YR OLD AND I WANTED A WHEAT GLUTEN AND WHEAT FREE AND NO BY
PRODUCTS ….BLUE BUFFALO IN THE PETSMART NOT EXPENSIVE, THANK
GOD I DID! IM SOOOO SORRY FOR THE ONES THAT SUFFERED.
Lee said,
Note:
good site for kitties health is www.catinfo.org
Interested Observer said,
My
vet recommended Iams wet cat food. Not necessarily the best advice.
Why do so many vets claim to know so much about nutrition yet
they recommend Iams and Science Diet and sell them in their practice?
Hardly the pinnacle of great pet food…
Even
years of vet school doesn’t automatically give one the upper
hand in knowledge when it comes to a “mother’s sense”;
In the end, I still know what’s best to feed my pets.
Robin said,
I
feed my cat the Kirkland signature super premium maintenance for
cats from Costco, and I am wondering if it’s a safe food
for him? There is no wheat gluten.
Marcia said,
Feed
our Wire Fox Terrier
Solid Gold Holistique Blendz Adult Dog (fish)
Not on the recall list.
Solid Gold Holistique Blendz Adult Dog (fish)
Not on the recall list.
Mark said,
Has
anyone read the Purina-Alpo website? Look at their first 2 PR’s
where they unequivically state that none of their products other
than Mighty Dog is involved in the recall and that they are all
perfectly save.
So my friend goes out and buys Purina-Alpo Prime Cuts.
We just had all of our pups in for blood work because some of
our Eukenuba packets had the recall numbers. Thankfully everything
looks good.
Now Purina-Alpo recalls the very product they said was safe.
How in hell did they continue selling their product when they
HAD to have known 2 weeks ago that wheat gluten was somehow involved
and that THEY use the same supplier that Menu used?
To me this shows that Purina-Alpo are the lowest of the low. They
left us continue poisoning our pets.
Now its BACK to the vet for more blood tests.
Johnna said,
To
Pamela H:
Thanks
for your post. However, do you have any idea how crappy the quality
of Hills Science Diet food really is? Since you didn’t identify
yourself as a vet, I assume you are a vet tech. Anyway, most veternarians
know next to nothing about nutrition (they aren’t taught
much at all about it in vet school). The reason most vets sell
this crappy SD food is that the company reps aggressively push
it at them.
My
4-year-old Bichon Frise just had surgery one month ago for struvite
bladder stones. The vet’s recommendation is to put her on
a SD prescription food. But I’ve studied and researched
the ingredients in many foods and I just can’t make myself
do this to my furbaby. The Royal Canin prescription food looks
a bit better….but not much! IMO, crappy food=crappy health
(whether you’re a human or canine).
When
my 2 dogs were younger I fed them Purina and IAMS. Why??? For
the same reason, alot of other people do….I didn’t
know any better!! But now I do, and when I found out the crappy
ingredients that go into most commercial pet foods, I switched
to a premium food. I even gave away part of a bag of IAMS….it
made me sick to think about continuing to feed such crap to my
girls. First I fed Wellness Fish & Sweet Potato, then I switched
to Natural Balance Potato & Duck. Just recently, since my
dog’s surgery, I’ve switched again to Canidae Platinum
dry food. In doing alot of research, I learned that it is rated
better than the NB I was feeding and it’s even a bit cheaper!!
I don’t mind to pay $$ for quality food, but I do mind paying
alot for crappy food that is being passed off as good. The Canidae
is for senior & overweight dogs….my dogs are only 4
years old, but the Bichon tends to be a pound or two overweight
and this food is lower in protein and fat than NB, which is good
for the type of bladder stones she had.
I
sure don’t want her bladder stones to come back (for one
thing the surgery is NOT cheap!), but I refuse to sacrifice her
overall general health and nutrition to that end by feeding her
some low-quality prescription food. Instead, I plan on an aggressive
approach (an alternative given to me by the surgeon who actually
did her surgery) that means testing her urine frequently to make
sure that there is no infection, etc. This means the first test
will be next week, and then every 3 months for the first year.
I’m also looking into other solutions/alternatives and plan
to consult with the one holistic vet in my area.
If
anyone has any helpful info regarding struvite urolithasis, especially
in the Bichon breed, feel free to email me. Thanks!