IG Momma said,
You’re
missing one of my favorite brands - Blackwood, it is NOT associated
in any way with Menu foods.
Crystal said,
Two
years ago Wysong told me that they get their venison from Australia.
They said that is to avoid the diseases we have here in the US. Just
thought I’d add that tid bit. (I’ve been using their dry
food for my pets for seven years and swear by it. I recommend it to
anyone who can not afford to entirely feed raw.)
Crystal said,
To
JC… I understand and share your disappointment. Thanks for sharing
your experience. I think any of us who have been buying Wysong need
to write or call them and let them know how we feel. After all weren’t
we pretty much lead to believe that they grew and manufactured ALL their
foods.
Kathy said,
First
of all, thank you to all the people who have gathered information. I
have been looking through this site all day, and doing my own research.
I currently use Wellness and am in the process of switching now that
I have read the postings. I emailed Solid Gold to check if their meat
was human grade and got the following response:
“Thank you for your interest in our foods. The lamb comes from New Zealand and is hormone free and free range. All of the other meats are also free range and hormone free and are from US sources. Fish are wild caught, not farmed. The meal designation simply means that the water is removed before being incorporated into the food. The meals that we use are from primary production, as opposed to secondary production (by-products). Were a meal to contain by-products, it would have to be called “by-product meal”. The vegetables and grains are organic and the grains carry a USDA grade I and II certification, which means they are suitable for human consumption. Our foods contain no artificial preservatives such as BHA, BHT and ethoxyquin. The ingredients are human grade, but because they are processed in an animal facility, we cannot make a human grade claim on the bag. We don’t use any corn wheat or soy in any of our products. I routinely test the finished product randomly for various quality assurance checks, in addition to the testing done at the mill pre and post production.” I hope this is helpful to those of you searching, as I am, for safe answers.
“Thank you for your interest in our foods. The lamb comes from New Zealand and is hormone free and free range. All of the other meats are also free range and hormone free and are from US sources. Fish are wild caught, not farmed. The meal designation simply means that the water is removed before being incorporated into the food. The meals that we use are from primary production, as opposed to secondary production (by-products). Were a meal to contain by-products, it would have to be called “by-product meal”. The vegetables and grains are organic and the grains carry a USDA grade I and II certification, which means they are suitable for human consumption. Our foods contain no artificial preservatives such as BHA, BHT and ethoxyquin. The ingredients are human grade, but because they are processed in an animal facility, we cannot make a human grade claim on the bag. We don’t use any corn wheat or soy in any of our products. I routinely test the finished product randomly for various quality assurance checks, in addition to the testing done at the mill pre and post production.” I hope this is helpful to those of you searching, as I am, for safe answers.
Also,
in my research, I looked at the Kumpi website. I have a grave concern
about the ingredient “dried beet pulp”. I had been informed
by my vet and my dog trainer that dried beet pulp is a stool hardener
(it makes the feces a nice, firm shape that appeals to humans) and to
avoid all food including it. The reason? If a dog needs to have diarrhea
because they have eaten something that needs to leave their system quickly,
the dried beet pulp can delay this from happening.
MSR said,
Here
is a response that I got from Evanger’s from whom I buy food for
one of my dogs.
“Please
be assured that Evanger’s is not involved in the Menu Foods recall.
We manufacture and can all our own food at our plant in Wheeling, IL
using only human grade ingredients. We do not use wheat gluten in our
food or even have it in our plant.
I
hope that this addresses your concerns. Please feel free to contact
me with any questions or concerns that you may have. Thank you for your
interest in our food.”
Sincerely,
Cynthia
Stoner, Office Manager
Evanger’s Dog & Cat Food Company, Incorporated
Phone: (847) 537-0102 Fax: (847) 537-0179
Email: cstoner@evangersdogfood.com
Evanger’s Dog & Cat Food Company, Incorporated
Phone: (847) 537-0102 Fax: (847) 537-0179
Email: cstoner@evangersdogfood.com
Lisa Moser said,
I
have two cats, one of who was diagnosed with severe kidney disease 4
1/2 years ago. Several Vets & University of Penn Vet Hospital told
me then that she would not make it until the end of the week; however,
she is still with me and doing well on daily Sub Q fluids and thyroid
medication for her hyperthyroidism. Upon diagnosis, I did extensive
research on cat foods and immediately took her off of the low quality
grocery store brands and switched her to primarily wellness dry and
canned daily, along with a second can of other high quality can foods
at night. Unfortunately, although I knew Nutro was a lower quality food,
they really loved the newest Nutro Gourmet Classics in the pouch and
I figured the ingredient panel was that bad, so I fed a pouch to them
about twice per week, only to find out recently that it contained rat
poisin. I’ve completely dedicated the past 4 1/2 years of my life
to saving this cat and then I feed her RAT POISIN!! It has been about
2 weeks since I fed them rat poisin & both seem fine with no symptoms.
My other cat’s bloodwork can back fine, but my kidney cat’s
Creatine and Calcium levels were slightly higher than usual. My vet
says that she has seen lots of cases where the pet is not exhibiting
any symptoms, but have extremely high kidney values as a result of being
fed rat poisin. Needless to say, I will be re-testing my cats every
few weeks to be sure. Thankfully, my two dogs were not fed any rat poisin(that
I’m aware of so far). I also fed the dogs & cats Innova, Nature’s
Variety, Wellness, Merrick, Dick Van Patten’s Chinese Take Out.
Since Innova(dog’s staple diet) & Wellness(cat’s staple
diet), along with Nature’s Variety are made by Menu Foods, I will
no longer feed my animals thier food. As a result, I am looking for
other brands. I did some research on Feline Spa Select made by Blue
Buffalo and the Dog food made by Blue Buffalo. I called the Blue Buffalo
Company and to my surprise, a real live person actually answered the
phone and told me that they do no business with Menu Foods whatsoever.
The ingredient panel on these foods look good and they appear to be
animal friendly. It is sold strictly to Pet Smart, which makes me a
little leery b/c I’m not used to buying quality food from a national
chain. I fed it to my cats today-dry and canned-and they like it. If
anyone has any information on Blue Buffalo products/company, please
pass it on? I really don’t want to feed my kidney cat any more
crap. Since the recall, I have also been feeding my cats Merrick, Evangers(Pheasant
& Organic BraisedChicken), Natural Balance & Solid Gold-all
canned. PS: Dogs love Dick Van Patten’s Chinese Take Out(as a
special treat once/week as the first ingredient is water) If anyone
has any questions for me, please don’t hesitate to e-mail. After
almost 5 years of going to the vet/University Vet Hospitals at least
once per month, researching kidney disease, other feline/canine ailments
and pet foods, I feel as though I’m pretty close to an unofficial
expert. My e-mail is muddpeewee@yahoo.com
Please
let me know if you know anything about Blue Buffalo Pet foods &
Feline Spa Select. Thank you!!
Karen said,
I
have been feeding my cats Blue Buffalo Spa Select for three months,
and e-mailed the company with specific questions this weekend; their
reply:
“Thank
you for taking the time out to write us. And thank you for your interest
in BLUE. None of BLUE products have ever been produced by Menu Foods
and are not affiliated with them in any way. Our manufacturing partners
are all USDA inspected and approved. We are not giving out the names
of our manufacturing partners because they are not set up to handle
calls.
Blue
Buffalo does not do any invasive animal testing. The only testing we
conduct is palatability testing. That of course is necessary because
we have to make sure that dogs and cats will like the taste.
Blue
Buffalo was founded on the basis of providing the best possible care
for animals - all animals. We do not, nor will we ever, conduct any
tests on animals that will harm them, exploit them, or make them uncomfortable
in any way.”
I
read on a blog that their dry food is manufactured by CJ Food in Kansas,
canned is made by American Nutrition in Utah. My cats love it and have
done very well; I have already noticed positive changes in their coats
and frequency of hairballs. Website: http://www.bluebuff.com
Julia said,
This
is from the Petconnection website:
Some
news - and a caution - from the ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center,
which has seen a huge increase in call volume since the Menu pet food
recall was announced. The ASPCA’s veterinary toxicologists “have been
carefully analyzing data from these calls,” and are drawing some troubling
conclusions:
Today the ASPCA reports that, based on these data, clinical signs reported
in cats affected by the contaminated foods are not fully consistent
with the ingestion of rat poison containing aminopterin that, according
to Menu Foods, is at the “root” of the contamination issue.
“We’ve
seen reports coming in from all around the country that animals that
were eating the contaminated foods are definitely suffering from renal
failure,” said Dr. Steven Hansen, veterinary toxicologist and senior
vice president with the ASPCA, who manages the ASPCA’s Midwest Office,
including the APCC. “But the data that we’ve been collecting do not
conclusively prove this connection, which is why we strongly recommend
that those involved in the investigation continue to search for additional
contaminants.”
Jaycee said,
The
ingredients in Blue Buffalo are great! That said, I still won’t
buy it because Petsmart still supports the pet food companies that are
involved in the recall; really not that different than WalMart, IMVHO.
Petsmart is known to sell commercial food that is full of junk, as is
WalMart. Petsmart is also a financial backer to Blue Buff. So, even
though the food is great, I can’t say I feel comfortable supporting
a national chain. But, OTOH, at least they are carrying something good
that is accessible to those that wish to save $$. If it were me, I would
stick to Merrick or some of the other brands you listed because I, like
many others here, am boycotting ANY brand that is related to menu foods-
even those than only use Menu foods for canning. My conscious will not
let me do otherwise.
Sue Kalina said,
I’m
with Lois Koblizek on this one. I believe this has been going on for
a very long time. My old cat suddenly went in to renal failure in Sept.2005
and was gone in 3 weeks. My replacement 2 year old cat almost made it
to 3 but ended up with 5 urinary blockages within 2 months. That goes
back to April/May 2006 and he was totally fine for 6 months before that…this
is way bigger than we will ever find out…and I’m sick and
tired and furious at being sad all the time over the losses! I have
been on this planet for over 50 years and have never heard of cats and
dogs being so sick all of the time. So much for all our new learning
and education. It seems to me that the only thing that makes sense is
to revert back to country life type thinking and clean up our act !
Sue
Kalina
Lisa Moser said,
Unfortunately,
Merrick and Evangers do not make a dry cat food. Since I’m away
at work for a large portion of the day, I like to keep dry food out
for the cats while I’m away to supplement the canned food I feed
them when I get home. I agree that we should boycott all stores supporting
Menu Foods; however, at this point, I just want to find something to
feed my cats that won’t kill them. Good to hear that you think
Blue Buffalo is good stuff. I’ll feed them the Spa Select Cusine
by Blue Buffalo dry/canned food until I find something completely disassociated
with Menu Foods and continue to also use Merrick and Evangers. Thanks.
Traci said,
This
looks interesting:
And,
if they are passing a Kosher for Passover standard, that is going to
be a very strict standard per not having grain contaminants. Unfortunately,
they don’t sell to the public and I am surprised to see no retailers
in either OR or WA for them.
Traci said,
“Unfortunately,
Merrick and Evangers do not make a dry cat food. Since I’m away at work
for a large portion of the day, I like to keep dry food out for the
cats while I’m away to supplement the canned food I feed them when I
get home.”
If
you look at the Merrick website they say a dry cat food is coming out
“Spring 2007″
Traci said,
“itchmo
Outage Today
March 27th, 2007
FYI. Our server was hit by a Denial-of-Service attack starting at 1am this morning. We don’t know if the attack was directed at us, or one of the other sites that run on the same server, but if you’re a conspiracy theorist, this would make for excellent fodder as we were set to tally the dry food reports today. Thanks for your patience.”
March 27th, 2007
FYI. Our server was hit by a Denial-of-Service attack starting at 1am this morning. We don’t know if the attack was directed at us, or one of the other sites that run on the same server, but if you’re a conspiracy theorist, this would make for excellent fodder as we were set to tally the dry food reports today. Thanks for your patience.”
They
are back now as 9pm PDT.
Luis said,
I
have two mini doxies that I feed Nutro Natural Choice dry food and occasionally
would mix with the recall type slices/chunks in gravy pouches as an
extra treat for my little angels. I also feel cheated and disappointed
from this premium company which I am thinking of boycotting. I was a
person who would always tell other pet owners about Nutro products.
I stopped feeding my dogs the Nutro pouches but continue on the dry
food I hate switching foods and right know I dont know who to switch
to. I was doing a search and found this blog which is very informative.
When i stopped I still had three pouches two are on the recall list
and are the Nutro Natural Choice Chicken & Cheese Casserole Best
by DEC 14, 2008 and Midwest Beef Stew Best by Dec 16, 2008 (my dogs
favorite). I am sure I must have feed some recalled pouches to my dogs
because I think i had bought 4. I would give it to them in small portions
like 8 little pieces of the meat with some gravy mixed with dry food.My
dogs seem fine and active as ever but I am making an appointment with
my vet. and having tests done to be safe. I feel for the petowners that
had there pets die and for the people that have sick pets. I dont have
children yet, but my two doxies are like my children and can could not
imagine if my doggies would have gotten sick or died. Nutro is a good
product I think these premium brands are going to have to get more on
the ball with their quality control. I will be checking this blog occasionally.
Thanks.
Joanne said,
My
tiny toy poodle and my chihauhau are a big part of my life.
To be totally safe, I am buying chicken legs and thighs and
cooking them for my babies. I used Cesar and also Kibbles
and Bits Tender Chops. No more. I am not taking any chances!!!
To be totally safe, I am buying chicken legs and thighs and
cooking them for my babies. I used Cesar and also Kibbles
and Bits Tender Chops. No more. I am not taking any chances!!!