1 year after the pet food scandal - what's different?

[Porsche-O-Phile]

Apparently not much.

Below is an excerpt from a veterinary medicine blog I subscribe to and read. The doctor is a huge advocate for holistic veterinary care, owner education and "at home" treatments (one of the reasons I subscribe to and read every one of his blogs).

Anyway, I was a bit dismayed and disturbed to read today that so little has apparently been done in the wake of this incident that caused so much grief, suffering and heartache. Renal (kidney) failure is no way to go, but apparently (as usual) there has been little action on the part of legislators or the industry to improve the status quo.

My recommendations would be (1) to know and understand what the heck you're feeding your pets, (2) to feed them a "natural" diet whenever possible made at home from things you know (there's a lot on the website about this), (3) demanding that legislation be passed to more closely control what goes into pet food and perhaps most importantly (4) demanding a change in the laws to give our pets more protections.

I am bothered by the fact that our laws still treat animals as "objects" or "property" rather than living things that deserve some manner of protection or rights. Even animal cruelty laws are, in some states, deliberately vague, open to interpretation, easily contested and seldom enforced.

You'd think in wake of this pet food incident, the Katrina incident (where many people opted to stay because they couldn't take their pets with them), Michael Vick, etc. that something would be done to help change the situation. . .

- - - - -

blog excerpt

- - - - -

From: Dr Andrew Jones
Author: Veterinary Secrets Revealed
Website: http://www.veterinarysecretsrevealed.com/

Hello Jeffrey,

Re: URGENT..Pet Food Recall (1 Year Ago)

//////////////////////////////////////////////

Hello fellow dog and cat lovers.

It has been a little over 1 year since the Pet Food Recall
hit the news.

During that time, thousands of pets became ill, and thousands
died of kidney failure.

In the end, the food was found to be contaminated with
Melamine and Cyanuric Acid.

Specifically the 'Wheat Gluten', a very inexpensive filler
was imported from China. The Wheat gluten was contaminated
with melamine and cyanuric acid intentionally to increase
the measured protein levels.

This was trully unbelievable..IT was hard to fathom
that in this day and age, we could have such a widespread
contamination.

HOW could this happen?

HOW can you TRUST what is in the food and on the label?

Well there NEEDS to be some form of regulation..but
guess what?

1 Year later Dog and Cat Food has little regulation- In fact
I am not sure that It is ANY SAFER than it was 1 year ago.

Here is the original News Release from 1 year ago:

- - - - -

This just hit the news and you should all be aware of it.

P&G Pet Care Announces Voluntary Participation in Menu Foods'
Nationwide U.S. and Canadian Recall of Specific Canned and Small Foil Pouch
'Wet' Cat and Dog Foods
Contact:
Kurt Weingand, D.V.M., Ph.D.
937-264-7676

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE -- Dayton, OH -- March 16, 2007 -- In response to
the recent Menu
Foods, Inc. nationwide recall of wet pet foods, P&G Pet Care has
announced a voluntary
recall in the United States and Canada on specific 3 oz., 5.5 oz., 6
oz. and 13.2 oz.
canned and 3 oz. and 5.3 oz. foil pouch "wet" cat and dog food products
manufactured by
Menu Foods Inc. Emporia, Kansas plant with the code dates of 6339
through 7073 followed
by the plant code 4197. This voluntary recall is part of a larger
product recall by Menu
Foods Inc., a contract manufacturer that makes a small portion of
canned and foil pouch
'wet' cat foods for Iams and Eukanuba as well as other non-P&G brands.
There have been a
small number of reported cases of cats from the US (none in Canada)
becoming sick and
developing signs of kidney failure. The signs of kidney failure include
loss of appetite,
vomiting, and lethargy. P&G Pet Care has received no case reports
involving dogs.

This voluntary product recall involves discontinuation of all retail
sales and product
retrieval from consumers. Consumers should stop using the affected
products immediately,
and consult with a veterinarian if any symptoms are present in their
pet. All Iams and
Eukanuba products carry a 100 percent guarantee, and consumers can
receive a refund for
recalled products. For more information, consumers can contact the
company at
1-800-882-1591 or visit www.Iams.com and www.Eukanuba.com for details.

To read can product codes, refer to the bottom of the can. The first
four numbers of the
second line of numbers are the date code, and the following four
numbers indicate the
plant code. For example, if the second line begins with four numbers
from 6339 to 7073
followed by the plant code 4197, then the can should be recalled. For
foil pouches, the
code numbers are located at the lower left hand corner on the back of
the pouch. The date
and plant codes appear in the third group of numbers, beginning an
11-digit sequence.
See www.Iams.com and www.Eukanuba.com for illustrated details.

P&G Pet Care is taking this proactive step out of an abundance of
caution, because the
health and well-being of pets is paramount in the mission of Iams and
Eukanuba. Tests of
some affected product have not revealed the cause of sickness, and
testing will continue
until a better understanding of the facts has been achieved. All other
canned and small
foil wet pouch products produced at other plants are not affected by
this issue. Iams and
Eukanuba "dry" products are not manufactured at Menu Foods and not
affected by this issue
. Iams and Eukanuba biscuits, treats and sauces are not affected by
this issue.

P&G Pet Care has informed the Food and Drug Administration and the
Canadian Food
Inspection Agency on this issue. The company regrets any inconvenience
to its consumers
and retail customers.





Recalled Dog Product Information
Recall Information 1-866-895-2708

1. Americas Choice, Preferred Pets
2. Authority
3. Award
4. Best Choice
5. Big Bet
6. Big Red
7. Bloom
8. Bruiser
9. Cadillac
10. Companion
11. Demoulas Market Basket
12. Fine Feline Cat, Shep Dog
13. Food Lion
14. Giant Companion
15. Great Choice
16. Hannaford
17. Hill Country Fare
18. Hy-Vee
19. Key Food
20. Laura Lynn
21. Loving Meals
22. Main Choice
23. Mixables
24. Nutriplan
25. Nutro Max
26. Nutro Natural Choice
27. Nutro
28. Ol'Roy
29. Paws
30. Pet Essentials
31. Pet Pride
32. Presidents Choice
33. Price Chopper
34. Priority
35. Publix
36. Roche Bros
37. Save-A-Lot
38. Schnucks
39. Springsfield Pride
40. Sprout
41. Stater Bros
42. Total Pet, My True Friend
43. Western Family
44. White Rose
45. Winn Dixie
46. Your Pet


Recalled Cat Product Information

Recall Information 1-866-895-2708

1. Americas Choice, Preferred Pets
2. Authority
3. Best Choice
4. Companion
5. Compliments
6. Demoulas Market Basket
7. Fine Feline Cat, Shep Dog
8. Food Lion
9. Foodtown
10. Giant Companion
11. Good n Meaty
12. Hannaford
13. Hill Country Fare
14. Hy-Vee
15. Key Food
16. Laura Lynn
17. Li'l Red
18. Loving Meals
19. Main Choice
20. Nutriplan
21. Nutro Max Gourmet Classics
22. Nutro Natural Choice
23. Paws
24. Presidents Choice
25. Price Chopper
26. Priority
27. Save-A-Lot
28. Schnucks
29. Sophistacat
30. Special Kitty
31. Springfield Pride
32. Sprout
33. Total Pet, My True Friend
34. Wegmans
35. Western Family
36. White Rose
37. Winn Dixie

///////////////////////////////////////////////////////

P.S. I am going through all of the Entries for those of
you hoping to WIN a Fr**ee Course. I want to be fair to
everyone and read all of these before I announce a Winner.

P.P.S. If you are wanting to get KNOW exactly what Dog and
Cat Food is SAFE then you should go through my Pet Food
Recall Report. It's at:

http://www.petfoodrecallreport.com

It's Your Pet- Heal Them At Home!

Best Wishes

Dr Andrew Jones

PRIVACY POLICY: We will never rent, sell, loan, provide,
barter, exchange or in any way make available your personal
information to others. You can unsubscribe or change your email
address at any time using the links at the bottom of this email.

Copyright 2007 Four Paws Online Ltd.

Tel: 1-800-396-1534
Fax: 1-250-352-1901

http://www.veterinarysecretsrevealed.com
support@veterinarysecretsrevealed.com

[MRM]

My dog barks a little in English, a little in Chinese, and now has a preference for dim sum. Otherwise nothing seems to have changed.

[sammyg2]

What has been done? IMO the media gave up on this because they found another topic to totally exaggerate, blow out of proportion, and exploit. The sensationalistic furvor that was created by knee-jerk reactionaries died down as people started to realize it was not anywhere near as big of a deal as they were led to believe.

LOL Holistic treatment for dogs? Thousands of pets died from this? I don't think so.

[M.D. Holloway]

more dead pets?

[widebody911]

I feed my dog chinese dog food, and and hour later, he's hungry again.

[onewhippedpuppy]

Originally Posted by widebody911

I feed my dog chinese dog food, and and hour later, he's hungry again.

The munchies are a b!tch.

[Porsche-O-Phile]

Did your dog get into your stash again?

Sammy, I think you're confusing "holistic" care with "alternative" care. The latter is arguably quack medicine with herbal remedies and aromatherapy, reflexology, acupuncture and all that stuff. There's some validity to it, but it's not the conventional "western-style", clinical medicine that's rooted in science. "Holistic" care is different - it involves more of a cooperative approach to care (though obviously in veterinary medicine this would be owner/vet more than pet/vet because of communication barriers). At least that's my understanding.

I find your dismissal of the entire incident and attitude towards a very real problem to those of us that actually love and care about our pets pretty callous. For what? To defend the stellar reputation of the Chinese? That wasn't my intent in posting this - it was merely to make people aware of the fact that this is still a potential problem out there and precious little has been done about it.

As far as the whole thing being a media fabrication - do you feel the same way about the genocide in Darfur? The Holocaust? C'mon - you're a smart guy - certainly smarter than that. Tell one of the thousands of pet owners that saw their dogs/cats die in writhing pain due to renal failure that it was "made up". I know an individual personally (co-worker) whose pets got sick from this. Fortunately she survived. I got lucky in that I didn't happen to have any of the affected food at the time. . .

Just take an involved approach to your pets and be a responsible caretaker/owner/companion. That's all I'm suggesting and ultimately I think that's all this particular vet is advocating.

[legion]

Someone's been smoking Labrador...

[TerryH]

We lost our 10 year old pup in Feb '07 to acute renal failure. From apparent perfect health to euthanized in a weeks time. We were feeding him Iams pouches. Procter and Gamble, parent company of Iams, sent us checks for the recent vet bills and purchase price of the dog. We have since included ourselves in a class action for punitive damages.

I'm not going to guess how many pets died, but I will bet it's exponentially more than the pet food industry want people to believe. It's horrible to imagine your pet dieing because of food you chose to feed him. Food you put your trust in.

To some it's just dog and cats, but to some of us they are furry children.

Indiana (Indy) Jones.... RIP.

[Rikao4]

Sorry for your loss Terry,
we now feed ours 'homemade dogfood' it's a little work , but worth it.
Sammy, one dog that is poisoned because of shortcuts at the factory, is to many..
or as you like to say 'one illegal' is to many.
but unless ..Bush's dog, or Peposi's other b!tch dies ..nothin going to happen.
Rika

[notfarnow]

Originally Posted by Rikao4

Sorry for your loss Terry,
we now feed ours 'homemade dogfood' it's a little work , but worth it.

I'd like to hear more about that.

One of our dogs has a ton of allergies so we have to buy special (read: expensive) food for him. I've often wondered about homemade dog foods. Can you do large batches and freeze?

[Tim Hancock]

Nothing but cheap dry food for our dog and cats that live outside (winter, spring, summer & fall)..... Never had a problem in the 30+ yrs I have been feeding the cheap dry stuff. Even when we have had kittens or puppies, they just get the cheap dry normal age stuff. 20lb bag of dry cat food is about $8.00 and the dry dog food is under $10.00 for a 40-50 lb bag. Too funny to hear someone claim their precious Fluffy will only eat brand "x" canned food and it must be warmed first.... If the cat gets hungry enough, it will eat the dry.

[Rikao4]

Jake, you can freeze..provided your not re-freezing ...at work ..so no recipe.
There are lots of books / sites that have some sort of recipe.
Rika

[tabs]

I made up a batch of Homemade dog food and a week later the little critter had pancreaitis, which cost me..ehhhh $1800.

Here is what i cooked

2 1/2 lbs ground beef 70%
4 cups of cooked rice
1 lb of frozen mixed veggies
6 Chicken Livers.
2 cloves of galic
Plus I put in some Pork Roast Juice that had been skimmed for the fat.

That apparently was too rich for the little dog.

[tabs]

Or was it that big piece of pork fat that I gave her that did it?

[cool_chick]

Originally Posted by TerryH

We lost our 10 year old pup in Feb '07 to acute renal failure. From apparent perfect health to euthanized in a weeks time. We were feeding him Iams pouches. Procter and Gamble, parent company of Iams, sent us checks for the recent vet bills and purchase price of the dog. We have since included ourselves in a class action for punitive damages.

I'm not going to guess how many pets died, but I will bet it's exponentially more than the pet food industry want people to believe. It's horrible to imagine your pet dieing because of food you chose to feed him. Food you put your trust in.

To some it's just dog and cats, but to some of us they are furry children.

Indiana (Indy) Jones.... RIP.

Cute sweetart.

Same thing happened to my dog. Except it was in July, '06. She was getting older (almost 10), and they were a little concerned about her liver, so we had an ultrasound probably 1 month before or so. Liver was fine. Nothing with kidney whatsoever. It was fine.

In 1 1/2 weeks from the first day she started acting sick, she was gone from acute kidney failure.

I have suspected it was the food (well, once I heard about it), but the "announcement" came much later than my dog's death timeframe. But I suspect it was going on much longer than admitted.

1 month before, kidney's fine. From beginning to end, 1 1/2 weeks, acute renal failure. It was just too weird.....


And porsche_o_phile, great thread!

[Rikao4]

Tabs, your biggest mistake was 'Hamburger at 70%' while it may sound lean..
it's WAY to high.
Stop using hamburger unless 90 % or leaner. Turkey and chicken good are good altn.
Veggies should be crunched or ground..remember they DO NOT chew ,
the rest of recipe sounds good.
Rika

[bell]

our cat ava who we adopted in dec of 06 was being fed contaminated food for months at her foster home before we adopted her, she was kinda skinny but very attentive when people were around so no one noticed a problem.
about a week after we brought her home she became deathly lathargic, wasn't eating, drinking or using the litter box......after finding her prior vet we took her in and her white blood count was a 7 when it should've been a 30.......she was on antibiotics for 6 months twice a day, we used a pill "shooter" and took both of us to hold her for her to take it, she didn't like it but she soldiered through.
she has now become a lap cat which for the first year she didn't want to be held, she's put on some good weight and is perfectly healthy and fully recovered.
we use dad's dry cat food, indoor blend.

[Porsche-O-Phile]

In my experience, cats are even trickier because they tend to hide their symptoms (deliberately) more. They won't let on that they're ill, but be alert for changes in behavior (such as not eating/drinking, no "#2" in the litter box, etc.)

This is not a "made up" problem and virtually nothing has been done to prevent it from happening again. Your pet's health is in YOUR hands - don't put it in the hands of others that don't care for simple convenience. . .

[BeauBlues]

We lost our 4yo lab in Oct 07 to kidney failure. It only took about 3 weeks to deteriorate until she passed. This came on WAY too quick. The vets were stumped and we never really thought it could be the food we gave her. I can't remember for sure, but I think we gave her Iams hard food.

RIP Chloe