[annspets4]

The chemical is in the wheat gluten. It is called Melamime. Look at your bag or can of pet food NOW!!! Not 19 pets have died but now 2,000. Melamime is a food additive. It was tainted with a toxin. Food came from China. WAs in many canned foods but now in dry as well lleaving us to wonder what is safe and waht can we feed our pets?! The latest report is recaling Mighty dog dry food....

I checked my bag of Kit n Kaboodle today for melamime as is made by Purina and Nestle...It was not in bag ingredients thankfully.

VEt from Cornell Hospital examined the first dead cat and found in it's urine the melamine which caused cat to go into kidney failure. He currently is treating several sick cats.

My recommendaton is to read your bags of dry food and even canned foods not on list to see if chemical is in them. If not great. If yes stop feeding it to your pets. Also if pet food tath has been recalled obviusly stop feeding it to pets and recommend all those affected to go to veterinarian now while you may save your pets lives. God Bless to you and your little ones!

-Ann
Pet Expert (Former Pet sitter/boarder/groomer/sold pet food/trainer

p.s. I recommend dry food in future that has bone meal rice and corn as 3 main ingredients and no by products. CAnned food is low quality and mostly water. Doesn't have to meet thee same FDA standards as for humans. Iams,Hills and otehr name brands are not the issue of a good pet food it is the ingredients. Peace.

[vpcats]

Originally Posted by steph541988

Three of my uncles puppies have died.They all bled to death.My uncle feels so guilty b/c that was the first time he ever fed them wet food.Two of his other puppies are still sick but theyre getting better.My cat is on the hills prescription c/d and i was reluctant to feed him it even though it wasnt recalled.i dont know what i would do if I lost him.my condolences go out to everyone who has lost a pet b/c of this.

One of my dogs is on the Hills W/D, dry and canned. I called the vet and they said it's ok.

I am so sorry about the puppies. :-((

[rubytue]

Originally Posted by annspets4

<snip>
I checked my bag of Kit n Kaboodle today for melamime as is made by Purina and Nestle...It was not in bag ingredients thankfully.

<snip>

My recommendaton is to read your bags of dry food and even canned foods not on list to see if chemical is in them. If not great. If yes stop feeding it to your pets. Also if pet food tath has been recalled obviusly stop feeding it to pets and recommend all those affected to go to veterinarian now while you may save your pets lives. God Bless to you and your little ones!

The problem is the melamine tainted the wheat gluten. You can't read the bag to see if melamine was added b/c it wasn't supposed to be and was added to the food as part of the wheat gluten. None of these recalled foods say they have melamine in them.
From a CNN Article

The melamine was found in wheat gluten, a pet food additive that was imported from China. Melamine is a chemical used to make fertilizers and plastic utensils.

Again, melamine is NOT a food additive and will NOT be listed on any lables. It is something that should NEVER be in food.

p.s. I recommend dry food in future that has bone meal rice and corn as 3 main ingredients and no by products. CAnned food is low quality and mostly water. Doesn't have to meet thee same FDA standards as for humans. Iams,Hills and otehr name brands are not the issue of a good pet food it is the ingredients. Peace.

I know you said you are a pet expect, but from the research I have done, this advice is *not* good for cats. What I have found is that: First, cats are obligate carnivores - feeding them rice and corn is not part of their natural diet and not what they need. Second, cats have a weak thirst instinct and wild species of cats get most of their water needs from their food. Therefore, its normal for cats not to drink water very much and they need a wet cat food to get their water needs. Third - no pet foods have to meet the same FDA standands for human food, dry or wet. You message implys canned doesn't but dry does. Forth - feeding a cat an all dry diet, especially a male, will increase their risk for UTIs and diabetes. Please, unless you are a vet, do not claim to be a pet expert.

If you want to feed something closer to a wild diet - cats shoud be eating grain free food and lots of wet food. Find a natural pet store in your area (they are kind of hard to find, but do exsist, even in rural areas) and talk to the folks there.

I don't claim to be anything near a pet expert; however, I have done a lot of research into cat nutrition over the past 6 years (starting when I rescued a 3 week old kittne and now with the recall concerns).

Here are some great links to read more about the issues:

Dry vs Wet debate. This person has listed all of his/her research citations, something I have not done.
From the same site, and overview of feline nutrition
Here is a link with some basic informaiton about the major pet food players and what they use.

[vpcats]

I've been reading the labels and none of the food my dogs or cats have ever eaten is on any of the recall lists (thank goodness!!). However, I do see that there is wheat gluten in just about everything. What should be done then if the brand is not recalled???

[cassy1]

Vpcats,
I have seen several vets on the news channels that are suggesting that if a pet owner is concerned, then just put your pets on a homemade food until this has blown over. If your pet had eaten tainted food, I am assuming that you would know by now, although I am just using common sense on that and really don't know for sure. I have put my dog on homemade food, and she will continue with it for the rest of her life. My girl has a vet appointment in a couple of weeks and then I am going to ask if I need to add anything else to her diet.

[vpcats]

Originally Posted by cassy1

Vpcats,
I have seen several vets on the news channels that are suggesting that if a pet owner is concerned, then just put your pets on a homemade food until this has blown over. If your pet had eaten tainted food, I am assuming that you would know by now, although I am just using common sense on that and really don't know for sure. I have put my dog on homemade food, and she will continue with it for the rest of her life. My girl has a vet appointment in a couple of weeks and then I am going to ask if I need to add anything else to her diet.

Thanks Cassy.

I actually posted a question last night asking for step by step instructions on how to make the doggie stew. I bought, or already have all of the ingredients and I am really interested in making my own food. My dogs will never, ever, complain about that ... Well, on 2nd thought....
Problem is I don't know how to make it and was hoping someone would give me some crash cooking lessons.

[cleosmom]

Originally Posted by vpcats

Thanks Cassy.

I actually posted a question last night asking for step by step instructions on how to make the doggie stew. I bought, or already have all of the ingredients and I am really interested in making my own food. My dogs will never, ever, complain about that ... Well, on 2nd thought....
Problem is I don't know how to make it and was hoping someone would give me some crash cooking lessons.

There is a thread on homemade pet foods.

[cassy1]

This is what I did:

Cook up your meat, I added carrots and peas. Drain any drippings from the meat, add about 1/4 C of rice, and then add your chicken stock. I put in about 1/4 t of garlic powder (I did not have italian seasoning), cover your pan (I used a dutch oven) and simmer for 40-45 minutes. I then let it sit for 5 minutes to cool. That is it.

I've also used barley instead of rice, and I have also used potatoes (had them left over). Just use your imagination, I think the only thing I have seen posters say a dog can't have is onion. Eggs and cheese are good for your pet also. Cassy had a scrambled egg with cheese on it for breakfast yesterday.

vpcats, I'm not sure how big your pet is, Cassy is 55lb dog, so she gets 1 1/2 C of homemade in the morning and 2 C in the evening. She also shares what she can beg from hubby and I.

[cleosmom]

Originally Posted by cassy1

This is what I did:

Cook up your meat, I added carrots and peas. Drain any drippings from the meat, add about 1/4 C of rice, and then add your chicken stock. I put in about 1/4 t of garlic powder (I did not have italian seasoning), cover your pan (I used a dutch oven) and simmer for 40-45 minutes. I then let it sit for 5 minutes to cool. That is it.

I've also used barley instead of rice, and I have also used potatoes (had them left over). Just use your imagination, I think the only thing I have seen posters say a dog can't have is onion. Eggs and cheese are good for your pet also. Cassy had a scrambled egg with cheese on it for breakfast yesterday.

vpcats, I'm not sure how big your pet is, Cassy is 55lb dog, so she gets 1 1/2 C of homemade in the morning and 2 C in the evening. She also shares what she can beg from hubby and I.

Here's a great link as to what "human" foods are bad for dogs

http://www.thedogbowl.com/PPF/catego...54/dogbowl.asp

[Travel'r]

Originally Posted by vpcats

One of my dogs is on the Hills W/D, dry and canned. I called the vet and they said it's ok.
I am so sorry about the puppies. :-((

VP, I pray your vet isn't selling you the food.
Hills is now recalling some of their Prescription dry (cat food so far):
http://www.postchronicle.com/news/health/article_21272249.shtml: (broken link)

Here's a thread with food info & some links for the scoops on foods:
http://www.city-data.com/forum/pets/...food-dogs.html
The good foods won't have wheat gluton in them, as well as other stuff. Corn, which dogs don't digest so well ...other junk fillers...ever wonder why your dog poops so much?? :>)

I hate to beat a horse here, but vets who need to be selling Science Diet ... we've found out the hard way to trust those who don't need to do this. Some facilities sell it because they get up to 40% from each bag sold. And this is really not good food -- especially considering you pay the price range of really good ones! (And the good ones actually go farther as you need less!!)
The stuff they sell & recommend have junk fillers & by-products, just as cheaper ones do -- just more expensive for more profit.

If a vet encourages a food, it should, at least, be a good one :>)

The sad thing is, there are some (not all, but unfortunately enough) out there that will stand behind something they recommend and try to blame it on other things (we found out the very hard way, repeatedly.) So it goes around in an endless circle until you get to a vet who is just in "business" to diagnose & treat - nothing else.

If anybody's vet pushes foods containing all those fillers and your dog does have problems (even such as "allergies" which never go away unless you keep getting more drugs, shots & visits), please try out a vet that don't, for better odds of really get to the bottom of things?

This is heartbreaking.