ATTN: Pet Food Recalls...

[Jen]

It looks like several more dog and cat foods have been recalled... amoung them Kirkland Signature canned and Lick Your Chops cat food.  I have heard rumor that Chicken Soup Canned is being recalled as well but haven't seen anything about it anywhere... so that could be rumor if its true it will show up on the link below.

If you want to keep up with the recalls check out this link....  I know all the recalls get annoying but it is important to know what is ok to feed our critters.

http://petfoodtracker.blogspot.com/

Jen & the Crew

Edited to add the following that was just sent to me....

Chicken Soup for the PetLovers Soul (Diamond) and confirmed these
recalls:

Diamond Dog Wet food (can) 13 oz Lamb and Rice

Chicken Soup for the Petlovers Soul canned wet:

Kitten 5.5 oz
puppy 13 oz

(No dry and no others as of today)

You can call their number and verify for yourself:
800-658-0624

Their recording states the recall is due to American Nutrition who supplied their rice protein concentrate.

At the time of this writing, their website:
http://www.chickensoupforthepetloverssoul.com/ does not have this recall listed. The 800# listed above, does.

Also as of this evening Natural Balance had recalled several more of their canned foods... make sure to check their website...

http://www.naturalbalanceinc.com/

[Valerie]

Thanks for posting this- all these recalls are hard to keep up with.   :crazyeyes:  That link is helpful.  I also keep checking the manufacturer's website of Cookie's food too and so far, so good.

[Dee Dee and Hallie]

OH mg...now Hallie's food is on the list?? I thought it was safe! Good gosh I am going to start cooking for her until this blows over what's next?

*picture me totally freaked*

[Roberta]

  don't and cannot work the "quote thingy out'
but
"*picture me totally freaked*"   conjours up Haillie totally freaked as "MA's COOKING FOR ME" "HELP"

can someone inform somebody out of your country what they have found in the food.
Roberta

[Jen]

This morning Blue Buffalo canned dog/cat and their Health Bar treats were recalled.  Since all this stuff started I searched shelves for treats that didn't contain any of the problem ingredients.  About 3wks ago I purchased 2 bags of the Blue Health Bars and just finished up one bag... thankfully all my dogs seem fine but I hate the fact that now we cannot trust what the label of ANY brand says... the ingredient list for the treats does not contain rice protein .... 

Jen

[Dee Dee and Hallie]

OK THAT'S IT.

I'm cooking until this thing is figured out. I hope for both Hallie and my sake, it is very very (very) soon.

LOL Roberta there is a reason Hallie races outside and sits there shaking when I turn the oven on! (she seriously does this...). Poor baby girl wants to move to Oz!

Do you guys not have any recalls on your food down there?

[Dee Dee and Hallie]

This is what is so scary. Chicken Soup posted this on their web site.

The products being withdrawn were not formulated or labeled to contain rice protein concentrate. The rice protein concentrate was put into our products without our knowledge. It should also be noted that we have not received any notices of pet illnesses. All tests received to date verify the absence of any contaminants. No other Diamond brand or Chicken Soup brand canned or dry pet food formulas are affected by the American Nutrition recall.

Previously, the web site said the same thing other non-effected food web sites are saying...that it is not involved and they don't use imported ingredients, etc. Now this company and another one have had foods recalled. Now you can't trust what any of them say...I'm sure they are totally honest and upset over this too and not hiding anything but this just shows that not one of the brands we feed can be considered exempt from a recall. If the rice protein concentrate was used in two separate companies without their knowledge it can be being used in any of them.

My eyes are glassing over!!!

What are all you guys going to do...not as freaked out as me or will you start to cook for a while anyway? (gads my cooking is probably more dangerous than melamine!)

We need answers fast because Hallie's dinner time is in 52 minutes and I ain't got a thing I dare feed her!! :)

[Jen]

DD,

I haven't changed anything yet... except tossing several kinds of biscuits that contained Rice Protein, Corn or Wheat Gluten.  OMH Biscuits haven't been recalled but they contain it so they went in the trash.... 3 large bags!
I am still feeding my dogs Eagle Pack Holisitic dry food... I don't use much canned food but you could always add a little ground turkey or chicken in place of the canned... my dogs love that!

Some folks have switched to grain free kibbles - Evo, Raw Instinct, Bark @ the moon and Orijen ... if you are really freaked out could try that.  I personally love the looks of the Orijen but it is not offered in NC ... I looked into having it delivered but it would cost me $80 shipping for 4 bags... OUCH!

There is always RAW... at least then you wouldn't have to cook! LOL

Jen

[Dee Dee and Hallie]

Maybe I should switch to Eagle Pack dry too, although dry foods are being recalled as well now, so who knows if that is even safe. Maybe I will add some fresh meat to her kibble for a bit (I wonder how long this will take to figure out the problem for sure or if they will ever really know?). Good idea about the grain free kibble too. (and yes I am REALLY freaked out LOL). I'll look those up thanks Jen. :) Ouch is right. If it costs $80 to ship Hallies food here we'd just move closer to the plant! 

Ha! I don't have the constitution for Raw. We tried it once, I was dry heaving all over the place fixing it and I felt I was poisoning her...bless her little heart she-who-will-eat-gum-off-shoe-soles...got one small piece of raw in her mouth, spit it out with a mortified look and walked away. I know raw is really great for most and safe and all but neither of us can stomach it. (plus so hard to travel with raw and we travel a lot).

Off to research some $80 shipping fees!  :thumb:

[Teresa]

soooo, Dee Dee, what did Hallie get for dinner last night??? I laughed out loud when I read your post saying it was 52 minutes until dinner time and nothing to feed her. I was sure you wouldn't let her starve, but could just see you trying to come up with something.
Of course, I'm the one who totally forgot to get Schatzi and Molly's food the other day and the ran completely out! Talk about getting the L@@K. I really never do that, but this time I did. I knew I had to get it, just didn't remember to, not until I saw the empty container. They have food now and got cooked food for the meal in between!

[Dee Dee and Hallie]

LOL I'm betting those two are not upset at ALL that Mom ran out of food! Sounds like what they got was even better!  :thumb:

I found one more bag of Chicken Soup kibble in the cupboard! So she got that. And some canned green beans. And a very worried Mother sitting there watching her eat and checking her vitals for the next 3 hours at 15 minute intervals.

I have a big box here just delivered yesterday of that and canned eagle pack and I'm even more afraid of that stuff! And I don't even know why! I keep researching home cooking and everything I read tells me "you can really mess your dog up if you don't do it just so...". Are they kidding???? I always bring out 3 slices of bread when I want toast because I know I'm going to burn the first 2!

[Dee Dee and Hallie]

Here is another company who thought they were safe...but found ingredients they weren't aware of. (ACK! Low...on....O2....)

Canine Caviar is voluntarily recalling less than 1500 cans in circulation nationally (not cases) and expects to have this collected within 48 hours of April 27, 2007. This unexpected situation is due to the fact that our canned food co-packer was using ingredients that were not authorized by Canine Caviar.

We are voluntarily recalling the following three can SKU's:

13.2 oz Gourmet Turkey - UPC 674555222134
13.2 oz Gourmet Beaver - UPC 674555221328
5.5 oz Gourmet Beaver - UPC 674555221557

dated best by Aug 21, 08 or later

[Jen]

DD,

The dogs have done really well on the Eagle Holistic  - I  love their customer service  they have a on site canine food specialist who will answer all your phone or email questions.   I have used the Eagle cans and the dogs like it but then again my dogs will eat pretty much anything these days... funny some used to be picky! lol
Since the Chicken Soup canned food has been recalled I would worry more about feeding that than I would something that hasn't had any recalls... but that is probably just me being paranoid.  I would be nice if we could just trust the ingredients listed 

The $80 shipping was for 4 LARGE bags of Orijen ... they only have a few places that sell it in the US ... quite a few of those places are in WA and OR ;) 
Here is a link to their site...
http://www.championpetfoods.com/orijen/orijen/

Jen

[Teresa]

Hey Dee DEe,
It looks like Hallie may be SAFE!!! You can get the Orijen and not have to have it shipped. Jen is right, is it all over Washington State. I'm sure Hallie will be breathing a sigh of relief  Of maybe she has just been doing some 

[Brekkesmom]

It sure makes me glad I feed Solid Gold!  We found a new supplier today.  We went to our old store last week, and Brekke's Aunt Brenda(Mocha's mom) tripped and fell, breaking her nose, and the new owners just stood there!  I had to ask if they had an ice bag, for paper towels, etc.  If you had a store, wouldn't you want to rush and assure a quick clean-up?  We do not care to go back there.  The new place carries all the Solid Gold kibbles, and the treats and Sea Meal, and they do not normally keep the canned on hand, but since we would each order a case at a time, as long as we call them by Wednesdays, they will order it for us!  Now that's what I like!  Brekke was happy to see the new canister of Cinnabones today, because the new owners of our old store no longer stock treats or supplements.

[Dee Dee and Hallie]

Jen I feed Hallie the eagle pack canned...my thinking now is switching her to eagle pack kibble and adding the home cooked diet just until they figure things out more. I researched for months before settling on what I'm feeding her now so it's not my nature to just quickly switch her to something else without tons of research which I don't have the time to do since we need to switch now. I like the chicken soup kibble a little better than the ingredients of the eagle pack kibble (first 4 in CS is meat, second in EP is grains) but that's nit picking they are both great and both pretty low in calories. Hallie has been doing great on her combo so I really hate to change anything, but I'm sure she'll do fine on the other too. I am really looking into the orijen but the ingredients are so different from what I feed now I feel I need to research it really good so am doing more reading for my peace of mind. :) Apparently American Manufacturers was not connected to Eagle Pack food.

Teresa are you familiar with Orijen? I see there is a store about 15 min from me that sells it. I have never heard of this store and it's in a really small town near me would be fun to check out.

Good gosh Julia! Poor Brenda! Is she ok? I can't believe the store owner that was pretty darn rude, good thing you were with her when that happened. Sheesh! I'm glad Brekke got her cinnabones today LOL!!!

I dont' think we can feel any of our foods are safe right now. Natural Balance, Chicken Soup and Canine Caviar also had similar statements on their sites all along as solid gold and others do, that they don't use wheat or rice gluten or buy from China, and are perfectly safe. But then they found out their co-packers were adding ingredients that they didn't know about or approve of even though they previously said they watch over every step of the process. I felt safe up until that point! It seems any brand could be next. Gads.

[Jen]

DD,

If it helps I have been using the EP Fish formula since the beginning of Nov. for all my adult dogs... their weights have been very good -if anything the really active ones have been a bit on the thin side.  I give everyone 1/2 c. per day except Sarah who is small she gets about 1/3c.  They love the taste and their coats look great :) I weaned my most recent litter onto it they eat the chicken formula since it is higher in calories ... they look good and nice small compact poo... which is always a good thing  :thumb:

I wish there was somewhere that sold Orijen that close to me I might try mixing it with the Eagle ... the ingredients are really good and if you email them they will answer any questions you might have.

Jen

[Frankys_mom]

Dee-Dee,

I had been going through the same problems, not knowing what to feed.  Although Wellness is not on the recall, Frank has been refusing to eat it  and I have to ensure he is getting good nutrition as he is going through Chemotherapy.  I have started Prairie Natures Variety, they offer a freeze dried food (they call it "medallions") which I mix with Solid Gold Bark at the Moon kibble. Their (Prairie) canned and kibble looks pretty good (no corn, etc).  Its one of the few things Frank will eat other than cooked chicken.
Here's their link if you want to read.  http://www.naturesvariety.com/news.lasso.
Hope I didn't make things more complicated.
Dawn

[Dee Dee and Hallie]

Thanks for this I really do appreciate the input (and I'm guessing at least a few are reading along and learning from this too).

I did order a home cooked recipe from UC Davis today. It takes the supplements about 7 days to get here so I figured I'd better order it so it can be on it's way while I'm still deciding what to do (in case I end up cooking). My concern with it is that a friend of mine gave her cocker the amount they recommend and she gained 5 lbs in a month! I mentioned this to UC Davis and they said it seems like a lot but most dogs will maintain fine on it, although you may have to adjust it a little. When I got the recipe it says 411 cal per day for Hallie. That is 4 cups of food! (I WISH I could feed her that much). She'd be as big as a hereford! So that shakes my confidence a little. Still I might cook for her just until the scare has subsided and no more pets are getting ill.

While waiting for the supplements though I will look more into the Orijen and the Natures Variety (thanks for that one Dawn!) I may look into wellness too, and I also may just end up getting some EP fish (do you worry about mercury and toxins in the fish though Jen??). I will have to have a kibble on quick backup for the first time I try to cook Hallie's meal and set the kitchen on fire.   

I was also told today not to feed anything other than her food rather it be commercial or home cooked because any extra treats even good ones like broccoli and bits of bread, carrots, etc can throw the balance off. Sigh.

[Jen]

I did order a home cooked recipe from UC Davis today. It takes the supplements about 7 days to get here so I figured I'd better order it so it can be on it's way while I'm still deciding what to do (in case I end up cooking). My concern with it is that a friend of mine gave her cocker the amount they recommend and she gained 5 lbs in a month! I mentioned this to UC Davis and they said it seems like a lot but most dogs will maintain fine on it, although you may have to adjust it a little. When I got the recipe it says 411 cal per day for Hallie. That is 4 cups of food! (I WISH I could feed her that much). She'd be as big as a hereford! So that shakes my confidence a little. Still I might cook for her just until the scare has subsided and no more pets are getting ill.

Yikes 4c. does sound like a awful lot! I know some folks that have done homecooking for years for their dachshunds I don't remember any of them feeding that much! I would start out with maybe 2/3c. and adjust from there... that's just me.

While waiting for the supplements though I will look more into the Orijen and the Natures Variety (thanks for that one Dawn!) I may look into wellness too, and I also may just end up getting some EP fish (do you worry about mercury and toxins in the fish though Jen??). I will have to have a kibble on

No I don't worry about mercury - there have been many fish based kibbles on the market for years  I don't remember that ever being a issue.  If you look at the ingredients of several brands of food some type of fish is the top ingredient in many of them.

I was also told today not to feed anything other than her food rather it be commercial or home cooked because any extra treats even good ones like broccoli and bits of bread, carrots, etc can throw the balance off. Sigh.

Don't believe everything you hear or read!

Jen

[Dee Dee and Hallie]

Exactly Jen! I agree totally. There is no way I would feed her 4 cups of food as much as she and I would both love it, she'd be obese in no time. I know how many calories she needs to maintain, I will feed her the same amount calorie wise. The fact that I was told she probably would not gain and not to worry about the calories shakes my confidence in how much they really do know. Especially when my friends dog gained 5lbs in a month on their recommendation.

I have seen the fish on the market for years too, but do you REALLY think they know and test for mercury, etc? I stopped giving her fish oil for the same reason, they find it hard to get clean fish for human consumption so you have to wonder if they really are getting clean fish for every bag or can of dog food out there. Hallie's food does have fish in it, I have spent a good percentage of worry time fussing myself over that too LOL.

Yep on#3 I don't believe that either, that is the second thing they said that shakes my confidence in what they know. And another example how all of these theories of what to feed are dogs are really just theories. Some with a better base than others but still, not an exact science. Which leaves us to make crucial decisions with not nearly enough information or knowledge.

Am I over analyzing again? LOL!!!! I just hate to be having to change things now, she wasn't feeling herself for weeks and now she's been feeling really great for about a month and I hate that I'm having to mess with things in her diet.

[Jen]

Am I over analyzing again? LOL!!!! I just hate to be having to change things now, she wasn't feeling herself for weeks and now she's been feeling really great for about a month and I hate that I'm having to mess with things in her diet.

Yes you are over analyzing again! LOL If we worried that much about what we eat I think most of us would be a lot thinner - we do the best we can.  I love my son but I do let him eat poptarts and hot pockets and who knows what's in those ;)

Jen

[Dee Dee and Hallie]

Yes you are over analyzing again! LOL If we worried that much about what we eat I think most of us would be a lot thinner

LOL!

You're right. I read way too many nutrition letters LOL!!! That's almost as scary as googling diseases.