Just found this forum post:

http://www.petsourceusa.com/Blog/?p=9615

quote:

What Kind Of Cat Is The Best Mouse Hunter?
I have mice. Dammit. I need a cat. I’m going to go to the shelter tomorrow, but I was wondering if anyone knew anything about the best kind of cat to get. Like what breed, age, size, sex? I’m not sure if any of that makes a difference, but if you have any comments on the subject I’d appreciate it!

WHAT AN ASS!!! Sorry for the profanity but this just makes me so angry! And the majority of the people who responded are idiots too.

What happens to the cat after this jerk discovers that it costs money to parent a cat properly!? Does he just throw it outside when he’s done using it for a mouse exterminator? Grr. I just hate reading ignorant stuff like this!

I hope the shelter is smart and asks the right questions, like “Why do you want a cat?” and hopefully they can see his true colors. Idiot!

So, Nutro decided to “voluntarily” recall some of their cat food products but in the meantime, dogs are still sick and dying from their dog food.

They state the recall on the cat food was due to a mixup on the levels of two minerals:

Franklin, Tennessee (May 21, 2009) — Today, Nutro Products announced a voluntary recall of select varieties of NUTRO® NATURAL CHOICE® COMPLETE CARE® Dry Cat Foods and NUTRO® MAX® Cat Dry Foods with “Best If Used By Dates” between May 12, 2010 and August 22, 2010. The cat food is being voluntarily recalled in the United States and ten additional countries. This recall is due to incorrect levels of zinc and potassium in our finished product resulting from a production error by a US-based premix supplier.

Two mineral premixes were affected. One premix contained excessive levels of zinc and under-supplemented potassium. The second premix under-supplemented potassium. Both zinc and potassium are essential nutrients for cats and are added as nutritional supplements to NUTRO® dry cat food.

This issue was identified during an audit of our documentation from the supplier. An extensive review confirmed that only these two premixes were affected. This recall does not affect any NUTRO® dog food products, wet dog or cat food, or dog and cat treats.

Affected product was distributed to retail customers in all 50 states, as well as to customers in Canada, Mexico, Japan, Korea, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, and Israel. We are working with all of our distributors and retail customers, in both the US and internationally, to ensure that the recalled products are not on store shelves. These products should not be sold or distributed further.

Consumers who have purchased affected product should immediately discontinue feeding the product to their cats, and switch to another product with a balanced nutritional profile. While we have received no consumer complaints related to this issue, cat owners should monitor their cat for symptoms, including a reduction in appetite or refusal of food, weight loss, vomiting or diarrhea. If your cat is experiencing health issues or is pregnant, please contact your veterinarian.

Consumers who have purchased product affected by this voluntary recall should return it to their retailer for a full refund or exchange for another NUTRO® dry cat food product. Cat owners who have more questions about the recall should call 1-800-833-5330 between the hours 8:00 AM to 4:30 PM CST

They stated that they received no consumer complaints related to this issue, ha! hmm, but did they receive complaints regarding other issues?

Why pet guardians are still trusting them is beyond me! It just makes me crazy and angry! I think the only way to really put them out of business is to just stop buying their products! Stop!!!!! Just stop!

Cherie, a recent commenter, asked what my thoughts were on Rachael Ray’s Nutrish dog food, so I took a closer look.

It’s the latest fad for celebrities to jump on the dog food chow wagon, and it would have been great if Rachael Ray came out with a great pet food, but alas, it’s not. While it’s better than other brands like Science Diet, Iams, Eukanuba, Purina, etc, it’s not quite up to the hype, and there are much better choices out there.

I took a look at her web site, and found the ingredients for Rachael Ray Nutrish Beef and Brown Rice:

Beef, Chicken Meal, Brewers Rice, Corn Meal, Soybean Meal, Animal Fat (Preserved with Mixed Tocopherols), Corn Gluten Meal, Brown Rice, Oatmeal, Dried Beet Pulp, Natural Flavor, Dicalcium Phosphate, Salt, Calcium Carbonate, Dehydrated Alfalfa, Dried Peas, Dried Tomatoes, Dried Carrots, Potassium Chloride, Choline Chloride, Olive Oil, Iron Oxide, Vitamin E Supplement, Zinc Sulfate, Ferrous Sulfate, Dried Parsley, L-Ascorbyl-2-Polyphosphate (Source of Vitamin C), Mixed Tocopherols, Niacin, Manganese Sulfate, Copper Sulfate, D-Calcium Pantothenate, Biotin, Sodium Selenite, Vitamin A Supplement, Riboflavin Supplement, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Thiamine Mononitrate, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Menadione Sodium Bisulfite Complex (Source of Vitamin K activity), Vitamin B12 Supplement, Potassium Iodide, Cobalt Sulfate, Folic Acid

Yep, beef is the first ingredient, then chicken meal. That is good! Nutritious! But unfortunately, that is where the good nutrition stops.

Brewers Rice is a by-product (scraps) from a rice mill. Not very nutritious.

Corn meal, Soybean meal, Corn Gluten Meal – not great either, since some dogs have corn and soy allergies. The three are just cheap fillers.

Animal fat – generic fat. It would be better if it was a specific animal, like chicken or beef. You don’t know what “animal” it’s from.

Natural Flavor – from what? What is the natural flavor? No details, it could be from anything. Not good.

Brown Rice and Oatmeal (which are touted as important ingredients in the food when Rachael Ray describes it) are listed way down in the list of ingredients. There’s probably such a small amount that there’s no benefit to the food, but it does sound good when she mentions it as part of the ingredients, doesn’t it? ha!

And lastly, (if that wasn’t enough) there’s menadione added. Menadione is synthetic vitamin K and it can be toxic, although some pet food manufacturers would like you to believe otherwise.

Here is an awesome article that gives excellent details on menadione:
http://www.dogfoodadvisor.com/evaluating-dog-food/menadione-in-dog-food/

So, that is my evaluation of Rachael Ray’s Nutrish dog food. It might taste okay to dogs, but it’s far from being a nutritious choice.

There are much better, and much worse choices out there.

I stopped to check out a new neighborhood pet store the other night. I won’t mention the store name, since this is not going to be a positive post.

As I was walking to the door, I noticed the big “Science Diet” poster on the window. At that point, I sighed, and figured this wasn’t going to be a new place to buy pet food.

Making a long story short, I was speaking with the owner, asking her about her training programs, and we started to talk about food.

I asked if Science Diet was the only food she sold? And she said yes, along with the “Nature’s Best” which is also Hills/Science Diet. She was very gracious, and asked what food I used, and I told her EVO and RAW. She was looking into selling EVO, only if she could offer it at a lower price than other stores. (side note: I can’t imagine Natura allowing her to sell their products along side Science Diet; but who knows)

Anyway, held my tongue, until she said that when she worked at an animal hospital, Science Diet was the brand sold by the hospital; I replied that most vets don’t know anything about nutrition, but she insisted that there were other brands that would have been more profitable, but they chose Science Diet.

Huh? Okay, Science Diet is not recommended by Vets because of it’s nutritional value. It’s recommended because of the huge profit margin. And it’s the same profit margin that this store was trying to make.

I mean come on! Look at the ingredients:

Ground Whole Grain Corn, Chicken By-Product Meal, Animal Fat (preserved with mixed tocopherols and citric acid), Soybean Mill Run, Flaxseed, Chicken Liver Flavor, Dried Egg Product, Potassium Chloride, Dried Chicken Cartilage, Choline Chloride, Vitamin E Supplement, vitamins (L-Ascorbyl-2-Polyphosphate (source of vitamin C), Vitamin E Supplement, Niacin, Thiamine Mononitrate, Vitamin A Supplement, Calcium Pantothenate, Biotin, Vitamin B12 Supplement Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Riboflavin, Folic Acid, Vitamin D3 Supplement), Iodized Salt, Taurine, L-Lysine, L-Tryptophan, minerals (Ferrous Sulfate, Zinc Oxide, Copper Sulfate, Manganous Oxide, Calcium Iodate, Sodium Selenite), L-carnitine, DL-methionine, Dicalcium Phosphate, preserved with Mixed Tocopherols and Citric Acid, L-Arginine, Beta-Carotene, Rosemary Extract.

It’s basically CORN! You are feeding your dog corn and some chicken beaks, feet, feathers, and other assorted by products if you choose Science Diet. Animal fat? What kind of animal? Soybean Mill Run? What the heck is that? Sounds like a by-product from a soy mill. It’s disgusting, and I wouldn’t even think about feeding one kibble of this garbage to my girls.

More info on The Science Diet Scam by Sabine Contreras, BetterDogCare.com & dogfoodproject.com

Anyway, the store looked nice enough, and her training methods were positive, but I lost a lot of respect for her because of the pet food she chose to sell in her store. It was kind of sad.

It’s finally confirmed. Nutro Petfood (owned by Mars) has been making pets sick.

http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/2009/04/nutro_foia.html

When are people going to wake up and realize that these huge commercial petfood companies are not producing quality products?

I was checking out one of the pet forums and a few members were chatting about this wonderful food sold at Petco called WholeMeals. They thought it would be a wonderful meal replacement for travel.

First off, I knew anything sold at Petco was probably going to be garbage, but I had to take a look for myself.

WholeMeals boasts “Nothing But the Best” as their tag line, but it should read “nothing but the worst”

In what world does rice flour (1st ingredient), chicken-by-products, wheat flour, glycerin, corn gluten meal, corn flour, and vegetable oil equal “Wholesome, high quality ingredients”? Oh but the 2nd to last ingredient is dried carrots, so I guess that must be what they were referring to. haha.

Oh and WholeMeals is owned by Mars Petcare, the wonderful folks that bring Pedigree, Sheba, Royal Canin, Cesar, and Wiskas to the grocery stores, along with candy and Uncle Bens rice.

I was shocked to read that these forum members actually thought WholeMeals was a good alternative meal for a dog. I just don’t understand some people. Don’t they read labels? Makes me crazy! Especially when the pet food recalls were so devastating!

ETA: Here is a great article I found about WholeMeals. Yuck, why would anyone even consider feeding WholeMeals to their precious pet?

Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University offers a print newsletter named “Your Dog.” They were giving away two issues for free to try, so I signed up.

I really enjoy reading the Whole Dog Journal, so I thought it might be similar. Unfortunately, it was not, and I canceled.

The main reason I canceled was an article from Feb’s newsletter called “Iams for Him, Ramen for Me” – an article that stated 65% of the dog owners surveyed would rather regularly eat ramen noodles before they would stop buying high quality dog food. So in which universe is Iams high quality pet food? I think I would rather the dog ate the ramen noodles than feed the poor thing Iams!

So, bottom line I have no need for a newsletter that thinks Iams is anything but a poor quality food.

What a sweet show. The episode tonight was about Oliver, a sweet shy little Pom Poodle mix, and a little girl who was afraid of dogs. Of course it all worked out in the end, and everyone was happy.

Except the family walked into the kitchen to find a “years supply” of Purina One waiting for them. Yuck. I hope hope hope it was just for the show, and they really aren’t going to feed that garbage to that wonderful dog. ugh.

But it was a nice story and a happy ending!

What is with people these days?

They think because they buy a puppy that they should be breeding it. What is it? Do they think they are going to make a quick buck? Makes me sick.

how old does a male rat terrier have to be to start mating?

How do I know if my dog is in heat?

OMG, if you have to ask stupid questions like this, then you shouldn’t be breeding. Hello!!! Agggh. Drives me insane! At least the answers they are getting are responsible, ha, like they would listen to them anyway!

My in-laws recently adopted a sweet cocker spaniel and they were feeding him Iams dog food. My sister-in-law was expressing how many times the poor guy was going poop. He would go outside, then a few minutes later, have an accident in the house. She was at her whit’s end!

He also was itching / licking his paws a lot and he had that horrible doggy smell. They kept giving him baths, with no change.

I did an ingredients search on Iams, and was horrified. Iams should be ashamed to actually call this garbage dog food.

Ingredients:
Chicken, Corn Meal, Chicken By-Product Meal, Ground Whole Grain Sorghum, Chicken Fat (preserved with mixed Tocopherols, a source of Vitamin E), Dried Beet Pulp, Chicken Meal, Chicken Flavor, Fish Oil (preserved with mixed Tocopherols, a source of Vitamin E), Dried Egg Product, Potassium Chloride, Brewers Dried Yeast, Salt, Caramel, Choline Chloride, Minerals (Ferrous Sulfate, Zinc Oxide, Manganese Sulfate, Copper Sulfate, Manganous Oxide, Potassium Iodide, Cobalt Carbonate), Vitamins (Vitamin E Supplement, Ascorbic Acid, Vitamin A Acetate, Calcium Pantothenate, Biotin, Thiamine Mononitrate (source of vitamin B1), Vitamin B12 Supplement, Niacin, Riboflavin Supplement (source of vitamin B2), Inositol, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride (source of vitamin B6), Vitamin D3 Supplement, Folic Acid), Calcium Carbonate, DL-Methionine, Rosemary Extract.

First off, chicken is listed. That might sound good to some people, but “chicken” contains about 70% water; the water has to be removed in processing. By the time it transforms into “dry” dog food, the actual amount of “chicken” is very little. And that is how they scam the consumer!

So, since chicken can’t be counted as a real ingredient, what’s next? hmm, corn meal. So, basically any dog that eats this food is getting corn meal as the main ingredient. Disgusting! (I won’t even mention the horrible chicken-by-parts yuck!) And that is why my inlaws dog smelled, pooped frequently, and had itchy paws. He probably had a bad reaction to the corn (as a lot of dogs do) and he wasn’t retaining any protein. He was pooping it out as soon as he ate it.

I explained this to her, and thankfully she was very open to my suggestions of changing his food. I suggested EVO and she found some at her local pet store.

I was amazed at her followup. She was transitioning her dog to the new food so he was getting half and half at first. Just by feeding him the little bit of EVO, she saw results IMMEDIATELY; he didn’t poop as much. His paw licking and dog smell also stopped. I was truly amazed!!! How exciting!

It really makes me sad (and angry) to think that there are still people out there that think they are buying a “premium” pet food when they buy Iams, Eukanuba, Science Diet, Hills, etc. Over and over, I hear and read comments that they are buying the “expensive food” at the vet’s office. blah! And the Vets are no better. Actually recommending this garbage!!

Well, at least ONE dog was saved from Iams! Read the ingredients! Go to dogfoodproject.com and learn about REAL premium food!