Did you ever realize what they've been putting in pet food?

[MzNov]

There have been many articles over the years, but here's one link with several other pertinent links...

It's time to put our foot down about the manufacture of pet foods.


...."Condemned parts and animals rejected for human consumption can be rerouted into commercial pet foods. These condemned parts are referred to as the 4 D's: dead, dying, diseased or decayed. We believe this is one of the most despicable practices in the pet food manufacturing industry..."




http://www.shirleys-wellness-cafe.com/jesse.htm

[Liberal Veteran]

1. Not to mention wheat gluten!

Why, just yesterday I ran into several posters who were positively outraged that the wheat gluten used in "high quality" pet foods is the same wheat gluten used in that cheap crappy store brand pet food.

[MzNov]

2. I wonder if this wheat gluten was used in any people food made in China

or sent here? I'm sure they wouldn't tell us that.

[kestrel91316]

12. We vets are wondering if the problematic gluten hasn't been around

for a while, just not at 40 ppm aminopterin. We have had borderline anemias and some severe anemias and I see frequent slightly low white cell counts, lots and lots of stuff to make you go HMMMMM but that you never figure out, and the animal is alive and eating ok so the mystery never gets solved. But if the drug were cropping up sporadically and in smaller amounts, that is probably exactly what we would see.

AND I saw a cat 18 months ago that had severe ARF and was being fed lots of Authority Chicken sliced and gravy. The owner called this past week to discuss the food and ask if it killed his cat, and I really had to wonder - WTF???? The cat loved to lick the gravy and didn't eat the slices, and it turns out the gluten is a thickener for the GRAVY.

I suspect they have been dumping tainted gluten and god knows what else on our pet food market for YEARS.

[Broadslidin]

29. Chinese Soylant Green, Simply Season to Taste....!

With a Billion, Three Hundred Million increasingly plump :9 units
in the pipeline,
ever more innovative and financially attractive recycling ideas
will be encouraged....

[Robbien]

3. mad cow diseased animals

it is likely these end up in animal feed

there is nothing in the system to stop it these days.

[Frustratedlady]

4. I've often wondered about that when my Schnauzer sticks his nose up

in disgust and refuses to eat some of the treats. I buy name brand, not the cheapo stuff, but I've checked food bags of treats he's refused to eat and found worms burrowing out of the biscuits (new bags). That's nothing compared to what the article you referenced mentions. Gross!

[MzNov]

5. worms? OMG !

[Clark2008]

8. Probably not worms, but grain weevils or beetles.

Their larvae looks like worms.

[kestrel91316]

13. Mealworms. No biggie. The bag tore in storage. Just means more protein, lol.

I had some white flour that got food storage mites - tiny little things scurrying around in the bin. I just froze it and used it anyway. No biggie to me. No health consequences.

[TZ]

42. with all the mealworms I have handled

feeding various animals in various classes, I am sure I have consumed some yummy worm protein myself and I am still (mostly) sane:silly:

[kestrel91316]

43. Mealworms are a delicacy in certain non-human circles.

[TZ]

45. and I just ate dinner myself...how could I have forgotten

the side dish of mealworms LOL:rofl:

[Codeine]

37. Those "worms" won't hurt anything.

They're just beetle larva. If it grosses you or Fido out too much toss a few days worth of food at a time in a ziplock bag and freeze it overnight. Puppy won't even notice after that.

[TZ]

6. I hate to say this but...

don't ever take a food science class, if you find what is allowable in our food you will be shocked (I didn't but had friends who shared...). That said definitely any slop can be put into pet foods and its upsetting. Hopefully this scandal will make it better, I pray.

[kestrel91316]

14. Sue, lol, I took so many microbiology classes I just resigned

myself to the idea that most microbes were really of little or no consequence and not worth contemplating. Mold on cheese? I just trim it off. Left the pot of stew on the kitchen counter overnight (covered)? Just stick in to the fridge and reheat to boiling next day. I DO use caution with raw meats because they are the biggest threat.

And on that note: I have had food poisoning only once in about 20 years, and that was from a new restaurant that was already getting a bit of a rep.

My sister took ONE microbiology class in pharmacy school and it turned her into a paranoid hand-washer and germphobe. She still, 25 years later, does not understand that bacteria are our friends (with a few notable exceptions).

[youngdem]

7. Not my dog's food

It says "brown rice, lamb, white rice, sunflower oil, taurine(e.a.a.), carrots, vitamins/minerals". No wheat, no sugar, no water, no processed unidentified shit, nada.

She also gets greens and carrots from the table.

(California Natural Lamb & Rice)

[shaniqua6392]

9. I agree with you there.

We feed our dogs a raw meat diet and a small amount of grain-free kibble. Dogs do not need any grains at all...ever. Did you ever see a dog grazing in a wheat field? These pet food manufacturers just put it in as a cheap filler. Now it must be really cheap since they are getting it from CHINA. People are better off scraping their leftovers into a dog's bowl than they are feeding 99% of the dog food sold out there. People also need to read the labels on their pet food, write it down and then research the ingredients.

[kestrel91316]

20. Dogs need a balanced diet, and that includes a carbohydrate source.

A diet too high in meat will invariably lead to nutritional secondary hyperparathyroidism and eventual death or disability. Too much PO4 and too little Ca is a very bad thing.

http://www.vin.com/Members/Journals/Journal.plx?AID=469133
Nutritional Secondary Hyperparathyroidism in Six Cats
Sm Anim Clin Endocrinol. 2000 May-Aug;10(2):5.
C.B. Chastain1, Dave Panciera, Carrie Waters
1 J Sm Anim Pract 1999; 40:533-539; Tomsa K; Glaus T; Hauser B, et al

Abstract
BACKGROUND: Orthopedic diseases caused by malnutrition in dogs and cats in the United States and Europe have become uncommon since the advent of balanced, commercial pet diets. However, because of the continued use of homemade diets for pets by some owners, clinical cases of nutritional secondary hyperparathyroidism (NSH) continue to occasionally occur. The most frequent cause of NSH is chronic dietary calcium deficiency, although relative hypocalcemia from high dietary phosphorus or hypovitaminosis D can also cause NSH. In addition to skeletal malformation, clinical signs of NSH may include neurological disorders, secondary to hypocalcemia. SUMMARY: Six cats were presented for evaluation and treatment of seizures (four cats), spontaneous fractures (one cat), and nasal stridor (one cat). Cats ranged in age from 3+1/2 to 7 months of age. There were two males (one neutered, one intact) and four females (all intact). Five of the cats were fed a diet consisting totally or almost completely of meat or chicken. One cat was fed a diet of potatoes, rice, and carrots. Clinical signs involving the skeletal system were attributed to severe osteopenia (five cats) based on radiographic findings which included spontaneous fractures of long bones, scapulae, pelvis, nasal bones, or spine. Neurological clinical signs were attributed to hypocalcemia (four cats) and included excitation, muscle twitching, or seizures. Hypocalcemia was mild to severe, with total serum calcium concentrations ranging from 1.63-2.44 mmol/L (reference 2.48 - 2.71). Serum phosphate concentrations were mildly to moderately decreased or mildly increased (range 1.72 - 3.40; reference 2.71 - 3.21 mmol/L). Serum parathyroid hormone levels were markedly elevated compared to age-matched healthy cats (range 37 - 271 pg/ml; reference less than 3 to 28). Serum 1,25 (OH)2-vitamin D3 levels were mildly elevated (range 263 - 655 pmol/L reference 192 - 317). 25(OH)-vitamin D3 levels were mildly decreased (range 44 - 78 nmol/L; reference 126 - 163). Therapy included short-term parenteral calcium gluconate, a balanced diet, and cage rest. Four cats responded with rapid clinical recovery. The remaining two cats were euthanized due to progressive neurological deficits secondary to spinal fractures. Spinal fractures were associated with a combination of both bone demineralization and seizure activity. The authors concluded that NSH is an important disease and should be suspected in immature cats presenting with spontaneous fractures or seizures. CLINICAL IMPACT: Calcium-deficient diets fed for a few weeks or longer can have deleterious results, including severe demineralization of bones. NSH should be a differential for growing cats that present with spontaneous fractures or seizures. Owners need to be advised on the importance of feeding a balanced diet, especially to rapidly growing animals. Recovery is rapid following feeding of commercial cat food, provided spinal fractures and cord compression have not occurred. Confinement to a small area without the chance to jump or fall off (from seizures) elevated surfaces is important during the first month of feeding a balanced diet to reduce the risk of spinal fracture. Improved activity precedes adequate remineralization of the axial skeleton.


http://www.vin.com/Members/Journals/Journal.plx?AID=80287

Nutritional secondary hyperparathyroidism in a white lion cub (Panthera leo), with concomitant radiographic double cortical line
J S Afr Vet Assoc. March 2004;75(1):49-53.
V Herz1, R M Kirberger
1 Lammermoor Veterinary Clinic, PO Box 69287, Bryanston 2021, South Africa. [e-mail]

Abstract
A captive-bred white lion cub was presented with hindquarter pain, lameness and reluctance to move. Radiographs revealed generalised osteoapenia, multiple fractures, a severely collapsed pelvic girdle, bilateral lateral bowing of the scapulae and mild kyphosis of the caudal vertebrae. A double cortical line, a distinct sign of osteopaenia, was repeatedly seen on the pelvic limbs, most strikingly along both femurs. Based on radiographic findings and a history of an exclusive meat diet since weaning, a diagnosis of nutritional secondary hyperparathyroidism was made. The diet was changed to a commercial kitten food and the cub was given cage rest for 6 weeks. Signs of pain abated and the cub became more active. A guarded prognosis was given for full recovery, as changes to the pelvis were considered potentially irreversible


I even did the Google for you:
http://www.google.com/search?q=nutritional+secondary+hyperparathyroidism&rls=com.microsoft:en-us&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&startIndex=&startPage=1

[uppityperson]

15. There are human grade ingredient pet foods.

We use these also. They are expensive ($50/bag vs $10) but our cats and dogs are doing well on them. And you have to get them (here at least) at a good petfood store place, but it is worth it.

[youngdem]

16. California Natural is half that, and probably just as good

You can also order the food online should you not be able to get it locally.

:hi:

[uppityperson]

21. Mine have severe allergy problems also, checked out CA Nat, but no dice

too much stuff in it they can't eat. No rice, corn, soy for starts. Limited veggies. Pain in the wallet, skin and bath time for the 90# dog and cat-with-claws.

[youngdem]

25. Whoa, 90#'s. That's a lot of cookin.

You got a commercial kitchen or somethin?

Hey, since you're cookin all that, you mind whippin up some extra ;-)

[uppityperson]

31. Pinnacle (dog and cat) and Innova (cat) is what we go with. And yes, for cooking.

(edited to add picture)

We have run out of commercial food and our mutt likes a big batch of potatoes (regular or sweet) mixed with whatever meat we have around, a bit of cheese, vitamins. Oatmeal works also, if need be (for the bulk of the food). Started him on Pinnacle yrs back, then had a cat come down with allergies and all this cat could eat was same brand in cat variety. Our local good pet food store carries a bunch and we've found a couple they do ok on. Never had to go the kangaroo batch as a vet warned we might (said that is expensive and smells like fish).

I figure they got allergic from eating poor quality food and those regular fillers (corn, rice soy) for a couple yrs.

You should see them cooking dogfood in AK in big barrels outside, pretty funny. Fish and oatmeal and whatever.

[kestrel91316]

10. Dead, dying, diseased, and down are normal food for carnivorous

predators out in the wild. Wild animals eat REALLY ICKY STUFF.

I think the bit about "decayed" is a misquote?

I just looked it up. It's "dead, dying, diseased, and DISABLED" in the official rules.

The misinformation campaign has got people believing that "decayed" or "decaying" is expressly permitted. It is not. Though dead covers a lot of bases......

[ben_meyers]

11. Not to mention grain

In the wild one of the first parts eaten is the innards, and in most cases that's the source of grain for many animals.

[MzNov]

19. yum

[kestrel91316]

23. The all-meat/raw-meat crowd REALLY isn't going to like what you said.

Hope you've got a doubly flame-proof suit at the ready.

[MzNov]

17. I don't think that there is a misinformation campaign going on

about what's in pet food. It's been documented for many years. Just not been addressed. Maybe now it will be.

[kestrel91316]

24. Saying the 4-Ds includes "decaying" is a stale old fabrication

that's been going around since before there was an internet.

[MzNov]

28. Putting decaying stuff in pet food is still not "permitted". It doesn't

mean that some manufacturers don't do it. I still don't want decaying and disease-ridden animal parts in my cats' food. Just to be safe.

[kestrel91316]

33. Neither do I, but I recognize the distinct possibility that it's inherently harmless

to the end-consumer.

[Codeine]

36. Cats evolved

for millions of years (well, not housecats, but their forebears) eating stuff like that. Really, as gross as it sounds it won't hurt them. If they wander outside (mine don't but many do) then I can guarantee they've eaten stuff just as nasty out of trashcans and off the street (road pizza, anyone?)

Rat-poison-laced wheat gluten kills kitties and doggies -- meat that's gotten to yucky for people to eat won't.

[MzNov]

55. If in fact it is the wheat gluten in the food that is poisonous.

If we consider that the company who is actually at fault here is telling us what caused the deaths, perhaps they aren't giving us the whole truth. It's like the Justice Dept. investigating itself.

I'm enough of a critic to wonder if, instead of wheat gluten, the actual poisoned rodents got into the pet food. I have no proof of course, but have lived thru 6 six years of Bushivism to see a potential coverup. Besides, how did rat poison get into the food batches unless it came from the floors? Just sayin' and isn't the factory clean? Does it have a major rat problem? Who is in charge of rat eradication? guess I just ask too many questions.

:shrug:

I'd just like to consider all options here. This is outrageous no matter how you consider it.

:grr:

[TZ]

57. cause of poisoning was determined by

the independent testing labs in NY (including the very respected Cornell Veterinary Medicine group) so I am inclined to believe it myself.

[TZ]

44. I saw a Cooper's Hawk

scoop up a dead squirrel last week. I know it didn't kill it, it was just lying on the ground. I didn't know hawks would scavenge...

[Gelliebeans]

58. We have a couple of red tailed hawks

that live in the field next to our house and they (this sounds gross) wait on the phone polls to swoop down to pick at the wee dead wabbits that played frogger with the cars and lost. Everybody has to eat. :9

[Codeine]

18. Seriously, dogs will eat any god-damned thing.

A little "off" meat won't hurt Fido -- a dog is a scavenger by nature and will dine on a decaying carcass at the drop of a hat. Hell, ever catch your dog beating you to the cat box? Any animal that can eat cat poop and walk away isn't going to be hurt by some slightly oogy meat.:9

[uppityperson]

22. Occasional eatage of crap is fine. Regular feeding of something isn't.

[MzNov]

26. Cat turds are full of good nutrients and protein. LOL

yes, dogs will eat anything. But they often get sick too.

[TZ]

46. I am glad I ate dinner BEFORE reading this thread!

LOL:crazy:

[kestrel91316]

27. My Great Pyrenees years ago LOVED cat poop. She practically

lived on it. It actually is pretty full of nutrients, if somewhat unaesthetic.

[uppityperson]

32. kitty roca. nt

[kestrel91316]

34. You got that right.

And she lived to TWELVE - a Great Pyrenees. Go figure.

[Gelliebeans]

59. my husband calls them flaky-flix

[Codeine]

35. So gross.

Then they want to lick your face right away! :D

Beasts.

[Broadslidin]

38. Ever become a Bit Queasy when a Slobbering Pooch is Smooching.....?

with one of our :P specie...?

[TZ]

48. how about when kitty kitty puts her little paw

right on your mouth and you just KNOW she was in the litter box not too long ago...:rofl:

[yewberry]

30. It's the rendered euthanized animals in pet food that scares me.

I mean, if we euthanize with pentobarbital and then render euthanized animals for pet food, where does the pentobarbital go? Does it magically disappear?

No. It doesn't.

[Merlot]

40. If they put rendered cats and dogs

in cat and dog food, it makes the animals canibles. People and animals can't eat their own species.

Animals are picky. They may eat something that's been dead for a little while, but they can tell when it's to old to eat. Unfortuantly they can't choose which of the dead, dying, diseased and disabled animals in the processed food that aren't good enough to eat.

[yewberry]

41. They do.

Setting aside the "ewww" factor, it just doesn't seem safe to do. That doesn't stop anyone from doing it, though.

[MzNov]

54. If a cat eats a bird or rodent, it is actually getting every nutrient

it needs for life. But the crap that is going into pet food is not fresh kill, plus if it comes from sources such as what falls on the floor or other diseased animals, there is the greatest possibility of slowly poisoning our pets. Perhaps it doesn't kill our pets immediately, but who wants to allow de-regulation or no regulation of pet food ingredients.

The articles and studies for many years are not rumors. Maybe it's not a widespread practice to contaminate pet food, but who wants to take the chance? Especially with Busheviks in power, the de-regulation is rampant even with people food.

[kestrel91316]

47. I've never seen any actual documentation that this happens.

I would love to see original factual reliable source material if anybody has it.

If it happens, the PPM of any residual chemicals has got to be so small that it's below any conceivable threshhold of harm. Otherwise I can't imagine hw it would be permitted.

I disapprove anyway. It smacks of cannibalism, though that, too probably happens in our carnivore friends in the wild. In fact I know it does. Mother cats eat their kittens with some regularity (very nutritious, BTW) and so do mother dogs.

[yewberry]

49. Here's one.

(It is considered "highly unlikely" that the pentobarbital levels found would harm animals. This study couldn't find dog or cat DNA in the material, so they think the pentobarbital could be coming from euthanized horses or cattle. I still ain't going to feed that shit to my friends.)

http://www.wholepetvet.com/reports/Allman_DFreport.htm

The abstract for Am. Journal Vet. Research article:
(Finds that pentobarbital does not degrade in the rendering process, but amounts are kept low by distribution.)

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=4037499&dopt=Citation

[kestrel91316]

53. I never believed the rumor that dead dogs and cats were going into

pet food, and the study clinches it for me.

I don't like the idea of any animals euthanized with pentobarb, including cattle and horses, going into pet food, even though it clearly is in clinically insignifican amounts. There does not seem to be a system in place to ensure the levels don't increase.

Just prohibit those animals from being rendered for food. Render them for soap. Or whatever. Just not anybody's food.

[flvegan]

39. Another reason why my dogs are vegetarian.

Well, one isn't. He's eating whatever he wants right now.

[hedgehog]

50. A year or so ago a new theory on how dogs became domesticated

hit the popular press. This theory states that our dogs aren't descendants of noble wolves who joined early man in his hunts. Rather, our dogs are descendants from the wolves so dumb the only way they could feed themselves was to scrounge in human garbage piles! As we watched the television show discussing our theory, our dogs tipped over the waste bin in the kitchen. That made a believer out of me!

DOgs will pretty much eat anything, although I think cats are more picky. I do think it is reasonable to expect that at least whatever goes into their food wasn't diseased or rotten.

[nicknameless]

51. Yes. It's stomach- and heart-wrenching.

http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0FKA/is_3_61/ai_54017841

The "animal protein" in many pet foods is made up of: diseased meat, road kill, contaminated "material" from slaughterhouses, fecal matter, pets which have been euthanized with sodium pentobarbital, chicken and turkey feathers, and the waste from milling room floors.

Sources of these "animal proteins" are diseased, drugged, and euthanized animals (including other cats and dogs). These carcasses go to receiving plants, where the hide (sold to a tannery), skin, fats, and meat are removed. The "meat" from these animals can be sold for pet food (sometimes along with tags and flea collars in place), after being marked as "unfit for human consumption."

If this "meat" arrives at the receiving plant already decomposing, it's sent to a rendering plant, along with road kill. Also "fine" for pet food is condemned material from slaughterhouses -- animals that died on their way to slaughter, diseased animals or parts, diseased blood, hair, hooves and paws, horns, stomach contents, heads, mammary glands, unborn calf carcasses, processed animal waste from the floor of the slaughterhouses along with litter material from the floor, and, again, euthanized companion pets.

And http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=443453&mesg_id=450071

x(

[AwakeAtLast]

52. You won't believe this but I remember Richard Simmons saying 25 yrs. ago

I couldn't have been more than 9 or 10 at the time. I don't know why I remember this. His quote about pet food was, "about as nutritious as a pair of old shoes." And then he showed the shoes. That has stuck with me to this day. Hmmmm....

[MzNov]

56. Everyone should so some research, make up his/her own mind,

and come up with what is right for your pets.

Here's a couple of more links to consider:


http://www.newstarget.com/012647.html