Welcome to the Home of the Healthiest Pet Foods in the World

[Maine-ah]

http://www.naturapet.com/display.php?d=about-natura

I have had awesome results with their brand called California Natural. This company has nothing to do with recalled pet food. The link provided tells you about the company & products, if you go to the home page you can find their other brands.

I have a 13 y.o. choco lab, who is the last one alive from her litter, which was plagued with a heart defect. She acts a bit younger than her years. I also have a lab mutt. When we switched, there was a marked difference in their coats, eyes, and bowel movements became smaller. We switched from Purina one lamb & rice, over a year ago.

I think this would be a great thread where we could all post the different brands, or homemade food recipes that we use for our pets. This way, it can all be in one spot.

:bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce:

[CrazyOrangeCat]

1. Thank you--I'm going to try it.

All these years, so many of us have spent a bit more money for Iams and Science Diet . . . thinking we were doing the right thing for our four-leggeds....

[Maine-ah]

14. lol, I have a crazy orange cat

[CrazyOrangeCat]

36. Reminds me very much . . .

. . . of a friend of mine!

[mctrotter5]

2. I feed California Natural recommended by a breeder

but my dogs don't like the taste. I have to mix scrambled eggs or at one point wet food(darn)to get them to eat. The ingredients are first rate if you can convince your dog to eat it.

[leftchick]

3. thank you!

Using their search function I found I can buy this locally at Earth Fare! :)

[Maine-ah]

15. you're welcome, leftchick!

[nuxvomica]

4. My suggestion is Fromm's. They make cat and dog food

http://www.frommfamily.com/index.php

The dog food picture at that link looks better than people food!

I switched to Fromm dry cat food many years ago when my buddy Amos started losing weight and a vet check showed no problems. I researched the ingredients based on two criteria: real meat for the main ingredient and low potassium. He had been eating Science Diet, which was crap even before the wheat gluten scandal. He wouldn't touch the stuff the first time I gave it to him but I sprinkled some catnip on it and he's eaten it ever since, without catnip.

[Maine-ah]

16. damn!

it looks like a chicken pot pie! Thanks for posting the link, nuxvomica!

[PearliePoo2]

5. We just switched too!

I have been feeding my rescue Border Collie Nutro lamb and rice mini bites for 6 years.
I no longer trust any of the large companies. The trust is gone.
If it is tainted wheat from China now, how long until we find out that cheap tainted rice meal is next?
I asked at the local Pet Feed Store yesterday for a natural trusted brand that had a wholesome and simple recipe that was NOT contracted out to Menu Foods. The owner recommended California Natural.
In order not to upset an animal's system she suggested mixing the two foods starting at a 50/50 rate until the transition is complete.
My Border loves it!

[HamdenRice]

6. Cheap meats, table scraps and dry

I have been feeding my dog Iams dry mixed with either canned Iams, cooked chicken, liver or kidneys, or table scraps. He just had a checkup with the vet who said he's in excellent condition, and that he feeds his dogs pretty much the same things.

I started using mostly organ meats when one day I realized that some supermarket meat for humans is actually cheaper than canned dog food! I just bought chicken quarters for .39 a pound, and kidneys and liver are usually .90 to .99 a pound. I just simmer deboned chicken or kidneys in a little water and let it cool before adding it to the dry.

On the pet forum, someone warned me not to use liver because it concentrates toxins in cattle that are fed to many hormones, anti-biotics, etc., so I started staying away from the liver.

The dog won't eat dry food alone. And I add dry food because it keeps his teeth clean.

I need to find a new dry food when this bag of Iams runs out, so I'd be interested to see what others recommend.

[nealmhughes]

9. We have 6 hunting dogs and 2 inside dogs. The outside dogs get dry kibble from a local mill.

The 2 inside dogs get that plus our leftover scraps of meat. My little lap dog gets believe it or not, off brand beef stew mixed with her kibble, it is much cheaper than is canned food. Once a week or so, we get the organs from a slaughter house and let the dogs go to town on them!
My Doberman had a terrible sensitive stomach, and could only tolerate Hills Scientic Diet lamb and rice, and I am glad he is no longer with us to have me worry about what is going into dog food these days!

[Maine-ah]

19. nice!

but I'd check thr ingredients on the beef stew, it's usually really high in salt & preservatives, which aren't good for your beasties. :hi:

[Dover]

61. A friend of mine adds various soups to her dogs dry food.

He loves it she said.......and it's CHEAP. She said his favorite was beef stew.

[Cobalt Violet]

7. Kirkland's is good too.(Costco's brand)

Very, very similar formula to California Natural. :bounce:

Chicken, chicken meal, whole grain brown rice, ground white rice, chicken fat, natural chicken flavor, flaxseed, and assorted vitamins,taurine, and dried chicory root for fiber.

[Maine-ah]

20. awesome!

good for those that shop or have a costco near by! :bounce:

[Cobalt Violet]

55. Top quality @ $10.95 a 25lb bag. And a blue company to boot.

That price would be for the cat food. I don't have a dog so I'm not aware of what the deal is with their dog food. I would suspect that it is high quality for a excellent price too.

Next time I go there I will pick up a case of the canned cat food and see if my boys will like that.

[napi21]

60. I switched to Kirkland chicken & rice small bites over a year ago.

I read a dog food rating reportthat was done by a college vetinary study group. They ranked the different dry dog foods according to their ingredients and what's best for the dogs. Kirkland Checken & Rice ranked WAY above what we can all buy at the local supermarket or pet store. My dogs love it, and their health even improved since the switch.

I have 2 Bichons of our own, and two foster Bichons. I always give the little flufferbutts the best I can find and this food seems to be GREAT!

[Cobalt Violet]

64. My cats love it too.

Do they have their own brand of wet food too? I know I've seen some kinds of cans there but haven't paid it much attention to what they carry for wet.

[Lorien]

68. I read a while ago that Kirkland's food was made by Iams

not sure how accurate that info is though. It isn't made with human grade ingredients. Like most commercial pet foods they use pet (feed) grade ingredients, which makes me very uneasy. If it's illegal to feed it to you, why feed it to your pet?

[Nite Owl]

8. I started to use this

http://www.bluebuff.com/

"We selected BLUE's ingredients based on a simple philosophy... if it's not good enough for us, it's not good enough for our dogs. Our BLUE Life Protection Formula starts with free range lamb, followed by plenty of whole grains and fresh vegetables. Compare BLUE with any brand, and you'll see that our nutrition is unsurpassed.

High Quality Protein - Dogs love our tasty lamb, and it provides them with the essential amino acids they need every day.

Wholesome Whole Grains - Hearty whole grains like brown rice, barley and oats supply the complex carbohydrates that your dog needs for energy.

Healthy Garden Veggies - Whole carrots, sweet potatoes and garlic are three of the nutrient rich vegetables that your dog will get in every bite of BLUE.

Natural, delicious and highly digestible, our BLUE Life Protection Formula contains no by-products or artificial preservatives. Your dog will thrive on it!"



They really like it, though my bigger dog will eat anything put in front of him I thought he was going to lick the bowl right through to the floor when he first ate this, the little one is the one likely to turn up her nose and walk away but she didn't even lift her head up from the bowl. There is no corn, wheat or soy. I had spoken with the rep in the store (Pet Smart) and she was so enthused about it, they are a small company. Working out well for my dogs so far. They were getting Iams small chunk and Hills dry for stomach.

[Maine-ah]

21. I'm glad they're no longer on Iams.

Iams has a very bad track record on animal testing

*warning for sensitive viewers*

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zaiN-SL89d8

[Nite Owl]

37. I read about that when I

was researching what to buy for them. Right then and there I decided that their practices were enough for a change even if the dry food was still ok. Then I started hearing that the Iams may not be good so I'm glad I took her off of it. My other dog, the one with the sensitive tummy that was on the Hills is doing great on the Blue, he hasn't had any problems yet at all.

[CitizenLeft]

10. thank you for this thread

I would love to read homemade recipes, if anyone has them (there are some on the net). I'm going to try the "natural" way, but I can't go so far as raw meat. I'll be boiling it and using the stock (or baking it and using the juices). Even though I've read that holistic is cheaper, I can't see how - I've got three dogs (all between 45-55 lbs) and I spend $50 on dry food a month, including treats. I think I'm getting off easy at that cost, but this Menu Foods scare - plus the horrific articles I've read about "rendered" euthanized animals being sent to pet food plants - did it for me.

Here are links to what made me sick and why I'm just about done with commercial processed foods (WARNING - reading these will upset you):

http://www.petcaretips.net/euthanized_pets.html">Pet Care Tips (notice that the FDA report is now missing from the fda.gov website - uh-huh)

http://www.commondreams.org/headlines02/0106-03.htm">Common Dreams

http://www.belfield.com/article3.html">Belfield Pet Food Research Center (this site recommends Natura - click on their HOME button to read about it)

http://iml.jou.ufl.edu/projects/Spring04/Perhach/PetFood/CompanionAnimals.htm">The Truth About Pet Food

Has anyone heard that any changes have been made about rendered pets in dog food? Or (please God) that it has been disproved? Most info about this is 3-4 years old; I'd love to find out that it's not true.

Forgot to add: how much does Natura cost? And I realize that most pet owners - including myself - consider cost secondary to good health for our pets, but if money were no object, I wouldn't be asking, LOL.

[Maine-ah]

23. we use the california natural

that natura makes, and for a 20lb bag, is (I think, since hubbie picks it up)about $25, not all that costly compared to some.

[CitizenLeft]

39. ordinarily, I'd say no problem...

...but - yikes - I'm trying to pay off my catastrophic winter gas bill, and I'm on a strict budget for a few months. A 17-lb. bag of the Kibble Select Healthy Weight only costs $7.99 at the grocery store. My babies are definitely worth it, but it'll have to wait a few months, because I want to supplement it with meat and veggies, too.

THANK YOU!

[MikeE]

11. I use Wellness

It is by the Old Mother Hubbard company and they use only human quality ingredients. My little one loves it too.

[LostinVA]

24. I just started that with the kitties yesterday

Two LOVE it already, but the oldest and most divalike was all like, "What the fuck is this healthy shit?" She finally ate some last night after I mixed the last of the old stuff in with it.

[Maine-ah]

25. thanks, Mike

and welcome to DU! :bounce:

[Critters2]

44. Their canned is made by Menu Foods. Here's their CEO:

http://www.naturapetcare.com/

[ruggerson]

47. That's the CEO of Innova

not of Wellness

[zalinda]

12. My pick is Back to Basics

Here is their web site http://www.beowulfs.com/ They make the food here in Syracuse, NY. They started out making food for the mastiffs that they breed. When the puppies went home, some of their food went with them and so the new owners asked them to make the food for sale, as the puppies did so well on the food. Then the people who also had cats asked them to make cat food, so they did.

You can ask for a free sample on their web site. I'm not affiliated with them. But, my animals have being doing really well on the food.

zalinda

[Maine-ah]

26. cool, I'll do that!

[Oilwellian]

13. Thank you so much for posting

I found a store that sells Natura right down the road from where I live. I'm going there today to make the switch and give it a try.

[Maine-ah]

27. don't forget to do a gradual switch!

do it by mixing in some of the new food with the old. I hope it works for you!:hi:

[hang a left]

17. Thank you. I am going to make the switch

I used your link to find a local store nearby. The dog food is cheaper than Iams, the cat food is a little more than Iams. I have 5 cats and 2 small dogs that have been fed Iams exclusively for years.

I was just jumping on people yesterday regarding Iams because I called them and they INSISTED that all their dry food was safe and was made exclusively by them. I guess I just wanted to think my animals were safe and I was in denial. Now today I wake up to a news break that says the Iams diet dry has been included. Since a new food seems to be added every 6-12 hours to the recall, I am going to change their food. Hopefully they will eat it.

[Maine-ah]

28. please see my previous post about Iams

you'll be even happier that you switched! :hi:

[in_cog_ni_to]

18. Here's what Isabelle eats: Natural Balance Vegetarian Formula

http://www.naturalbalanceinc.com/catformulas/home.html

Dick Van Patten's company.

No corn, wheat, soy, dairy, or sunflower oil: These items are suspected of causing allergic reactions such as hair loss, scratching, hives, chewing feet, and era infections, are not used.

Natural Balance® Vegetarian Formula was designed for dogs with allergies caused by an intolerance to common food ingredients such as meat or dairy products. Our Vegetarian Formula provides adult dogs with the same essential nutrients found in diets with meat as the protein source. Natural Balance® Vegetarian Formula is for all breeds of adult dogs.

Some dogs may be highly sensitive to commonly used animal proteins, carbohydrates and food additives in their diet. Allergic reactions can lead to irritable bowel, upset stomach, and a number of skin problems. Natural Balance® has created Vegetarian Formula for dogs with these food allergies. Our Vegetarian Formula combines special non-meat proteins along with effective natural ingredients to help rebuild the dog's immune system. See some Testimonials.
Try our NEW Crunch-E-Bones, an irresistible extra crunchy Dog Treat made with just healthy grains and vegetables! Does contain Wheat Flour.

REASONS YOU SHOULD BE FEEDING YOUR DOG NATURAL BALANCE® VEGETARIAN FORMULA

A TRUE Vegan Formula Contains no dairy products or products derived from trace amounts of meat or dairy sources.

Oatmeal An exceptional source of: carbohydrates, fiber, thiamin and vitamin E. Not widely used in pet food because of cost.

Brown Rice Rice grain with the bran portion intact, an excellent source of carbohydrates. Contains increased levels of B vitamins.

Green Peas A premium quality carbohydrate, rich in potassium and a highly digestible energy source.

No Artificial Preservatives, Flavors or Colors.

Does not contain Soy, Wheat, White Rice, Eggs, or Dairy Products.

http://www.naturalbalanceinc.com/dogformulas/Vegetarian.html



I see they have a NEW ORGANIC FORMULA!!! Excellent!

New! As fresh and healthy as the barley fields shown on our bags, Natural Balance Organic Formulas® are GMO free and never sprayed with pesticides. Natural Balance Organic Formulas® use only free-range, humanely treated, antibiotic and hormone free chicken, with a wide range of organic ingredients for the highest standard in nutrition for your dog. Certified Organic by Oregon Tilth. COMPLETE AND BALANCED FOR ALL BREEDS AND LIFE STAGES.


Natural Balance Organic Formulas® come in 5 lb, 12.5 lb, and 25 lb Bags
PRODUCT INFORMATION
Certified Organic by Oregon Tilth.

No soy • No eggs • No dairy products • No sunflower oil • No wheat • No corn

• Fresh Natural Chicken Free of hormones and antibiotics, this fresh premium quality protein provides the essential amino acids to help maintain strong muscle tone and a healthy, shiny coat.

• Organic Brown Rice Rice grain with the bran portion intact, an excellent source of carbohydrates. Contains increased levels of B vitamins.

• Organic Oats An exceptional source of carbohydrates, fiber, thiamin and vitamin E.

• Organic Barley This organic whole grain is a superior source of fiber, antioxidants, niacin (vitamin B3), thiamine and many minerals.

• Organic Potatoes Rich in potassium and an excellent source of highly digestible carbohydrates for energy.

• Skin and Coat, Omega-3 and Omega-6 Organic Flaxseed, Organic Dried Kelp, Vitamin E, and Biotin are combined to result in an excellent skin and coat.

• Organic Carrots An excellent source of beta carotene.

http://www.naturalbalanceinc.com/dogformulas/OrganicDry.html

We bought our Natural Balance at Petco.

The treats Isabelle eats are called: by Nature...I bought these at Petco too. They also sell all natural and organic foods!

Green Tea and Honey flavor

Ground rice, ground flaxseed, psyllium seed husk, cane molasses, vegetable oil, green tea, parsley, dried kelp, honey, dried carrots, cranberries, blueberries, dried tomatoes, garlic powder, peppermint leaf, natural flavors, and chlorophyll.

http://www.bynaturepetfoods.com/productpages/dogmain.php

by Nature sells ALL Natural and Organic foods.

ON EDIT...I bought the by Nature dog treats from PETSMART .com not Petco:
http://www.petsmart.com/global/product_detail.jsp?PRODUCT%3C%3Eprd_id=845524441815796&FOLDER%3C%3Efolder_id=2534374302026221&ASSORTMENT%3C%3East_id=2534374302023689&bmUID=1175359453348&itemNo=54&Nao=48&In=Dog&N=2026221&Ne=374

[Maine-ah]

29. Is Isabelle a King Charles?

My sil just got one, flew down to (North or south, can't remember)Carolina to a breeder to get it. Cute little thing, needed a sweater for up here!:hi:

[in_cog_ni_to]

32. Yes, she is a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel. We drove to Ohio to get her.

They're worth the drive.:loveya: They are just so adorable and SWEET! They have great dispositions. Your SIL is going to fall in love.:)

[Dastard Stepchild]

69. We're a Natural Balance house, too...

It's the only food that sits well (and we tried dozens) in our 2 cats with irritable bowel syndrome. The stuff is amazing.

[RebelOne]

72. I bought Natural Balance for the first time this Saturday.

My dogs love it. I was feeding them Purina One, but with all these recalls, I decided to switch to a food that I felt was safer.

[GenDem]

22. Your the second person today to recommend this brand

My dogs have been eating Iams mini chunks(toy). My female has had some health issues the past few months that make me wonder if she has had a reaction to something in the food.

There is a feed store 15 miles from here that carries this brand, and we're going to try it.

Thanks!!!:hi:

[Maine-ah]

30. glad to hear it,GenDem, you'll be amazed

at the difference in your animals :hi:

[InvisibleTouch]

31. I know I've recommended this book before...

...but it's the gold standard of healthy homemade pet food, full of recipes, nutritional info, and other health guidelines:

Dr. Pitcairn's Guide to Natural Health for Dogs and Cats
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/157954973X

I've followed a number of these recipes, especially for my 5-year-old girl, who came to me from a breeder who feeds raw, and thus turned me onto it too. Lest anyone think she's sickly or deficient somehow, I'll mention that she's a multiple champion on the rare breed circuit, and had a healthy litter of pups last year. I also saw an amazing turnaround in my elderly Pomeranian, who was completely cured of lifelong epilepsy after I switched him to a homecooked/raw diet (so don't let anyone scare you about the "dangers" of raw meat and homecooked diets!).

I deviate from most raw/homecooked feeders in that I don't give bones, because punctured intestines and broken teeth are always a possibility - but if you feed raw meat, you must supplement calcium from some source. I don't trust bonemeal (risk of mad cow disease), but I use powdered eggshells, which can be prepared easily with an electric coffee grinder.

I do also use selected brands of kibble, though I've gotten to the point where I don't fully trust any company anymore. If there were no extenuating issues, I would have all my dogs on a purely home-prepared diet. I know the megacorporations want us to believe we're all too stupid to mix up a balanced diet for our pets, but if it were that difficult, everyone who cooks from scratch for their own family (rather than eating pre-prepared frozen/processed meals that are "supplemented") would all die of deficiency diseases. It just takes a little research and awareness.

Is it more time-consuming? Sure. Is it worth it? Definitely. Do I use it all the time? No. While I tend to feel like I'm "cheating" or not doing my best for my dogs if I resort to kibble (and my 5-year-old lets me know that she wants real food, dammit!), I also realize that we can only do as much as we can, and it's still better than the alternative.

As commercial pet foods go, I can recommend kibble by Organix, Wellness, and Newman's in reasonably good conscience, and I know there are other good brands out there that I haven't tried yet. I don't think I will buy canned food of any kind ever again.

[Maine-ah]

33. I love that book!

I was making food for my (now deceased) cat that had diabetes. She is the reason we started learning about the crap in all the animal food.

The vet started us with insulin shots, and once I got her to lower levels, I started regulating with diet. Vet originally told us we couldn't do it that way, but we did AND we did home testing (which they didn't like either). This was the second cat that I have dealt with that had diabetes, the first one we followed vets rules.

[thecrow]

34. I did their "compare brands" thingie and found this:

Animal digest is a material which results from chemical and/or enzymatic hydrolysis of clean and undecomposed animal tissue. The animal tissues used shall be exclusive of hair, horns, teeth, hooves and feathers, except in such trace amounts as might occur unavoidably in good factory practice and shall be suitable for animal feed. If it bears a name descriptive of its kind or flavor(s), it must correspond thereto.

Animal digest is a cooked-down broth made from unspecified parts of unspecified animals. Any kind of animal can be included: goats, pigs, horses, rats, etc. The animals can be obtained from any source, so there is no control over quality or contamination.
***********************************************************************
You'd be surprised how many products contain this.

Could this be the reason that they originally (or now?) thought it could be RAT POISON in the food? If these rats can be from ANY SOURCE, could the Chinese be tossing them into this swill?

My girls:


Check out your animals food at the OP's link.

[Maine-ah]

35. thanks!

fabulous find! Pretty nasty stuff!

[tencats]

38. Healthiest ? NOT

Did you ever read the guaranteed analysis listed on their packaging?
Seems they are hiding something by omission. Like where do they tell me what the Ash content is in their feline diets?
How about the Magnesium content? Both are missing from their printed info on the bags. All other feline products that I know of openly give me this info on the packaging. The ash and magnesium contents are of paramount importance in my cats diets since they commonly have UT problems especially with the change of season Mar-May. I had gone through many 15 lb bags of Innova EVO and Ca Nat Cat cat foods before I noticed. Then I got another $2000 hit for bladder stones and the Vet pitch a fit at me when I said I had been heavily feeding the EVO. What a mistake I made not to have noticed earlier but now no more Natura products for my cats. Also, Innova uses Menu Foods for their canned feline diets.

[hang a left]

41. That is because EVO is pure protein without any grains and you

are NOT supposed to free feed. The guy at the feed store was very knowledgeable about the food. I just switched all my animals over to it. I even bought the dog treats. My dogs LOVE it!!! I hope my cats do as well.

[Maine-ah]

56. thankyou, hang a left.

I don't know about the EVO food, just the California Natural, which I feed my dogs, and plan on switching my cat. I used to feed my cats the CN, because one of them was diabetic, that cat has since died, I had moved the other cat to a different food. I'm going to go back to the CN. My cat has basically never had any health problems his entire life, other than being over weight, I think it's genetics or something with him, I have never met a skinny orange cat, lol, especially an older one.

Tencats,
I would think you would switch your cats to a more natural, possibly homemade diet, it sounds like you have several cats with this same problem. It's kind of odd. :shrug:

[femmedem]

40. Very controversial, I know, but I switched to raw.

Right now I'm mainly using Bravo pre-ground raw,(whole ground ostrich this week, because their chicken lacked organ meats) and I pick through it to take out bones that strike me as too big or too sharp. I'm supplementing it with a bit of chopped up chicken and the occasional sardine. One cat has switched entirely to raw and the other one is eating 80% raw with a bit of Mother Hubbard turkey and giblets.

I am worried about perforated intestines, so today I ordered a supplement from www.felinefuture.com which you mix with water and add to raw meat. It's supposed to balance the calcium:phosphorus ratio.

I don't know what I'll end up feeding my cats, and it's really too soon to say how the raw is going. So far, though, I'm not having any problems. No vomiting, no starving cats, no intestinal upset of any kind. And the cat who is eating 100% raw used to smell funny but now he smells sweet. He used to be gassy, too, but now he isn't.

I sure would hate for anyone else to try this on my say-so and have problems. I'm not a vet.

Edited to add: I have a friend whose 8-year old cat died from the recalled food, my elderly cat just died after years of compromised health, and in the past I've had cats die prematurely from renal failure. I rarely eat processed foods myself, and now I'm feeling badly that I've offered them so often to my pets.

[Critters2]

42. Some of their products are made by Menu Foods,

so, whether or not they poisoned any pets, they're doing business with the people who did. And therefore, I won't do business with them.

[Critters2]

43. I'm hesitant to recommend my favorite brand, because I just went to

pet food direct to order some, and had to take a rain check because of high demand. But it the spirit of DU sisterhood, here it is:

www.petpromiseinc.com

[Gloria]

59. Seems to have a lot of grains in it........

lamb and rice. That's California Natural....shit, I hope I can find it somewhere...other than Santa Fe.

[magellan]

63. I order from Pet Food Direct too

Just changed from Wellness to Chicken Soup for the Dog Lover's Soul.

[gravity]

45. They are a corporation too, and their website is just marketing

I'm not saying that the food is unsafe or anything, but take all the information on their website with a grain of salt.

[hang a left]

46. OK I just came from the pet forum...

This is after I spent $75 on dry dog and cat food for my animals. Now I am hearing that their wet food is made by the same company that is responsible for all the recalls.

Now I am worried about the dry.

Criminey!! Somebody soothe me.

[ruggerson]

48. Relax

A lot of pet food companies contracted with Menu to make one or two brands of wet food (most of them cuts and gravy). These contracted foods were made at the Menu plant.

The dry food of these companies is NOT made at Menu's plant, but, mostly, at their own plants. A lot of the dry foods don't even contain ANY wheat gluten at all.

The dry foods of Innova, Wellness, even Nutro are all manufactured at proprietary plants and have absolutely NOTHING to do with Menu, nothing at all.

[ShortnFiery]

50. Wait One! - Wet or Dry look for WHEAT GLUTEN (contaminated ingredient)

Please don't jump to the assumption that all DRY dog food is A OK because Science Diet has sent out this notice:
----------------
Hills Pet Nutrition, Inc. Voluntarily Recalls Single Product, Prescription Diet™ m/d™ Feline Dry Food, Only Product Containing Wheat Gluten.
----------------

However, again and PRESENTLY the culprit (contaminated ingredient) is WHEAT GLUTEN.

[ruggerson]

53. I didn't

I agree - wheat gluten is the culprit. But there were all kinds of wild, unsubstantiated rumors flying around here about perfectly safe dry foods.

[ShortnFiery]

54. Yes, right now, it's only Wheat Gluten, but this has not been FULLY investigated.

My heart goes out to those who have lost a beloved pet due to this tragedy. :cry:

[hang a left]

58. No wheat gluten in the new Innova food...

However, there wasn't any gluten in the Iams either that I remember when I checked the ingredients.

Are we sure it is isolated to wheat gluten??

[ShortnFiery]

49. Look for "Wheat Gluten" for this was the ingredient that was contaminated.

If your pet food does not have Wheat Gluten, I'd still check with the manufacturer, but it seems that the odds are much better that you do NOT have contaminated pet food.

Hell, who knows what else may be contaminated. :scared: I'm thinking of cooking up some chicken thighs in the crock pot and buying some unbleached rice to make my own dog food. Guess that's the only way we can be sure with many our pet food ingredients coming from China. :wtf: Isn't that a hoot in a bizarro way? :shrug:

[uppityperson]

51. Pinnacle (for dog, was for cats but changing forumla) Innova for cats

[Seedersandleechers]

52. My Fur baby recipe for the feline kind

2 lbs. raw chicken without bones
1 cup raw chicken liver
2 raw egg yolk ( no white!)
2500 mg Calcium Citrate
250 mg Magnesium Citrate

OR use
2.2 lbs. whole chicken ground with the bones (raw)
1/2 cup raw chicken liver
2 raw egg yolk (no white!)
no mineral supplement needed.


I substitute deer muscle meat on the first recipe. and use whole ground rabbit only on the second. My cats don't like yolk so I don't give it to them...

[femmedem]

65. A friendly question from a newbie raw feeder:

Why do you use calcium citrate rather than calcium carbonate? I read in Sandy Arora's "Whole Health for Happy Cats" that the calcium carbonate is more bio-available, and that you only need to use about half as much.

I do read conflicting opinions on the best calcium source. :shrug:

When you use the whole chicken, bone ground in, how large are your bone pieces? Sometimes I buy a pre-ground frozen raw, and I pull out bone pieces that seem large to me. Some of them are tooth-sized. Can your cats handle that?

[Gloria]

57. I just found out today that our store is gone!!! I'll have to switch and I don't

want to!!!!!!

California Natural Reduced Calorie Lamb and Rice has been wonderful for my three boys!!!!

[sproutster]

62. I was using iams

My pup was peeing a lot (I attributed this to her youth)9 mos.
But then during the poisonings, I realized she only ate as a last resort.
Finally one day she stayed away from the food -- and went outside and ate only grass.

I went and bought Grandma Z's dog food. My dog loves it. I am holding on to the iams for the recall that I believe will be coming. I *know* something is wrong with it.

My dog has had a complete turn around.
*edited to say dry dog food*

[Rhiannon12866]

66. I made chicken and rice for my dogs today.

I make long cooking rice with low sodium chicken broth, poach some skinless, boneless chicken breasts, and rip them up in tiny little pieces, small enough for a seven pound dog who has already had ten teeth removed... (I adopted him when he was nine and he's now 13.) My vet has had me cook this for my dogs before, when they needed to be on a bland diet. I figure that they like this and, even though my dogs' foods haven't shown up on any list *yet* (Hill's prescription A/D and Eukanuba puppy), and contain no wheat gluten - I checked and double checked - I'll just feel better about doing this until this whole horrific pet food recall is resolved...:scared:

[mountainvue]

67. Castor and Pollux

http://www.castorpolluxpet.com/

[michaz]

70. Any info on Purina One dry dog food?

Where I live there are not many choices of decent food for dogs. Iams, Eukanuba and Nutro and then your grocery store foods like Purina One. I was using Purina One Weight Management but I see that it has wheat gluten and decided to try the Salmon for Sensitive stomachs because it does not list wheat gluten as an ingredient. Their website has an ingredient finder for their different types of foods.

[Rockholm]

71. Solid Gold "Wolf King" dry and Merrick soft food.

Yumm Yumm for my two big babies!!!!!!

[michaz]

73. Does anyone know what the Whole Dog Journal is recommending?