News, Advice and Resources for Thoughtful Pet People
The Italian designed Pratino Dog Bed is not your run-of-the-mill dog bed. The exterior section is made from one piece of carved foam, so it will keep its shape and the cover is washable. The green one calls to mind blades of grass, while the yellow one reminds me of a flower. I really like the whimsy of them!
As if things weren’t confusing and distressing enough, Menu Foods has asked that stores remove all cans and pouches of the varieties listed in the recall, regardless of lot numbers and dates of manufacture. This was first reported as an expansion of the recall, but Menu Foods says it isn’t. They want to insure all of the affected lots are off of store shelves. The FDA reports that sixteen animals have died from eating the food tainted with rat poison, but the site PetConnection indicates the numbers are probably much higher—you can enter a report for their database if your pet has been affected.
Menu Foods’ handling of this crisis has been disturbing from the beginning. Here is a timeline(midway down the page) showing Menu Foods may have had customer complaints about pets dying as early as December. Veterinarians are also frustrated with the delays in reporting the problems. In addition to the delays, Menu Foods may have knowingly fed the contaminated food to their lab animals, which killed at least six animals.
In looking for answers as to how this contamination could happen, it’s important to look at Menu Foods’ financial problems as a possible catalyst for this whole tragedy. Did this happen because of cost-cutting?
You can find out much more on the recall on my Pet Food Recall Archive Page.
A Wisconsin doggie daycare owner noticed that two yellow labs owned by two different familes seemed to get along unusually well and “play like crazy” when they were at daycare together. He mentioned it to their families, who put the pieces together and realized the dogs are littermates who were adopted separately last spring.
I never get tired of seeing Saffron play chase at the dog park. She used to just be too scared to do it, even though she could outrun most dogs. She still seems especially fond of small dogs—I think they’re less threatening. But they have to be bold enough to not be put off by her herding at high speeds or by her yelling at them to keep moving. This little guy was perfect and they just had a blast.
There’s nothing better after a good chase than finding a stinky, dead earthworm to roll around on together. I got the impression Saffron would have been very happy to take him home with us.
In researching my first post on the food recall, I was struck by how difficult the companies involved made it to find out which specific foods were being recalled. The list Menu Foods provides is incomplete. Iams/Eukanuba, Hill’s, and Purina make you sort through several pages before you find the pertinent information. It’s confusing enough without them making it harder.
In a round about way, a recall like this is one reason we feed our pets high grade foods like Wysong, BrightLife (Dogs and Cats), Innova, Canidae (Dogs), Felidae (Cats), and Wellness (Dogs and Cats). I look for foods that use human-grade, organic, hormone-free ingredients as much as possible. These foods run a much lower risk of having contaminated or spoiled ingredients in them than the brands listed in the recall. Also the brands I use don’t contain fillers or dyes. They may cost more, but your pet is getting a much better diet and is digesting more of their food so you can feed them less. This means a healthier pet, which is cost-effective, and smaller poops, which is nice. You can really tell the difference between the high-grade foods and the other foods when you compare their canned food. High-grade canned food doesn’t stink and is usually completely inoffensive. I can’t say the same for the lower grade foods.
When we first got Saffron, she had been eating grocery store dog food because that’s what was available where she was found. She smelled swampy, she had wicked gas, and her coat was a little rough. After eating high grade food for a while, she stopped smelling like a swamp, stopped emitting stink bombs, and her coat became silky soft—enough so, that people are surprised when they touch her. I’m regularly asked what makes her coat so soft and I think it’s her diet.
You may not find the high grade foods in chain stores like Petco and Petsmart, but your independent pet supply stores will carry them. And they’ll be able to tell you more about what food would be best for your pet. Don’t forget to ask for free samples either. Most stores are happy to offer you a variety to try so you find what your pet likes without buying a whole bag.
Dog biscuits sold by Wal-Mart under the Ol’ Roy brand are now included in the recall and Menu Foods has extended their recall. It now includes foods made between November 8th and March 6th. The recall previously only went back to December 3rd. They are also including 20 additional varieties, but not any new brands.
Sunshine Mills is the manufacturer of the Wal-Mart Ol’ Roy dog biscuits. (Sunshine Mills’ site may be having trouble coping with increased traffic.) It isn’t clear to me from the article as to whether they are recalling other products they manufacture and their site hasn’t been updated. You should know they also make several other pet treats (Crunchin’ Bones, Dr. Dental Chews, Gym Bones, Meaty Treats Jerky, Puffs N’ Purrs, & Pup Corn) and apparently several pet foods (Lassie Natural Way, Buttons and Bows(Cat), Canine Principle, Feline Principle, Field Trial, Cat Cafe, Chatham(Dog), Chatham(Cat), Hunter’s Special, Sportsman’s Pride, Thrifty(Dog & Cat), Nurture, and World Pet Foods).
Dog biscuits sold by Wal-Mart under the Ol’ Roy brand are now included in the recall and Menu Foods has extended their recall. It now includes foods made between November 8th and March 6th. The recall previously only went back to December 3rd. They are also including 20 additional varieties, but not any new brands.
Sunshine Mills is the manufacturer of the Wal-Mart Ol’ Roy dog biscuits. (Sunshine Mills’ site may be having trouble coping with increased traffic.) It isn’t clear to me from the article as to whether they are recalling other products they manufacture and their site hasn’t been updated. You should know they also make several other pet treats (Crunchin’ Bones, Dr. Dental Chews, Gym Bones, Meaty Treats Jerky, Puffs N’ Purrs, & Pup Corn) and apparently several pet foods (Lassie Natural Way, Buttons and Bows(Cat), Canine Principle, Feline Principle, Field Trial, Cat Cafe, Chatham(Dog), Chatham(Cat), Hunter’s Special, Sportsman’s Pride, Thrifty(Dog & Cat), Nurture, and World Pet Foods).
Update: Here’s a long list of up-to-date and safer foods for your pets. I say ‘safer’ because we’ve seen what can happen. But this list has been research by calls to the companies and they note if questions were not answered.
You can find out much more on the recall on my Pet Food Recall Archive Page.