Hill's (Science Diet) DRY CAT m/d formula now recalled...

[808 Vibes]

prescription m/d DRY CAT food....http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/03/....html

[808 Vibes]

from their website:http://www.hillspet.com/zSkin_...08758

[ColonelPanic]

That sucks, I heard about that yesterday. Isn't Hills the stuff the vets always like to pimp too, since they get a kickback? A new variety of wet dog food was added to the recall list this morning too (Alpo.)I'd say if anyone has any pet food that has wheat gluten in it, period - regardless of wet, dry, or who made it, I'd be throwing that crap out for the time being... Not worth the risk.

[millster]

That's just plain no good. Thankfully my little pooch is allergic to wheat and its related byproducts so the food she eats isn't much of a concern.

[808 Vibes]

Quote, originally posted by ColonelPanic » Isn't Hills the stuff the vets always like to pimp too, since they get a kickback? Yes it is!!!!I just picked up a bag of Nutro Natural Choice Lite today and there were signs on the shelves "Nutro Dry is not part of the recall..." "NUTRO DRY Foods have NO WHEAT, NO IMPORTED GRAIN"...

[Cougar Vibe]

No, Veterinarians do not get kickbacks from food manufacturers to sell a product. Companies likes Hills and Iams/Eukanuba market certain lines of their products through veterinarians and wholesale the price; in return, they make profits on the prescription lines they offer, as the discount if virtually nil for the veterinarian. My wife sells Hills and Nutro and they both utilize this marketing approach. My wife makes little money on either type of food...it's more of a service to customers who want these products. I'd rather not carry any of that stuff, as all it does is create storage and inventory problems. BTW: The ironic thing about this massive over-reaction is that there are only 19 confirmed cases of renal failure due to contaminated wheat gluten. The fact of the matter is that hundreds of thousands of cats die every year because their owners overfeed them. As they age, they naturally consume less food (just like old people); in cats, even a gradual decrease in appetite over time will cause kidney damage, resulting in death by renal failure. My wife puts down more than a few cats every week because their owners were morons who think a chubby cat is cute...The priority, with regards to renal failure, ought to be educating pet owners. Alas, that's not as flashy a news story as a food recall scare. Anbody remember Jack-In-The-Crack?

[ColonelPanic]

Quote, originally posted by Cougar Vibe »BTW: The ironic thing about this massive over-reaction is that there are only 19 confirmed cases of renal failure due to contaminated wheat gluten. That's funny, those involved are telling the media such a small number of deaths have occurred.... Yet just do a google news search on the matter and you'll see way more than that, plenty of articles are out there about such and such's pet dying in whatever town... all over the nation, due to the contaminated food. By those reports alone, we've gone well beyond what they say we're at right now. There's no way I can possibly believe the 19 number, that's just BS, IMHO. FWIW, http://www.petconnection.com/ reports 2,800 deaths right now - self reported totals of course, but that's quite a difference than the "official" total. But of apparently until the FDA/Menu Foods/etc says it's so, it isn't so apparently. So, 19 it is. And how convenient, about half of those were the animals killed during Menu Foods testing. Go figure.

[ColonelPanic]

BTW... Check your treats too. Some made by Del Monte have now been recalled.http://home.businesswire.com/p...ng=en

[Cougar Vibe]

Well I'm sorry you feel that way, but I trust the AVMA, which consists of clinicians and PhD's, and their findings over media outlets who just last week were telling you the death of Anna Nicole Smith should impact your life.Again, hundreds of thousands of pets die each year due to renal failure as the result of obesity. If we're not going to hold pet owner's accountable for negligence, how can you hold food manufacturers?The wheat used in these products was contaminated; however, transfatty acids...found in cooking oils...are also toxic. Now do you roll your eyes when you hear someone is suing McDonalds? I do...and I roll my eyes when some fat woman goes on CNN and holds a picture of her obviously fat cat and is crying about how this food killed it. Of course, no necropsy was performed, no liver-blood work done...she just knows it was this food. Well, maybe it was a combination of high-gluten food that was contaminated with rodent killer AND the fact that she didn't take good are of her animal. It just seems to be, IMO, that people have a twist in their panties over this food issue when the much bigger problem...because it's not glamorous...is just ignored.

[808 Vibes]

Hmm...I was so sure they got kickbacks because they were always pushing the stuff. Once the vet we used to go to regularly tried to get me to buy that stuff and I said I don't like what they put in there. He kind of gave me a funny look like you actually read the ingredients of your pets food, and that was it.

[ToolGuy]

Talk about panic and a bad evening...Last Friday we were watching the evening news and learned of this. My wife jumps up in a panic and tells me our cat has been on this food! After many F bombs see grabs the check book and see he has been on the food for exactly three weeks. He is on the food because he is an asthmatic and we bought the food because the steroids he sometimes takes are not good for his kidneys. This food is supposed to be higher in protein for him. He was on on the RD before the MD. My wife thought the Hills brands were fine but from the Hills to the treats now shows you it is everywhere and loads of companies used it!Well the good news the cat is completely fine and shows no signs of trouble. We went to the pet store that night and got another type of food with no wheat gluten in it and called the Vet the next day to report it. We are hoping since he was not on it long and he only gets a total of a half a cup of food a day and not cup fulls like other owners, he will be fine. We will certainly sue if our cat dies from this. At the pet store the cashier lost her dog to this craziness! Our cat gets his blood checked every 6 months to check his kidneys and is going in today to have his blood rechecked because of this food. From the last blood work which was 3 weeks ago we will compare todays to it. Our Vet knows what to look for after the blood work comes back with pets that have issues from this poison. I had heard the poison came from China (which I will refrain from any more comment on)Again the cat is fine and hopefully not effected.

[ColonelPanic]

Hey, check it out:This is the site of the company responsible for the contaminated gluten that now the FDA has blocked from entering the US.Quote »Vital Wheat Gluten Brief Introdction:wheat gluten meal is also named vital wheat gluten. The flour is used as its raw material, and from which extracts a light brown natural grain powder through intensively processing. It is a good solubles protein, containing fifteen amino acid essential for human body. After all, it can yet be regarded as a plant protein food looking good, smelling good and tasting good. It is the basic raw material of high-grade aquatic food.Hmm, has this crap entered the HUMAN FOOD CHAIN? Some not very tasty food for thought... Anywho, Toolguy - I hope the kitty is ok! I hated to read that... I'll be sending positive vibes toward the little guy!

[Viberrrr]

If you want to keep your pets healthy than find foods that have NO wheat, corn, or soy in them. These are the leading causes of allergies in pets. They are cheap fillers so that's why you see them in the lower grade foods. Also look for foods that have no BHT, and BHA in then but ones with a natural preservatives. Spending a bit more in food can really save a lot in keeping your pet healthy.

[ColonelPanic]

I just switched my boy over to Wellness, man does he ever love it! I was feeding him Iams dry food, but decided I didn't want to feed him that stuff anymore, after I started paying attention to what the label said. I tried to transition him to the new stuff by mixing it together, but it was the darndest thing... He would pick the Iams up out of the bowl and spit it out on the floor, once all that stuff was cleared out, he'd chow down on the Wellness. I guess he was trying to tell me something. Really make a difference when you feed them good stuff, I can tell it with mine already... It has ingredients I can pronounce, no "byproducts" which means I won't be feeding my son chicken feet and intestines, and like you said, no corn, wheat, soy... Totally worth the extra few bucks.

[Viberrrr]

Another excellent food is Canine Caviar. One of the top 10 foods in the country right now. You can go to http://www.caninecaviar.com to find a store near you to buy it.

[ToolGuy]

Our cat was tested and is completely fine! The Vet was able to do his blood there in the office. We are glad because in contrary to what I thought, if an animal eats the food with in two days they can start showing signs.

[ToolGuy]

Just got a $100 check from the Vet for our troubles which more then covered the blood test Vet bill! Cat is still fine enjoying his pet stroller; the only way he can go outside! His life is good.