Reptile & Amphibian Forums

At a press conference Friday morning, March 30, a reporter asked the FDA’s Dr. Stephen Sundlof if people could be feeding unsafe food to their pets right now, because the FDA won’t reveal the name of a company - that makes dry “kibbled” food as well as “wet” pet food - that received wheat gluten from the same source Menu did.

The response? “It is possible, but I think we’ve been following every lead that we can. My sense is that we have gotten most of it under control.”

As soon as we have any information, he assured reporters at a press conference this morning, we’ll notify the public.

Except for the name of the company, it seems. More info here; follow-ups here.

UPDATE LATE ON FRIDAY, MARCH 30:
From Hills Pet Nutrition, Inc.:
"In accordance with its over-riding commitment to pet health and well-being, Hill's Pet Nutrition, Inc. is voluntarily recalling Prescription Diet m/d Feline dry food from the market. Hill's is taking this precautionary action because during a two-month period in early 2007, wheat gluten for this product was provided by a company that also supplied wheat gluten to Menu Foods. U.S. Food and Drug Administration tests of wheat gluten samples from this period show the presence of a small amount of melamine. Prescription Diet m/d Feline Dry represents less than one half of one percent of all Hill's products."

UPDATE EARLY SATURDAY MORNING, MARCH 31:
From Purina:
"Nestle Purina PetCare Company today announced it is voluntarily recalling all sizes and varieties of its ALPO(R) Prime Cuts in Gravy wet dog food with specific date codes. The Company is taking this voluntary action after learning today that wheat gluten containing melamine, a substance not approved for use in food, was provided to Purina by the same company that also supplied Menu Foods. The contamination occurred in a limited production quantity at only one of Purina’s 17 pet food manufacturing facilities.

Earlier today the FDA announced the finding of melamine in products related to the March 16 Menu Foods recall, and advised Purina of the source of the contaminated supply. Purina then determined that it had received some quantity from the suspect supplier. The company proactively notified the FDA and immediately began this recall process."

Press release here.

UPDATE LATE SATURDAY, MARCH 31:

From Del Monte:
As a precautionary measure, Del Monte Pet Products is voluntarily recalling select product codes of its pet treat products sold under the Jerky Treats®, Gravy Train® Beef Sticks and Pounce Meaty Morsels® brands as well as select dog snack and wet dog food products sold under private label brands. A complete list of affected brands and products is here.
Complete press release from Del Monte here.

-----
PHChristy
Director of Community Services
PetHobbyist.com

Edited on March 31, 2007 at 21:24:29 by PHChristy.

Maybe I've become to cynical, but the refusal to name the company involved is begining to make me wonder who owns what and just what else the tainted wheat gluten may be in besides pet food...
-----
cannonbawlfranci

Question here, First the NY lab says rat poison. If they hadn't found it , why would they say they did? Now the FDA comes along and says, no , it isn't rat poison but melamine. Makes me wonder if both aren't culprits, and what will they decide the problem is next week.
-----
cannonbawlfranci

I'm to the point of not knowing what to feed my cats anymore. I've tried home cooked chicken, green beans, carrots and brown rice, which I blended in the food processor. They took a couple of bites and then turned up their noses to that. I even bought some taurine to put in it but never even got that far. The grandkids dogs wolf it down though. I tried giving it to the cats for 3 days and now and just giving it to the dogs.

The only cat food that the cats really like is Purina Friskies 'shredded in gravy' types. They've been eating that kind for about a year. It's not on the recall list yet but time will tell. So I went online for a list of the ingredients and found that it contains wheat gluten. Now they are absolutely not getting anymore of that.

At the holistic pet store yesterday, I bought a couple of cans of Spot's Stew and $2.00 per small can, a couple of cans of Innova EVO which they turn their nose up at, (but the dogs like it), a couple of cans of Wellness. I tried the Wellness today but they only pick at it. Also I got a small bags of dry Innova and Chicken Soup. They ate a bit of the Innova dry.

What else can I do? Any suggestions?
-----
Ruby and the Kitties
Simba, Samantha, Katrina & KatyKatt
Meow!! Meow!! Meow!! Meow!!

How wonderful to do nothing and then rest afterwards. Meow!

Hi There,

I have been trying my cats on different mixtures of food and their favorite so far is canned chicken with a can of Friskies and some dry mixed in. I am using Friskies that does NOT contain any wheat gluten but am planning to cut back this week and eventually phase it out. Tonight I also added some cottage cheese and they liked that also. Tomorrow I'm planning to try regular chicken with less Friskies added, mixed with dry food and some cottage cheese.

I have added a holistic dry food into what I had left of regular dry food and will switch to buying only holistic dry foods when we run out. I also went out today to buy the suppliments to add to homemade diets.

With all that has been going on I don't think I will ever fully trust the pet food industry again. Seems like there is something new every day.

Regards,
PHKitkat

I am not sure where people are posting their messages about this pet food recall, but do you know if Purina Whisker Lickins Cat treats have been recalled? I know that some other cat treats have been added to the list. Also I fee my cats Purina Pro Dry cat food, to the best of my knowledge this is not affected, but how do they really know?

>>I am not sure where people are posting their messages about this pet food recall, but do you know if Purina Whisker Lickins Cat treats have been recalled? I know that some other cat treats have been added to the list. Also I fee my cats Purina Pro Dry cat food, to the best of my knowledge this is not affected, but how do they really know?

First... for excellent recall information click on the banner above the daily chats at the top of this page. There are many links on that page to all the recalled food as well as other important information.

Also, there has been some interest expressed in homemade diets for cats and we are preparing to have a special chat on that subject. Watch for the announcement!