Dogs are dying...

[Shang]

> "Dogs are dying: In the past few months, more than 600 dogs have suffered from kidney failure, liver failure and other related illnesses after eating chicken jerky dog treats made in China and sold by major pet food companies like Nestle Purina. Many dogs, including Terry Safranek's healthy 9-year-old fox terrier, Sampson, have died as a result.
>
> Pet food companies know it: Companies like Nestle Purina have been under investigation by the FDA for years because of these treats. But pet food manufacturers have so far refused to recall these treats, and right now, they are still on the shelves of stores like Petco and Walmart."

[fishrswim]

Sounds like a hoax. There's lots of 'em out there.

[Phillip Allen]

big business has a lot invested... just like what was killing bees... much invested so they are a conclusion ("IT'S NOT OUR FAULT") looking for the elusive proof

[fishrswim]

Read the reference from post no 2. It gets their version of "pants on fire".

[Nicholas Carey]

I don't know about dog food, but our neighbor's cat snuffed it a couple of years back due to catfood tainted with, IIRC, melamine.

I'm pretty much boycotting all foodstuffs from China at this point.

[fishrswim]

I can't sort out between the urban myths and reality about IIRC. There doesn't seem to be a consensus, at least that I've found so far. But, that said, I'd err on the safe side and not buy any food made in China, whether for me or the dogs. BTW our dog food is heavily supplemented with a rich chicken stew that my wife devised after she tasted a kibble one day and said it tasted like cardboard.

Our own FDA isn't very successful in keeping tainted food off the market. I'd hate to depend on the Chinese version.

[ChrisBen]

big business has a lot invested... just like what was killing bees... much invested so they are a conclusion ("IT'S NOT OUR FAULT") looking for the elusive proof

(Excuse the thread drift) Just read this last night about bee colony collapse. Use of common pesticide, imidacloprid, linked to bee colony collapse

[SMARTINSEN]

I will not knowingly eat food from China. I will not feed my dog anything from there, either.

[Bob Cleek]

BTW our dog food is heavily supplemented with a rich chicken stew that my wife devised after she tasted a kibble one day and said it tasted like cardboard.

I wouldn't trust eating anything processed from China, either, but, just so you know... chicken itself isn't at all bad for a dog to eat, but take it from a long-time breeder and exhibitor of championship dogs that supplementing kibble with "a rich chicken stew" probably isn't doing your pooch any favors. A dog's taste is a lot different from ours. Commercial "kibble" is carefully designed to provide a canine with a perfectly balanced diet without any supplementation required. "People food" is nearly always a poor alternative. Our tastes run to food which is much too highly salted for a dog's health and far too rich and high in calories. (A fat dog is a short lived dog.) Folks tend to anthropomorphize their pets. They aren't human, they are canine. Fact is, we'd all probably be healthier and live longer eating some sort of scientifically designed "feed" instead of the crap we shovel down our pie holes. If you decide to return to the kibble, expect that Fido will turn his nose up at it for a few days until he gets good and hungry. It's like you've been giving him ice cream and now want him to eat his carrots. He will, however, go back to kibble only and like it. You can rest secure in the knowledge that you are doing right by your dog by feeding him any of the better quality prepared diets. (We use Patton's "Natural Balance." Costco's premium "Kirkland" kibble is also excellent at a lower price point.)

[TANSTAF1]

I was thinking something might be going on. Several people we know just had to put their dogs down because of tumors. The dogs were large ones (in the 8 year old range) so it was not that unusual. it was just the number.

Back during the Chinese gluten dog food situation we researched dog foods and decided on EVO ("the ancestral diet"). It is all meat (70%) and fruits and vegetable. No gluten, no corn, no rice. I think EVO got bought by Purna but so far they don't seem to have messed with the formula. Everyone needs to check the ingredients of the dog food. The highest percentage ones are listed first just like people food.

Our yellow lab is 12 1/2 and is on the senior formula - low carb. He does get some people food - traditionally the last bite for being so patient while we unpolitely eat in front of him.

[Paul Pless]

I think EVO got bought by Purna but so far they don't seem to have messed with the formula.

EVO was purchased by Proctor & Gamble in 2010.

[RonW]

Shang is right and it is no hoax. But it is not just dog food or treats from china, it is also american made dog food.
In the summer of 2010 I lost my buddy a very athletic brittany pointer that was only 9 years old.
It was a kidney disease, and I would have to look it up as to the exact name.
But anyhow I was at more then one vet and many tests to figure out what it was and why.
I finally found out and it was caused by dog food and I was feeding him DADS dog food, and the bottom line is that most of these dog foods has protein as listed, but believe it or not it is non digestible protein.
So you might as well feed your dog saw dust.
And the dog food companies know and don't give a damm......

You want to fix the problem, all we have to do is to revise a old law that we use to have, which is called truth in advertising.

[skuthorp]

There was something in our headlines about this being a big problem in china for much the same reason as the baby formula scandal a year or so ago. Contamination with a cheap filler for financial reasons.