Pet Food Recalls

The recent rash of pet food recalls and lawsuits has been devastating to pet owners.  Beneful, Pedigree, Evangers (recalled due to being contaminated with an euthanasia drug!) and many more have been recalled due to contamination with plastic, salmonella, drugs and more.  Over the years, many have been recalled for various and sundry reasons.

Most brands of pet food have been recalled.  Heck, human food has been recalled.  Our food supply is tainted, and it's a problem we have to face.

So pet owners have a dilemma about what to feed their pets. I think the absolute best thing you can do for your pets is to cook for them with your own food.  You can find many recipes online or perhaps your vet can help.  Just remember that dogs and cats have different nutrient needs than humans, so it's necessary to do some research. Protein needs are higher for cats than dogs, and they need less carbs.

By the way, most allopathic veterinarians sell and recommend Science Diet.  Science Diet is one of the worst foods you can feed your pets. They come out of vet school being brainwashed by Science Diet and then sell it in their own practices. Don't know if it's true, but I have heard that Science Diet helps with grants for veterinary students.

Many of us have very busy lives and can't find the time to cook.  Try a freeze dried food.  My favorite is Dr. Harvey's, and they have dog, cat and bird food.  You can always add in some human food. Using a good freeze dried food as a base ensures that your pet will have a balanced meal every day.

I have a friend who feeds her dogs that way.  Every Sunday, she bakes up a batch of human food for her dogs and refrigerates and freezes it.  That way she can get through the week.  She mixes it with the freeze dried food and feeds it daily.

I think dry extruded foods are the absolute worst for our pets.  The incidents of kidney disease in cats is exploding.  Most cats will get kidney disease if they live long enough. It's a pretty horrible disease to deal with and hard to watch.  Cancer in dogs and cats is occurring in epic proportions.  I think it's at least in part caused by food. It's very convenient to have a bag of dry food to put out every day, but it definitely is shortening the life of pets.

And of course the incidence of allergy in dogs is horrendous.  Skin conditions abound.  I think most of these allergy problems are caused by pet food, but that's a different topic.

As of today, you can find a list of pet food recalls on the FDA website. They list all the foods recalled and the reasons why.  http://www.fda.gov/animalveterinary/safetyhealth/recallswithdrawals/.

Here is just one page of recent recalls:

Date	Brand Name	Product Description	Reason/ Problem	Company
02/14/2017	Against the Grain	Dog Food	Potential presence of pentobarbital	Against The Grain Pet Foods
02/09/2017	Grreat	Grreat Choice Adult Dog Food with Chicken & Rice	Metal Pieces	PetSmart
02/03/2017	Evanger’s	12oz Hunk of Beef Dog food	Pentobarbital	Evanger’s Dog & Cat Food Co.
01/13/2017	Grange Co-op Rouge	Rabbit Pellets	Contain high levels of vitamin D	Grange Co-op
01/13/2017	Blue Ridge Beef	Raw Dog and Cat food	Listeria monocytogenes	Blue Ridge Beef
01/06/2017	9LivesTM, EverPetTM, and Special KittyTM	Canned cat food	Possible low levels of thiamine (Vitamin B1)	J.M. Smucker Company
01/03/2017	9LivesTM, EverPetTM, and Special KittyTM	Canned cat food	Possible low levels of thiamine (Vitamin B1)	J.M. Smucker Company
12/28/2016	Duravet	Duramycin-10 Soluble Powder	Stability Failure	Huvepharma, Inc
12/23/2016	JES	Premium 40 Tubs (beef cattle feed)	Elevated levels of non-protein nitrogen	Whitestone Feeds, Inc.
12/14/2016	Ridley Block Operations	Beef cattle feed	Elevated levels on non-protein nitrogen	Ridley Block Operations

So do your homework, and if you can, cook for your pet.