Massive, permanent boycott proposed - Page 1

The reason I signed onto this list is to add my two cents to the dog food recall. First off, check out itchmo.com for more info and also the Menufoodsclassaction yahoo group. http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/MenuFoodsClassAction/ There are now over 400 members many of whom are bereaved from having just lost a pet. (Even though the FDA drastically underreports.)A massive boycott is due. Veterinarians are often subsidized by the Hill Corporation or at least get perks to sell this crap in their offices and they really don't know much about nutrition. You cannot trust the FDA or the media to report actual numbers. If you want to know details as to how I arrive at these blanket statements, here's the rest of my story: I lost my GSD two years ago to the exact same symptoms from feeding Nutro Natural Choice. Nothing will bring him back, nor will I ever be compensated for expenses. Call me "stupid" but I was just following some advice from one of two veterinarians who assured me that a good quality commercial food was MUCH safer to feed than raw as it was a balanced source of nutrition. They sold Hill products in the office, (go figure) but also approved of NUTRO and some other supposedly top quality foods. I didn't completely agree yet figured, at the worst, it was possibly a little enzyme-deplete from high processing, but certainly didn't consider it would be toxic. My dog still lived a fairly long and healthy life, until suddenly one day he seemed to react to a particular bag of food (Nutro) and became lethargic, went into seizures and shock and then from there it was all downhill. I took him to a holistic vet who advised me to get him entirely off the processed food and switch to a frozen raw product. It seemed a bit pricey, but I tried a few bags and then after another veterinarian dismissed that advice I went back to feeding what I thought was good quality dry kibble. I wish I had taken the naturopath's advise as our dog died of renal failure a few weeks later even after the vet treated him for dehydration and we gave subcutaneous fluids. He worsened and we had to put him down when he was paralyzed and couldn't walk and had no zeal to live anymore. He had clearly been poisoned from the food and died of renal failure. Upon doing some research when he was ill I found out that on several occasions Nutro, along with a few other brands, have been been tested positive to contain Pentobarbital, from euthanized animals. Who knows what other things could be the culprit on this recall, be it wheat gluten processed in a plant that also has ethylene glycol running through it or whatever is found to be the problem this time. The point is, MANY people have recently lost their animals to this and the problem isn't a new one. My present dog is on a completely balanced RAW food diet. Real food is better. We don't need to supersize our dogs on garbage from these heinous outfits. I hope this is a red flag also to the veterinarians who promote the stuff because one thing is certain. It will happen again. At least Menu Foods stocks are plummeting. I hope there's a number of huge class action lawsuits and people BOYCOTT for a long, long time. The FDA ALSO NEEDS TO HAVE MUCH MORE REGULATION OF THE PET FOOD INDUSTRY. But of course you can't trust them either.

Hello Abby, Let me first express my sympathy for the loss of your dog. I was feeding my dogs Nutro max just recently until i heard of this crap. Did you ordered a necropsy to your dog? If you did and it is indeed the foods fault.. I strongly recommend you to get yourself all lawyered up. You are NOT stupid for fallowing the advice from your 2 vets. It is the vets who are the stupid ones for even telling you that the commercial food is much better than RAW. I personally do not trust FDA on a personal level. Check this out http://shepherdcentral.com/viewtopic.php?t=3674 The dog food cockroach are invading the pet stores.

Yes, so sorry, Abby. I used to use Nutro (Nature's Choice Lamb) when I ran out of my special order stuff and was waiting on more. Won't EVER buy it again. In fact, will NEVER touch anything by: Authority – 1-866-738-7375 Award – 1-866-738-7375 Eukanuba – 1-800-882-1591 (www.eukanuba.com) Grreat Choice – 1-866-738-7375 Hills/Science Diet – 1-800-445-5777 (www.hillspet.com) Iams – 1-800-882-1591 (www.iams.com) Menu Foods – 1-866-463-6738 (www.menufoods.com) Mighty Dog – 1-800-778-7462 (www.purina.com) Mixables – 1-303-768-8400 (www.varietypetfoods.com) Nutro – 1-800-833-5330 (www.nutroproducts.com) These were the ones on the list.

I am so sorry for your loss Abby and for all those who have lost their pets due to dog food contamination. I have never experienced quite that while on dog food but have had (in the past) the occasional bag that seemed to all of a sudden cause my dogs to get loose stools. When my favorite boy got cancer and died from post op complications at 11 I decided to go RAW. I feel at least I know what they are eating and I am not relying on some huge manufactor of dry pelleted nuggets that puts who knows what in them.

I'm getting confused !!!! Is it only Wet foods affected ??? Or Is it kibble from those brands as well ??? Euthanized animals ?? what is that, They are not supposed to use Euthed animals for any type of render or food, I thought they were all supposed to be burried or burned per Federal Laws ??

Abby also so sorry to hear about your friend. What a tragic way to loose a member of your family. I agree with you on several points, You can't trust anyone these days. Who are we to trust if we can't trust our Vets, USDA, FDA and the list could go on, but that's a good start.

Echo-- For your reading pleasure..... http://www.fuzzyfaces.com/lfood2.html I suggest everyone read that over, and consider the implications.

This last episode has really gotten my attention! I've fed Iams Eukanuba for some twenty years without a problem, but since Proctor and Gamble have bought the company I have been increasingly dissatisfied with a number of changes. With this last horrible development I am forced to realize that P & G, like Purina and so many other mega-corps manufacturing once-top-quality pet foods, are out-sourcing the manufacturing which leaves the door wide open for every quality control issue you can imagine. Sure, I get lots of "free" dog food vouchers as a member of the Eukanuba Breeder's Club, which helps a LOT when one buys 400 lbs. of dog food every time one steps through the door of the feed store, but the prospect of watching my dogs die a miserable death is definatly keeping me up nights now. That in mind, I am going to do something I am always loathe to do: start trying other dog foods still made by private companies. Sure, I'm probably going to be scraping soft stools up for awhile, and may see variations on the coat condition, weight, condition of my precious dogs... and the expense is liable to seriously compromise my economic situation... but I don't see any alternative at this point. Big business has no place in my program, be it dog food or anything else that precipitates a provider not taking personal care to insure the quality of their products & services. I am now off to purchase my first bag of Canidae, necessarily ordered a week in advance, at considerable expense, to start "T" on right after the show this weekend. Sigh... Shelley

Hi,Shelley any idea about Timberwolf( Lamb Apple Barley) a friend of mine (Tammy) told me to put Lily on it because she is so allergic against chicken and that has not a trace in it so far she is doing so good on it. The ingredients are also great. So now I am in limbo frozen raw food is not to be found here. I buy ground beef 93% I give them a meatball size of groundbeef raw , one boiled potato with the peel,2 steamed carrots and steamed broccoli mix that in with the Timberwolf, so I hope they will have a long and healthy life. My GSD's are eating better then us and jaaa it is expensive but it is worth it right Shelley. I noticed how fast the media runs through the news about this I do hope the FDA is going to answere for this and the Veterinarian College because they receive grants from the companies so this should not be sweept under the carpet. Well again we will see who has more power THE ONE WITH MORE MONEY I hate to say that (spitting):) see you or read you all later PS to all there have lost there beloved companions keep the memories a life until you meet again some day.

Although I do not feed my two GSDs food manufactured by Menu Foods, I do feed them Royal Canin canned and kibble, prescribed by our vet. I am becoming increasing concerned about their quality control. My male has severe Inflammatory Bowel Disease and can eat only one thing period -- Royal Canin IVD Low Fat which is very low in both fat and fiber. Until recently, this was manufactured by Waltham Corp but that company has now been sold to RC. My female eats Royal Canin Rabbit and Potato because of corn allergies. Both of these are prescription foods and very expensive. Yesterday, on an IBD website I belong to, there was a notice about a class action lawsuit filed in Canada against RC for excessive amounts of vitamin D3 in their foods (I have not seen a complete list of the products involved) which have led to kidney failure and death. Since my male is in precarious health anyway, he is at risk from any stress to his immune system. One would think that a vet-prescribed, premium food would be exempt from these sorts of things, but it is obviously not so. The IBD website has unfortunately chronicled a number of incidents in recent months of problems with Royal Canin food, including mold and changing ingredients without reflecting those changes on the packaging (which can be life threatening for dogs with chronic illnesses or allergies). I don't know what the answer is, particularly for my male who cannot eat raw and is severly limited in what he can eat. Thank God I pill him with fat-free cream cheese and not peanut butter...