I know that Purina dry food isn't on the list for a fact. I have been watching this closely. This is what Oscar eats. I have no idea about Whiskas. I don't think it is affected but I don't know for sure....
At this point, I wouldn't feed a cat or a dog any food from any manufacturer that contains wheat gluten. In fact, I'd be very suspicious of any pet food that contains processed grains. They aren't a natural part of a cat's diet to begin with, and on top of that there are obviously contamination issues with the low-grade material spewing out of China.Originally Posted by Oscarsmommy
I know that Purina dry food isn't on the list for a fact.
Hello and welcome.Originally Posted by sunspot42
I think all dry foods are suspect in light of this recall, since they're primarily composed of grains, which are obviously not a part of a cat's natural diet.
There are a few OTC grain free, high protein dry foods. I don't know if they would be suitable for your cats needs, or if you can find them in your area on a Saturday night. The few I can think of are Innova EVO, Nature's Variety Raw Instinct, and Wellness Core. Sharky could probably be of more help to you on the specifics.Originally Posted by ClaireD
I got this bag about 3 weeks ago, and so far he doesn't seem to be acting unusual, but I'd like to stop using the food just to be sure. I'm just not sure what to give him now, especially considering it's 6 pm here on a Saturday so there isn't anyone at the vet's office to answer.
We have a little bit of the food he had before the m/d left, but I'm not sure I want to give it to him because the reason we switched is because the other food gave him "the runs" pretty awful. After a little experimentation we figured out it was the carbohydrates in the food that was making his tummy upset. So...If we wanted to switch him, even for the weekend, i don't know what to get.
I'm not trying to panic people, beandip, but facts are facts. I'd already given up on dry food years ago because its nutritional value was suspect (at best). Now on top of that, we're apparently seeing contaminated grains enter the pet food system. Again, I don't want to panic people, but I think it's prudent to be more than a little concerned at this point regarding grain-based pet foods. My advice, based on what little we know at this point, is to avoid them if we can, and to avoid "wet" foods that contain grains - especially processed grains - too. It was (supposedly) wheat gluten this time, but there's no reason to assume that other grains and legumes - including corn, corn gluten, oats, oat bran and soybeans - couldn't be contaminated with the same . . . or worse.Originally Posted by beandip
While I agree with you on the issue of grains not being part of a cat's natural diet...I think we need to remain calm and look at the facts. There are a lot of people who feed dry food (I'm not one of them) ...and the last thing they need is to be panicking about "all" dry foods.
Points well taken, thank you.Originally Posted by sunspot42
I'm not trying to panic people, beandip, but facts are facts. I'd already given up on dry food years ago because its nutritional value was suspect (at best). Now on top of that, we're apparently seeing contaminated grains enter the pet food system. Again, I don't want to panic people, but I think it's prudent to be more than a little concerned at this point regarding grain-based pet foods. My advice, based on what little we know at this point, is to avoid them if we can, and to avoid "wet" foods that contain grains - especially processed grains - too. It was (supposedly) wheat gluten this time, but there's no reason to assume that other grains and legumes - including corn, corn gluten, oats, oat bran and soybeans - couldn't be contaminated with the same . . . or worse.
Of course, it could turn out the problems were due to contaminated meat - it sounds like the FDA and other investigators don't have a great handle on the situation at the moment. But based on what we know at the moment, grains are the most suspect, and since they aren't a natural part of a cat's diet anyhow, I think this is just another reason to switch to foods which aren't grain (or legume) based.
I'd also recommend organic brands, or brands which use meat which is fit for human consumption. It's my understanding that the meat byproducts and meal used in many foods - especially dry foods - are not fit for human consumption, and frequently come from animals who died prior to reaching the slaughterhouse. Who knows why those animals died. Maybe they ate some poison grain, too . . .
There is no wheat gluten in Purina indoor formula. Trust me, I checked. I am more protective now but I checked and double-checked so I knew I was safe....Originally Posted by sunspot42
At this point, I wouldn't feed a cat or a dog any food from any manufacturer that contains wheat gluten. In fact, I'd be very suspicious of any pet food that contains processed grains. They aren't a natural part of a cat's diet to begin with, and on top of that there are obviously contamination issues with the low-grade material spewing out of China.
It's also disturbing that one lab found rat poison in a sample, while the FDA found Melamine (a plastic). What else are they gonna turn up when they test another batch of food? And how long has this been going on?
Clearly Menu Foods wasn't testing either their raw materials or their finished product thoroughly, or they would have detected some form of contamination themselves before so much food made it into the retail chain. Which is kind of disturbing, when you consider they have something like 80% of the North American market for canned food. They clearly have the economies of scale to make such thorough testing a minuscule portion of the cost of manufacture, yet chose not to test, anyhow. Which means most of the other manufacturers probably aren't doing any testing, either.