FDA BARS Evangers from shipping pet food via interstate commerce

Folks, does this get your attention?  After more than a year of FDA investigation into unsafe manufacturing processes that could permit botulism from getting into their canned pet food, the FDA said to Evangers, ENOUGH.  They took the drastic measure of stopping Evangers from shipping their pet food across state lines.  Here is the FDA press release:

http://www.fda.gov/AnimalVeterinary/NewsEvents/CVMUpdates/ucm166265.htm

This was a high-end premium natural food, on the pricey side.   They have been around since 1935 and claim to be the “oldest natural pet food company”.   And yet, this company apparently did not take the FDA seriously enough.  Ultimately, the FDA sent a “strong message” that this was NOT SAFE for American pets.

Evangers released a statement yesterday that was similar to the one released in 2008, i.e., that this was a recordkeeping problem, and somebody “inadvertently deleted pertinent filings” and stated that this FDA action is only in relation to the canned foods, not the dry.

Thank you, FDA.  Well done.  You gave them many chances.

My questions are:  Will there be a vast recall of Evangers canned dog food or cat food?  Will they be permitted to ship what was made under the supposedly unsafe conditions once the “problem” (manufacturing or recordkeeping) is cleared up?  Or is this the end of the action?

This is going to have some pet parents awake at night.  I suspect someone at Evangers is going to have a bad night, too.

Teresa Holladay
The Holistic Pet Food Blog
http://IsYourPetFoodSafe.com

It doesn’t matter how many carbohydrates dogs and cats get because why?

You’ll get a kick out of this.  Some veterinary nutrition textbooks actually say that it doesn’t matter how many carbs a dog or cat NEEDS … ’cause the commercial foods have them, anyway.

Say what?!  Shouldn’t the “experts” advise us on what the dogs and cats need and let the pet foods be made accordingly?

Canine and Feline Nutrition ( co-authored by two scientists from Iams®): “The fact that dogs and cats do not require carbohydrate is immaterial because the nutrient content of most commercial foods include (carbohydrates).(1)

Small animal Clinical Nutrition III, written by the founder of Science Diet® (Mark Morris Sr.) and his son (Mark Morris Jr.): “Some question exists regarding the need of dogs and cats for dietary carbohydrate. From a practical sense, the answer to this question is of little importance because there are carbohydrates in most food ingredients used in commercially prepared dog foods.”(2)

The Waltham Book of Companion animal Nutrition: “There is no known minimum dietary requirement for carbohydrate….”(3)

1. Case: Cary, and Hirakawa, Canine and Feline Nutrition, Mosby, 1995. 93.
2. Morris, Mark, Lewis, Lone and Hand, Michael, Small Animal Clinical Nutrition III, Mark Morris associates, 1990. 1-11.
3. Burger, I., Ed. The Waltham Book of Companion Animal Nutrition, pergamon 1995. 26-27: 10

Teresa Holladay
http://www.twitter.com/petfoodlady
The Holistic Pet Food Blog at http://IsYourPetFoodSafe.com
Independent HealthyPetNet rep http://www.trilogyonline.com/theyloveit

Warning to Pet Owners is true – Don’t use cocoa mulch if you have dogs

There is an email going around entitled:  “Warning to Pet Owners – Not a Joke!”  Snopes says this email is “partially true”.  The details of the email warning (manufacturer, stores where it is sold, how many dogs died) are what make it possibly more of a rumor.  But the FACTS are absolutely true.  If you receive email updates to this blog, feel free to forward the blog article or link via your email.  The link to this article is:

 http://holisticpetfood.wordpress.com/2009/06/08/warning-to-pet-owners-is-true-dont-use-cocoa-mulch-if-you-have-dogs

What are the FACTS?  Cocoa, chocolate, the theobromine contained in cocoa, the caffeine contained in cocoa, are TOXIC to both dogs and cats.

Here are the precise quotes from the ASPCA:

ASPCA

Chocolate

http://www.aspca.org/pet-care/ask-the-expert/ask-the-expert-poison-control/chocolate.html

 

Is chocolate as dangerous for cats as it is for dogs? 

—Carla H.

Carla, while dogs tend to be most commonly affected largely due to their eating habits, chocolate can indeed be toxic to cats, as well as other pets. Depending on the type and amount ingested, chocolate can cause vomiting, diarrhea, hyperactivity, panting, abnormal heart rhythm, tremors, seizures—and even death in severe cases. Because of its toxic potential, we would advise against allowing your cat to consume chocolate.

Cocoa Bean Shell Mulch

 http://www.aspca.org/pet-care/ask-the-expert/ask-the-expert-poison-control/cocoa-bean-shell-mulch.html

Cocoa bean mulch is popular in our neighborhood. Is this toxic to dogs?

—Julie M.

It depends, Julie. Dogs who consume enough cocoa bean shell mulch could potentially develop signs similar to that of chocolate poisoning, including vomiting and diarrhea. In cases where very large amounts of mulch have been consumed, muscle tremors or other more serious neurological signs could occur. To date, the ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center has not received any cases involving animal deaths due to cocoa mulch ingestion.

One key point to remember is that some dogs, particularly those with indiscriminate eating habits, can be attracted to any kind of organic matter. If you have a dog who tends to be, shall we say, less than finicky, it is important that your dog not be left unsupervised or allowed in areas where such materials are being used.

In case you have not already seen it, please read this article (.pdf) on our website that provides additional information on cocoa bean shell mulch.

Cocoa Bean Mulch as a Cause of Methylxanthine Toxicosis in Dogs

Low doses of methylxanthines in dogs cause gastrointestinal upset in Dogs

High doses cause tachycardia, muscle tremors, seizures and even death

Drolet documented the death of a dog after eating a large amount of cocoa bean shell mulch containing 0.46% theobromine

Cases we managed involved dogs which developed vomiting, tremors, tachycardia, hyperactivity, or diarrhea with full recovery

Clinical severity appears to correlate with increasing qualitative dose descriptions

Treatment of affected dogs includes multiple dose activated charcoal (2 g/kg PO) and tremor control with cardiac monitoring

Urinary bladder catheterization may reduce reabsorption of methylxanthines

Other potential exposures include pesticides and mycotoxin-producing mold

Dogs may experience clinical effects from large ingestions of cocoa bean shell mulch but life-threatening signs were not reported

We recommend avoiding use of cocoa bean shell mulch in landscaping around unsupervised dogs

You may wish to play it safe rather than sorry.

Teresa Holladay
http://www.twitter.com/petfoodlady
The Holistic Pet Food Blog at http://IsYourPetFoodSafe.com
Independent HealthyPetNet rep  http://www.trilogyonline.com/theyloveit

ChemNutra to plead guilty in 2007 pet food recalls

ChemNutra Inc. and owners Stephen and Sally Miller have signed a plea agreement admitting to 27 misdemeanor counts of distributing adulterated and/or misbranded food and one felony count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, PetProductsNews.com reported Wednesday. They will formally enter their pleas June 16 in federal court in Kansas City, Mo.

This is related to the 2007 melamine-tainted pet food disaster.  The government claimed they new the products were mislabelled in China to prevent inspection and that the protein content was overstated. 

UPI: http://www.upi.com/Top_News/2009/06/03/Pet-food-suppliers-to-plead-guilty/UPI-48301244081082/

My little Abigail gets a funny collar

Abigail got some sort of abscess under her chin.  When I picked her up from the vet, she looked like this!

Abby's Funny Collar

Ma-ahm, she cried.  How am I going to get into my teepee for a nap?

Abigail takes a nap

Nobody’s gonna wanna play with me!

Abigail and all her little friends

Don’t worry, sweetie, I said.  In just one week, you’ll be all pretty again.

Abigail

Poor little thing!

What the heck is #woofwednesday?

On Twitter, it’s the one day a week that Twitter goes to the Dogs!  All the dog lovers unite and tweet about dogs.

It’s that simple.

You can find me at http://twitter.com/petfoodlady where I tweet about pet food topics and tips for pet food folks to promote, usually online since that’s my expertise.

I’m back from San Diego, finished my first marathon!

Woo hoo, 26.2 miles in 7 hours 18 minutes!

I’ve done several half-marathons with Team in Training, this was my first full marathon.  It was an absolute blast.  All of the Team in Training chapters across the United States and Canada converged on San Diego to participate in the Rock N Roll Marathon held May 31.  There were 2200 TNT, with two-thirds doing half marathons and one-third doing the full marathon.  There were 22,000 participants, altogether, so we made up about 1 in 10.

We raised $8.2 million dollars, by the way, for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.  Don’t ever think your $5 or $10 doesn’t go very far.  Combined with everyone else’s donation, it adds up, believe me.

Since this is a pet food blog I won’t stay off-topic, just wanted you to know I’m back and I did it!!

Teresa at the Rock n Roll San Diego Marathon!

Blog host is in San Diego this weekend fighting leukemia and lymphoma

That's me!

I will not be writing this weekend.  Why? I am participating in the San Diego Rock n’ Roll Marathon.  So drop me a comment and wish me luck!

This isn’t about me being all athletic.  In fact, I expect to finish wayyy last!

This is about my commitment to fight blood cancers like leukemia, lymphoma, and myeloma.

 

I run-walk-mostly-walk my way through 26.2 miles with Team in Training, a program of the Luekemia and Lymphoma Society.  Far too many people in my life have either passed on from these cancers or are still fighting, so this is the little bit that I can do.

Don’t feel sorry for me.  This is a party marathon!  25,000 runners, a live rock n roll band every half mile, 20,000 high school cheerleaders from all over the place competing for a prize, and 150 Elvis look-a-likes running all 26.2 miles in white spandex and wigs! (It’s some Guinness Book of World Records thing).

My Corporate Sponsors are ABSi Corporation, which is my full-time employment, and HealthyPetNet, for whom I am an independent rep.   They both donated at the $1,000 level or higher so their URL or logo will appear on 200 of this season’s race jerseys. 

If you have a personal connection to these cancers or wish to sponsor my next marathon, which will be the Denver Marathon in October 2009, please click over to my Team in Training website to make a donation.   Any amount will be appreciated, you don’t have to donate at the corporate level!

Thank you so much for supporting and encouraging my pet food blogging.  See you when I get back.

Teresa Holladay
The Holistic Pet Food Blog
http://holisticpetfood.wordpress.com

From feed-based to food-based, changes in pet food

An article in ThePoultrySite.com got me thinking…  It said:

The $17-billion pet food market, which has become one of the top ten packaged-goods categories, has seen significant growth in recent years.

One of the key growth trends has been the humanisation of pets, as more consumers treat their pets as part of the family.

This trend, combined with increased consumer concern about pet food safety, has led to a tremendous opportunity to dramatically change the quality of pet products from ‘feed-based’ to ‘food-based’.

What does that  say to you?

To me, it says the industry acknowledges that the quality of pet food has been rather low.   Quite low.  Certain manufacturers are “ramping it up” so as to capture the market of petsumers who have “humanized” their dogs and cats and want to feed them better food.

I’m glad to see this.  I’m also glad that holistic manufacturers are way ahead of these late-comers.   They have for a long time believed our companion animals deserved and would do better on a higher quality of food.

Late or not, this news is welcome.  It will be interesting to watch how pet food changes over this next year.

Teresa Holladay
The Holistic Pet Food Blog
http://holisticpetfood.wordpress.com

Would you pay $14.97 for FIVE ounces of dog treats?

A prominent natural health website is now offering healthy pet products.  Thus far, they are limited to high-end treats but one could expect that pet food could be next.

The treats are USDA inspected beef liver, bison liver, and hearts.  There are no chemicals added and USDA means these are US-sourced meats, not from China. 

Their advertising wisely capitalizes on two sentiments expressed by US pet parents after the 2007 Pet Food Recalls: 

1. The meat must come from the US, NOT from China, and
2. There are no grains

My question, as a petsumer, is:  Will people really pay $14.97 for 5 ounces of product?    That’s $2.99 per oz! PLUS tax, shipping, and handling?  They offer discounts for volume orders.

A quick check of the PetSmart.com website gives these products for comparison — This is under their Meaty Treats and Natural Treats links:

Baa Baa Q’s – Lamb lung, no preservatives or additives – 16 oz for 20.24, or 1.26 per oz.

Old West Moo Moo Q’s – Beef lung, chemicals, preservatives, artificial colorings or flavorings, and are soy free.  10 oz for $10.49, or $1.04 per oz.

And I also checked against my preferred natural pet products company, HealthyPetNet. 

Free-range chicken and venison Tasty Rewards Training Treats – 16 oz for $21.95.  That’s $1.37 per oz.

I wish the new beef liver product luck — it must be the highest of the high ends.  For those who want their dogs to eat the very best, it looks to me like there are “very best” healthy options for our dogs for less than half the price.