Pet food news gets worse

According to an article in the San Jose Mercury News this morning, "FDA and independent laboratories have found a chemical called melamine in pet food samples, imported wheat gluten and urine and tissue from diseased pets. He said melamine is used in fertilizer in Asia and in plastic products, but is not registered as a fertilizer in the United States." I'm also reading that at the moment there is no guarantee that these contaminants did not make their way into the human foods produced here in the USA, but there is no evidence that this has happened. Not yet.

This makes me take a second look in our pantry. The thought of urine and tissue from diseased pets in either dog food or human food is beyond disgusting. I wonder if in the long run any substantial changes will be made or will these headlines fade away, as well as our memory of these findings. For now it is at least causing people to read labels. However, I'm thinking that sometimes what is not on the label is the bigger problem. You won't find "urine" or "tissue from diseased pets" on any label in either your pet food store or any of your supermarkets. So what are we actually consuming these days?

I checked the FDA website after reading the news this morning from various news sources. Doesn't this FDA page look a bit as if it were designed for early grade school children? It also seems to be a bit of a whitewash, misleading those who might see it into thinking that the issue is resolved when indeed it is not. I hope dog and cat owners of America will turn to products that tell you right up front on their website where each ingredient comes from. It would be nice if they'd also disclose readily what company manufactures their food products. I doubt we'll see the latter any time soon.

Fertilizer/melamine also found in recalled foods

Another chemical, melamine, found in the food eaten by sick pets is headline on both FOX and ABC news this morning. Melamine is used in the manufacture of plastics and is also a fertilizer. ABC news reports it was also found in the wheat gluten imported from Asia.

And this makes me wonder what would be found if the foods on the "safe" list were subjected to the same careful scrutiny. Those "safe" foods are probably still OK to feed, because the wheat gluten was tested for melamine, and it did indeed contain it.

At least for the time being, Jake is being switched to organic food made with only US ingredients. His treats are going to be all organic as well. Or he will get apple bits, oven baked liver, and other things from our own kitchen for treats.

Also New York Times has an excellent article today on the latest from F.D.A. on tainted dog food. F.D.A. officials have not yet released the name of the dry dog food that received the tainted wheat gluten because it may not have yet been put into their food.

~Carol

Pet Food Poison

The very sad saga of tainted pet food continues to unfold. Cornell University has been diligent in it's search for the contaminant. Although one has definitely been idenitfied, it remains possible the rat poison from wheat gluten imported from China is not the only cause for concern. Or perhaps we should say alarm as more and more pets have become ill, many dying, over the last weeks and possibly months. Some say it will be thousands of needless beloved dogs and cats, first very sick and then dying. In the following article one speculates it could actually be tens of thousands. See this story in the Cornell Sun:
http://www.cornellsun.com/node/22298

How to spend a rainy afternoon

Rainy days are best spent on the arm of Carol's chair.

John takes Jake around the lake

Or is it Jake takes John for a walk?

About those new adventures...

We went to Urban Fauna last Sunday for a play date with other Cavaliers. It was in Portland and there were so many other Cavaliers! People, too. And then on Tuesday we went down to the lake where we walked and walked, sat in the sunshine, and took lots of photos.

March brings rain, sunshine, and new adventures

March has been full of new things for me.