You people will not beleive my luck but I have near a case of Peter Pen peanut butter and a good supply of these dog food that must not be use. My freind in next house start me a compost pile with leafs and grass from lawn mowers. I wish to put these things in compost pile thinking full of vitemans and healthy. If I do this and cover with more weed or grass, will it make good compost?

NO! I can tell you why. It will attract pests.It will stink. Dog food that goes bad smells like a dead animal. It's high in protien and will attract raccoons,possums etc... I wouldn't do it.PJ

Purina and Hills are voluntarily recalling some of their products made at Menu as a precaution. The list of recalled foods is longer today, and Iams and Eukanuba are on it now. As far as I know, this is just for certain types of wet food, not dry food.

Helptxgal, it is ok to put small amounts of peanut butter in compost. However, you need to boil it for 10 minutes first to kill the salmonella. To do this, mix it 50-50 with male goat urine to thin it, and stir frequently while cooking. This also makes an excellent rose fertilizer.

Here is a link that might be useful: news article

Bo Berrin, I am so sorry to hear about your pet. I wish you had heard sooner also
jolana

Thanks, sally2, katyroadpink & jolana. He was the best and there'll never be another like him. I did get another pup, and this one's carving himself out a place in my heart all his own. He's a frisbee-chasin' MACHINE!

katyroadpink, thanks again for going out on a limb, going off-topic to post the warning. I appreciate it!

Bo Berrin, I know what you mean. Your new puppy sounds like loads of fun and very special, too. : )
Barbara

katyroadpink- i think you make fun with me and it make me feel part of grope and i thank you for that. gals need to have fun- life too short not enjoy. is katy short for katharin? i always think english names so pretty. i need to aks thought- is pea nut butter really good for rose fetilizer or is that part of joke? i must boil this mix when my husband at work- the odour is so that he does not like- May i send you a gallon or two for your rose gardin?

Helptxgal, congratulations on your remarriage. If you use fresh goat urine, the smell is not bad. Here is a portion of an article on that subject (full article in link):
***********************************************
Goat urine and feces do not smell  although you may notice an ammonia smell in the Spring just before you clean the barn. In this event, sprinkle a liberal amount of barn lime about and that will take care of it. Goat urine and feces do not contain urea, and for this reason the bedding can be used to directly on your garden for fertilizing and mulching and will not burn plants.
*********************************************
Thank you for your kind offer to provide me with a gallon or two for my garden, but I already have all I need. Perhaps one of the other gals would appreciate some.

As for peanuts, they can be used for just about anything and since peanut butter has to be at least 90% peanuts, I think we can extrapolate that it has the same uses. If you scroll to the bottom of this page
http://www.nps.gov/archive/gwca/expanded/peanut.htm
you will see soil conditioner 6th from the bottom.

Of course you need to heat the Peter Pan since it has salmonella, but ordinarily I don't cook this mixture. I think that the two ingredients have a synergy that makes them even more beneficial. I have heard of people using it to polish leaves and as a face cream as well.

'Katyroadpink' is actually just a screen name. It was the name of one of my favorite roses from the Antique Rose Emporium. The real name was later found to be Carefree Beauty, but I think I would sound like I was bragging if I used that as a screen name. What is your own name?

I agree that life is too short to not enjoy. Have fun with your roses and don't use the mixture to polish the leaves anytime it is going to be over 92 degrees that day (it's explosive).

Barbara

Here is a link that might be useful: goat info

This morning, the list includes both cans and pouch foods, and is an extensive list of brands, with many major brands, and a ton of private brands, involved.

Fortunately, I don't think we have any of them, but it is amazing how much product one single plant can put out (this one in Kansas), under 50 different labels.

Perhaps this is one example of how questionable it is, to have everything in the hands of "big" business. You don't even know who actually made this stuff, till you see the recall list.

KatyRoadPink - Thank you for posting that recipe! I tried it, and my face has lost 10 years and is very smooth. I'm thinking about trying it on the rest of my body. Maybe make a tub full and lay in it.

I think this stuff could be worth a fortune! I'm going to get a goat too. Carrying it from the Goat farm down the road house is quite a bit of work.

I feed Iams dry food to my cats and have never had a problem. I would think my 21 year old Siamese cat would have been affected immediately, but she is fine considering her age. She still has our 90 pound lab buffaloed. He won't pass her in the hall because she bit him in the butt once - that's all it took and he's scared of her. She can be a sweet cat when she wants to be.

A couple of weeks ago, my 10yo otherwise healthy cat became lethargic & refused to eat. She quickly became dehydrated, despite drinking a lot of water. By the time I could get her to the vet 2 days after symptoms started there was nothing that could be done and she died from kidney failure. She would only eat special kitty in the pouch. The other cats eat dry and are fine.
Tally HO!

Bo & Tally...I'm am so sorry you lost your pets.
I lost my Buffy to old age almost 2 years ago and still miss her daily. My 2 puppy's help a lot, even tho they are brats.
I mix them a blend of DRY Nutra ultra & costco chix & rice dog dood....no fillers.

Tally, so sorry. : ( That's so recent. These little guys become family, don't they? I know it's silly, but I wrote an obituary for my dog and sent it to all my family and friends. I got lots of letters, phone calls and e-mails from others who also loved that dog. It was comforting.

bev, katyroadpink and others, thanks for the food info--I'll look into these. I had no idea Newman's Own made pet food! Newman's Own stuff is always great, and the profits go to charity, so it's a win/win.

Tally, I'm so sorry to hear about your cat. It's terrible and needless to lose a pet this way. I lost my oldest at 17 a couple years ago and it just about killed me.

Rick, I agree that it is questionable to have everything in the hands of big business. It takes a very minute amount of a toxin to contaminate a huge amount of product. Fungi and molds have always been present on grains, but with mechanical harvesting a lot more get through than they would with hand harvesting. If a company made small batches using bad product it wouldn't have the affect it does when the product is spread across giant batches, like the peanut butter, spinach, pet foods, etc.; unless of course the machinery and containers are contaminated.

I guess the companies do a cost/benefit anyalysis and decide how safe they want to make a product in terms of inspections, testing and quality control. I've heard recommendations to eat as close to the source as possible as much as you can. I don't think anything will change unless consumers start take their money elsewhere. I switched to the Newman's Own dog and cat food because it doesn't have wheat or corn in it, but I have no idea if they make it themselves or if someone else manufactures it. Until this happened, I had no idea that one company made the food for so many brands.

Cats are very picky eaters but I do have a helpful hint that works with my bunch. I moisten the dry food with water until it is soft and then add some warm water (I just do this occasionally). With cats, this goes over better than having to open 3 different cans of food to find one they like. If you have an older cat or dog that has trouble chewing, this is especially helpful.

Txgardenlady, you're so lucky to live within walking distance of goats. I agree that having your own will make it much easier. From time to time, add a little organic yogurt to the mix to exfoliate (not recommended for plants).

Barbara

I had no idea that so many of the different brands were all produced by the same manufacturer.

I have a good one for y'all. ALL the lipsticks in this country are made by the same manufaturer. I wonder what else is done the same way?

I refuse to put goat pee on any part of me, but, well, y'all go ahead.

Janie

My cat, which was a drop off..... showed up at my back door Feb. 06. I have fed her and loved her... and eventually welcomed her new babies. She has been sick for a while and we gave her penecillin shots and dewormed her.
The last time I saw her was this past Fri. night. She was sooo thin. I haven't seen her since. Today is Monday. I know that she has gone off and died somewhere. Bless her heart. I never really gave her a permanent name... but she always came when I called...."Kitty Cat". I fed her *Special Kitty* that is on the recall list. It is beyond me how this could happen. God rest her little soul.

Vicki, I'm so sorry to hear about your cat. I hope the babies are OK. I think that Menu should be held accountable. I suspect Walmart was instrumental in forcing a recall. I read that Menu's largest customer cancelled their contract.

Bo, I love the idea of the obituary. It sounds like a wonderful way to memorialize your pet.

I found Newman's Own last year when I was web-surfing trying to find the best dog and cat food for long-term health. They don't sell it where I live, so I order it from Amazon through a 3rd party. If you have to do that, compare shipping costs to get the best deal. I buy five 12.5 bags at a time and they last about 3 months. That surprised me because my dogs are kinda big. It's all human grade quality and it has 70% organic ingredients. I feel secure using it because I believe the company has integrity even when no one is watching.

Janie, I never would have guessed that about lipstick! I think I'll put a few aside so when THEY get recalled, I'll have some good stock to fall back on. I think you'll change your mind about the goat pee when Txgardenlady and I start posting pics of ourselves looking like teenagers!

Here is a link that might be useful: Newman's Own

bo berrin, and all of you who have lost beloved pets - I feel your pain. I think there is one animal in our lives that stands out above all the rest - very "special". My Tobi was that for me. He has been gone 7+ years, and I still miss him. He has permanent residency at Rainbow Bridge. Look him up sometimes.

This is so sad to hear about so many pets dying. I too was surprised to find out one major factory is producing much of the pet food on the market. Makes you wonder, doesn't it.

I recently switched to Flint River Ranch and my kitties have been very happy with it. They use all human-grade food, and no corn. No 'leftover' parts and pcs. I'm not sure if they produce their own, but I haven't seen their name on the list of recalled food.

katyroadpink- you melt my heart to notice I am bride- again! Only last week. Jabo, my latest desesed husband, was walking along country road. he had how you say in English narkolepsey. About time he all of sudden had a spell and too bad along come a Seers Rowbuck truck and it try to miss a road runner on the pavement, skided, and, well i don't won't to talk about that any more. Guillermo was our good freind just like you my new good freind and after seven weeks he told me like you told me life is short, why wait so we jumped the broom and I do'nt think Jabo, well i I think he would be happy for us.
Guillermo and me have parfected a thing for geting goat urine- male- by not have to wait with goat for him to do you no what. I can not tell you much because G has apply for patint and we wait for that but i can say it uses a girddle, Velcrow strips and a colection devise. We pin up the goat and put him on our inventin until he gives it up then we get another goat and do same thing. that way I can work on my tye die and other craft which I sell at flee markits. Standing with goat for hours waste time.
We may come to a craft show in katy in May. I wood like to meet you can we set a thing up? lots of rich folk in katy. bet you fixed up mighty good yurself
I got to wash dishes and pin up the chickenes. Some bad dog romes at night and scare them and we have to go and chase him of. now i love all animals but pets must be housed at night to not bother other folk.
good night

We recently adopted a Collie from the SPCA. He appears to be a pure Collie - and I do not know why he was found wandering in a field. He was a large matted hairball, but you could feel his bones. After the vet and the groomer and the vet again, his cough got worse, and it turned out he had pneumonia. After a course of pills he is all better. Still skinny - but eating. His teeth were sore and could hardly chew bread when we got him. I bought Muenster's puppy food, which is very small nuggets, will hopefully put some fat on him. I am so glad that we did not buy one of these brands after all he's been through.

Txgardenlady, your new dog sounds beautiful. I bet that puppy food and TLC will fatten him right up.

Here's another news article about the recall. It turns out that Proctor and Gamble was their largest customer and that problems had been reported to Menu since at least 2/20/07.

Helptxgal, I'm sorry to hear about Jabo. Do you live near the desert or was the roadrunner a freak occurence? Guillermo sounds real clever. Can you post a pic of your goat with his invention on? Unfortunately, Katy is very far away from me, so I rarely go there.

Here is a link that might be useful: news article

Interesting that they knew about this problem back in February and didn't notify the public until almost a month later. I just read of someone here in Allen losing one of their dogs to the food poisoning - poor thing. Their younger dog ate some of it, but when he started showing the same symptoms, they stopped and that dog was saved.

Texasgardenlady - I'm sure you will be able to fatten that collie up in no time. Both our dogs are SPCA rescues and were skinny when we got them. The basset hound had kennel cough and that did take awhile to clear up. They said she was found wondering the streets and was very skinny, especially for a basset hound, when they found her. When we got her we could see almost all her ribs. I think she must have been starved and still has it in her head that she is starving because she will gobble up just about any food she can get her teeth into. She has even been known to take it right off our plate if we're sitting in front of the tv eating - she does it in kind of a sneaky way - waits until one of the boys (they're more susceptible to this) aren't looking then grabs the food. This doesn't happen too often. She is now a roly poly little pig. Our yellow lab doesn't lack either. He was skinny when we got him - about 15 pounds underweight. He is now about 5 pounds over - not too bad, but still lazy.

Oh, so sad about the babies dying! I'm so sorry. I hope they didn't suffer too much. :(

Until problem with bought pet food solve, a good idea to feed dogs with home cooked lean chicken, fat and skin removed, cooked with hole grain such as barley, oats, wheat, rice, brown rice if you can buy it. We can not put loved pets in danger from poison food. cats may eat this too. Guillermo and i are dog lovers, no cats. We have greatest respet for cat lovers.
katy, i was not sure about what you say about road runner and desert. Guillermo had a good laugh on me. He told me the word to use is "jogger.' A lady who wears little clothes and runs to stay skinny. He said a road runner is a bird and now I know why you wandered what I ment. We have a craft show in Elpaso some time this year and maybe i get to see the road runner bird on that trip. I will think of you and smile if we do see one.
oh and the picture. I think it is silly but he is afrade that if we show it some person will copy and make money off it when we or mosely he invent it so he wants to wait for the pattent to come before showing picture

I haven't followed this story closely because our dog eats only dry food, so has anybody heard what the "ingredient in question" is, and where did it come from? Who and where is this mysterious supplier? Am I the only one who is feeling a deception by ommission by this pet food manufacturer? Seems like there's more to this story that's not being told.

This whole thing boils my blood. I've just realized I fed some of the suspect food to stray dogs last week. I'm involved in dog rescue, and sometimes use food to get the dogs to trust me. Great! I hope they're ok, wherever they are. (I couldn't get them, unfortunately.)

I've fed dry Nutro to my dogs for years, but now I don't even know how much I trust them. Who's to say their dry food wouldn't be next? I can't afford to feed anything pricier than that. I'll have to do some research. I've been using homemade wet food for a while now (oatmeal, peas, carrots, eggs) so at least I don't have to shop around for new wet food.

If any of you are using Nutro's Ultra in cans, check back with the Nutro website. When I first read about the recall in this thread, I checked and only 1 'affected' date was given on the Nutro website. If your cans for a certain formulation didn't have this one date, then they were safe. I checked the cans I have and none had the bad date.

Yesterday, I went back to Nutro's website to check on the dry food and noticed that the information on cans had changed or been updated. There was now a RANGE of dates that could be affected for the same formula in the can. Luckily, none of my cans are in the range either, but... Some individuals may have checked their cans previously and thought they were safe only to discover that they are not safe, based on this new range of dates.

Here is a link that might be useful: Nutro pet food recall

I am SOOOO happy. My cat is not dead.I posted on March 19 that I thought she had gone off and died. She accidentially got shut up in the shed when DH got out the tiller. She was locked up in there for 3 days. Bless her heart!!! DH said that when he opened the door.... she came shooting out like a bullet. He said that she ran out.... stopped and looked up at him as if she was saying..."what the hell did you do that for?" She has been sick, but she appeared to be feeling better. She wasn't eating well and I got some canned tuna and gave that to her today. She was lapping it up like a big kitty. She ate 1/2 a can. I am a happy pet owner. I can only wish for the best. I hope all you other pet owners have a happy ending.

vickie

There is supposed to be a news conference this afternoon.
They have found traces of rat poison in some of the pet food.
I didn't hear the time of the conference but will check it out online
jolana

At 1pm MSNBC rat poison from China on wheat

Here's an article from Yahoo news, re: the rat poison and wheat connection.

I did a search for the law firm mentioned in the CNN.com story on pet owners sue. They have a page to fill out with the information. So far 95 people have joined the class action law suit. I guess I'm #96! I still have a few packages of the special kitty and several receipts where I bought it. I'm so mad about this!! She was such a picky eater and would only eat a couple of kinds of the Special Kitty brand. I hate Walmart and would make a special trip just to buy it for her.
The other animals are just getting dry food for the time being, nothing made by that company!
I'll cook for the dogs next week when I'm off, I can make them a supply and freeze it.
Tally HO!

Helptxgal, that's a good basic recipe for homemade dog food. I also put a few veggies in mine when I do that. Basically, I make a chicken with rice stew without spices, garlic or onions. I've also supplemented with cottage cheese, a bit of organic yogurt mixed with raw honey and liquid vitamins (Frosty loves this!) and scrambled eggs.

Jolana, thanks for the info on the latest news. I don't trust foods or treats or rawhide from most other countries.

Fliptx, a convenient snack for your strays might be those chicken vienna sausage that come in pop top cans. I use them to hide pills in, when needed. I break them in half and shove the pill in the center. I give the dog the half without the pill first, and he generally gulps the second half down.

Tally, once again, I'm so sorry for your loss. It shouldn't have happened. I made a memorial planter in my backyard for my cat, Pushka. I always plant the prettiest flowers I can find in it. I have an angel standing at the back of the planter (found it at Tuesday Morning). Pushka was also a very special cat.

We need to keep following this recall. Just today, another change on the product recall.

I can only address Nutro products, as those are the only ones I'm checking. No NEW products added on the Nutro line, but now Nutro wants us to stop feeding ALL products listed on the recall list, regardless of "best by" dates and to return them for refund. They say that it's just because there may be confusion reading the "best by" dates. Guess I'll be taking several cans back to PetCo.

Here is a link that might be useful: 3/24/07 update on Nutro products

How could a U.S. plant import a wheat product from China when we export huge quantities of our own wheat every year? And from a country whose government doesn't even care about keeping food safe for their own people??? Thank goodness I only gave my kitties catfood brands made by Purina!

Here is a link that might be useful: Tainted Food in China

I haven't checked in for a while, I'm sorry to hear some of you have lost beloved pets.
I know how hard it is to lose one your so close to. I have two dog's that I loved very much and it will be hard when they go, I'm hoping they live a very long live. Bo is a rot,lab mix and they only live to be 12 years he's 9 now.
Lacy is 3 so she's got a long ways to go and she will be my hardest because she's so close to me, when I sit down she's right there at my side if I go outside she's right there at my side well, you get the picture where ever I'm at she's right there. She like to nibble on my fingers as I walk it's a funny thing for her to do.
Bless you all

linda tx8: Not only do we export our own wheat every year, we also pay US farmers to NOT PLANT crops so we can import cheaper crops that will poison our pets. Arghhh.

hello i have a cat and i would like to know if purina is still ok to give to my cat?can someone tell me where to get all the names of all the bad cat food.

I'm feeding my cat Purina and so far none of their catfood is on the list as far as I know. But they just added Purina's Alpo (dogfood) and they already had another kind of their dogfood on there. I also heard that the first kind of dry food has appeared on the list...can't remember what, but it wasn't a Purina product. I'm getting paranoid about this and am considering switching to the kitty foods at the health food stores or something. My congressman is going to get a letter about this mess! And I think everyone who loves their pets should do that also. I love my kitties and every time I buy catfood I think...could this kill them? Could it make them sick? It should never have happened! Sooo entirely preventable! If I had known that the petfood companies allowed stuff from China in their products, I'd have realized how dangerous that would be and I'm not a genius. Now, why didn't THEY know? Or DID THEY KNOW?

I keep checking the Nutro page, and they still don't list their canned cat foods, just the pouch. I don't know why their canned would be any different than the pouch, but apparently it is. I'm trying my cats on various different super premium canned foods, but they don't like any of them as much as the Nutro Gourmet Classics canned food. I just don't trust it, though, since it's a cuts and gravy product also. They have not been sick, so it might be okay. I already feed them Eagle Pack's dry food, which they really like, and is a very high quality food.

Sally

Here's a site that gives the food NOT on recall.
There are so many it gets confusing.
http://petsitusa.com/blog/?p=210

Marianne

Here's a page of press releases from the FDA

http://www.fda.gov/oc/opacom/hottopics/petfood.html

Seems like every time I turn on the news, there's some new recall...

This one is unrelated to the wheat gluten/Menu Foods recall. It has to do with salmonella:

Dingo Chick'n Jerky Treats.

Makes me wonder how often pet food is contaminated with something that we don't hear about until there's a big chain reaction.

Just wanted to mention Muenster Milling pet food.
They use locally grown grains, their flax comes from Canada.

Got that from their webpage. It is a fairly expensive food, but I've found that it does not have bulk without nutrients, and the dog eats less. They also utilize most of it, and have less need to go....outside.

Talk about sleaze bags.

Here is a link that might be useful: Pet Food Co. Officer dumps stock

He calls it a coincidence. Call me a cynic but somehow, I don't buy that.

And I see from the article that the recalls continue to expand even still.

Read the latest news here:

http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/04/11/pet.food.recall.ap/index.html

Now they have found that the tainted wheat gluten also was used during a two month period in Canada.

Yeah, I think that convenient stock disposal, 3 weeks before the news of this serious pet food recall, shows the insider trading involved prior to the announcements. This CEO should be in real trouble for that.

I wonder if the real reason they waited so long to announce a recall was to buy more time between the stock sell-off and the recall so that it would be harder to prove intent?