NQR Its about dogs

[kreacher]

Remember the tainted dog food of the recent past? It had to do with ingredients coming from China that killed and made sick many dogs.

Well the FDA just released another warning. Chicken jerky and chicken treats for dogs are still making dogs sick and in some cases killing them. And yes, they are products that come from China.

Be careful

[mrsbishwit]

Do you know more specific info such as a brand name(s) of the dog treats...I just bought some special doggie treats for my dogs to open on Christmas.

[Stagecl]

I do look for products made in the USA. Merrick is one brand that is all USA made. Check it out.

Thanks for the information regarding the chicken products.

[Mary Beth]

I googled this and only found articles from 2007. I think I would avoid any food product made in China. It's very difficult to avoid anything made there....since everything seems to be made there.

[catsigler]

Google found this:

http://efoodalert.blogspot.com/2008/12/chicken-jerky-dog-treats-fda-update.html

[kreacher]

The FDA warning did not mention any brand names. Only country of origin, China.

[MtnBarb]

Thanks for the posting. My dogs only eat Pedigree but thankfully none of their's is listed. I appreciate the notice!!

[mskazooli]

Uh-OH, we just bought the puppies favorite "bacon" treats made from chicken. Gotta check to see if they're from China. It would be tragic! Thanks for the warning!

[crawysong]

lol we just ran out of treats today.. perfect timing ill know what not to look for tomorrow at the store THANKS

[Quilting Heidi]

My son's vet told him not to give his dog any of the raw hides except one certain brand. I'll see if he can tell me which one. His dog got really sick and the vet said it was probably due to the raw hides she loved that had not been treated properly.

[roberta]

Kreacher - thanks for the heads up. My dog means the world to me so I will be very careful.

[lym95]

My bloodhound, Hank, won't eat any of those things anyway. The only "treat" he'll eat is Cheetos, and they have to be the crunchy kind. I've tried to give him hotdogs, or hamburgers, or any kind of table scraps that most dogs would just wolf down, and he looks at me as if to say, "Are you trying to make me sick...?"

He weighs 115 lbs so he has a healthy appetite, just not for snacks I guess.

At Thanksgiving, I took a piece of ham and was going to show some of my family how well he minds. I said, "Sit", which he promptly did. I gave him the ham, which he cautiously held in his mouth until I turned around. He then walked over to the edge of the deck and spit it out.

Stupid dog

I think the only thing he enjoys is Pedigree.

...and Cheetos!

[mrmquilt]

Marjorie, Too Funny, your dog sounds like mine. He will eat table scraps but hates the treats for dogs and just spits them out. What he likes the best is veggies. Carrots, cauliflower, peppers and a few others. He is just a huge mega mutt that I call an American Melting Pot, who knows what breeds my sweet dog has but I love him. The only dog food I can get him to eat is Iams and he nibbles on that which I find weird for a big dog.

Michele

[Sylvia]

This really bugs me. It is the same thing as the tainted milk powder from China. Canada and the U.S. are both strong agricultural countries and have no need of food ingredients from China or anywhere else. Our food and food for our pets could be made from domestic ingredients, and wouldn't our economies be stronger for it? I would like to extend this to consumer goods as well. Surely we would be better off if we built our own furniture and made our own clothes?

Back to the pet food. Our local farm store sells dog and cat food made with ingredients only from Alberta, our home province. I trust that. Plus, if there ever is a problem it is so much easier to trace and correct.

Wheew. That's out of my system.

Sylvia from Canada

p.s. we have a cat who likes ice cream, yogurt and taco chips as long as they are in tiny tiny pieces.

[sammi357]

Amen to that, Sylvia.

One does wonder why we're importing food from countries that don't have regulation like our Food and Drug administration, plus they have a HUGE problem with counterfeits.

It all boils down to the fact that the labor over there is so cheap, companies here won't try to compete, they just move their production.

and until consumers get smarter, it's probably not going to change.

The worst part of the melamine crisis is that China put it in baby formula, and lots of babies are sick and dying...all for the almighty buck! Or yen, as the case may be! The melamine was a filler and supposed to 'stretch' the milk product.

While here, we have dairy farms going out of business! it's a crying shame.

sammi, stepping off the soapbox

[dancingstitcher]

Watch for ash as a filler too. Ash causes kidney stones especially in older more sensitive dogs and cats. Thanks for the update on China chicken treats Cathey. Have you seen the group of photos on harvesting chickens in China. It is disgusting in that they use already dead chickens and have unsanitary conditions. Perhaps there are some facilities that are government controlled in that all is not what it seems in the media. Don't have the link now.

Vicki

[sueky1]

My 13 year old dog, Meg has had problems with allergies all her life. She is very allergic to beef. I have to read ingredient labels on anything I feed her to make sure they do not contain any beef products.

Several months go, I was thrilled to find “Chicken Chips” put out by VitaLife at PetSmart. They claim to be “ALL Chicken”—Nothing more! I thought they were perfect for her. After I used 1 bag, I bought another bag and happened to read the entire back of the package.

It reads: “Be sure to wash your hands after handling any dog treat. This product is treated by irradiation for the safety of your pet”. I don’t understand why anyone would feed their beloved pet something that may cause humans harm if they don’t “Wash Their Hands” after handling the treat! I also found that they are a product made in China. Needless to say, I returned them to PetSmart. I will never buy any pet food produced in China again. I don’t think I will ever buy any food product produced in any other county than USA.

Becky

[meg_marsh]

My little guy is a chicken only - beef makes him sick. He won't even eat beef off the table. I am very careful with what goes into his little body - he is on a special prescription diet - being changed at the moment due to his problems - but my vet is very sensitive to the food problems with pets - it makes him very upset. He is great about finding good healthy diets for his patients. Tucker's treats are also limited - had to teach my friend that she asks before giving Tucker anything and if she does I make sure she only gives him a tiny bite of cheese - she is not as careful about the American only products and I have never served my dogs anything other than American - there have been problems over the years - a vet clued me on about 15 years ago.

there is some excellent advice in this thread - also, make sure to watch what you leave out that your pets might get into over the holidays .......... too many holiday items can cause huge medical issues!!

[LoreW]

The trainer we took our rottie to suggested hot dogs for dog treats. You cut them up in small pieces and cook them in the microwave until they are shriveled up. Once they are cool and dry, they keep for a very long time. Hoover loves them! But then Hoover loves everything.... We use beef hot dogs, but I'm sure turkey hot dogs would work too.

[catsigler]

We though we were buying high quality food for our dog from the pet store. When the first scare came out, I wrote to the manufacturer and asked if they could guarantee that none of the ingredients used in their dog food came from China. They could not. We returned a whole case and started feeding him the same things we eat (meat and vegetables).

[Stagecl]

Purina makes a treat called "Chicken Carvers or Beef Carvers". They are made in the USA. My dogs love them too.

Old Mother Hubbard, INC makes a treat called "Wellness Bites". They too are made in the USA and you can understand what is in them. I haven't found them in a chain pet store. I buy them at Whole Foods or at Pet Supplies Plus. My dogs love the chicken and venison ones, but there are other flavors.