I will continue to post ANY new recalls as I see and learn of them and hope all others will do the same.

THAT IS THE POINT OF MY POSTS, not sympathy as I have been accused of in hate posts. Many of you know I have helped you with doggie problesm totally off the forum in the past and we once had a wonderful thread just for that.

The vet gave me Albon to mix with Kaopectate and another antibiotic for the pups so we shall see. I have never had more than two litters at one time before and so am overwhelmed even before this.

But this was my latests shipment and I even mentioned it by brand last week as their site was offering every assurance they were wheat gluten free. Well, they are but now this is in the RICE!

Any problem with RICE is BIG news as RICE feeds the WORLD! I am really concerned that this is in the entire food chain, any rice or other grains imported is at risk. Seems melamine ane MSG are both used as fettilizer in China, something we would never do in this country.
So I was mixing this with Organic and Pedigree and another not recalled, there are several I use including Wellness Puppy and Adult or it would have been much worse I am sure. I thought with the novelty and more expensive venison I was doing something really good and paying the price for it, etc. WRONG!

This is the first one with a RICE problem to the best of my knowledge. I am not going to let some mentally ill old grouch get to me and will continue to post information when it becomes available. Thanks to None's daughter for this article for us all. It is our first RICE ALERT!

Article:

Natural Balance pet food recalled

By Julie Schmit and Elizabeth Weise, USA TODAY
The industrial chemical melamine has been found in more pet food, and suspicion is falling on a second pet-food ingredient imported from China as the source of the contamination.
Natural Balance Pet Foods said Tuesday it found melamine in samples of some of its food, which led to a recall. The company suspects melamine was in a rice protein concentrate used as an ingredient, said President Joey Herrick in an interview.

Melamine is the chief suspect related to the Menu Foods recall, first announced four weeks ago for more than 60 million cans and pouches of wet dog and cat food. The melamine in Menu's products was in wheat gluten imported from China and sold to Menu and several other pet-food makers, which also did recalls.

The rice protein concentrate was imported from China by San Francisco-based Wilbur-Ellis. Herrick says the concentrate, which is being tested, is suspected to have melamine, as it was the only new ingredient. Recalled Natural Balance products include Venison and Brown Rice canned and dry dog foods, dog treats and Venison and Green Pea dry cat food.Wilbur-Ellis CEO John Thacher said his company sold the concentrate to five pet-food makers, but that most of it went to two firms. One of the primary companies was Diamond Pet Foods, which packs some of the Natural Balance product but doesn't use the concentrate in any Diamond-made foods, says Diamond spokesman Jim Fallon. The other major customer, which Thacher would not name, tested the rice protein and found no melamine, Thacher says. Natural Balance's rice protein concentrate is mixed with venison meal, Thacher says.

Natural Balance has received about 10 reports of sick pets, mostly dogs, since Thursday, Herrick says. It started testing the foods Friday, when it also asked retailers to pull the products. As in the Menu recall, some of the pets developed kidney failure, Natural says.

Natural Balance was co-founded in 1989 by actor Dick Van Patten, according to the company's website.

The Food and Drug Administration offered no comment Tuesday. It said Monday that Natural Balance had informed the agency of the issue. Thacher says it told the FDA on Sunday that it had detected melamine in some rice protein concentrate imported from China about a week ago. Wilbur-Ellis has ceased importing the ingredient from the Chinese firm, Binzhou Futian Biology Technology, Thacher says.

Along with Diamond, pet-food makers Nestlé Purina PetCare and Procter & Gamble said Tuesday that they don't use rice protein concentrate in their foods.

No other Natural Balance products include the ingredient, the company says.

Melamine is not allowed in human or pet food. It is an industrial chemical used in plastics worldwide and also sometimes as a fertilizer in Asia, the FDA says.

While melamine is not highly toxic, the FDA is investigating whether it, or something related to it, is responsible for pet deaths in the Menu recall.

Find this article at:
money/industries/2007-04-17-premium-pet-food-recalled_N.htm?csp=34

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I don't know as much about cats at all as I do dogs but dogs have a very short digestive tract compared to the feet and feet of intestines humans have. They also can digest bones so it is far more acidic than ours and perhaps that accounts for the bad reaction they get, the acidity in their entire digestive tract??

I don't feed mine in plastic dishes either as I think their saliva could react with plastic. Just a phobia of mine but I heard recently that plastic baby bottles are now a bad thing because of the reaction of the formula with the plastic, etc.

Now they tell us after we fed our babies with plastic bottles for years!

But yes, this rice thing is very troublesome because of the importance of rice as a staple in so many countries. I do hope it does not effect humans but what does not immediately, would it over the long haul? Can this stuff be washed off? I wonder if maybe we should put rice in a colander and wash thoroughly before cooking?

I hope we are told more about this in the next few days.

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Anna, your puppies are sooo cute! Thanks for posting that article. I am concerned about this sentence

"The other major customer, which Thacher would not name, tested the rice protein and found no melamine, Thacher says. Natural Balance's rice protein concentrate is mixed with venison meal, Thacher says. "

Iread in an earlier article that they would not divulge the name of the company that the wheat gluten came from. After this fiasco, I would think our government and dog food suppliers would not protect these suppliers. Even if they haven't tested positive for now, why shouldn't we know where this stuff comes from?

I am really worried about the retailers removing these products off the shelves. In a post on the FP, I told about how I didn't trust that KMart had pulled some of the dog chews that had salmonella in them. I am pretty sure I knew more about the recall than the manager did. He just assumed the products were removed, but he hadn't heard about the recall of the chews, just the cat and dog foods.

All of this really scares me about our food supplies. It almost seems as if someone (terror groups) are testing out vulnerabilities. And we ARE VERY vulnerable. Okay, enough of my 2cents. Wish I would've seen those pups before I got my clumsy lab. But I love her now :D

Quote from: "klaasend"

Quote from: "Anna"

Tip:

Microfiber cloth removes fecal matter from coarse coated pups like anything! Use antibiotic soap and be sure to rinse well cause the other pups will have pup parts in their mouths but these cloths are a miracle for me! I love them and just bought two dozen!

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Ok, I'm out of the loop. What are Micorfiber cloths and what brand do you buy?

They look like regular terry cloth bath cloths but the fibers are constructed differently. I find mine in the auto section at local Dollar Stores because they are so cheap there, yesterday 4 for $3 and I need so many. Launder without fabric softener.

Home Shopping sells them but theirs are more expensive. Theirs are usually a large set and you want to start off small to see if you like them. Wal Mart also had in auto department before.

You can use them to clean anything and often they remove as much dirt without using any cleaner as would be removed using one! Great for washing windows and also for places you don't want to use harsh chemicals like around pups and babies. They latch on to and hold dirt tremendously.

I think it is magic involved but am not sure about that. Just so glad to find something that really works as billed!

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