Wellness Old Mother Hubbard Pet Food law suit announced (9/3/09)

[ArmyWife313]

And Orijen immediately responded to the incident and this is why I do and will still feed Orijen:

Oddly, only cats that became pregnant while on the irradiated diet developed neurological symptoms, he noted. Male cats and offspring exposed to the same diet did not become ill.

“Possible causes still include a micronutrient deficiency — although this seems less likely — or toxicity induced by irradiation-induced changes in the dry food (more likely),” she said.

Champion Petfoods, maker of the Orijen brand, noted in a Q&A dated November 2008 that its own testing of irradiated cat food found the treatment depleted vitamin A and formed free radicals in the food. Their statement reads in part:

“Irradiation does not affect all foods equally. Orijen is a nutritionally dense food with much higher levels of long-chain fatty acids (DHA, EPA) than conventional pet foods. These fatty acids are susceptible to oxidation following irradiation. Byproducts from fatty acid oxidation, mainly free radicals, are released into the body with the potential to cause tissue damage.

“Combined with the loss of antioxidant vitamins [such as vitamin A], free radicals are thought to be a major contributing factor.”

Although the irradiation ban applies only to cat food, Champion Petfoods has pulled its dog food from the Australian market as well, Sales and Marketing Manager Peter Muhlenfeld told the VIN News Service.

“Cats frequently eat from dog dishes and vice versa,” he said in an e-mail. “We do not believe the market to be safe unless both cat and dog foods are allowed entry without irradiation.”

According to the company Q&A:

* Only Australia requires irradiation of Orijen cat foods, out of 50 countries in which the food is sold.
* Orijen was sold in Australia only for a nine-month period — February through October 2008.

* In that period, only six pallets of Orijen cat food actually entered retail distribution, enough to feed 200 cats each day during the nine months.

* During the same period, shipments of Orijen cat food were made to 49 other countries, enough to feed 85,000 cats. In no other country has neurological illness been reported.

According to the Champion Petfoods Q&A, “The overwhelming majority of cat foods in Australia do not require irradiation.” Orijen was required to undergo irradiation because the food includes fresh meats that were cooked at low temperatures.


Muhlenfeld said Champion Petfoods has a program to offset medical bills of owners of affected pets up to $1,000. It also donated $10,000 to organizations in Sydney that work with cat diseases.

[_Chrissy_]

I am still going to feed Max Acana (Provincial Prairie Harvest).

What else can we do but try to do the best?

[107barney]

It's always something with these pet food companies. I've fed wellness kibble as a supplement to home cooked food for my dogs for the past couple of years and like the product (especially when compared with other products). However, it just reiterates in my mind the reasons I choose to do the home cooked thing. It's all about their bottom line and not about caring for our pets. Those rendering facilities are garbage dumps for foods not fit for humans, and are often attached to big food company giants like Mars and Heinz who make lots of petfoods.

And despite all of these repeat claims of false advertising, lawsuits, and repeated reports of toxicity and death in our pets, my veterinarian continues to preach that "dog food is best" for my dogs. My common sense tells me to stick with my organic chicken, brown rice, fresh veggies, and to properly balance those items, and keep my dogs healthy and happy.

[hugz4all4]

thanks for posting that, but I still wouldnt feed it to any of my pets. But to each is own and Im glad that its working out for you..

Originally Posted by ArmyWife313

And Orijen immediately responded to the incident and this is why I do and will still feed Orijen:

Oddly, only cats that became pregnant while on the irradiated diet developed neurological symptoms, he noted. Male cats and offspring exposed to the same diet did not become ill.

“Possible causes still include a micronutrient deficiency — although this seems less likely — or toxicity induced by irradiation-induced changes in the dry food (more likely),” she said.

Champion Petfoods, maker of the Orijen brand, noted in a Q&A dated November 2008 that its own testing of irradiated cat food found the treatment depleted vitamin A and formed free radicals in the food. Their statement reads in part:

“Irradiation does not affect all foods equally. Orijen is a nutritionally dense food with much higher levels of long-chain fatty acids (DHA, EPA) than conventional pet foods. These fatty acids are susceptible to oxidation following irradiation. Byproducts from fatty acid oxidation, mainly free radicals, are released into the body with the potential to cause tissue damage.

“Combined with the loss of antioxidant vitamins [such as vitamin A], free radicals are thought to be a major contributing factor.”

Although the irradiation ban applies only to cat food, Champion Petfoods has pulled its dog food from the Australian market as well, Sales and Marketing Manager Peter Muhlenfeld told the VIN News Service.

“Cats frequently eat from dog dishes and vice versa,” he said in an e-mail. “We do not believe the market to be safe unless both cat and dog foods are allowed entry without irradiation.”

According to the company Q&A:

* Only Australia requires irradiation of Orijen cat foods, out of 50 countries in which the food is sold.
* Orijen was sold in Australia only for a nine-month period — February through October 2008.

* In that period, only six pallets of Orijen cat food actually entered retail distribution, enough to feed 200 cats each day during the nine months.

* During the same period, shipments of Orijen cat food were made to 49 other countries, enough to feed 85,000 cats. In no other country has neurological illness been reported.

According to the Champion Petfoods Q&A, “The overwhelming majority of cat foods in Australia do not require irradiation.” Orijen was required to undergo irradiation because the food includes fresh meats that were cooked at low temperatures.


Muhlenfeld said Champion Petfoods has a program to offset medical bills of owners of affected pets up to $1,000. It also donated $10,000 to organizations in Sydney that work with cat diseases.

[sushidoodidoo]

Originally Posted by 107barney

It's always something with these pet food companies. I've fed wellness kibble as a supplement to home cooked food for my dogs for the past couple of years and like the product (especially when compared with other products). However, it just reiterates in my mind the reasons I choose to do the home cooked thing. It's all about their bottom line and not about caring for our pets. Those rendering facilities are garbage dumps for foods not fit for humans, and are often attached to big food company giants like Mars and Heinz who make lots of petfoods.

And despite all of these repeat claims of false advertising, lawsuits, and repeated reports of toxicity and death in our pets, my veterinarian continues to preach that "dog food is best" for my dogs. My common sense tells me to stick with my organic chicken, brown rice, fresh veggies, and to properly balance those items, and keep my dogs healthy and happy.

That's exactly what I've been doing, and for the exact same reasons. I've been making home cooked meals for my dogs, so that at least I know what's going in it (best quality meats, brown rice, sweet potatoes, vegetables,omega three, etc...). and since my vet is very pro dog food (premium quality) I supplement the home cooked food with kibbles.

Also because kibbles are easier to transport on trips and I want them to be used to dry food, so I don't have to pack frozen meals for them every time we go away.

[hugz4all4]

Originally Posted by YorkieSchmalz

t
Please let us know what they day. My little sophie is on Merrick and I want to make sure they are a quality food.

I contacted Merrick again this morning. I will update on a new thread as soon as I hear back from them.

[kfrazer42]

Originally Posted by Britster

What a shame.

Jackson ate Wellness for about a month and a half and got TERRIBLE gross wet eye boogers every day that he never had before eating Wellness. Once I got him off the food, after a few days, they stopped. I wasn't sure if it was the food or not but maybe it was.

Oh my Gosh! I started feeding my precious wellness and she loves it! I have noticed more eye crustys and matts from tears. Never dreamed it could be from her food! you really think that is what caused it! Guess I have to switch her again

[kfrazer42]

I switched my baby from Eubanuka to Wellness and she loves it! Guess I should switch again! But, to what? What does everyone feed there babies. I cna't always cook it myself either. I work a lot and that leaves my husband with her cooking for her! I don't think so...lol Help!!!

[Britster]

Originally Posted by kfrazer42

Oh my Gosh! I started feeding my precious wellness and she loves it! I have noticed more eye crustys and matts from tears. Never dreamed it could be from her food! you really think that is what caused it! Guess I have to switch her again

I'm not 100% it was the food but it stopped once he wasn't eating it anymore. Jackson loved the food too; I felt bad taking him off of it.

He's now been eating Nature's Variety Instinct for the past three days and loves it more than ANY dry food he's ever had before. I'm so happy we finally found something I think is very healthy and that he loves.

He was eating Innova before this and he did fine on it but I knew he didn't love it, ya know? He would kind of pick around, not really care about it, only eat it when he really hungry. He is absolutely loving Nature's Variety on the third day! Very happy with it so far.

In his 11 month life, he's tried a variety of dog foods, hmm... Dog Whisperer puppy food (from Petco) is what he was on first. He liked it and did well on it, pretty good ingredients but I thought I could find better for the same price or less, then he went on Before Grain (made by Merrick), it's an all life stages food, he seemed to like that but got tired of it fast, I've considering getting it again though, I really liked the company. Then we went to Wellness which he loves but like I said, the eye booger thing happened. Then Innova (which I still have a bag of) and now this Nature's Variety, which he's never acted like he loved a dog food so much.

Honestly, every dog is different and is going to react different to every food. It's just a matter of looking around and trying new things, you can often request free samples.

[kfrazer42]

Thank you very much! If Jackson Loves Natures Variety, I will try it for Miley! I'm sure she will too!

[Britster]

Originally Posted by kfrazer42

Thank you very much! If Jackson Loves Natures Variety, I will try it for Miley! I'm sure she will too!

Yeah, try it out and let me know how it goes
I know Jackson is very picky so I'm shocked he's loving it so much.
Nature's Variety
That's the site where you can sign up for their newsletter and receive coupons, etc, and I'm not sure if they send out samples or not.

[orlnurse]

OMG...I just switched Max from Blue Buffalo to Wellness.. He seems to like it. Now what am I going to feed him? How frustrating..I hate to have to switch him again.

[Dame]

Originally Posted by hugz4all4

I just switched my dogs to merricks too, they love it (for now ) and are doing so good on it. I emailed them last night just to make sure that thier product is safe. I will let you know as soon as I hear from them.

They have had a recall - once on one of their canned food because it contained metal shards from tags not removed from the chickens before processing.

http://www.michigan.gov/documents/MD...l_164985_7.pdf

Feeding Merrick has a lot to do with how you feel about the company IMO. Griffin Merrick owns Tejas Industries (also known as Hereford By-products) which renders meat. Technical business listings list both his rendering plant and the pet food plant (Merrick) as the same location, as well as another business brand called Blue Sky Beef (which makes "beef n' more). A lot of it all comes down to how you feel about it. His rending business greatly explains why the Merrick line offers such a vast selection of offerings.... and how he "stumbled up on the idea" like he mentions in their website. A lot of people have issues with his rendering plant and its history of quality control. There are a ton of people out there who refuse to feed Merrick because they think its not safe.

I think a lot of it comes down to whats assumed and whats fact (and there isn't a whole lot of proof for a lot of the claims.) You can find something terrible about any company if you really look hard enough depending on the angle you go from. It really comes down to what you know and what you feel comfortable with - and finding a company you trust. Things happen... to even the most respectable companies, tis a simple fact of life since errors happen and we're human. The question greatly becomes how ya feel about that and how the company handles it.

[_Chrissy_]

Originally Posted by Britster

Yeah, try it out and let me know how it goes
I know Jackson is very picky so I'm shocked he's loving it so much.
Nature's Variety
That's the site where you can sign up for their newsletter and receive coupons, etc, and I'm not sure if they send out samples or not.

Which type of NV Instinct are you feeding?

Max has been eating Acana Prairie Harvest (Provincial) since I took him off Innova. He begs for more all the time. I like I can buy the .88 size for freshness.

I also got 2 sample packs of NV Instinct (Chicken one). I haven't tried it with him yet.

[Britster]

Originally Posted by _Chrissy_

Which type of NV Instinct are you feeding?

Max has been eating Acana Prairie Harvest (Provincial) since I took him off Innova. He begs for more all the time. I like I can buy the .88 size for freshness.

I also got 2 sample packs of NV Instinct (Chicken one). I haven't tried it with him yet.

It's the Duck & Turkey one. He's loving it, we're on the fourth day now. He's eating it as I speak, lol. I believe they have that flavor, the chicken and then a rabbit one. I've heard from a few others that their dogs didn't like the chicken one as much. I still haven't found the Acana near me. I might try to rotate every bag so the next time, I'll get the rabbit flavor.