As usual, the first announcement of a recall is usually not the last. The Nature’s Variety raw dog and cat food recall I announced earlier has been expanded to all bags of raw chicken and organic chicken with Best By dates of 2/5/11 or earlier. My dog has just finished an entire bag of the chicken diet–his first time eating the raw food–and has showed no adverse reactions.

Unopened bags and empty opened bags may be returned for a full refund or replacement. Members of the Nature’s Variety e-mail list also received coupons for $3 off any bag of raw diet, $3 off any kibble, and $1 off any two cans.

In positive news regarding this recall, Nature’s Variety is, as of late 2009, using a High Pressure Pasteurization on all raw frozen diets. This unique process kills pathogenic bacteria through high-pressure, water based technology. Recalling the foods that were made prior to this process went into effect will ensure that all Nature’s Variety products on the shelves will have been manufactured with this safe, new process.

Visit Nature Variety’s web site to read the entire press release, posted today.

I am very saddened to report that my favorite pet food company, Nature’s Variety, has initiated a voluntary recall.

This recall only involves their raw medallions, patties, and chubs, and is due to possible contamination of salmonella.

The only products affected are limited to Chicken flavored food with a “Best If Used By” date of 11/10/10. This includes:

* 3 lb chicken medallions (UPC# 7 69949 60130 2) with a “Best If Used By” date of 11/10/10
* 6 lb chicken patties (UPC# 7 69949 60120 3) with a “Best If Used By” date of 11/10/10
* 2 lb chicken chubs (UPC# 7 69949 60121 0) with a “Best If Used By” date of 11/10/10

My cat Charlie just finished a bag of Nature’s Variety Raw Chicken Medallions two days ago. I do not know if the “Best If Used By” date matched, but Charlie showed no negative symptoms while eating the food. He is currently eating the Rabbit and Venison flavors and will continue to eat them for the time being. I believe in this company.

Read the official press release here.

One of the reasons my newest pet is a kitten rather than an older cat is because I wanted to be able to wean her directly onto raw food, hopefully whole prey. It’s going pretty well.

I started first by purchasing a small feeder pinky mouse from the freezer at the pet store. Although it was barely the size of a quarter, I was still amazed to see Aura, my then 9 week old Ragdoll, take it down lightening fast. When she became an extremely picky eater, those pinky mice remained the one food she would not turn down. She would turn down premium canned food like Nature’s Variety and EVO, cheap “kitty crack” canned food like Fancy Feast, and even cooked chicken…but she would always eat those pinky mice.

But I wasn’t going to pay $1 – $2 per pinky mouse when I can get them for as little as $.16 cents each at RodentPro.com. While that price can jump up to around $.50 cents each when you add shipping, I am lucky enough to be abe to pre-order at web site prices and pick up my order at a local reptile show. This weekend I got 50 weanling mice and 50 chicks for $23.

Rodenpro’s feeder prey is so clean and healthy looking! My kitten just loves them – especially the chicks, which I just scored for $.12 cents each! The chicks usually offer her a great workout, too…she loves to play with them for 5-10 minutes before feasting. She likes the small quail too, but I haven’t been able to get her to eat any older, meatier quail yet. She’s not interested. She was also not interested in the Gourmet Rodent mice I bought for her at Petco when I ran out of my RodentPro mice. And I don’t blame her! Those mice were wet and smelly.

I love all animals, and never thought I’d be able to feed frozen whole prey.  But it’s been much easier than I thought; way easier than feeding frankenprey, and much cheaper than canned. I usually pet these cute little guys for a second before throwing them to her, thanking them for supplying my kitten with all the nutrients she needs. Gnawning on their little bones cleans her teeth. They are full of protein, and their organs are full of the vitamins and taurine she needs. Aura highly recommends RodentPro!

I was feeding Aura some frankenprey for a while (chunks of cut up raw meat and organs), but now she isn’t interested in it. She is currently eating the whole prey during the day and some canned at night…the past two days she has started to steal my toothless cat’s pre-made Nature’s Variety raw, as well. She won’t eat it if I offer her her own though, she only wants to steal Charlie’s

My friendly local Nature’s Variety sales rep turned me on to this great coupon for Nature’s Variety Raw food for dogs and cats! “Nature’s Variety Raw Frozen Diets are formulated like the ancestral diet with 95% meat, organs, and raw ground bone, and with wholesome fruits and vegetables.”

Click here to register at their web site to receive a coupon in your email for buy one get one free of their 3 pound bag. This is a great deal!

There is also a coupon to try Nature’s Variety’s all new Sweet Spots, natural frozen ice cream treats for dogs. Get a free carton when you buy any holistic diet from Nature’s Variety.

Enjoy!

I can’t believe how long it has been since I posted. The excitement and worry of dealing with Charlie’s feline asthma seems like old news now. He hasn’t coughed since September 1st and is a pro with his asthma inhaler.  Yesterday, Charlie needed his teeth cleaned. They extracted 6 teeth, including his one last “fang.” I miss that fang. My poor old man is pretty gummy now. He is resting.

Introducing Our New Kitten

The biggest excitement and challenge we’ve been having around here is the addition of our newest employee, a Ragdoll mix kitten! Charlie is not fond of cats, or really any person or animal for that matter, so I knew getting a new pet would be a challenge. That is why, rather than getting an older cat out of the shelter, I searched for a Ragdoll kitten. Although there is no guarantee, Ragdolls were bred to be gentle and loving, and I needed that for Charlie (and I wanted some hope to find a cat half as sweet as Oscar was). I also knew I should find a young kitten and a female, to help make the introduction as smooth as possible.

Feeding Raw to the Kitten

The good thing about getting a kitten is it’s easier to start her off on the right path with good food. I started her on grain free canned, and started mixing Nature’s Variety raw medallions into it. But when she saw that Charlie was eating just raw, she wanted his. So at 12 weeks she is already on raw food! She seems to prefer the raw to the canned, but will eat both.

Yesterday I tried something new. I offered whole prey for the first time. I didn’t think she would go for the tiny thawed out pinky mouse, but she ate it right up! So, I plan to offer whole prey at least a few times a week, and this will help insure that she won’t have to undergo a terrible procedure like Charlie did yesterday.

Enjoy the pictures of our new kitten. Her name is Aura, after the blue cheese: we picked her up near a cheese store we enjoy, and her eyes are (obviously) blue.

Introducing the New Kitten to the Resident Cat

The introduction was pretty rough at first. We kept Aura secluded in her own room for about three weeks while Charlie got used to her smell. This was mainly due to the fact that Charlie would have reacted badly, but it also served two other purposes:

1. I needed to be sure she was free of diseases, fleas, and parasites before exposing another cat to any of that. So while usually I would be doing smell exchanges by transferring towels between Aura and Charlie, I didn’t do that either until I could be certain that Aura was healthy.
2. to let the kitten get used to her new home gradually. A new home has a lot of new sounds and smells, and that can overwhelm and stress a kitten. On day one all she did was sleep. She didn’t even care if I was in the room, she ignored me.

After one full week of NO interaction between Charlie and the kitten, I cracked the door and asked Charlie to look in. He would hiss and run. Perfectly normal. Then I started bringing out Aura to the kitchen in her crate during Charlie’s meal times. Charlie didn’t appreciate that. Even though he could see that she was confined and eating her own food, he was still too anxious to eat his meals.

I then purchased two baby gates to use instead of the door to Aura’s room, so Charlie could hear and smell her better, and so we could get into the room without Aura running out. Then Charlie began sitting outside her room to watch her, but any movement by her caused him to hiss and run.

After 3 1/2 weeks of this, I was feeling very bad that Aura couldn’t spend much time out in the house with us. So, I brought Aura into the living room with us and put the baby gates at the two entry ways, giving Charlie access to all of the house except the living room. I then played with the kitten and showed Charlie that she was fun and welcome. After a few minutes of watching us have fun, Charlie wanted to come into the living room with us. That was the moment everything changed. He jumped a baby gate while Aura was resting, and laid down on the couch near me, hissing once just to make his pressence known to the little intruder. Later, Charlie went to sleep on the big chair and Aura jumped up on the ottoman in front of it. Charlie hissed, and Aura layed down slowly. Charlie then put his head down and the two went to sleep.

The two aren’t best friends and probably never will be. But considering Charlie is 14, he is doing great. They do play and scrap, and sometimes they sleep within a few feet of each other. Aura is a bundle of energy and Charlie is dealing with that wonderfully. He still growls and hisses at her, but she attacks him anyway. I try to distract her with toys when I feel that Charlie would like a break, but overall I think the kitten is giving Charlie an energy boost.

Ever since a rise in pet food recalls and problems with contaminated pet food, pet owners are getting more educated regarding the pet food industry. Many are doing their research and finding out that dogs and cats were designed by nature to digest natural, unprocessed food that consists primarily of protein.

Dry kibble, no matter how “premium,” is not healthy for any dog or cat, especially one with health issues of any kind. Kibble is high in carbohydrates, and the brands that boast they are low-carbohydrates are not compensated with extra protein–making it even lower in quality and nutrition. Kibble often derives its proteins from plants rather than meats, meaning it does not supply your pet with his basic nutritional needs. This includes Science Diet and other dry kibble prescribed by your veterinarian.

“It’s important to note that veterinarians have no formal education in nutrition, vitamins, minerals, or supplementation unless they seek it out themselves outside of their training,” said Dr. Carol Osborne, DVM, a holistic veterinarian who practices in Chagrin Falls, Ohio.

Of prescription food like Hill’s, Dr. Carol said, “these diets are commercial, not organic, and filled with chemicals and by-products. The more we get such ingredients our of our bodies the better; for pets and humans alike.”

Enter home-cooking and raw food.  Read the rest of this article…

I have been on a quest, ever since the major pet food recall two years ago, to find great food for my dog. Sometimes I get lazy and feed him the same food for too long, when I know that variety is healthier.

After a recent visit to the vet, we were told to start replacing 1/3 of Mr. Blue’s food with veggies. The results were great. He had had two lumps on his back end that turned out to be “fat pockets.” After a few weeks of adding veggies into his food, the lumps are at least 50% smaller. That was a great inspiration in finding other options for him.

Today I was at the pet store and noticed Evanger’s 100% meat canned food, which is meant to supplement your dog’s usual meal or add as a topper. I almost purchased some, but then I thought I might as well just give him fresh meat from the store rather than canned. Then I went home to research Evanger’s and found Dr. Marty Goldstein, a holistic vet who has appeared on Oprah and has a radio show, “Ask Martha’s Vet,” on Sirius’ Martha Stewart Living Radio.

I was very impressed by Dr. Marty’s feeding advice and wanted to repost it here. I am currently feeding my cats raw food–both pre-made and actual raw–but haven’t done that yet for my 70 pound dog for cost’s sake (he gets Nature’s Variety Instinct grain-free dry and canned). This advice, however, is the perfect encouragement to get me on a better path for him, step by step. Here is Dr. Marty’s chart, which flows from most to least healthy:

The chart below outlines how our feeding choices for our pets (companion carnivores) can affect their health. The closer to the upper level choices, the better the chance for optimal health. You will likely be in the middle ranges most of the time. That is fine, as long as you always press toward the ideal.

Ideal – Healthiest

1. Hunted, raw prey (not realistic in modern society)

2. Fresh raw meats, bones, organ meats with very small amounts of fresh vegetables. Include a well-rounded vitamin/mineral mix and omega 3 essential fatty acids (salmon oil). You can prepare your own raw diet using meat/bone pieces and parts, or you can use pre-prepared ground products such as Bravo! and Nature’s Variety.

3. Fresh cooked meats, calcium, organ meat, with very small amounts of fresh vegetables. Include a vitamin/mineral mix, and omega 3 essential fatty acids (salmon oil). There are several books on the market that help you create your own home-cooked diet. It’s best to follow the recipes in these books.

4. Ultra Premium commercial canned foods and augmented with some fresh, raw foods. Canned foods, which are lower in carbohydrates, are much better for your pet than dry kibble. Some of the brands I like are Nature’s Variety, Merrick, and Evanger’s. These products are mostly meat, are usually grain-free, and very low in carbohydrates. The meat they use is human quality and they do not use by-products or chemical preservatives.

5. As in #4 above, but adding fresh cooked foods

6. Ultra Premium canned commercial foods WITHOUT fresh raw or cooked foods added

7. Super Premium canned foods are very much like the brands above, but they use more grains. They still use good quality meats and don’t contain by-products. Brand examples: Solid Gold, Innova, Pet Promise.

8. Super Premium grain-free dry food (kibble) like Instinct by Nature’s Variety

9. Premium canned foods. These brands use substantially less meat. Water is often the number 1 ingredient (in the Ultra Premium brands meat is the number one ingredient), they use meat by-products (poor quality waste parts) and they usually contain significant amounts of grains and chemical preservatives. Often, if all the grains are added together, they would equal or exceed the meat. The meat quality is OK, but just barely.

10. Super Premium kibble like Innova, Prairie, Canidae, and Timberwolf

11. Grocery store brands – canned or dry. These contain very little meat, are made with substantial amounts of meat by-products, and primarily consist of grain and grain by-products. The rendered meat used in these products came from condemned animals, ie – animals that were deemed unfit for human consumption. These products normally contain artificial colors, flavors and chemical preservatives.

Worst – Unhealthy

Nutro pet food is again being investigated by the FDA following TWO YEARS of reports of sickness and death in pets being fed the “premium” food.

For many of us, trying to figure out those pet food labels is liking trying to read a foreign language. You recognize a few words, figure those sound good, and give it a go. “Oh, Chicken, that’s good. Whole grains? Sounds great!” I fed my pets Nutro for years after I could no longer afford to feed them Innova and California Natural. I figured feeding them one of the higher priced brands available at a place like PetSmart would more than suffice. After all, before PetSmart and premium pet foods came along, pets did fine on Purina and Friskies.

I even ignored the first round of pet food recalls in 2007. My pets seemed fine, I trusted Nutro. The girl I had gotten my dog from had fed him Nutro, too. I simply read the labels and cross-referenced with “tainted product” lists with dates and continued to buy the food once I knew the shelves had been cleared of anything dangerous.

But late in 2007, my two cats started vomiting more and more often. Once a week became twice a week. Twice a week became every other day. When every other day became daily, I started doing my research. It didn’t take much forum and blog reading to get me to throw out ALL my Nutro food and go back to truly premium pet food.

All my pets have been off Nutro for over a year now. The minute I switched my cats, the vomiting ended for one of them. For the other, it took a switch to raw food to end his vomiting and diarrhea. The dog had only vomited once while on Nutro, thankfully. We were the lucky ones. Many have lost their pets to mysterious symptoms and quickly escalating illness.

If you’re looking for a new food you can rely on, I highly suggest Nature’s Variety–which makes canned, raw, and dry–and Wellness. There are many other safe foods out there, but chances are you won’t currently find them at PetSmart or your local grocery store.

Recently, some readers have asked me what’s the best dry food to feed a pet who has chronic diarrhea, or what food to feed a cat that vomits often. Of course when these readers look to the internet for some answers, the first thing they hear is “take them to the vet!” And it’s true that these symptoms could be any number of serious problems. But some pet owners are pretty sure they have a healthy pet on their hands, EXCEPT for the diarrhea, or the vomiting, or a skin or ear or eye issue. And if that’s true, the key might be diet.**

If you think you need to change your pet’s food, here are some tips.

1. If your pet is currently experiencing a bout of diarrhea, give their digestive system a break by fasting them for the rest of the day. That’s right, skip supper for the dog and pick up the free-fed kibble for the cat. Resist giving in to those pleading puppy dog eyes and pitiful cat meows. They will be ok. And their butts will get a break.

2. When it’s time to feed them again (at least 12 hours later), give them a bland meal of boiled chicken and rice. This won’t upset their system and will digest easily. Feed them this meal for a day or two and hopefully the diarrhea will clear up.

3. Gradually start introducing the food you want to try. For recurrent diarrhea, vomiting, and chronic skin issues, if you really want to stick to kibble, give GRAIN FREE pet food a try. Troubling symptoms like these are often caused by grains in commercial pet food. For thousands of years, dogs and cats ate what they were created to eat: raw prey, protein, bones, organs, etc. In the 1900s, commercial pet food started being manufactured for convenience, and it was made cheaply with fillers, carbs and empty calories. Dogs and cats were meant to eat meat and protein. It’s no wonder they often suffer a myriad of problems when they are fed dry cereal day after day. Grains are often the culprit; our pets sometimes become *allergic* to their food. Start feeding grain-free and see if it helps. My favorites are Nature’s Variety and Wellness.

4. Don’t feed just dry food, and don’t feed one food forever. Your pet should get some canned food every day, alone or mixed in with dry. You might even want to try feeding more canned than dry or all canned. There are a few reasons for this:

A) It is a myth that dry food keeps your pet’s teeth clean. You need to brush their teeth and take them to the vet for teeth cleanings regardless of what you feed them. Both of my kibble-fed cats lost their teeth and had to have teeth removed as they aged.

B) What is the main piece of advice that any doctor give you when you are sick? Get more fluids. This is true for pets, too, and the best way to get them more moisture is to FEED them more moisture. Canned food delivers more nutrition, more efficiently. It is great for prevention and helping during illness.

C) Kibble-only diets are notorious for causing carb addiction, which can lead to obesity and diabetes (just like in humans who love their cookies and bread and chips!). They also can cause kidney problems because of the lack of moisture, especially in cats who aren’t as keen drinkers as dogs are. I cringe when I hear that a cat had a UTI and is now to strictly only eat Science Diet kibble. There are better foods for pets with UTI’s than that food, and treating a bladder infection with only dry food does NOT make sense.

D) Pets need variety in their diet. Feeding only one food over time can cause allergic reactions and their body can start to “reject” the food. If you rotate their foods carefully, their system will not only get used to the variety but it will thrive. I often read about how the oldest living pets, such as Baby the cat, who lived to be well over 35 years old,  and Chanel the 20 year old Dachshund, were fed a large variety of food throughout their long lives, including whatever their humans were having. Of course you need to do your research about what NOT to feed your pet, but variety is the spice of life.

5. Some pets with compromised digestive systems cannot sufficiently break down and process dry kibble. Often these pets have Irritable Bowel Disease. You might find, as I did with my cat, that even grain free kibble does not end the diarrhea. The only cure for him was raw food, and I hope you’ll consider looking into that option if nothing else helps. (You can also try home-cooked meals; just do your research on the nutrients pets need. Dogs and cats have different needs.)

In response to my blog post about how raw food cured my cat’s vomiting and diarrhea, a representative from Nature’s Variety sent me the following email:

“I work as a demonstrator for Nature’s Variety and am absolutely ecstatic that our food helped your kitty so much! I also wanted to pass along some nutritional information that applies to both cats and dogs. There are four main things you want to avoid when purchasing any pet food. Check the ingredients for CORN, WHEAT, SOY and BY-PRODUCTS. Any food without those 4 should be an excellent food.

Corn, wheat and soy have little to no nutritional value and are used as inexpensive proteins (fillers). They can cause terrible digestive problems and also excess shedding and skin problems. By-products are what’s left after animals are processed for human consumption. It’s deemed unacceptable for humans but some companies think it’s ok to use as another source of cheap protein in their pet foods.

Another great tip is to use rotational feeding so pets don’t develop allergies or other problems associated with feeding the same food regularly. Plus they won’t get bored with their food!”

More info on this topic can be found at catinfo.org, a very helpful web site written by a Veterinarian Lisa M. Pierson. I hope it helps you as much as it did me!

**Note: I’m not saying not to take your pet to the vet. But if you have and you can’t find a problem,
or you don’t want to go on yet another round of antibiotics just yet, trying some of these ideas
might hit the gold mine. It did for me and my cat Oscar when I put him on raw food!

When a cat begins vomiting more frequently, or having diarrhea, many cat owners become nervous; myself included. Often we begin internet search before a vet visit, or after one if the vet has no or few answers for us. Early in 2008, both my cats began vomiting a few times a week and, more upsetting, my 13 year old Persian cat started having chronic diarrhea. Here is my in-depth account about how I cured my cat of his chronic diarrhea. I made one change to his diet and the diarrhea never returned.

A vet prescribed antibiotic, but the diarrhea only went away for 2 days and returned midway through the antibiotic treatment. The vet said if the antibiotic didn’t help, he would need to start performing tests for more serious ailments and it could be anything, even cancer. But I thought before going that route, I’d start researching cat food to get a better idea of what I was feeding them.

I had been feeding them Nutro dry and canned for years, and although I knew it wasn’t the healthiest brand available, I was comfortable with it because it was more healthy than the grocery store brands and one of the best at PetSmart.

After some research, I tried to switch him to California Natural, which was marketed as being free of fillers and better for “sensitive systems.” I started learning that cats bodies can start to reject a food that is fed to them too long, and their bodies can become “allergic” to it. No vet had ever said anything like that to me. I would later learn about IBD (Irritable bowel disease).

My cat’s diarrhea and vomiting did not improve even after a very slow, very careful switch to California Natural. The more reading I did, the more I kept seeing the phrases “grain free” and “raw food.” At first, I scanned completely over any article that said “raw” because that seemed too far off the deep end to me. I also didn’t think you could feed RAW food to a cat that was having diarrhea…after all, the vet had prescribed antibiotics because of bacteria, so how could I give my cat bacteria laden raw food?!

Then one day I stumbled upon a post from a cat owner on a pet forum whose cat was having the same symptoms as mine – diarrhea every day, vomiting every few days. She gave her cat raw food one day, and the diarrhea stopped that very same day. She said one month later, the diarrhea had not returned. Wow. If the result was that immediate for her, maybe I could give it a try. If the seemingly best commercial cat food out there (California Natural) and raw food didn’t help, then I’d go back to the vet for those tests.

I researched and researched raw food for cats and found a site by a veterinarian that explained it fully. She explained how to make it at home and even recommended a couple of pre-made brands that she felt were the next best thing if you really didn’t want to make it yourself. So I thought I’d buy one of these brands just to see if there was any change in my cat.

The brand I bought was Nature’s Variety. (Side note here: although I would love to sell their food at my pet gift shop, GoFetchGifts.com, I am unable to get it from any distributor because I do not have a loading ramp. So rest assured I don’t sell this food, I simply love the brand for saving my cat.) They sell three pound bags of one-ounce medallions. My cat, being a small 8 pounds, would need about 3 medallions a day. I defrosted one and put it in his bowl. Much to my surprise, Oscar–who had always been an OK eater but not an enthusiastic one–wolfed this medallion down like it was his first meal in weeks, then stared at me waiting for more! He had NEVER been that excited to eat in his life, except maybe the day I found him in a cold alley in Chicago during the winter of 1997. He never wolfed down aroma filled canned food or even dry food that fast. I couldn’t believe it and quickly defrosted another medallion for him, which was again wolfed down. My other cat wanted nothing to do with this weird raw food but I didn’t care about that right now, he was more healthy than Oscar.

So I sat back and waited, and watched. At this point, about two months after Oscar’s diarrhea had begun, he was leaving me about 5 runny piles per day (all over the house!); so I didn’t have to wait long. For the rest of the day there was no diarrhea. The next morning, he used the litter box and left a mushy, but almost solid dropping. The next day, completely solid. And that’s it. I kept feeding him Nature’s Variety raw, and the diarrhea and vomiting NEVER returned!

I got another surprise, too. Being a Persian cat, Oscar at one time was very fluffy. He hadn’t been fluffy for years, and I attributed that to his age. I had told vets that he had lost his fluff, but none of them ever said anything about it or seemed worried about it. Two weeks after Oscar’s start on raw, I looked at him one day and said to my friend, “am I crazy or does Oscar look a little fuller in his coat?”

One month later there was no mistaking it – Oscar’s fluffy undercoat was growing back for the first time in years!!! He was also more energetic. He was playing again. He was singing songs and chasing “ghosts.” He was a kitten again, at the ripe age of 13! Here I had been crying, thinking he was so old his body was failing him…thinking the tests at the vet would be so expensive I’d have to put him to sleep because I wouldn’t be able to afford care. And all I needed to do, for now, was change his diet.

So what had happened? Oscar had either become allergic to the food I’d fed him for so long, or his body could no longer break down and process any nutrition from dry food or even processed canned…possibly due to age. But I am now convinced that I hadn’t been giving his body the proper source of nutrients. He is a cat and I was not feeding him like one. And the entire pet food industry made me feel like I was feeding him the best. My friends and I had sworn by Nutro canned and dry for years. My cat was simply one of those cats that could not handle processed foods.

There are many options in feeding cats raw food. Click here to learn about the different ways to feed raw to cats. Some cats do fine on dry and canned food. But some cats don’t, and I would recommend all owners of cats suffering from diarrhea, allergies, and IBD to try raw food. It is unprocessed and grain-free, and it might be just what your cat needs.

There are also some natural treatments for diarrhea in cats that can be given instead of, or in conjunction with, antibiotics. These include probiotics and slippery elm, safe treatments you can buy today at a vitamin store.