Pet recall-is Hill's Science Diet treats/buscuits poisonous?

Answer 1

Save yourself the hassle of trying to keep up with a list that may or may not be complete. Avoid any food that has Wheat Gluten listed as an ingredient.

It's time for pet owners to wake up and take responsibility for what they feed their animals and quit trusting what those great big money hungry companies tell you. Research for yourself, learn, read the ingredients and make an informed decision for the health and safety of your beloved pet.

With the recall, wheat gluten is the big suspect in cat food that everyone is trying to avoid, and it SHOULD be avoided. It should have been avoided all along. It’s nothing more than a cheap protein source used as a binding agent by pet food companies.

Corn should always be avoided as well. It’s a huge filler worth NOTHING. Corn as an ingredient in pet food is a joke. Ever seen a starving cat or dog chewing on a corn cob in a field? No, you haven’t.

As you search for your new pet food, be aware that there are three Categories of Pet Foods:

-"Grocery store" foods – (Generic Brands and cheap name brands) Those foods found in grocery stores and mass-market retailers are made with lower-quality, less-digestible, inexpensive ingredients and are therefore a cheaper alternative. While easy on the pocketbook, "grocery store" foods normally do not provide your cat with the healthiest, most nutrient-dense ingredients.

-Premium foods – (Iams/Eukanuba, Purina One, Hills Science Diet, Nutro and such) Foods often found in grocery stores, pet stores, and veterinarian offices that contain higher-grade ingredients, but still include many elements of "grocery store" food, such as artificial colors, artificial flavors, chemical preservatives, and "filler" ingredients such as corn and wheat products, by-products and even animal digest. Yuck! Premium foods are usually more expensive than "grocery store" foods because their ingredients are sometimes of a higher quality, and are therefore somewhat more beneficial and digestible. But don’t be fooled, some of those same so called Premium brands are sometimes worse than grocery store foods, but they charge prices like they are better. They aren’t!

-Healthy foods – (Wellness, Eagle Pack, Drs Foster and Smith) The newest addition to the pet food market - provide pets with the highest quality, healthiest, and most nutritious ingredients. They are typically available for purchase online or direct from the manufacturer. Some better retailers are starting to carry them now. Complete Petmart carries a few healthy brand foods. Foods in the Healthy class - contain nutrient-rich ingredients. Formulated to provide optimum health benefits for pets, these foods often use real meat as the primary protein source, carbohydrate-rich whole grains like brown rice and barley and whole, fresh fruits and vegetables. They should not contain artificial preservatives, flavors, or colors. They will almost always be fortified with additional vitamins and minerals, and will use the best natural sources for fatty acids to help build healthy skin and a beautiful coat. Because healthy foods use high quality ingredients, you should expect to pay a little more than you would for other types of pet food. Remember, though, with healthy foods you can feed less since healthy foods are more nutrient-dense than other types of food so it often evens out or cost’s les than feeding foods filled with cheap non-nutritional by-products fillers.


With all that information in mind, when you are choosing a new food, study the ingredients. All ingredients on pet food labels are listed by weight. Meaning whatever ingredients are listed first on the list, there is more in there. The first ingredients listed should be whole meat ingredients, protein sources, such as Chicken or Turkey. NOT just the word “meat”! Who the heck knows what that is? The word Chicken Meal is ok, but it should be a secondary ingredient, not first. Meal is the meat dehydrated and ground into a powder.

The ingredients also should NOT include any by-products or animal digest whatsoever. Those are disgusting left over animal parts that are scraped off the filthy floors of meat and poultry plants. They should just go into the trash but they put them into pet food instead. EW!!!!

Also make sure there are no artificial colors or flavors. And make sure there is no BHA and BHT used preservatives. These preservatives have been shown to cause cancer in both cats and dogs. Bad Bad stuff and it’s in almost every cat treat on the market. :(

So, in summery of the ingredients… if you see the words by-products, Animal Digest, the word “meat” alone, Corn, Corn Gluten, Wheat Gluten, or BHA or BHT… stop reading and put down that bag.

Be aware that when switching to a Healthy, Holistic or Organic food, you will pay for what you get. Good foods are not cheap. They are pricey and will cost you on a per bag basis much more. Just like steak costs more than hotdogs. But again, you will be feeding a better food and improving the over all health of your pet. Which in turn leads to less vet visits for illness now and more importantly later in life in their Geriatric years. You will also feed less of this food on a per animal basis because a smaller amount of food contains what your cat needs. Overall healthy foods are well worth it, if only for the piece of mind that the ingredients are safer.

What are some good foods I recommend? I feed my cats Drs. Foster and Smith Holistic Adult Lite Dry cat food along with a mix of Wellness Dry. I also feed Merrick Canned.

I purchase Drs. Foster and Smith online and have it automatically delivered to my door so I never run out and never have to go get it. It’s one of the best foods on the market and has no “fillers” in it. It is also very reasonably priced compared to other holistic foods. And when you’re feeding as many cats as I am, price is as important as ingredients. If you can't afford it, you can't feed it. So buy the highest quality you can and feel good that you are doing the absolute best you can for your pet.

If you want to buy in a store, Complete Petmart is a good store and carries quite a few natural, organic, and holistic blends. Also check with your local feed stores. Old Mother Hubbard Wellness Brand is a great holistic food I feed. As is Eagle Pack Dry Cat food. Merrick canned is also a great source of nutrition and they will be coming out with a dry line this summer. Some brands, not all, of Nutro cat food are semi-ok if you want to spend less money, however I personally would never chose their food for nutritional value.

I highly recommend people take the time to research for themselves, but the information I have given should get you off to a good start. Good luck choosing a new food for your cats!

Side note… Please don’t feed Iams / Eukanuba. It’s ALL fillers, byproducts, animal digest and CRAP. Read the ingredients! There is nothing good for your cat in that food. Not to mention they conduct the most appalling animal testing you have ever seen. http://www.iamscruelty.com to see the terror they create.

Drs. F&S Food Link - http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/NavResults.cfm?N=2002+6000

Wellness Food Link - http://www.oldmotherhubbard.com/wellness/cat_index.html

Eagle Pack Holistic Select - http://www.eaglepack.com/Pages/HS_Home.html

Merrick Foods: http://www.merrickpetcare.com/


****DO NOT FEED IAMS!**** http://www.iamscruelty.com

Answer 2

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

Answer 3

only if it has wheat gluten...