Purina Pro

[StaceyW]

Anyone know anything about this food? I know there have been lots of food discussions but dont remember anything about this one. Our vet says it is good and doesnt feel there is any reason to buy anything more $$.

[2loqbxc1f3777]

I feed Taste of the Wild.....love it, all life stages and comes in 3 flavors I can use interchangeabley....What is your pup on now? If you transition over do it slowly as some will get diarrhea...I have found with TOTW, there are little transition issues, and none within the 3 flavors....also how much water is your guy drinking???

Carol and the SCL doodle crew

[Lynne Fowler-Oodles of Doodles]

Monday, May 14, 2007

Nationwide Class Action Lawsuit Filed Against Pet Food Companies and Retailers For Misleading Consumers Regarding the Contents of Pet Food

"Premium" Pet Food Marketed and Sold as "Complete and Balanced" Has Historically Contained Such Items as Euthanized Dogs and Cats, Restaurant Grease, Hair, Hooves, and Diseased Animals, and Other Inedible Garbage


The Defendants targeted in the Complaint produce pet foods under a wide array of brands and names including: Pedigree®, Sheba®, Goodlife Recipe®, Royal Canine, Iams®, Eukanuba®, Science Diet®, Prescription Diet®, 9 Lives®, Amore®, Gravy Train®, Kibbles-n-Bits® and Nature's Recipe®, Snausages®, Milk Bone®, Pup-Peroni®, Meaty Bone®, Canine's Carry Outs®, Jerky Treats®, Wagwells®, Alpo®, Beneful®, Beggin' Strips®, Dog, Cat, Puppy and Kitten Chow®, Fancy Feast®, Friskies®, Mighty Dog®, Deli-Cat®, Pro Plan®, Purina One®, Natural Choice® Dog and Cat Products, Max® Dog Products, Max® Cat Gourmet Classics, Natural Choice® Complete Care® for cats, UltraTM Products for dogs, Americas Choice Preferred Pets, Authority, Award, Best Choice, Big Bet, Big Red, Cadillac, Companion, Compliments, Demoulus Market Basket, Eukanuba, Fine Feline Cat, Food Lion, Food Town, Giant Companion, Hannaford, Hill Country Fare, Hy-Vee, Iams, J.E. Mondou, Laura Lynn, Li'l Red, Loving Meals, Medi-Cal, Meijer's Main Choice, Mighty Dog Pouch, Mixables, Natural Life, Nutriplan, Nutro Max, Nutro Max Gourmet Classics, Nutro Natural Choice, Ol' Roy, Paws, Pet Essentials, Pet Pride, President's Choice, Price Chopper, Priority US, Publix, Roche Brothers, Save-a-Lot Special Blend, Schnucks, Science Diet Feline Savory Cuts Cans, Sophistacat, Special Kitty, Springfield Prize, Sprout, Stop and Shop Companion, Tops Companion, Wegmans, Weis Total Pet, Western family US, White Rose, Winn Dixie, Your Pet, LIFELongTM, Ol' Roy and Special Kitty brands of pet food.

A nationwide class action against food industry giants Mars, Inc., Proctor and Gamble Co., Colgate Palmolive Company, Del Monte Foods, Co., and Nestle U.S.A. Inc. These manufacturers
have a combined approximate 70% of the market share in the $16 billion dollar a year pet food industry. The suit also names as Defendants Nutro Products, Inc., Menu Foods, Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. Target Corp., Publix Supermarkets, Inc., Winn Dixie Stores, Inc., as manufacturers and marketers of their own brand pet food and retailers PETCO Animal Supplies, Inc., Pet Supermarket, Inc., and Petsmart Inc.

The Plaintiffs maintain that these companies have spent $300 million a year in making false and misleading marketing statements regarding the contents of their pet food to the dog and cat loving American public. While these Defendants tout their pet food products as choice cuts of prime beef, chunks of chicken, fish, fresh wholesome vegetables and whole grains to induce consumers to buy them, the Plaintiffs contend the food is actually made from "inedible" slaughterhouse waste products of the human food chain such as spines, heads, tails, hooves, hair, and blood. Rendering companies who process this waste have also added other inedible "waste" such as euthanized cats and dogs from veterinarian offices and animal shelters, road kill, zoo animals, rancid restaurant grease, toxic chemicals and additives. Additionally, dead animals and those declared unfit for human consumption due to disease and illness are also placed in the mix.

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Any food made by The Nestle Company is an inferior quality food produced in bulk with low quality and questionable ingredients and made by a company whose bottom line is more important than the health of our pets. They were part of the 2007 recalls that killed thousands of pets. My vet, after the recalls were announced, recommended Beneful (another Purina Product), I now have a new vet. Come join The Food Group, here on Doodle Kisses. The Discussion, "Commercial Foods: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly," is a great place for you to start your education.

[HANNAH 8/2/07 & HONEY 7/2/08]

I like to feed Fromm, because of the variety and quality of the food. I also know dogs who are on Purina Pro Plan and do just as well with it, some living to 16 years of age.

[Kyoko]

If you look at the ingredients of Purina products, they do not have a good stuff in them. Mainly corn, by-products meals, animal digests, etc.... Wikipedia states "Animal Digest is a common ingredient used in pet foods. As defined by the AAFCO, it is produced by chemically or enzymatically treating animal tissue (such as flesh, bone, organs, etc.) from slaughterhouses and other sources, in a process akin to rendering."
Purina dry kibbles are rates 1 star on dog food analysis. http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com/

I didn't know anything about these either until DK. My old dog ate Purina Beneful for years. But now I use Fromm, and Halo for both of my dogs for their quality. Now I know what's in those food, I will not feed them to mine.
If you read through http://www.doodlekisses.com/group/thefoodgroup/forum/topics/commerc...
:Commercial foods - the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly" in food group, you will learn a lot about the commercial food.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Stacey, I second Lynne & Kyoko's advice...come join The Food Group!
Many veterinarians have only the most rudimentary education in nutrition, with the materials usually provided by the dog food companies. This is not to disparage anyone's vet, but information about dog food companies is not really their area of expertise. The problem nowadays with many of the grocery store brands is that they import their ingredients from China, which did not happen years ago. Prior to the world trade agreemnts, you could buy cheap food and know that while it may have contained chicken beaks and other disgusting items, at least it didn't contain melamine from China.
Come join us in the Food Group and have some fun learning with us. Your doodle will reap the benefits!!

[LuvMyAbby&Kaela]

You will be amazed at the difference an "expensive" top rated food makes. When I got Abby I decided to invest in Origen Puppy Food. My old dog was always on Beneful. He started eating Abby's food on his own and I left it at that. He is 12 yrs old and is looking fantastic. He actually looks like he has gained some youth back. I though he was just old before but abviously his diet wasnt good. (I thought it was) Live and Learn.

Also I pay $69+tax for the large bag (29.7lbs) but I feed both dogs and it lasts 2 months. Not bad at all.

[Kai Doodle (Kathy & Keith)]

We feed Kai Honest Kitchen (Made in California) , it is a dehydrated complete food that we add cooked veggies, some fruit, yogurt and meat. We only add things that are human quality. (If we wouldn't eat it, he doesn't) After the tragedy of the pets lost in the pet food debacle it just wasn't worth it to us to worry about it.

[Yvonne N]

We are feeding Purina Pro Plan Selects, which our vet also thinks is good. She said it had very important items and it didin't have the things you don't want a dog to eat...many of which cause allergies etc. I faxed her the nutritional info. Wish you the best of luck with this decision. Oh and poops are solid...not a soft one since we started it.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I just looked at the ingredients in each of the four Purina Pro Plan Selects foods which are reviewed on the Dog Food Analysis site. Every one of them contains menadione, which is synthetic vitamin K, and has been linked to liver disease in dogs. It has been eliminated from all of the higher quality foods. Three of the four foods contains corn gluten high on the ingredients lists. Corn gluten is the number one allergy provoking ingredients for dogs.
The company does not state that they do not use ethoxyquin, a preservative linked to cancer in dogs. All formulas also include unspecified animal fats, which you definitely don't want your dog eating, and beet pulp, which is an ingredient that is somewhat controversial, although probably not harmful. I don't think your vet has any information about these issues, many vets don't, and probably only has the printed material provided by the sales rep, which states that the food doesn't have bad things in it. " Very important" items in dog food would be adequate protein content and nutrients, and you will find those in almost any food you look at. Again, this doesn't mean your vet isn't an excellent vet; it means your vet isn't an excellent canine nutritionist. Very few of them are.
At the very least, I would contact the company for an assurance that they do not import ingredients from China, do not use ethoxyquin, and that Menu foods has no role in the production of the food. Unfotunately, they can't do that, because all of these things are true of all Purina products.
Read the reviews for yourself, and give them to your vet.
http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com/dog_food_reviews/showproduct.php?pro...

[Lynda Kamrath]

Thanks for sharing your research. My labradoodle has just had a second bout with jaundice and liver disease and we have not been able to determine the source. I go back to the vet tomorrow to see if he is cleared. He finished his medications yesterday. He has been on two liver medications, steroids, and antibiotics. This time we caught it soon enough that he did not need to be hospitalized and have surgery like two years ago. He has been eating Solid Gold Adult Formula and I checked for menadione, but it all seems to be healthy ingredients. I'll discuss it with my vet tomorrow. He has been eating cooked meat (human quality) and Happy Dog (veges and vitamins) while he was sick and we have gradually added some Solid Gold dry food. He has a good appetite now, and seems to be back to normal. Synthetic vitamin K??? Why would someone give this to a dog? Beats me.

[StaceyW]

Thanks all- I'm convinced. Ollie still has really loose stools and is always ravenous. We are waiting stool culture test results but I just went online and ordered some Taste of the Wild - should be here in a couple of days and we will give it a try!

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Solid Gold products do NOT contain menadione.
From "The Dog Food Project":

Menadione is added as an inexpensive vitamin K supplement in commercial foods. The common statement as to why it is added is "to help with blood clotting", yet it is scientifically proven that the effectivity of menadione on blood clotting is inferior. Even veterinarians will administer vitamin K1 as an antidote to dogs who have for example ingested rat poison, which causes internal bleeding.
Manufacturers who use menadione in their products also like to claim that it is "more stable" than natural vitamin K and has "more nutritional value". Not a single one of them has acknowledged the scientifically proven side effects of this substance.
It is simple to come to a conclusion about the truth in these statements when you consider that
not all pet food companies add menadione to their foods and dogs have eaten these products for years without developing deficiencies
the National Research Council was not able to demonstrate a dietary requirement for vitamin K in dogs during tests when natural ingredients were fed and
fish meals, liver and green plant supplements (e.g. alfalfa, kelp and other seaweed, nettle leaf, blue-green algae, spirulina) are rich sources of natural vitamin K.
Watch out:
Some manufacturers leave out the "menadione" part of the above chemical names in their ingredient lists (e.g. you see only "dimethylprimidinol sulfate" listed instead of "menadione dimethylprimidinol sulfate"), and menadione does not only occur in dry and canned foods, but edible chew toys, supplements and treats as well.
Thoroughly research any item with an ingredient list that claims a "source of vitamin K", "source of vitamin K activity" or "vitamin K" in parentheses and contact the manufacturer if you have any questions.


Read the full article about mandione here:
http://www.dogfoodproject.com/index.php?page=menadione