It may be in their contract with the manufacturer that they can't disclose where their food is made.  Not saying it's right, but there may be a legal reason why they can't disclose.

Sarah, coming to all the various blogs, looking for questions and answering them definitely takes more time than simply opening an email and answering the questions in an email.  There are so many blogs an forums covering the pet food recall that it is hard for me, as a consumer, to keep up.  I'm sure it is even more difficult for the small pet food companies who don't have a large staff devoted to answering phone calls and emails (Kumpi and Orijen are two such companies that come to mind.)

People are getting upset when they don't receive an immediate reply.  But people don't realize that a lot of these small companies that produce high quality foods are SWAMPED right now.  They are overwhelmed with emails and phone calls, so it is hard for them to answer them in a timely fashion.  I do know that everyone I have spoken to who has CALLED Kumpi or Orijen has been very impressed with the answers to their questions that they have received.  Email replies are taking longer, because they have received so many of them.  Questions posted on blogs (here and at Itchmo) sometimes aren't answered right away, and then people get upset and suspicious.  But people don't seem to realized that visiting blogs and forums, and wading through all the posts to find ones devoted to a particular company, takes time.  (Here finding the posts doesn't necessarily take time, because the forum is divided according to brand, but it still takes more time to visit a website than it does to open an email.)

We all want what's best for our pets, and so many people are becoming suspicious.  But having spoken with some of these small, high quality companies, I know that they are truly overwhelmed by the volume of inquiries they have had, and it is taking them time to answer them all.

Kumpi and Orijen are the two companies I have seen that have been honestly trying to answer people's questions.  I have chosen to feed Orijen for the moment, since it has been approved for import into the EU, and the regulations governing pet food an its import into the EU are very stringent and strictly enforced.  Ever since mad cow disease became an issue, all pet food in the EU must be made with human grade ingredients, so I am confident in Orijen's quality.

Symbaandtrooper - glad to hear you've found something that seems to be working!

Orijen continues to be eaten by my Sphynx (mixed in with some of his other dry food) with no problems.   It looks like now I'll have to start searching for a wet food to feed him when we move back to Canada.

And by the way, if anyone has any advice on how to deal with this situation, I'd really appreciate it!!

I've never owned dogs, so don't have any experience with dogs and cat litter, but how big is your dog?  If your dog is medium-to-large, could you maybe get litterboxes that have a flap door, so that the dog can't get into the litter?  If your dog is small and can fit through, that obviously won't work.

Yesterday was day 2 of mixing Orijen into my cat's dry food (and today is day 3).  Still no problems.   He's happily eating it and he hasn't thrown up once since I started mixing it in.

My package of Orijen Cat Food arrived yesterday, and I mixed a bit into my Sphynx' other dry food.  So far, so good!  He happily eats it, and no stomach upset.   I'm very happy so far - he has a bit of a sensitive stomach, so sometimes will vomit when I try a new food.  But not this time.  I'll keep everyone updated as I continue to feed this, but so far, so good.

Very true, Sylvia.  There is a lot of confusion and misinformation out there.  Even substances that we require for life (ie. water) can be poisonous if too much is consumed (too much water can lead to a deadly condition known as hypoanatremia.)   And certain substances are totally harmless alone, but can be harmful when combined together.

People are rightly upset and paranoid, but in some cases I've seen the paranoia go way too far, where people who don't understand basic chemistry are claiming that certain substances are lethal or poisonous when those substances are harmless (but may be used to make a harmful substance.)  They focus on one component in a chemical compound, instead of looking at the compound itself, which will have its own unique properties.  Or they take what they have read on the internet as gospel truth, when I have biochemistry texts, physiology texts, and science journals that contradict those web sites.  (Granted, my experience is with human physiology and nutrition, but many of the principles are the same.)

Gary, Wysong had written a fairly condescending page in which they talked down to pet owners who were boycotting Menu foods due to the recall.  They have since withdrawn that page and replaced it with one that has a better tone, but still isn't very complementary.  If you go to http://www.wysong.net/ and click on the "further reading" link under "Wysong and the Pet Food Recall" you can see their current page.

They also have a page on the recall here: http://www.wysong.net/april20.shtml

Their first "defence" of Menu Foods was insulting to pet owners, so I'm not surprised they removed it from their web site when they realized how angry it was making consumers!  I was able to find it cached on Google:
http://209.85.135.104/search?q=cache:dxrELQA0YqoJ:www.wysong.net/menufoods.shtml+wysong+menu+foods&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=1&client=opera

At this point, I guess I'll keep feeding them Canidae for now, because it's still the only one I can find that guarantees all ingredients are fom the U.S., does not produce food in any shared space with recalled brands, and has an ingredient list I feel good about-- some of the others I was looking at today (all the Natura ones) have phenyalinine (however you spell it) listed as an ingredient, which is basically aspartame. 

Phenylalanine is NOT aspartame.  It is an essential amino acid that humans require for health (I'm not sure about cats and dogs, but it is essential for humans to obtain phenylalanine from their diets.)

Another food you might want to look at is Orijen - all Canadian ingredients, antibiotic-free, hormone-free and not associated with any of the companies involved in the recall (they make their own products.)  They are Canadian, however, and use Canadian ingredients, so if you are looking for US-only products, then it won't be the right one for you.  I, however, have trust in quality Canadian and EU products, where the standards are at least as high, and in some cases higher, than those in the U.S.

Phenylalanine is NOT the same as aspartame.

Phenylalanine is an essential alpha-amino acid.  It is one of the many amino acids that make up proteins.  We require this amino acid in our foods - that's why it is called an essential amino acid.  We NEED to eat foods that contain this amino acid.

Phenylalanine is one of the components that they use to make aspartame, but it is not aspartame.

A few individuals suffer from a disease that renders them incapable of processing phenylalanine, so they have to be careful to consume only as much as they require for health. 

Here is some reading you can do on phenylalanine:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phenylalanine
http://micro.magnet.fsu.edu/aminoacids/pages/phenylalanine.html

Oh yes, you definitely have to do your research to make sure you are getting an effective product!  Many of the probiotics out there are ineffective.  But there are also some that can be beneficial for those with IBS or other gastrointestinal problems or those taking antibiotics.

Thanks for the additional research articles.   More reading material, when I should be memorizing the bones and bone surface markings of the human body. 

Thanks Mary.  I haven't heard of those two brands, but I'll check to see if they are available in Germany, and if they are, I'll get the word out around here!

Well, for humans at least, the research that had been done on probiotics shows that they can be very effective, for a variety of ailments.  So I wouldn't necessarily call them "controversial" - the clinical studies (double blind, placebo controlled studies) have been done that show that they work.  They key is making sure you have a product that contain sufficient numbers of live cultures, and the product also needs to be stored properly.

For anyone who is interested, here are some research abstracts dealing with probiotics, prebiotics, and their effects (in humans):

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?itool=abstractplus&db=pubmed&cmd=Retrieve&dopt=abstractplus&list_uids=11470004

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=pubmed&cmd=Retrieve&dopt=AbstractPlus&list_uids=17435660&query_hl=1&itool=pubmed_docsum

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=pubmed&cmd=Retrieve&dopt=AbstractPlus&list_uids=17360077&query_hl=1&itool=pubmed_DocSum

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=pubmed&cmd=Retrieve&dopt=AbstractPlus&list_uids=17356555&query_hl=1&itool=pubmed_DocSum

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=pubmed&cmd=Retrieve&dopt=AbstractPlus&list_uids=17344505&query_hl=1&itool=pubmed_DocSum

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?itool=abstractplus&db=pubmed&cmd=Retrieve&dopt=abstractplus&list_uids=16215085

As for probiotics effectiveness in cats, I've only been able to find one research article that shows they can be effective:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=pubmed&cmd=Retrieve&dopt=AbstractPlus&list_uids=16740094&query_hl=22&itool=pubmed_docsum

DRY FOOD IS POISONOUS FOR CATS.

www.yourdiabeticcat.com
www.catinfo.org
www.catnutrition.org

Yes, some experts claim that dry food is harmful to cats, but it is hardly poisonous.  Other experts, including holistic veterinarians, animal nutritionists, and other individuals who have studied cat nutrition, have indicated that there is nothing wrong with dry food when fed in conjunction with a high quality wet food.

Dry food alone may not be the best diet for cats, but dry food fed together with wet food can be a very healthy diet.

My own anecdotal evidence (hardly scientific, but my experience nevertheless) has shown that cats can live to be 19 and 20 years of age when fed a high quality dry food, complemented by a high quality wet food.  The two cats I grew up with, who were indoor-only cats and ate dry food most of their lives, with wet food once a day, lived to be 20 years old, and 19 years old (died two months shy of his 20th birthday.)

My veterinarian here in Germany (vets over here don't have the same education as those in North America), who is a Tierarzt (veterinarian) as well as a holistic veterinarian, recommends a diet of grain-free dry food combined with wet food.  I trust her experience, knowledge and education.  My Sphynx is thriving on such a diet, as are the cats at his breeder's (a very small cattery, that only has one litter a year and focuses on health and personality in her kittens.)

The wet and dry food my cat eats are made from 100% organic ingredients, 100% free range, hormone- and antibiotic-free meat (chicken and beef) and sea-caught fish (no farmed fish).  Pet food regulations are strictly enforced here in Europe, and have been in the EU ever since the mad cow crisis.  All animal feeds, including pet food, have to be made with human-quality ingredients, and are tightly regulated and strictly controlled.  So I am not poisoning my cat by feeding him dry food.  I am giving him the best possible diet for his health.

Does anyone feed their cat probiotics?  If so, what brand, and how do you feed them (ie. capsule, capsule mixed in with food, etc.)?

I've tried feeding my Sphynx plain yogourt with live cultures, and although he loves to lap up a bit of milk in the bottom of my cereal bowl, or a bit of melted vanilla ice cream left in a bowl, he refuses to touch the yogourt.  So I'm investigating probiotics.

Anyone with any experience?