I think I also may have an ebook with treat recipes...  can you send messages on this board?  If anyone is interested in the ebook... also let me know. I bought it from The Dog Food Secrets ebook.

I give my dogs baby carrots as treats...   Oh, I also give them apples and banana chunks...  They love it

Hi guys, I was wondering if anyone has had this experience...  I started feeding my dogs Innova Adult Dry dog food about 2 weeks ago.  Previously I had been feeding home-cooked meals..  With 4 large dogs it gets to be quite a lot of work (and a very messy kitchen), so I decided to incorporate a dog food to include with home-cooking.  Anyway I chose Innova because of the fact that Natua claims their food to be 100% safe.  Also, because they seem to have been a bit more proactive with testing and such...  Anyway, since I started them on the dog food, almost immediatly, I noticed my dogs were 'pooping' a lot more...  All of them have more frequent and larger stools... 
Anyone else out there have this happen to them...? 

Nutra Nuggets were recalled today...  They are made by Diamond, I wonder if other Diamond foods will be next!!!  They were cross contaminated by Natural Balance.  (So I read on Itchmo)  I am so scarred as my parents feed their dogs Chicken Soup...  I have tried to get them to switch but my dad always says "Why would they sell it if it was bad"  You know the classic denial I can't even get through to my parents....

Geff,
I have always had trouble with getting them to respond to my emails too!!  I called them a couple of times and got in touch with someone.   

I would like to second that notion...  I called Natura, after purchasing Innova for my dogs.  (first food I got them since the recall began, having switched from Blue Buffalo)  I asked them if in conjucnction with having tested their foods for melamine they had also tested for cyanuric acid and they said yes.  I wasn't sure if the person I spoke to actually knew for a fact or if she just said yes... It did go through my head that maybe she didn't know but now that I read this I feel better about it.

Mary, I think that is exactly what the booklet says to do to collect a sample from a cat... 

Ok, so I got a call from the vet, she said that both of my dogs show traces of protein in the sample just like my test showed but she said she isn't worried about it...     Also, the specific gravity was a little lower on my test than on hers.  She said that usually the stripps don't show that accurate on specific gravity and that it is best to send to the lab for further testing.  one of my dogs came back normal on her strips and the other still a bit low, 1.015, so she told me to take another sample tomorrow morning and she is going to send it to the lab.

I think it is best to test first thing in the morning because as I have found out, (I have already used up like 6 test strips) thier urine is a bit more diluted later in the day.  When I got mine I thought about waiting until the next morning to test them but I couldn't wait...  (I am not a very patient person)

Yes, I got mine online...  here is the link:
the pet check-up
The kit comes with a step by step instruction booklet and a sheet stating the normal ranges of both cats and dogs for each reagent test... also, an explanation of what a elevated or abnormal result 'could' mean, of course, after the veterenarian does their own tests.

Although I am very nervous as I just sent in a sample to the vet because of my readings...  I will let you know what the vet tells me. 

BTW, both of my dogs test results came exactly the same...  one 11 yr old and one 3 yr old

My dog loves for me to brush her teeth, she will not leave the bathroom when she sees me brushing my own teeth.  She will wait until I come back and brush hers too.  I was using dog toothpaste I think it was one from C.E.T.  I didn't like all of the chemicals I saw when I actually payed attention to the ingredients about 2-3 months ago.  Since then I have been using a drop or 2 of GSE (Grapefruit Seed Extract) by nutribiotic...  I put a drop or 2 on the toothbrush and dip it in a dixie cup of water.  She didn't love the flavor at first (It DOES taste yucky) but now she likes it ok!!  I drink it on occasion when I am sick or I will also put it on my toothbrush alongside toothpaste)  I like it because it kills bacteria and viruses.  I don't know if your kitty will like the taste, but I feel better about it as is is ok to injest (DILUTED of course) instead of injesting the chemicals in the toothpaste.  If anyone finds a more natural type of toothpaste please post, that would be great!!
(A word of caution, you must dilute it with water!!!)

Another website I found : 

Effects of tainted pet food can be long-term

I was reading an article on Itchmo - Magazine Says Melamine May Not Be Culprit when I came accross this paragraph:  “A blood test and urinalysis can assess kidney damage – whatever its cause,” explains veterinarian Dr. Jean Hofve, a nutritional expert and former advisor to the American Animal Feed Control Officials (AAFCO). “A few veterinarians tested all their patients who were eating the recalled foods, whether or not they were sick. All of them – even those who seemed perfectly normal – had signs of
kidney damage on the tests.”


That really scares me because maybe our pets will eventualy have Kidney disease due to all of this... maybe it isn't just acute KD, but also chronic KD is what we will face in the future... near or far...  makes my stomach hurt just thinking about it... 
Have any of you tried the Pet Check up Kit?  They are uranalysis strips you can do at home, I got some and found that my dogs had low specific gravity... and traces of protein...  I just about fainted when I did it, I am waiting to do another one in about a week or so, I was giving my dogs a detox at the time and could have scewed the results so I am waiting until it is out of their system, but still VERY scarry!!!!!!!1

let us know what you find out...  How is your kitty doing?

I agree that would be good... they barely have any info on the recall situation.

[only]

I was just about to purchase a Timberwolf Organics formula last week when I was deciding which food company to go with.  Truthfully, I decided against it only due to their manufacturing.  I decided that I needed a company that manufacures and produces their own food, and no one elses.  That doesn't guarantee anything but at least it narrows the risks...
too bad Timberowolf isn't more open about their manufacturing... it seems like a really good food...  and I agree with the post about maybe loosing customers due to thier secrecy

IMO - I'm not sure if the soybean oil is a bad ingredient, I think it would be 'better' if the food included another type of fat, such as safflower oil, salmon or flaxseed oil.  I think Del Monte recalled some foods, but I don't think 9lives was involved...  Maybe you should find out if it was produced in the same plant...  I am really not sure.  Others here are very knowledgable about cat foods and their ingredients though...