No respect for Diamond

[Davis]

Oh, I forgot to say that my thinking in proceeding this way is that if they listen and take this seriously, they will pass this information on to all of the clients that they manufacture for.  That way we have covered a lot of territory. 

[garypen]

My #1 concern with Diamond is we still don't know just who they manufacture for.

I think that many of their clients are already known. If you check the individual companies in The Pet Food List, it states in many individual company profiles that their dry dood is made by Diamond. II'd say there's a good chance that most of the ones that say "confidential" use them, as well. Diamond also has a number of its own brands, such as Diamond, Professional, Premium Edge, Chicken Soup, and NutraNuggets, as you probably know. And, they also make Costco's Kirkland Signature brand.

[Geff]

I was with a group of friends tonight who are marginally aware of these issues. Almost everyone their has cats. A couple people mentioned that they were using Hills. I tried to gently explain that Hills is not generally considered safe or healthy, but no one seemed to want to hear that so I let it drop.

Another case of marketing over reality.

[Cindy Nevarez]

You can thank the Vets pushing that stuff out of their offices for years and years for that. I am still meeting people who are feeding that stuff too.

[Geff]

I first discovered Hills years ago (late 80's or early 90's) when the local pet food store recommended it (Until recently, I was naive enough to believe that the teenagers who worked in pet food stores for a few months each actually knew what they were talking about!).

Fact is my Female cat at the time P.P. seemed to do well on it, although she died of a heart attack at a fairly young age (somewhere between 12-15; I had her for 11 years & she was an adult who had already had kittens when I got her). P.P. was really overweight; I've always assumed that's what killed her. I fed her way too many table scraps; I wasn't good at telling her no.

On the other hand, through the process of elimination it was determined that eating even a small amount of Hills would consistantly give my male cat a uti. He's never had one on any brand other then Hills, & I've tried several over the years.  He ended up having his male organ amputated as a result of the continued uti's & his non stop licking.

Fortunately he's perfectly content as a trans kitty today! His surgery was in 2000, & was a success.

[catmom5]

The letter(s) is great and I'm glad that you persisted.  The manufacturers need to start listening to us.  Thanks for saying what needed to be said ~ and so eloquently!

[Davis]

I'm reporting back to let all of you know that I never received a reply to my last letter to Diamond.  I guess that should come as no surprise, particularly in light of the recent events.  So now their canned products contain rice protein (supposedly without their knowledge?).  The letter could not speak to them more accurately at this moment in time.  It addresses everything they are in the midst of (labeling, ect).  And the letter speaks to the industry as a whole, just as it said, which is very relevant to them now, considering they were using another manufacturer for their recalled food.  Honestly, what are they going to say to the letter?  There is nothing they could say that would serve them well, other than, "You are right and we are sorry.  We are making all of the changes."  I can't imagine them saying that, can you?  Yet, it is the only respectable thing to say.

[Cindy Nevarez]

Nevertheless, that was a well thought out, well constructed letter that addressed all of our concerns Davis.

In light of the recent 'hail-storm' it's pretty clear none of these involved companies can say anything that would benefit themselves. If there's no real regulation regarding labeling, or ingredients promised, the companies who truly were "deceived" don't have a leg to stand on, as they have no law to back them up, no testing documents, no evidence. In fact I'm willing to bet that if a company manages to get into a courtroom with one of these manufacturers, the mftr would win, as they would simply produce their orignal service contract that likely has nothing definitive on it, except perhaps 'acceptable guidelines' written by the company. The companies likely walked into a business deal with these manufacturers with nothing but assumptions about how they would produce food for them.

My feeling is that in the end the companies who truly have the nutrition concerns of our animals at heart will be the ones who will force a regulatory system, lobby for real labeling/ingredient laws, and certainly start self-testing to be sure service contracts are carried out to the letter.

From a business standpoint they'll have to realize if they want dollars from us again in the future...this will be the only option for them.

[amira]

I had switched to the Chicken Soup canned for puppy about 8-10 days before the recall.  I had fed the puppy a can of it the morning of the recall.   I absolutely freaked out when I saw it.   I sent an email to the company and got this response:

"We have not found melamine in any of the canned products. We are recalling
it because it contains rice protein concentrate, an ingredient that we did
not authorize and the rice protein concentrate has been recalled.

Discontinue feeding the food and your puppy will be fine. If the food had
been tainted with melamine, your puppy would have been very ill. The
symptoms come on very quickly, usually the first time the food is fed and
kidney failure occurs within 3-4 days (vomiting usually occurs after each
meal).

I'm sure your puppy and your dog will be fine. If you are concerned about
their health, I would suggest you contact your veterinarian.

Sincerely,

--
Melissa Brookshire, DVM
Director of Veterinary Services
Diamond Pet Foods
573-229-4203 (office)

I emailed back and stated that the day before (Thurs) I had fed it and scarily enough that morning my pup had sniffed at it and licked it and taken a bite or two and that was it.  But since that morning (Fri) she had scarfed it all up, I had quit worrying.  Now, in light of the recall,  I wondered if perhaps that can had been affected and with her keen sense of smell she knew somehow. 

I then got this response back from them:

All of the product has tested negative so I don't think there was something
different about that can that she was picking up on. It sounds like you are
keeping a close eye on her, which is great. Maybe calling your veterinarian
would help reassure you that she is ok. Your veterinarian may want to see
her just to be sure there is not anything going on with her.

Sincerely,

--
Melissa Brookshire, DVM


Y'know it would've been nice since my puppy had eaten their RECALLED food that morning ... and since I had good reason to believe at least one can could have been affected.....it would've been nice if they would've offered to pay to have a vet check her out...or offered to refund my money....or asked me to send in the remaining cans...


NEVER again will I feed ANY of their dog food. 

[bk283]

+1 on diamond bashing. They run an awfully shady operation. I've been hit twice by them in the past.. in '05 and now in 07. (second time, unknowningly through natural balance)

avoid at all costs.

[Bonkers]

 Out of curiosity I googled Melissa Brookshire DVM and I believe that as of last year she has obtained another position in addition to the one she holds at Diamond. "Integrated Management Information Inc. (IMI) in Castle Rock, Colorado, USA, has named Melissa Brookshire, DVM, as product manager of its Pet Supply Verification program, a new petfood verification system designed to “build consumer confidence in petfood products.” http://www.petfoodindustry.com/viewcontent.aspx?id=14916     I wonder what this is/was all about?