Thursday, March 19, 2009

UH-OH, A NEW VET




I am going to the vet tomorrow.

A new one. Whoopee. Another car ride. I'll get to look like Red Riding Hood in that pouch which thrills me no end.

There is one thing to keep in mind before this magical moment you've planned.

I was peacefully asleep, then I heard the two of you discussing my well-being. Every time you guys "go there", I pay the price.

I mean, I do my part of this bargain, you have a piece of fur sculpture that poses like the Buddha met the Passion of Cat.


Yet, what do you guys do in the name of Feline Health?

Let's have a friendly fireside chat, shall we?

I am pleased you look into the vets' background, that they graduated from Cornell University's College of Veterinary Medicine, one of the best in the nation, home of the original CAT DOCTOR.

My peaceful state of mind was shattered when I heard the both of you laughing your heads off as you watched some video you got off the new vet's website at Cornell's Feline Health Center. At http://www.vet.cornell.edu/FHC/

They are a "veterinary medical specialty center devoted to improving the health and well-being of cats everywhere". My Fellow Cats, run for your lives!

I have a tip for you. See that claw? You were not watching "Brushing Your Cat's Teeth". Nope. This is what had you two on the floor...













HOPE I have made my point. Let's change our context to the other end of the matter shall we?

A word about the diet issue that frequently comes up with vets. Do not even think about changing a thing.
I like the Gerber Turkey and Rice Stage 2 you introduced into my life, though it took a reading of "Spit McGee" by Willie Morris to finally convince you do go ahead.

I am very picky, I don't eat fats, and only the highest quality freshly cooked proteins. If it isn't fresh shrimp, fresh tuna or turkey don't bother. I don't like salmon, it's too oily, and don't even think of giving me fish oils over my kibble.

I will eat brown rice, rice pasta, cooked oatmeal, some mashed beans and I do like soy sauce, light curry and tomato sauces from time to time. If you can find that Heinz tomato soup at your new supermarket that would be much appreciated.

I am NOT fat. I lost weight from the time I looked like Mr. Wide Body pictured here. We Tonks are large and well muscled. Bricks wrapped in fur remember?

Look at this guy, a CFA category prize winner from the Aqua Show no less.

Doesn't he look just like me?


He was at the Sea of Aqua show and I just want you to note that his body is as solid as mine, well, sort of... I don't HAVE to jump for MY

THANKFULLY THEY FINALLY "GET IT"

Well, another trip, another "accident", when are you guys going to learn. Actually, in listening you talk, I think you finally "got it". Parks are really not a fun place for me, with DUCKS insisting you feed them, and PEACOCKS who think they own the place (maybe they do); and those big GEESE that like to honk at you and strut their stuff.

Look, to me a peacock is about what pterodactyl is to you, and you'd have an underwear change too if a flock of them headed your way, and all you had were two misguided mammals in charge of your safety.

I really wasn't looking forward to licking all that stuff off me, knowing wet bathtub loomed in my future, I was completely miserable. But, at least later I got wrapped in dozens of warm white towels, and you guys felt guilty for days. That was worth it.

A NOTE TO MY CAT-SITTER




Dear Person,

Thank you for cat-sitting me while my owners are away. I don't like change in my life, but am
a good trooper when I have no other choice. I have been raised to be a family member, with equal rights as befits a pet, so if I am treated as "mere animal" we might have communication issues.

I understand human speech, words as much as tone of voice. I love to
speak back, and if you are having a conversation, I will join in. Mommy calls this being exceptional vocal, especially at 4:30am. Speaking of which...

... a typical day with me will likely start at 4:30am. If you are not a morning person, I will give it my best shot, then leave you alone. If I do not get my early morning outies, we will both suffer, because I need my early morning constitutional, the dawn air, the gentle breezes just as you need your morning coffee. The dawn air does for me, what caffeine does for you. The end result is the same, with all due respect to both our alimentary canals, we are all in search of the end to world constipational crankiness.

Anyway,
you should try it, and I'll help you there. Trust me, you will end up thanking me for reminding you of what a precious time it is to spend the wee dawn moments awake, while I reinforce protection around the perimeter of our shared space. If you pay close attention, I'll show you who's been visiting during the night. My parents say they don't need an alarm system, all they have to do is watch me and they'll get a pretty good idea of what's going on outside. So, you can count on me to keep you safe.

Regarding "morning business", you can generally set your clock by me, unless there's some turmoil in the house. If the folks are away I'm wired to consider that turmoil. Don't crank if I don't. Give me another spoon of milk, wait another day. My Mom cleans my box right after I use it, and she expects me to tell her when I have done #1 and #2. I have four specific vocalizations: (1) I will be using the john, don't scare me, (2) I have just used the john and it's #1, (3) I've just used the john and it's #2. I expect my litter box to go no more than two uses or I will deploy my fourth vocalization. You'll know.

I use a special kitty-litter called SweatStuff. I was raised on clay and I had a few health issues which cleared up after we switched. The bag is kept outside.

Regarding alimentary canals, we should proceed to the most important topic on my agenda: food! Here's my feeding drill. I'll eat a bit and then need an open door to the patio to smell the fresh air, then I'll be back. I always leave one bite more than you dish up, and won't touch anything left out after an hour.

What do I eat? What should I eat? And how much? Geez, you humans have had your say in all this without consulting us
very much... and have come up with some bizarre notions, even calling those notions "science". Let me straighten you out. I am a small domesticated mammal. I was bred over a period of thousands of years to live with you and be your companion. So, guess what, if I am the right choice for your lifestyle, I'll probably eat what you eat and live forever. Please make no hard and fast rules about my diet and learn to look at me as a fur person in my own right and respect my ability to determine what I need. If I have a few extra pounds, just cut back on the treats OK, I'll take care of rest.

What this means is please don't try some vegetarian diet with me; although it works for many felines, it doesn't work for me or my Mommy or Daddy. Likewise, don't make me eat COW on a regular basis. Tonkinese have never been known to bring down a steer or elk for dinner, please think about the ramifications of that when considering my personal diet choices. And even though your kind has a 99% DNA match with chimps, well, you would not get far with a chimp diet. So a little common sense goes a long way in explaining my diet.

As a rule I do not like red meat, however, like Mommy, from time to time, I'll eat a well-done steak. The same with chicken, it is not my favorite unless it has just been cooked. I am more of a seafood cat, and fresh only please. That being said, I am intensely curious about what you are eating, and wish to be included in taste tests. Don't go to the extremes of putting it in a plate, I will sample only off your finger, a little dab please, or a bit in the palm of your hand. If I like it, you will know, and if I don't you will know. I just need to satisfy my curiosity. Don't plan on throwing down a plate of spaghetti if I show interest in half a strand, I'll just walk away!

That being said, I have to share this with you: I love eating out of your hand rather than my plate. I like the warmth and bonding, and if I like you, having your smells on my food is wonderful for me. Okay, there is another reason: I don't want to put in my stomach anything you wouldn't put in the palm of your hand. Would you?

Foods I like

  • Shrimp fresh/frozen tail on - no more than 4 at a time, diced really small
  • Tuna StarKist Chunk Lite Tuna in water, no more than 1 Tablespoon at a time
  • Turkey cooked preferably with a light curry sauce
  • Turkey Hillshire Farm Deli Select Honey Roasted, finely dice one slice.
  • Corn fresh corn on the cob cooked no butter
  • Corn frozen organic (cooked with shrimps) , about 10 kernels
  • Sweet peas fresh, sometimes cooked
  • Oatmeal old fashioned, cooked with Carnation milk, about 1 Tablespoon
  • Carnation milk one tablespoon room temperature fresh - occasionally
  • Tomato soup – organic please, 1/4 cup gently warmed
  • Rice and rice pasta, cooked with olive oil and soy sauce, about 1 Tablespoon
  • Potatoes – any kind of preparation, with flavors, same sized servings as the others
  • Multi grain Bread – ‘Best’ Bread by Orowheat - 1/8 to 1/4 slice.
  • Garbanzo beans with curry flavoring - 2-3 beans at most
  • Chile – Amy’s chile - one teaspoon only
  • Ice cream – vanilla only, melted, one tablespoon
  • Bench and Field Natural Feline Formula Kibble
  • Gerber Turkey Rice Stage 2 only - about 2 teaspoons per serving.
Note, this list describes my range and diversity. It doesn't mean I eat all of this at one sitting, or that I eat a plate of rice and beans like that insulting vet thought (who practices vet medicine without a current license anyway?)

Please set a place mat for me at the base of the table, and feed me when you eat breakfast and dinner usually around 7am and 7pm. Please feed me cooked food at these times. As I eat my meal, I might come to your chair and ask you to (a) put my food back into a pile, (b) hand feed me when I cannot pick up the last bites (c) hand feed to warm it up, because it has gone cold (d) hand-feed because I likes the contact and closeness (d) I might want to sample a taste of what you are having.

Fresh water - morning and night.

Kibble - Leave a fresh bowl of kibble overnight. I will likely remove 6 pieces and carry them squirrel or chipmunk style to a small rug and eat them there. Let me have my prey-dragging fantasies please!

Treats - I get treats during the day once, again at the 10pm bedtime. At that time, leave a third set out for for my 4:30am wake up call near where you sleep. I will leave these alone until 4:30am. I sometimes have one tablespoon of Carnation milk room temperature only.

Favorite Toys - The best ones are your hands, covered with a sock. I like playing games with you inside my Cat Condo and my Banker's Box. I love a really good game of Hide n Seek, especially at two in the morning when you are groggy and it is dark, and you will likely fall over a chair (hey, a little handicap is only fair!). But I do play this during the day, and when I'm ready I will hide under a chair, and vocalize until you get the idea.

HERE I AM

June 6, 2006

My name is Mackie. I am a Natural Mink Tonkinese We're known for our Aqua Eyes and priceless Mink Fur Coats. I am fur-child to two adult humans. They have finally come to understand who I am and what I do for them: guiding and guarding them through their lives.

They refer to me as "...a most beautiful, loving, intelligent, feline Zen Warrior, packaged like a brick wrapped in silk."
Radar EyesI have "an incredible memory and senses akin to radar". They say my radar comes from my eyes.I supervise my mommy's activities more than my daddy's. When she is on the phone too long, with someone I sense is not a good person, I will chew the phone cord. She used to scold me, but now she uses "my input". She says I am mostly right.My Input

This is the easy part, so I don't know why it took so long to train them. I communicate two ways, vocalizations and body language, what were you expecting? Paw taps on an alphabet?

Here is how I communicate "GOOD"
and "BAD"...






CHRISTMAS KITTY



HERE'S MORE FOR YOU:

GET A LIFE STOPBADVET FOUNDERS - AND STOP STALKING US. YOU'RE MAKING FOOLS OF YOURSELVES - NO DIFFERENT THAN THE THREE YEAR TRAIL YOU LEFT OF COORDINATED MALICIOUS BEHAVIOR - WHICH SERVED TO HURT THOSE WHO REALLY WANT TO STOP BAD VETS OR PROVIDE PEOPLE WITH COMPANION ANIMALS.

ACCUSING SOMEONE OF IMPERSONATING A THIRD PERSON TO USE A WEB RESOURCE IS A VERY SERIOUS ACCUSATION: BOTH TRUE AND FALSE ACCUSATIONS OF THIS HAVE REAL LEGAL CONSEQUENCES.

I SENT YOUR FALSE ACCUSATION TO YOUR ENTIRE STOPBADVETS LIST AND MY RESPONSE. FOR A REASON. NO ONE CAN THEN STATE THEY WERE NOT MADE AWARE OF YOUR TACTICS.

YOUR FLASE ACCUSATION WAS SENT AFTER I REQUESTED REMOVAL FROM YOUR LIST, WHICH YOUR LISTSERV PERSON REFUSED TO DO. INSTEAD SHE BEGAN EMAILING ME PRIVATELY. THE CONTENTS OF THAT EMAIL ARE VERY REVEALING.

WHAT THE REST OF YOUR SUBSCRIBERS THINK OF YOUR FALSE ACCUSATION AND MY RESPONSE TO IT IS THEIR BUSINESS. WE COULD CARE LESS - NONE OF YOU OR YOUR FOLLOWERS - ARE WELCOME TO ANY OF MY INFORMATION, NOR DO I WANT TO HAVE ANYTHING TO DO WITH YOU OR THEM. SO STAY AWAY. IT IS TRAGIC THAT SO MANY OF THEM CLEARLY HAVE REAL CASES. MANY WHO CHECKED YOUR PERSONAL HISTORY HAVE DOUBTS ABOUT YOUR VERSION OF ANY EVENT.

THE PURPOSE OF RECORDING THIS IS TO ONE DAY PROVIDE EVIDENCE TO HELP OTHERS WHO WILL BE YOUR NEXT INNOCENT TARGETS. BECAUSE DISORDERED MINDS ALWAYS ESCALATE, AND ONE DAY, THIS RECORD WILL HELP SOMEONE ELSE, JUST AS RUTH'S EXPERIENCE HELPED ME REALIZE WHO YOU ALL WERE.

YOU GOT AWAY WITH ME RECOGNIZING YOU AS MERE 'IGNORANT HICKS', AND IN MY BOOK 'IGNORANT HICKS' AREN'T WORTH MY TIME. BUT YOU ARE STALKING AND STEALING FROM ME, POSSIBLY WITH INTENT TO GAIN INFORMATION SO YOU CAN DO PHYSICAL HARM. THIS IS WHAT YOUR OTHER TARGETS HAVE PERSONALLY EXPERIENCED. THIS IS WHAT I SAW ON STOPBADVETS. YES STEFANI, THERE ARE LOTS OF MAFIA'S (YOUR WORD) OUT THERE, AND THESE PEOPLE ARE ONE. A NASTY ONE.

WHAT MAKES THIS SO PATHETIC FOR YOU ALL - IS YOU MADE THIS "FALSE ACCUSATION" ETC. AFTER ACKNOWLEDGING IN 2008 - IN WRITING - ON MY WEBSITES MY AUTHENTICITY.

INTERESTING THAT YOU THREE HAVE BEEN ACCUSED BY OTHERS OF FAR WORSE AND THOSE ACCUSATIONS ARE BACKED UP WITH EVIDENCE.

AGAIN, NONE OF YOU ARE WORTH ANYONE'S TIME, EXCEPT TO WARN OTHERS YOU THREE ARE DANGEROUS WHO DO COLLABORATE TO HURT PEOPLE. SCHADENFREUDE. GO LOOK IT UP.

Things have settled down nicely after the vet trip from hell. You can read all about that elsewhere, I really don't have anything else to say about it, except "I told you so!".

It's Christmas today, and Daddy came to visit for the Holidays. I am their happy healthy Buddha kitty. It's a good life, especially when Daddy is here. I pretend whatever they are pretending, and we play great games that way. Today I believe Daddy is Santa Claus. Is that Santa I hear?

Oh! It's just you guys, what are you up to now?

They're picking me up from my nice warm bed, and nooooo..... I'm getting photographed again, this is not good... nope... no way... it's not good...... they're taking me outside to the Christmas tree that doesn't even smell like one ...nyow! put me down, it's not my idea!

Merry Christmas from Mack the Tonk!

LOST REINCARNATION FOUND IN CAT BODY




Lost: Amazing old soul spirit guide was supposed to incarnate in human form.

Subject lost it's way and came up in a Cat body. Scores high on compassion, ethics, and rhetoric. Insists on Ayurvedic diet and lifestyle.

Meditates in front of Buddha statues.

Has uncanny understanding of nutrition and medicine. Will not kill birds, instead mimics their warbles and trills, and if birds come too close, Cat will run away. Has been offered treats and will eat only fair share. Always leaves some of whatever small or large portion of food offered him.

Likes to listen to Kagyu and even Gyuto monks chanting.

Is a Monastery somewhere missing its Abbot?

THIS SIDE OF THE RAINBOW BRIDGE



My Fellow Kitties,

If you are still around, you have survived the horrors of dying an awful death due to the contaminated pet food scandal. It was discovered too late most pet foods were contaminated with rat poison and/or plastic chemicals.

Your human parents were spared emotional pain worse than all that, which never goes away. My parents said that thousands of owners lost their pets, and there was a lot of sadness in the world. Like The Last Meow and here at Alasandra's and here at Jules.

My parents were deeply thankful I generally turn my nose up at canned food. I have a food rule, if they won't eat it, neither will I, and I test this each time my making them put any new food items in their hands. If they won't put it in their hands, I won't eat it. My new Mommy has cooked for me since day 1, and will never stop.

But I did have a close call in late February.


Sometimes my diet is supplemented with certain commercial wet and dry food. Mommy makes sure the first two ingredients are not corn and wheat or "by products". Mommy is well-aware of how horrible Corporate PetFood can be and reads articles like this all the time.

Despite all this, I usually get Newmans Own, even then I never finish the can. For some reason in February, they decided to try one small 3 oz can of selected other brands, and even Science Diet® Feline Adult Savory Cuts® Ocean Fish. This showed up on the Pet Food Recall list in late March. This is for my afternoon supplement where I eat 1 oz of high grade commercial cat food in case my home made diet misses something. The reason they don't like the cans is because after I eat the 1 ounce, they have to toss the rest of the can: I do not eat left overs.

The weekend I got real sick in late February, Mommy noticed I tasted some then wouldn't go near it afterwards. My next two tinkles smelled really badly, which Mommy noticed right away because she has a keen sense of smell, not as good as mine, but really good. I threw up twice and stopped eating altogether, and even tinkling. Then I crept into Daddy's T shirt drawer. This is really the only bed made up for me, which I never use (I sleep with Mommy) unless something is really wrong.

They keep this open for me, so I can tell them when something is really wrong. Mommy called Daddy: "Mr. Mack is really sick, he's stopped eating and is hibernating in the drawer." Daddy said "He'll be OK, he'll cycle through". But all real Cat Mommies know when to call Animal 911. A vet - any of the ones around here - was out of the question. Looking back, since no one knew what was going on, lots of vets relied too much on useless blood tests until Acute Renal Failure already kicked in, and it was too clear too late, so their choice for me was the best.

Mommy went to the closet and held me for hours. She put her hands over my back and my tummy and did something she calls Reiki. She's good at that but sometimes makes her sick too. Then Daddy came to look at me, and realized something was very wrong. He also has healing hands, and held me for a long while. They did this all weekend. They wrapped me in warm towels round the clock, which they heated in the dryer, because I was so cold all the time. Keeping kidneys warm is part of a Tibetan health thing. My face was puffy and my eyes very leaky. I was very limp in their arms and let them do whatever, which was the biggest sign I was very ill, because I limit the time they can pet me. "Just keep his fires going, don't let his fires go out, and keep him drinking, cycling it though." That's what the old time doctors seemed to be telling Mommy. I remember her telling Daddy that she was not sure she could handle me leaving right now.

Mommy began feeding me a bowl of warm water with drops of lime and lemon juice, which she said will flush out my system and it was better it go through my digestive system to keep those fires going. If those fires went out, then other visceral organs would be done for. I eventually started drinking it. She also prepared me a special soupmeal with selected herbal decoctions, and my flowers and of course, catnip, which always takes the edge off. Mommy always brings me flowers.


Mommy says the warm lemon water is a human Ayurvedic remedy and works for smaller mammals. I remember drinking lots of that warm water, and luckily I began to tinkle properly again. Daddy joked that now "the cat wants a cup of tea three times a day."

Four to five days later I began to feel myself again, but I had lost quite a bit of weight. They both know the reason I am still here is I am unbelievably picky about what I eat, and Mommy relies on me to tell her what is good and not good.

It was MUCH later that they - like thousands of others - put two and two together about that weekend.

Daniel Rogan, 12, holds a photo ofhis first kitten, 9-month-old Snowball,
who suffered kidney failure and was euthanized two weeks ago after eating tainted pet food.

DAVID GOLDMAN/BOSTON HERALD/ASSOCIATED PRESS

They cannot believe how lucky they were that I stopped eating each can after a few bites so my exposure was limited. The canned food was my afternoon supplement only, not my primary menu, or else I would be on the other side of the Rainbow Bridge. I get human grade shrimp, human grade tuna, human grade chicken or human grade red meat, cooked - every day. The canned food and the kibble are just supplements.

My fellow kitties, remember it is your duty to train your parents, by refusing to eat anything your nose and your instinct says is wrong for you. Most of the vets around have some very strange ideas (they get it from SCIENCE) and say some very bizarre things about what cats should eat and not eat. You have to watch out for that, and stick to your guns, training your human parents in your particular feline genetic heritage.

No matter how much they torture you with wrong food choices, remember you must refuse to eat bad food for their own good. Even if your human parents are really untrainable in the Way of the Cat, always remember this: they likely cannot make it through their lives without YOU. You have your jobs cut out for you: home prepared foods only.

On this note, my fellow kitties, I bid you good luck, good health and a long life.

FOR THE ROSIE O'DONNELL'S OF THIS SAD COUNTRY



My Mommie have something to say about this:

"First I want to thank Mackie for surviving. I had no idea what was going on. What's going to happen is the outrage concerning collusion to coverup the Toxic Pet Food scandal will grow. Inevitably, we'll hear more Rosie O'Donnell bully pulpits about how we (obviously, a nation of ignorant, unwashed morons?) are more concerned about a damn cat than our sons and daughters in Iraq.

I am a person who has earned the right to say something about that. When Rosie was comfortable in her very little house wherever, I - Mackie's Mommie - was front and center in the hell hole you all know as Ground Zero. It used to be my home. You know, Ground Zero, the plausible reason for the Iraq War -a/k/a "the mother of all deviant elite games".

I want to say as a civilian who got thrust into war one day, that the only way all of us, including the big, strong wailing men got through those first horrific days of 9/11 was due to the animals on site.

That's right, the dogs and cats.

The rescue dogs there threw themselves into their work and literally died for us. Not a single rescue dog is alive, and their deaths due to toxic contamination have been covered up. Even their autopsies were sealed. Some rescue dogs were so overcome at the extent of the devastation and loss one literally lay down and died a short while later - his owner stated - of a broken heart.

When they were brought to my triage unit for first aid and rest , they licked my hands and we hugged. I could barely look into their eyes they were so "wounded". "What have you humans gone and done now, oh, oh, oh" they seemed to say, and then, "wag wag wag, never mind let me help you."

The only live rescues we got out those first days were people's cats and dogs from Battery Park City, and they were all in shock and toxic shock at that. But they were something to care for, and they reminded us with their fragility and unconditional love - they reminded us what we humans were here for, a stretch goal of what we are supposed to be to each other.

If we humans could only have half a heart as those rescue dogs, or half the sweetness of those terrified kitties, we wouldn't have wars.

And then, Rosie O'Donnell need not get up on her shameful pulpits to scold our demonstrations of unconditional love for our pets as a shameful act during her President's wars.

You can and must love and honor every sentient life. We are here to learn how to do that and the cats and dogs can serve as helpful guides back to that Garden of Eden.

Ms. Rosie needs to understand it's not one or the other, that thinking is as Hegelian as her President's training at the Skull and Bones.

Thank God, some of us have the heart to do both. So sad she doesn't. A bully by any other name will forever still be Rosie. Or some saying like that!

Thank you Mackie for letting me have my say."

AN ENLIGHTENED FELINE IN KING GEORGE'S COURT



I am still experimenting with replacing canned foods with the deluxe version of complete home cooking. That takes time to implement, time for Mack and other wise beings, to educate me what works, when, how, why, where etc. In the mean time, we must rely - very, very carefully on wet cat foods. I should be able to bring myself to taste it, but I can't and that is the key test: when humans are used to test cat food at well as cats. Our dietary needs differ greatly from a cat's, but it would help us understand what works for them if we engage our knowledge base using all 5 senses, instead of relying on a machine.

When the tainted pet food was finally revealed, I realized Mack was spared because he was healthy, his keen instincts and food choices were never "re-programmed", forced out of him by human regimentation, whim, fad, or low-functioning owners ("he's just a cat, he'll eat whatever"). Because his daily food choices were so diverse the risk was diminished.

I think I've shown I pay close attention to him, and what he says to me. Yet I missed integrating all his warning signs into one big red flag. I noted the warning signs as single events, but I did not add them up to the picture of the straight through hit on his life they were.

Tinkle changes, even once he missed the box, the vomiting of non-hairballs, the weakness, the soft stools... these did not happen all at once in one day, but over a few days... and I was busy. But, Each time he threw up in February, I threw out the can, and tried another formulation. I knew from the time he threw up the first time - red and frothy - something was wrong, for sure the formula didn't agree with him... But not RAT POISON wrong.

That's why criminal negligence law suits should fly.

Additionally, the CEO's in hiding should have been made to eat the poisoned fo
od as a test, instead of the lab animals they use - why did they need to deliberately kill 16 test animals to figure this out? That's a bigger crime. Yet, it must be considered, we live in a country that would not hesitate to use prison inmates to test tainted pet food the next time around.

The Pet Food industry is realizing that people are responding the same way as if RAT POISON got into baby food, and the food companies knew but failed to warn consumers.

The Pet Food Industry is still trying have it both ways: they are still saying, "we know your pets are family, and we care". In reality, they continue to fail - this being the middle of April - to respond the way a human food company would have to respond if rat poison got into their products.


I think we are going to see huge prices increases. This is because "having to alerting you tiresome lot properly in case we accidentally put rat poison in your pet food" means - to Corporate Greedsters - they get a free pass to triple pet food prices. Where this does happen, consumers should put them out of business with prejudice.

Mack has been on 70% home cooked 30% commercial for over a year now. It took a while to get him to 50-50, and a year to 70-30. The first 8 years of his life at another household he was on a pure dry kibble diet, poor guy, dutifully selected as per their vet instructions. I changed that right away, also switched the kibble brand, and he went from being Mr. Wide Body, to slimming down a bit. His old kibble formula by the way was just recalled after pet deaths.

Mackie's latest blood tests are on the money, though his urine tests are a bit off so he still has to be watched and tested for potential long term kidney damage... this is not acceptable to any "parent", less one who is aware of the critical importance of healthy organs to long life. I don't believe in treating blood tests, but the whole animal. My assessment is he had a huge insult to his system, and has used up one of his nine lives. He's no stabilized and a happy kitty.

I believe the problems that caused the tainted wheat gluten to get into the pet food chain is symptomatic of apocalyptic issues brewing with our own human food and water chain. Our pets - including Mack - took the hit for us this time, warning us Mommies and Daddies to wake up and smell the coffee, rather, "smell the rat poison". This is my Mackie these days, he is stressed, not feeling well.

I have expedited the process of weaning him off nutritionally requiring canned foods to round out his diet. I'm have the same questions everyone else does:

  • How to make sense of the myriad conflicting advice, most of which violently contradicts each other,
  • How to take back control of your pet's health without going broke?
  • How to reduce the risks?
  • How to establish a relationship with a vet?
  • How to CHOOSE a vet?
  • Why is most animal care knowledge appallingly medieval?
I know how to answer each one: Mack decides. Mack has the first and last word on which vet, how the relationship proceeds, what diet, and he had repeatedly "told me" he ain't going anywhere near a BARF diet or BARF vets - he can smell them a mile off. And his new excellent vet told me about the cases of perforated intestines of cats put on raw bones of the BARF diet, which they had treated.

I found some shining examples of great vet advice e.g., this book offers a middle way:

[book] Veterinarians Guide to Natural Remedies for Cats : Safe and Effective Alternative Treatments and Healing Techniques from the Nations Top Holistic Veterinarians by Martin Zucker

Zucker related a vet colleague of his asked a great Medicine man about urinary tracts, who made the vet rephrase the question. He did rephrase as "making water" - but he missed what the healer was asking, so he was asked to rephrase again: "whose water, mine? yours? a cat's? WHICH CAT?" The vet said in that instant he "got it" about individual treatment.

To me, this is so obvious - including exaclyy why you don't treat a blood test, a blood test is not "individual treatment" - it's an attempt to standardize statistically biochemical indicators that the West still knows little about. What does it really mean that Mackie's BUN is right in the safe middle when he has eaten rat poison a month ago? Does it mean he is OK? Then what does OK mean?

Zucker vet is a rare exception in the West -- he got it that all medical systems should be based on healing not just disease, and he especially understands Ayurveda, a key principle that each BEING must be treated INDIVIDUALLY.

What works for your cat may not work for mine. The "vets" who proselytized to me about their canned version of pet food, calling it raw never answered the question "how does your canned meat become the same as the BARF raw diet you are touting". Their vet practice, in my opinion, and the opinion of those who witnessed, was based on intellectual and ethical fraud.

So, beware there are some who will take advantage of this tainted pet food crisis who are cut from the same cloth the Menu Foods CEO, financially exploiting your love for your pet. In the end, eat locally, and find a way to prepare all your foods needs. Including your pets. If I can do it, so can anyone.

CHINA LAUNCHES ALL OUT ATTACK ON CATS



It appears the Republic of China, in collusion with greedy Pet Food Manufacturers, have launched an all out attack on cats (and dogs). Is this, perhaps, their way of paying back those who mocked the ingredients in Chinese restaurants?

As of today the company Natural Balance discovered - though it had a contract with a manufacturer - the manufacturer who will remain anonymous for now - and not Stephen Miller - is under Federal criminal investigation - for outsourcing a process they were entrusted with not including foreign ingredients, which was against their contract. See their nice American website - filled with lies - another US corporate ghoul craps over the US flag and gets away with it on Bush's FDA's watch. Natural Balance which we thought was safe, claims it has voluntarily recalled their affected products.

Of course, we notice the emphasis is on voluntary (umm, if you knew rat poison was in your product do you get a gold star for pulling it off the shelves?).

The lies and ANI's interlocked coverup with the FDA ... they apparently made a deal with the FDA to admit they've been tampering, so that way they didn't have to get their products put on the FDA recall list, and they could continue with greed and deception, and the killing of America's pets.


"It appears that ANI had been adding the unauthorized rice protein concentrate to Harmony Farms products for some time and only told the Company when the FDA was about to conclude that some of ANI’s rice protein concentrate (Supplied by Wilber-Ellis) was contaminated with Melamine."
It appears rice and corn gluten are involved. Which is what I thought would be the case, when we were told about wheat gluten poisoning, and studied the manufacturing processes "over there"... Anyway, Use of Gluten == Corporate Glutton. Where's the beef?

I could say "due diligence" but greedy ghouls infest our planet, and the Current American Presidency - also known as the Mother of All Ghoul-fests (tm) has a long history pandering to China and consorting with the Devil - poisoning people over there with opium and here with heroin - so who's kidding whom here?

The pet food scandal has reached unspeakable and atrocious levels of criminality, feeding the tainted dog food to hogs. Which cultures on this planet hate dogs and pigs and Americans so much they would do this? Oh wait, it's not about hate, it's about money. Perhaps we should start each day by burning a dollar bill to remember where our American soul lies, right Mr. Google?

Before this is over
, will we find dried cat and dog food have been infested for at least six months, and almost every brand will be recalled? And what about the crossover to human food supply?

Before this is over, you will follow the money and the interlocking corporate agendas right to the fat pigs of politicians themselves that run this unspeakably evil food biz. (that's a current example exposed by some blunt Missouri legislators who some week ago, confessed money is used to make FOOD and AGRIGUCLTURE BILLS that were voted down magickally "pass".

Back to the solution: home cooking for pets is this simple, and this is to illustrate how easy preparing one kind of pet food is, (lest you think this one item is standard fare, oh please!):

Get a whole organic chicken, stick it in a big pot, cover with water ... cook for 3-5 hours - harvest the good meat (squeeze out all the juices from the muscle meat) , separate the smaller bones, crush them up, simmer those in organic tomato soup, strain off the resulting liquid, add to the harvested meat broth, pour into 7 cups and freeze the ones you're not using today. This is the easiest way to move kitty over to home cooked. It's basically a savory sauce commercial pet food makers use, but add deadly glutens.

You on the other hand, will add good stuff only, which if you're home cooking for humans, you should have these on hand already: Brewers yeast (Lewis Lab's is our current favorite, this covers his B vitamins and trace minerals), taurine amino acid powder, bone meal powder - human quality only!, or a C and Mg mix (Mack hates Bone Meal but loves the Ca and Mg mix) and lecithin. As he progresses, add the other nutritional supplements that target specific issues, e.g., Vit A and E once a week for his coat... in fact the people at Nutrition for Optimal Wellness have been wonderfully helpful selecting supplements. Their products have been used by pet owners to supplement home-cooked meals for a while, and they are thinking of putting out some literature to help us along. How about that.

The chicken broth recipes is from Anitra Frazier's excellent book "The New Natural Cat".

Invest in a good kitty vitamin brand - such as Zukes. Bone meal is nice to have, but there again, that "meal" word which so often isn't fit for anyone's meal, man or beast. If you don't use bone meal powder in your human food, do not put it in your pet's food. Better to get sources of trace and other minerals that are human quality not anonymously prepared "meal".

This is not rocket science - take back your sweet little pet, then take back your country's decency, by God, the Founding Fathers would have switched the heck out of Imus in an old tool shed, sent him sniveling off to sweep floors in a hospital, and lined up these hog poisoners in front of a (legal) firing squad. And be done by noon. Can we PLEASE have that America back? Sheesh, what does a cat have to do here to ration his nine lives?

FOOD MACH DEATH ADMINISTRATION THINKS THEY'VE WON


Memo To the FDA
Date: May 22, 2007
From: Mack The Tonk
Subject:
FDA ends media briefings on melamine investigation

You "Sirs", don't know my Mommy. You're in for a Major Ass Kicking for the Major Ass Licking you keep giving to China and US Criminal Pet Food CxO's. When she's done wiping the floor with you protectors of the Merchants of what was to have been My Death, you'll be eating your own poisoned dog and cat food.


Cross a line with humans, you'll likely get away with it, cross a line with babies, you'll get censored real bad, but cross a line with us fur protectors and you will fry.

There is a special god for us small furry spirits who stuck with you, to show you back to the Garden of Eden. You defy our caretakers, torture and kill us, we have our own way of getting justice. What goes around comes around. Weaken us, bring us to our knees, you're looking at your own horrible deaths. All life is mysteriously interconnected and you're only as strong as the weakest of us.



Our weakest are those of us who linger in your shadows as strays, waiting for your help, the most vulnerable... who depend on the kindness of those who can only afford the cheapest pet foods. You ghouls. You've sealed your own death sentences.

Watch Denver for starters. You've been warned.


The FDA media office: FYI: Since there is no new information on the pet food/tainted animal feed (melamine) investigation, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), U.S. Department of Agriculture and U.S. Customs and Border Protection will no longer be holding regular Tuesday and Thursday media briefings on the issue. FDA’s investigation is still ongoing and an import alert remains in place for all vegetable protein products coming into the U.S. from China. FDA will notify the media when there is updated information. In the meantime, please contact FDA’s Press Office […] with any questions. Thank you.

Translation: We're tired of answering your questions. Wall Street is tired of your questions. Big Business and profits come first. Now go and eat, die, and get the hell out of our face and keep your noses out of our business.


HUMAN STATUS IN HEAVEN DETERMINED BY CATS




Leonardo Da Vinci - hard to find a more enlightened architect, engineer, sculptor, artist on the planet - bowed to the awesomeness of felines, when he said:

"The smallest feline is a masterpiece."
And, the wise Chief Seattle reminded us:
"What is man without the beasts? If the beasts were gone, men would die from a great loneliness of spirit. For whatever happens to the beasts, soon happens to man. All things are connected."
The infinite humanitarian, Albert Schweitzer mused:
"There are two means of refuge from the miseries of life: music and cats."
He would know, living in the jungle...
So much talk of freedom abounds today, especially from of the mainstream media. It behooves those lashed parrots at e.g., CNN, to heed this observation from American legend, Mark Twain:
"Of all God's creatures there is only one that cannot be made the slave of the lash. That one is the cat. If man could be crossed with the cat, it would improve man but deteriorate the cat."
All the scriptures may be boiled down to this:
"How you behave toward cats here below determines your status in Heaven." Robert A. Heinlein.
And that is the warning to the ghouls who have slipped into the pet food chain, from China to Corporate America.

TIME FOR A PET FOOD LAWSUIT? READ AND DECIDE.




Natural Balance today recalled their petfood, specifically this one:

New recalls from Natural Balance…
Breaking Recall News: Thursday, April 26th, 2007

"Our canned manufacturer, American Nutrition, from Ogden Utah just informed us that they are recalling all canned products made in their plant that contain rice protein concentrate. American Nutrition continued by telling us that they added this ingredient to four of our canned products without informing us.

The four products involved are:

  • Chicken Formula Canned Dog Food 13 oz
  • Lamb Formula Canned Dog Food 13 oz
  • Beef Formula Canned Dog Food 13 oz
  • Ocean Fish Formula Canned Cat Food 3 oz & 6 oz
There have been no illnesses reported related to feeding these formulas, however, to comply with the American Nutrition recall of the four products, we will pull all dates and batches of these four formulas. We also ask that our customers return unused product for a full credit to their store."

Remember, those battling to expose the extent of this pet food scandal wish these ghouls and monsters would disgorge what they are hiding about the crossover to the human food chain: pork, pizza, protein bars and baby foods.

Here's a thought on FDA foot dragging: American Natural ANI is in Ogden Utah. The FDA is controlled by the US Department of Heath and Human Services , whose Secretary Michael O. Leavitt was three-time Gov. of Utah. I do believe we will find some Homeland Insecurity connections there between Leavitt's power base and CHEM NUTRA won't we Mr. Stephen Miller? Would your original PR firm in LA have plastered such mocking laughter on your company's home page? This is a new development since March 17, 2007 after they had the decency to drop you as a client.

But to ensure I have Natural Balance's attention, and to jog their memory, I sent this:

-------- Original Message -------- @comcast.net
Subject: YOU LIED TO ME
Date: Thu, 26 Apr 2007 20:50:06 -0800
From:
To: info@naturalbalanceinc.com

LIES, GREED, AND MORE LIES! YOU'RE ALL PART OF IT - HOW DARE YOU STATE THAT NO PETS WERE MADE SICK BY THIS. REMEMBER ME? REMEMBER ME FROM YOUR EMAILS LAST SATURDAY? NOW I'M PISSED GET YOUR DAMN LAWYERS ON NOTICE I WANT MY CAT'S VET'S VISITS PAID FOR AND A WHOLE LOT MORE.

Here for good readers' edification, is the email exchange between MYSELF and NATURAL BALANCE last SATURDAY. The tone of my email last Saturday pointed NO fingers at NATURAL BALANCE, but were pointed at greed and evil in the system, as promoted by this reckless ghoul-fest of a Corpocracy.

Last Saturday's email provided them with a way to say: "Hey Mackie's Mom, hang tight we're not done testing yet." But they didn't. They told me all the testing came back OK, and thanked me for my support. All right, let's say their testing missed something, fine, but my support DOES NOT include lying about their POISONED FOOD not making their customers' pets sick. YES, MACKIE GOT SICK AND I TOLD THEM SO. THEY COULD CARE LESS, THEY SAID: HAVE A NICE WEEKEND!

They can't help themselves being evil. Even if you tell them it isn't about the money THEY WILL STILL LIE. In the exchange below BETSY MARTIN of Natural Balance is using someone named WADE NILSON'S email account on Saturday to reply to my email, which she addresses by asking me to see her highlighted answers ( all private emails ids HTML here snipped for privacy reasons).

-------- Original Message --------


Subject: Re: Fwd: Heads up on the other brands of canned food too...
Date: Sat, 21 Apr 2007 11:35:23 -0700 (PDT)
From: Wade Nilson (this is an email account Betsy Martin at Natural Balance used on Sat)
To:

,

Please read the highlighted answers below.

Thanks

Betsy Martin betsy @ naturalbalanceinc.com wrote:


Begin forwarded message:

> From:
> Date: April 20, 2007 5:23:49 PM PDT
> To: info@naturalbalanceinc.com
> Subject: Heads up on the other brands of canned food too...
>
> Dear Natural Balance,
>
> My cat was poisoned by the Science Diet Savory tainted foods in
> February. We paid attention to his behavior - so his condition did not
> degrade too far. After almost two months, he was almost back to
> normal, so based on the vets advice, we took him off home cooking, and
> based on our own examination of cat food labels, put him on Natural
> Balance - the whole variety. At first he scarfed it all down but after
> a few days, he's back to exhibiting the same behavior. Thirsty,
> over-grooming, in pain, "something is wrong with me", not eating,
> tinkling a lot...? and refusing to eat the canned food, actually
> running from it.?
>
> He is very intelligent creature (Tonkinese are up there on kitty IQ)
> and you ignore him at your own risk: he has always been right about
> issues to do with him.
>
> So please take a really close look at your chicken, turkey, ocean food
> and tuna formulations - who knows what else these bastards have
> slipped in there.

We have all products out for testing at U - CA - DAVIS. They all came back fine.

>End to end stakeholder transparency does not exist?
> on this planet, caveat emptor.
>
> We're in this with you, and whoever you end up suing and hopefully
> terminating, please make sure you involve the consumers. For me a
> lawsuit and financial settlement is not worth it, I want the perps
> incarcerated and hopefully made to eat every can of tainted pet food
> like the hogs they are. No it's an insult to call them hogs, hogs have
> better ethics. This is a preview of the apocalypse with our own food
> supply and our pets are taking the first hits for us. The current
> ghoul-fest passing for an American Presidency has long been involved
> with China, poisoning people with opium is nothing to them - so we
> know you have your uphill battles.

>
, thanks for all the understanding and support. We truly do appreciate it.
>
>
Should part of the legal settlement be to make them eat their tainted food? Betsy appears to tacitly agree with what I proposed. I think Dick Van Patten should be ordered to eat what is in this can, like Mackie ate and got sick all over again. I have that very can in the refrigerator - now I shall keep it as evidence - so this can indeed happen. What say you?

THE MORAL INSANITY OF KING GEORGE'S COURT



Ariana Lindquist for The New York Times

Pieces of melamine displayed by a worker.

The melamine is ground into a powder and added to animal feed as a filler to keep costs low.

The Main Stream Media grudgingly tosses a nod to a raging crisis. After three months of non-stop pressure, the New York Times for one today acknowledged (after pulling their story more than once) that melamine spiking has been an Open Secret in China.

"Open Secret" means that any US Pet food company performing required DUE DILIGENCE would know this. Any stakeholder finger-pointing to the other one, such as between Natural Balance and American Nutrition ANI is just so much collusion, racketeering and mafia-tactic cover-up, orchestrated by the Court of King George, e.g., in this case by his US Department of Health and Human Services (FDA), the "me know nothin'", "me do nuthin'" and "me see nothin'" con artistes par excellence.

Case in point, NATURAL BALANCE, it is morally insane to deny responsibility to pets you were informed have been sickened by your failure to acknowledge the Open Secret in your industry.
So far, the NY Times has written this pertains to ANIMAL FEED. But we all know it's in the wheat flour, rice products, that are made into ingredients used in human food, from pizza to baby formula. But this is the America of King George. The morally insane Corporate NWO's feed their own children to werewolves for the evil eye over the pyramid.

But lets all remember these are Olympic sized China-US "Most Favored Nation" games being played here: their companies are greedy recipients of our expired emergency medical supplies sold at top dollar to the the Chinese people, as much victims as our American people.

So where does it end? Might we next discover Chinese medical waste added to animal feed to increase protein content? Read the link, it explains :
"According to a report from local Chinese media as quoted by TVBS, the special protective clothing used during the outbreak of SARS was made of plastic and was recycled from all of the medical waste from hospitals. First, the medical waste was rinsed with water, and was then washed and bleached with detergent and industrial bleach. After that, it was crushed into plastic granules, which were made into bags for food, containers, disposable cups and even toys for kids."
Shall Americans pretend to be surprised if we learn that aborted Chinese babies are added to animal and human food ingredients to increase their protein value? After all, that would be right up there with the sort of sick family values we find practiced by Prince Junior and his ilk, especially in Mexico, right Junior?

WHEN PRESIDENTS LIE, PETS DIE







Still Alive - and Recovering - despite Natural Balance's attempt to kill me.

"When Presidents Lie - A History of Official Deception and its Consequences" is the title of a book my Mommy is reading. She says though the book was written about the presidents of the United States, the most important consequence is the Presidents of all the Companies that pay to put the Presidents in Power have a "corporate family value" to lie, deceive, cheat and hide like the murderous cowards they are.

The presidents of all the Pet Food companies like the one above ran to their lawyers at my Mommy's first innocent query... that very act drives the final nails in the coffins of their Skull and Bones Piracy Enterprises.

As for me, each meal time, I wonder what's in store for me, I'm down to the last bit of kibble that didn't kill me.


Mommy says lawsuits are not worth it, but she's changed her mind here, as I have more vets visits in my future. She says the Court of King George is morally insane, and there should be no more discussion about it, only action among those who have sworn to protect the people.

FDA Says 4150 Pets Reported Dead today, is too little, too late. Mommy had spoken with them in March, and said unless they were willing to quote the correct statistics which back then were over 2,000 pets dead, they would be sued right along with Natural Balance and Hills Science Diet. The FDA insisted until today only 16 pets were killed. Many are asking why the Mainstream Media doesn't headline this story, but the Mainstream News has been - for 15 years - just a way for poor people in America to have cheap toilet paper.

Because she is a stealth Ayurvedic health cooking expert, Mommy has been watching the linkages to the human food supply. Now she understands why I don't eat a lot of human quality meat, chicken (38 chicken farms fed tainted pet food back in February), or turkey the same way I turned my nose up at the cans of cat food or kibble after I tasted the poison in them.

She says that CANADA banned all Chinese vegetable protein the minute they found out about the Chinese poisoned food, but it took the Satanists at the FDA months before they got the OK from their Corporate Masters to do this today: "Checking all untested Chinese vegetable protein" - "A move rare in its breadth, according to USA Today".

"Who will rid us of this evil?"


GROUCHO'S NIGHT AT THE OPERA - REVISITED


There's a classic bed- switching scene in "A Night at the Opera" in which Groucho and his friends wind up rushing between hotel bedrooms so frantically that everything eventually becomes a blur of slamming doors and bodies streaking down hallways. That scene is as good as any to explain how it has come to pass that thousands of pets have died, tens of thousand of pets are sick and dying, humans have been sickened, and every single stakeholder involved in the Open Secret behind all this, suddenly has no clue, no accountability, no responsibility, and are getting away with that.

We're all waiting for the other shoe to drop. I used to think Mackie's dry kibble, Bench and Field,would be next. Discovered it is manufactured by EAGLE PACK. When I called Bench and Field in March, and again in April , I did not get a full disclosure as to the name of their manufacturer. I got that from the Pet Food List.

The stories about how the pets died are painful to read, none of them deserved that. In many cases they ate JUST ONE CAN, JUST ONE BOWL of the food, and they were done for. The elderly and the young, it's beginning to sound like a Nazi WW2 experiment in depopulation.

I switched Mack in 2005 to Bench and Field kibble, as part of the 30% commercial in his diet. I had a few criteria: local grown, local tested, no wheat, no soy, no glutens ... I appreciate the full disclosure on their website, few other pet food branders have done this:

Eagle Pack Pet Foods, Inc. sources most of its approximately 100 ingredients domestically. However Duck Meal originates from Germany, Anchovy and Sardines Meals from Mexico, Salmon from the Pacific and Kelp from ocean waters off Nova Scotia. In our supplements, U.S. vitamin maker BASF sources some vitamins from China. Taurine and Glucosamine are also sourced from China by BASF. In most cases, human and pet food brands and supplements source these 3 items from China. Some pet food makers seem unaware of this. Again, know your sources, and we do. All meat meals are tested by NIR analysis to determine protein, fat, fiber and moisture levels. Grains, such as rice, corn and oatmeal, are tested for mycotoxins. We have good and trusting relationships with our suppliers.
Know your Sources - Know your Stakeholders. That's great advice, but end-to-end, those bastards at all the Pet Food Companies knew their stakeholders, including those abroad, and are playing the bed switching scene in "A Night at the Opera".

Like everyone else, I'm waiting for the other shoe to drop. I've been hit twice and I am careful. When it was only about the poisoned wheat gluten, why they knew about the RPC and wouldn't admit it, despite the news from South Africa (thank you howl911 and itchmo), I switched to Natural Balance, which claimed no wheat or corn or rice protein concentrate (RPC).

When Mack immediately started symptoms again, I communicated with Natural Balance and they lied to me. In writing, they said, we use no RPC and "our products were tested and came back OK." Had I believed them, Mack would be dead. But two bites were enough to set him back. Then Natural Balance said RPC had been added without permission. Whose permission? Whose due diligence? That's a child's excuse: "I didn't know because they didn't tell me. " It doesn't legally cut it in a regulated company making over $100 million a year.

Eagle Pack informs us:

THE OTHER SHOE?
Pet owners keep asking what food is next. To date the contaminated ingredient has been identified as Wheat Gluten and Rice Protein Concentrate/Rice Gluten. These are not in any Eagle Pack Dry or Canned foods, so pet owners can feel safe in feeding our foods for these and the following reasons:

  • We attended a seminar where an expert stated “You can’t test your way to ingredient safety, though you must test. The best way to assure yourself of ingredient safety is to know your suppliers.” We have been dealing with many of the same trusted suppliers for 35 years.

  • Testing is ongoing. We have an onsite laboratory and also use the industry’s leading laboratory.

  • Our formulas are fixed formulas using high quality ingredients.

I do like the manufacturer's attitude. But I am aware they are also Corporate America. We all are waiting for the other shoe to drop, and in the human food supply too. I spoke with Eagle Pack today and they confirmed most if not ALL HUMAN VITAMINS AND SUPPLEMENTS as well as pets' come through BASF, a massive German Chemical company, you know, the one which doesn't make things, but make things better... and most of their nutritional source products come from China.

The implications that all our nutritional supplements are being "made better" by a German Chemical company with zero transparency of such processes is too grim to think about.

Mackie isn't all switched over to home cooking, though we're both trying hard. He's only 80% home fed, and in his weakened condition, I don't want to take away his beloved kibble, which he eats only 1/2 cup over 2-3 days. I'm going at his pace, he's always steered me right on issues to do with him. I'm not saying he'll never get sick on home cooking, but if he does, it won't be from rat-poison, industrial-toxic-waste-sludge , or some latter-day FDA-blessed form of Zyklon-B.

I feel guilty, no matter the advice I offer others:
No matter what logic is offered, we always feel guilty because these animals are put in our total care. IMO there is nothing wrong in feeling terrible about selecting and feeding the bad food, that's just natural. You are making it constructive, reaching so many people with your sad story. I hope in time with the work you are doing, those feelings transform into perhaps seeing Kitty Boy - who came to this planet - and took "the hit" so another cat might live - if you didn't select that bag of poisoned food, someone else would have. Why you, why him? These are spiritual questions, clearly you and he are linked in some karmic way, for some reason all yours. This I know, you both are helping so many others.

I get to go back and hug my kitty who survived his bout with Science Diet that same week in Feb. But he suffered and I still keep saying I'm sorry, because he's been so weakened. He's scared of his wet food bowl. Every time I get onto howl911 for updates, my kitty knows, he gets very quiet and sad.

ASPCA: MISSING IN ACTION WHEN IT COUNTED

Today is May 4th. Last night the ASPCA finally showed up on the horrific stage where the tragic slaughter of 8,500 kitties and puppies in the US. Where were they in December, January, February, March, and April. Taking a back seat and possibly bribes to stay out of it? On their home page they say, over cute pictures of kitty and puppy: "WE ARE THEIR VOICE".

A remarkably quiet and useless one, I might add. You might wonder, why "useless"? Here's why:

The ASPCA warns:

“We are strongly recommending that pet parents immediately investigate, via their pet food manufacturer’s Web site or by calling them directly, where the ingredients—specifically protein supplements—are sourced from.”

Given the current situation and until this crisis is resolved, the ASPCA is recommending pets be fed products containing U. S.-sourced protein supplements only."

So, months of silence, and now, no pet parent should feed their pet anything whatsoever that contains VEGETABLE PROTEIN sourced from outside the United States.

Yesterday, way before the ASPCA found such a wonderful advisory niche for themselves in this debacle, we had already started calling around, e.g., to the manufacturers of Mackie's treats to find out where they get their "secret sauce" from.

And that exactly is what the vegetable proteins, and the glutens are: chewy texture, good taste, and potentially laced with Melamine.

Mack's treats in days gone by used to include Pounce (dreadful junk food at its best), and today include Greenies, Zukes vitamins, and Bellrock Growers Wheat Grass Goodies, which contain less than 1% of wheat gluten. All sourced from within the US.

But then, caveat emptor, heed our Natural Balance experience. I chose that brand as it claimed to have no glutens or rice protein concentrate. Then, they pulled their entire line, telling us "we didn't know Diamond Foods was putting poison in our kitty food without us knowing." If you ever wanted to know what the phrase "gas-lighting" meant, that's it!

Does it then MATTER that we discover the other manufacturers source only from the United States? Does it MATTER that their legal contracts with their manufacturers state they must only use US originated product? No and No, again, apparently, since too many lie for the big eye over the pyramid.

How many are suddenly going to gas-light their exposure by exclaiming disingenuously: "We had NO idea they were putting all this bad stuff from China in there!!! Not our fault!!!"

To really explain the ASPCA's complete and utter uselessness in this matter, let me post my exchange between BELLROCK GROWERS, whom I believe is not "gas-lighting" their customers, and I, a pet-parent, will continue to use their treats:

Dear [privacy snip],

That's OK, you are wonderful in providing this disclosure. We are very very worried, and would like to share with you that our cat Mackie got very ill in February on Science Diet adult savory Ocean seafood. We had no idea then what was wrong, until March 17th. But we treated him holistically, and he was recovering slowly, until April, when a vet said OK put him back on some commercial, and we went to Natural Balance ocean fish. This after we checked their labels which indicated it had No glutens, NO rice protein concentrates.

...

However, he likes your treats. It's the one bright spot he has, and ... rather not take it away from him, but I think you would be interested in this.

When Mackie relapsed mid April, ... called and finally wrote Natural Balance on April 20th and they assured ... not only did the formulations I mentioned not have any glutens, nor any RPC, but they had their formulations tested at UC Davis and "all came back OK."

I kid you not.

5 days later they pulled that whole line, and are now wrangling with Diamond Foods or some such, ANI or whomever they say added RPC without their knowledge.

Whom do we the consumers believe?

If we are to believe NB was duped, may I offer this experience to your company as perhaps a point in time that extra due diligence now is as Martha would say: "A good thing".

We personally do NOT believe Natural Balance was duped by Diamond Foods, (I think this is just some legal-insurance CYA "fix" they both have going) because the language NB used in their email: "we use nothing bad", and "all tests came back OK" was sent from their lawyers office, way before they disclosed their "innocent victim" status, which IMHO is a legal charade. Had I believed them Mackie would have been dead. I didn't then, and I don't now.


Thank you


[privacy snip] @bellrockgrowers.com wrote:
Hi xxxx,
If you were the person that called today to find out this information I am
sorry we got disconnected. We went to retrieve the information and you
were no longer on the line.

Our manufacture of our cat treats buys their wheat gluten from a company
in the US called ADM Milling. They are located in Keokuk, IA.
ADM ProVim ESP Vital Wheat Gluten is not involved in the current pet food
recall being conducted by Menu Foods. ADM has not provided any wheat
gluten to this company at either of their pet food production facilities
in Kansas and New Jersey at any time.

This is to further assure the customers for ProVim ESP Vital Wheat Gluten
purchased from ADM, Keokuk, IA plant that Vomitoxin is tested on a weekly
composite. No Vital Wheat Gluten is shipped from this location that would
contain> 1ppm vomitoxin content.

I hope this gives you the information you are seeking. We understand your
concern.

Thank you,

...
Bell Rock Growers Inc.
ph. 760.591.4151
toll free- 888-943-2847
fax. 760.591.0644
www.bellrockgrowers.com

-----Original Message-----
From: [
Sent: Thursday, May 03, 2007 5:05 PM
To: info@bellrockgrowers.com
Subject: Please disclose your Wheat Gluten manufacturer

Dear Bellrock,

I appreciate your page informing us that your products contain less than
1% of wheat gluten. Here's my position, unless I know exactly where you
get your wheat gluten, so I may determine for myself that I am satisfied
with your choice of suppliers, I will no longer stock BellRock.

In addition, it really doesn't matter that you only have less than 1% of
wheat gluten in a treat, were it tainted in any way it would still kill
a small pet, and in any case, I don't like the idea of wheat gluten a
regular part of any pet's diet.

I called to ask the source of your gluten ( and how you know THEY did
not stock from CHINA) , and got a busy signal.

Thank you