Healthy Pets

Raw Food in Baltimore

Feeding a fresh meat diet has become easier in Baltimore. A local company is producing pet food in their Belair Road plant. Originally a butchering company, then a sausage company, the owner wanted healthy food for his dogs, so began to make a combination of meat and vegetables, using fresh ingredients. There is some grain in this diet, but it is low of the ingredient list, so ok for most animals. It is available in Graul's supermarket. www.K-9Kraving.com

A source of locally raised, hormone and antibiotic free meat is through Hickory Chance Beef of Bel Air, MD. www.hickorychance.com  They attend many local farmer's markets. Their meat is used by Woodberry Kitchens.www.woodberrykitchen.com, a Baltimore susatinable restaurant.

Government Stopping our Access to Local Food

I last wrote about this issue on my HealthyPlanetBlog.  Several people have reported this new article at www.NaturalNews.com.  Originally published March 25 2008  I have highlighted parts I particularly think important. I do hope it is ok that I printed it here. WE MUST ACT NOW TO STOP NAIS.

The National Animal Identification System - Who Wins and Who Loses
by Barbara L. Minton

(NaturalNews) The recall of 143 million pounds of beef processed over the past two years is the largest meat recall in the history of the world. The USDA had no choice following an animal group's release of videotape of "downer" cows being dragged across filthy floors and pushed around by a fork lift, before joining their healthier brethren on the hamburger highway. Since we all agree that the primary responsibility of the USDA is food safety, the question is, where were the USDA inspectors? The answer may be that for several years, the top priority at the USDA has not been food safety, but the creation of the National Animal Identification System (NAIS).

What is NAIS?

Formulated under the Patriot Act and therefore with no legislative review or input of the people, NAIS is a government program originally designed to give US beef producers help in getting their products into the export markets, as well as protection from liability involving those products.[Notice this is about BIG BUSINESS, not our choice, not sustainability, not support of local economies, not treating animals gently and ethically.]

Often labeled "no chicken left behind", the program has grown to include all livestock species, including cattle, bison, deer, elk, llamas, alpacas, horses, donkeys, mules, goats, sheep, swine, all poultry species, and fish. Owners are required at their expense to electronically, and with geo-satellite coordinates, tag each group or groups of animals and report within 24 hours to a data base: animal births, deaths, ownership transfers, and animal ingress and egress from the owner's land.

Under this system, animal owners who want to sell or take their animals off their property are also required to register their land with the USDA, thus putting their property under federal jurisdiction.

Of course, the benefit is to the big factory farms who clearly do need some type of regulation. They will do single ID's for large groups of animals. Small farmers, pet owners and homesteaders will have to tag and track every single animal individually. [This will be very expensive and put 99% of small farms - our source for local, sustainable, organic, bio-dynamic, etc food - out of business.]

Under NAIS, there are no exceptions. Even small farms that sell directly to local consumers will be required to pay the fees and file paperwork on each of their animals. Homesteaders who raise their own meat and grandma with her one egg hen will also have to register their homes as 'farm premises' and obtain a Premise ID, as well as tagging each animal.

The animal tracking, logging and reporting components of NAIS are scheduled to become mandatory nationwide in January, 2009. Strict enforcement involving fines, inspections of properties and confiscation or redistribution of livestock can be done by the USDA or state government without trial or legal hearings and with no compensation to the owner of the animals. Failure to register your home or farm with a Premise ID already faces a $1,000 fine in some states. This is in violation of the Fourth Amendment Constitutional rights as outlined in the Bill of Rights.

Nearly $150 million of taxpayer money as been spent on promoting NAIS, money that could have been spent on more inspectors to oversee meat processing plants. Instead, NAIS money has been used to influence non-government organizations into a public/private partnership to promote the NAIS. The Future Farmers of America and the 4H Club received large sums to encourage their parents to quickly register their property into the program.

NAIS and Food Safety

NAIS does nothing to prevent or arrest disease or contamination in the food supply. The initiative is not intended for this purpose. The goal of NAIS is to provide a 48 hour trace back to the farm of origin in the case of problems, a requirement for export to foreign markets. NAIS expands corporate profits, not consumer safety. The 48 hour trace back time that follows any problem detection could mean weeks or months have elapsed since any problem would actually have occurred.

Contamination of the food generally happens after the food leaves the farm. Many examples of factory contaminated food fill the news. And if the problem is not discovered at the factory but later, at the consumer level, there is a recall. The systems are already in place to handle this type of problem.

As to disease, meat sold in stores and restaurants is supposedly USDA inspected during slaughter and processing. The reality is that large numbers of recalls show us that meat from big commercial producers may not have been properly inspected because there are not enough inspectors, and because priorities lie elsewhere.

NAIS does nothing to halt the spread of Mad Cow Disease, a disease believed to be caused by the practice of grinding up old cows and adding them to cow feed. This practice is banned, and it is the job of the USDA to enforce this ban.

NAIS cannot help prevent the feared Avian Flu which is spread by wild birds.

Had the NAIS system been fully in place, it would not have prevented the "downer" cows in California from getting into the food supply. Nor would it have prevented any of the other meat recalls in recent years. Only a more efficient USDA inspection program can improve food safety.

Who Benefits and Who Loses From NAIS?

Today's NAIS is an outgrowth of international agreements brought to the USDA by the National Institute of Animal Agriculture, a not-for-profit organization consisting of large meat packers, manufacturers of animal tags and tag-reading equipment, and the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture. These are the organizations benefiting financially from the NAIS. Farmers, ranchers, and producers who must pay for this program were not invited to participate in its development.

The tag and reader manufacturers anticipate windfall profits from NAIS. State Departments of Agriculture are also slated to benefit. And certainly this is a full employment act for the USDA.

Animal owners who have to pay the bill for all this are being urged to sign up before NAIS becomes law in their states. Early sign up is billed as a patriotic act. To encourage early signing, animals cannot be shown at state fairs unless their premises are registered in the NAIS. Breed associations are being encouraged to withhold registration of animals for people not first registered with NAIS. There are reports that animals have been slaughtered by USDA inspectors on small farms where the owners resist registration.

Agri-business is the clear winner under NAIS. The prize is expanded export markets, and legal liability protection at minimal cost. Small farmers will be forced out of business due to the additional fees and paperwork, resulting in market share gain, bigger monopolies, and higher profits for the corporations. Anyone wishing to raise his own, better quality food will face the obstacles of paperwork and regulation.

NAIS is going to be expensive and guess who will pay for it in higher food prices? You!


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Cause of Spring deaths

New report gives even more reasons to buy ingredients for food from local, sustainable, polyculture farms. The January edition of DVM magazine (DVMnews.com) has more information on the deadly pet food crisis last spring. The veterinary college at Davis, California showed that a combination of melamine and cyanuric acid were responsible for the deaths. Look what is in your pet food – melamine is often used in fertilizers and cyanuric acid is used to stabilize chlorine in pools. The melamine, being high in nitrogen, could make it look as if there was more protein in foods, and protein is expensive.

And the American Association of Veterinary Laboratory Diagnosticians (AAVLD) surveyed 30,000 veterinarians and several hundred responded. 61% of 235 cats died and 74% of 112 dogs died because of the food.

More poisoned dog food

THIS IS THE REASON TO FEED FRESH FOOD, LOCALLY RAISED AND PURCHASED!

October 18, 2007 -- From Consumer Affairs
A cat owner whose two cats were affected by tainted cat food was workin long and hard on gettng some justice for her cat's ordeal. A new organization called The Pet Food Products Safety Alliance answered the cat owner's plea. That organization -- created to raise public awareness of pet food safety issues – paid ExperTox to test the owner's cat food. The owner had saved several unopened pouches of Special Kitty since March and stored the food in her freezer.

"New laboratory tests have detected the pain killer acetaminophen in yet another brand of pet food, ConsumerAffairs.com has learned.

These results add to the growing number of cases in which toxicologists at ExperTox Analytical Laboratories in Texas have detected the over-the-counter pain medicine in dog or cat food.

The latest findings came in a composite of three flavors of Menu Foods’ Special Kitty food -- Special Kitty with beef and gravy, Special Kitty mixed grill in gravy, and Special Kitty with turkey & giblets in gravy.

The tests performed by ExperTox earlier this month also detected another toxin in the foods: melamine. That’s the chemical that triggered Menu Foods’ massive recall in March of more than 60 million containers of pet food.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) found the melamine in the wheat gluten imported from China, which pet food companies used to make their products. Thousands of dogs and cats nationwide suffered kidney problems or died after eating the tainted pet food."

"“I expected the lab to find melamine,” said Carol, who worked as an X-ray technician for years. “But from what I’ve read, melamine isn’t too harmful and isn’t toxic unless it reacts with cyanuric acid. But the lab didn’t find cyanuric acid in the food.”

The acetaminophen in the cat food, however, may explain Jessica’s and Smudge’s problems. The popular pain killer can be toxic to cats, according to veterinarians."

http://www.vetlocator.com/newsarticles/experttox-2.php

Grapes and Raisins

A client just sent this email, so it is still a current concern:

Christina-
This may be way off base, but is this alert a new one (as in within 
the last year or so), or has this been a concern for several years?   
If it is new, then I raise the question:  is the problem the raisins 
themselves, or is there a new preparation process that has new 
chemicals in it that are poisonous to our pets? Are there new 
chemicals being sprayed on grapes? ( processing chemicals or 
insecticides, etc that are not noxious to humans?)
Would it be worth sending some raisins off to a lab to have them 
tested?  --Ann Calhoun

When this first was noticed, in the late 90s, I thought it was just because grapes and strawberries are the most highly treated crops (though no deaths from strawberries). Then I heard of deaths from backyard, untreated, grapes. That is when I suggested that people stop feeding them and I include them with high quality chocolate, raisins and large amounts of onions. some dogs are eating grapes all the time and doing fine, so I suggest it represents the unlying energy weakness, made worse by commercial food and vaccinating after puppyhood (except for the still legally required Rabies every 3 years). The following are several articles about the grapes and raisins, from the past.

Again, though written in present tense, this article was posted years ago. "This week I had the first case in history of raisin toxicity ever seen at MedVet. My patient was a 56 pound, 5 yr old male neutered lab mix who ate half a canister of raisins sometime between 7:30 AM and 4:30 PM on
Tuesday. He started with vomiting, diarrhea and shaking about 1 AM on Wednesday but the owner didn't call my emergency service until 7 AM. The dog's BUN (blood urea nitrogen level) was already at 32 (normal less than 27) and creatinine over 5 (1.9 is the high end of normal). Both are monitors of kidney function in the bloodstream. We placed an I V catheter and started the fluids. Rechecked the renal values at 5 PM and the BUN was over 40 and creatinine over 7 with no urine production after a liter of
fluids. He started vomiting again overnight at MedVet and his renal values have continued to increase daily. He produced urine when given lasix as a diuretic. He was on 3 different anti-vomiting medications and they still couldn't control his vomiting. Today his urine output decreased again, his BUN was over 120, his creatinine was at 10, his phosphorus was very elevated and his blood
pressure, which had been staying around 150, skyrocketed to 220. He  continued to vomit and the owners elected to euthanize.

And from the ASPCA web site (summer 2002 article): Around 1989, the APCC AnTox^TM database began noticing a trend in dogs who had eaten grapes or raisins: Nearly all developed acute renal (kidney) failure. As more cases were reported, enough data was generated in the database to help veterinarians identify and treat dogs at risk. In all of the cases, the ingredients for potential acute renal failure were the same. Whether the ingested grapes were purchased fresh from grocery stores or grown in private yards didn't seem to matter, nor did the brand eaten. And the ingested amounts varied considerably, from over a pound of grapes to as little as a single serving of raisins. The cases weren't from any specific region, but instead came from across the United States.

The database showed that dogs who ate the grapes and raisins typically vomited within a few hours of ingestion. Most of the time, partially digested grapes and raisins could be seen in the vomit, fecal material, or both. At this point, some dogs would stop eating (anorexia), and develop diarrhea. The dogs often became quiet and lethargic, and showed signs of abdominal pain. These clinical signs lasted for several days -- sometimes even weeks.

When medical care was sought, blood chemistry panels showed consistent patterns. Hypercalcemia (elevated blood calcium levels) was frequently present, as well as elevated levels of blood urea nitrogen, creatinine and phosphorous (substances that reflect kidney function). These chemistries began to increase anywhere from 24 hours to several days after the dogs ate the fruit. As the kidney damage developed, the dogs would produce little urine. When they could no longer produce urine, death occurred. In some cases, dogs who received timely veterinary care still had to be euthanized.

Why did the fruit cause the dogs to become ill? No one knows. Suspect grapes and raisins have been screened for various pesticides, heavy metals (such as zinc or lead), and mycotoxins (fungal contaminants) and so far, all results have come back negative. In the cases where the grapes were grown in private yards, owners confirmed that no insecticides, fertilizers or antifungals had been used on the fruit.

"Raisin" the Success Rate
Even though the exact cause of the renal failure is unknown, dogs who ingest grapes and raisins can be treated successfully to prevent its development. The first line of defense is decontamination. Inducing vomiting in recent ingestions and administering activated charcoal helps prevent absorption of potential toxins. Dogs should be hospitalized and placed on intravenous fluids for a minimum of 48 hours. A veterinarian should monitor blood chemistry daily for at least three days following the ingestion. If all blood work is normal after three days, it's unlikely that kidney failure will occur. If a dog shows evidence of renal failure, fluids must be continued, and other medications should be used to stimulate urine production. Some dogs may need peritoneal dialysis, a process where the peritoneum (the membranes surrounding the abdominal organs) is used to filter waste products that are normally filtered by the kidney.

Thanks in part to the AnTox database, grape or raisin ingestion can be easily identified and treated. Today, a dog can make a complete recovery from this potentially fatal condition.

Organic vegetables

9-5-07

We have spoken before in this blog about the importance to your health and that of your animals (you are feeding more fresh food than processed, right?) of buying organic (or close to organic) and for the planet it is important.  Some people say it is hard, or expensive, to find local organic vegetables. Now there is a national registry you can use to locate farms with CSA groups.

How wonderful – a way to find those organic local vegetables you and your animals need to thrive. This web site gives you the ability to search for Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) farms anywhere in all states. Maryland has 20 listed and I notice that one straw farm, a big on in the Baltimore area is not listed, so there are even more.

I typed in csacenter.org or the official url is:  http://www.wilson.edu/wilson/asp/content.asp?id=804

The original idea of a CSA is to share the risk of farming with the farmer. You pay in the winter for a share in the farm. They plant enough for all the shareholders. Each week all the produce is harvested and divided among the shareholders – you may get a lot or a little and the farmer gets paid no matter what. Now, some farms give you a specific amount in your box and you can come pick extras, or share extras as available. This helps keep farm lands healthy, provides habitat for local animals and keeps your family healthy.

raw meat sources

Just discovered - a great farm with range reared animals. They even have bags of trimmings from processing (for the environment it is best to use everything from the animals we raise and kill) - often organ meats.

http://www.peacefulpastures.com/index.html

There is NEVER a need to feed processed. Please click on comment to let others know what sources you use for raw foods.

MOre Food RECALLED

HOLISTIC BRAND now under recall. Many people trying for a more holistic food have fed Lick Your Chops and it is now under recall.

The Baltimore Sun, today, reported that Chenango Valley Pet Foods is recalling certain dry foods made for the following:

Doctors Foster & Smith; Lick Your Chops; SmartPak.

I found a great web site to track all the recalled foods, other foods made with similar ingredients, ways to report problems and how to be an advocate.  Volunteers are also needed to help get the poisoned food off the shelves.   http://www.howl911.com/  They report that www.Petconnection.com has recorded 4,474 (2,288 cats and 2,186 dogs) from food.

The bottom line is that most processed foods could have problems, so read your lables and carefully discard any foods that do not list only whole food ingredients. Rice is ok, rice meal may not be.

START FEEDING REAL FOOD - PEOPLE FOOD - NOW. Call me for a coaching appointment. Email or call me (HealThyAnimals@aol.com, 410-771-4968) to be on a conference call series that will bring in various experts on holistic nutrition.

Please make comments by clicking on the comment button below. Have you switched brands? Have you switched to fresh food? Are you reading labels?