The Pet Food Recall - What Now?

Since the fuss and well-deserved hoopla over the tainted pet food, I'm left wondering who can you trust?

With two cats who mean the world to me, I thought I was safe at the beginning of the recall in that the brands I use were not on the list. Then the list grew and grew until I was left wondering, how do I know that next week the manufacturer I purchase from will not recall their food "just to be on the safe side"?

Add to that the fact that our own government agency (FDA) does not seem to have a handle on this, is making pet owners in this country very jittery.

What I did:

• Checked by telephone with the manufacturer of my cat food (Royal Canin). I was assured that they did not import any ingredients from overseas. However, in the weeks to come they would proceed to pull some of their products from the shelves. I'm sure I'm not the only person that went through this and was left wondering...who can I trust?

To be fair to Royal Canin, they have now set up a FAQ page on their website for concerned pet owners here . I am still feeling jittery.

• Started buying and cooking drumsticks (free range from Whole Foods), nothing fancy, no special sauce or seasoning. I put one in the oven until cooked, wrap in foil and keep it in the fridge for the evening treat. It takes about two weeks to use them up.
• Still using NestlePurina's Fancy Feast. After looking at the ingredients I couldn't find anything suspicious that had been mentioned in the recall, checked the website, my cats seem fine, so I continue to use it. Purina also has a FAQ page here.

Still, it does make you wonder...plus I came across this information which is really unsettling (if you have dogs). A book by someone who says that basically all of our pets are at risk from most commercial pet food. It's called Dog Food Secrets. Even though it's for dog owners, I'm sure somewhere there is another version on it's way for cat owners.