Pet Tabs Plus vitamins - yay or nay?

I give my dogs Pet Tabs Plus....

I believe it was Pet Tabs that was found to contain lead. LJilly will know for sure, or you can google. If you want a good all round whole food supplement, this is fantastic. http://www.thewholisticpet.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=product.display&Product_ID=542&ParentCat=40

No WAY???!! I just bought a new bottle...when did this occur? OH MY

here's an article.... it's down near the bottom of the page. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16655168/ If I were you, I'd take it back and get a refund.... with this article if need be.

NOOOOOO! It was Ljilly - Jill - who recommended these and they DO NOT have lead in them. It was another, similar product.

This is a post from Hotel4dogs.... couldn't find Jill's post. Hopefully, she'll chime in. According to MSNBC and this thread, it IS pettabs.

pet tabs update
For those of you who saw the original thread about Pet Tabs vitamins having an unaccepably high level of lead, here's an update email I received from the person who originally warned me about it.
She is a vet tech, and her husband is a vet. They are refusing to carry them in their clinic and are fighting with Pfizer over having them recalled. When she refers to them refusing to take back their supply, she means from the vet clinic.

"......As you may remember, Consumer Labs found that Virbac's Pet-Tabs are contaminated with lead. Well, Pfizer's Pet-Tabs are the exact same thing with a different label. We have given our older dogs these to help with age-related anemia. Pfizer and Virbac both deny they cause a problem and Pfizer refused to take back our supply and refund our money.

We decided to test our 60 lb. WHP Griffon, Scout, for lead. Her test results came back that she is 3.5 times the high normal limit. (Imagine what a 20 lb. dog getting the same dose might be.) We contacted Pfizer and they are paying for their own lead test on her. We are also having our other dog, Boo, tested. We have finally gotten Pfizer's attention, but it's hard to say how this will end. ..."

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This is the thread this was taken from http://www.goldenretrieverforum.com/showthread.php?t=58137&highlight=Tabs+lead

This is the thread that has Jill's post, referencing Hotel4dogs thread I cited above. It IS about PetTabs both from Pfizer and Vrbac.... they are the same product and DO contain lead.
http://www.goldenretrieverforum.com/showthread.php?t=58551&highlight=Tabs+lead Jill's post is #5

Oh boy! I hope Jill reads this and clears up the confusion. I wonder if I am just thinking of the wrong name because the one we discussed most definitely did not have lead. Sorry to create panic!

Here's Jill's post:

#5

06-05-2009, 07:51 AM
Ljilly28

Expert Member
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: Falmouth, Maine
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I used Pet Tabs Plus to help a dog struggling with anemia from a tick disease- that is, until Hotel4Dogs let me know they had lead in them. I felt pretty betrayed by Pfizer/Virbac when I read about it, and discontinued them.

We also use Dasuquin for joints.

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PLEASE read this article before using this product:http://www.thedogplace.org/Articles/DogCare/Nutrition/09091-Pet-Tabs_Dr.Russell.asp

I'm not sure at the moment if this is what I started giving Shadow and Tucker. The Vet thought maybe Shadow was lacking some vitamins and minerals and told me to give vitamins a try. Right after purchasing a whole bottle we found out Shadow is allergic to milk products. I looked at the ingredient list...Milk products! Ugh! LOL

Wow! Didn't know about the lead...

One of the varieties of the pet tabs plus tested very high for lead contaminates a year or so ago. That's my concern with products made specifically for pets - there isn't the same level of testing and control as there are for human vitamins (not that all human products are safe or well regulated either).

I guess I'd ask what specifically you're looking to "fix" with a multi-vitamin. If you are feeding a well-balanced food you shouldn't need to add a lot of supplements to the diet. There's a tendency for folks to really over-supplement - with the best intentions of course - I have had boarders who have more supplements by volume than kibble!

Have you tried rotating protein sources? There's the whole hot/cold and dry/wet aspect of chinese medicine....I know several dogs that have had generic malaise that had their diets corrected - usually an excess of hot and wet and when cold and damp foods were added to their diets they improved considerably...

Erica

Bogey has a very weak immune system. It could be anything - a long, lurking case of giardia, IBD or an intolerance to most meats. He currently eats a RX diet of kangaroo. He loves it and is doing well, but we really don't have an official diagnosis. I would just like something, if it exists, that will really boost his immune system. He seems to pick up anything within a 50 mile radius of us.

Bogey's Mom said:

Bogey has a very weak immune system. It could be anything - a long, lurking case of giardia, IBD or an intolerance to most meats. He currently eats a RX diet of kangaroo. He loves it and is doing well, but we really don't have an official diagnosis. I would just like something, if it exists, that will really boost his immune system. He seems to pick up anything within a 50 mile radius of us.

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If you want to go above and beyond good, meat based nutrition, I would strongly recommend staying with whole food products. They contain the nutrients you want in a natural state. I love the wholistic pet product. I used it when Cody was so deathly ill with AIHA ( autoimmune hemolytic anemia) http://www.thewholisticpet.com/index...2&ParentCat=40 Or you could try Nzymes as recommended by the great dane lady www.nzymes.com

Thanks, Betty! Did this supplement help? How much did you give? How often? Just on top of food? If I used that could I cut out the Forti-Flora? It looks like it has probiotics in it.

Did it help Cody?

Bogey's Mom said:

Thanks, Betty! Did this supplement help? How much did you give? How often? Just on top of food? If I used that could I cut out the Forti-Flora? It looks like it has probiotics in it.

Did it help Cody?

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Of course, there's no real way of knowing, but I just felt I had to give him every chance to heal his own body. It's all organic, and he did do very well on it. I would compare the amount of probiotics in both products..... might be that you could still use a much smaller amt of the Forti-Flora to add to the other if needed. And yes, it comes in a bucket and you just sprinkle on their food.

My goodness, can we trust any company any more?

I hate to say it, but I bet they are/were made in China... These days I ask very specifically if any food ingredients are sourced in China, and refuse to purchase if I can't get an answer, or if the answer is yes.

Maybe not fair, but we've earned the right. My Mom lost all THREE of her cats to the China/Pet-Food scandal a few years ago This is also why I will not purchase any pet products produced by that particular Pet Food Manufacturer. I won't mention the name. You all know who it is.

Penny & Maggie's Mom said:

I believe it was Pet Tabs that was found to contain lead. LJilly will know for sure, or you can google. If you want a good all round whole food supplement, this is fantastic. http://www.thewholisticpet.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=product.display&Product_ID=542&ParentCat=40

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Dammit. I gave Dakota Pet Tabs in the early 2000's. He developed Epilepsy in 2004, or thereabouts, and it took his life this past March.

I just can't help but wonder now

Penny & Maggie's Mom said:

Here's Jill's post:



PLEASE read this article before using this product:http://www.thedogplace.org/Articles/DogCare/Nutrition/09091-Pet-Tabs_Dr.Russell.asp

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Bogey's Mom said:

Bogey has a very weak immune system. It could be anything - a long, lurking case of giardia, IBD or an intolerance to most meats. He currently eats a RX diet of kangaroo. He loves it and is doing well, but we really don't have an official diagnosis. I would just like something, if it exists, that will really boost his immune system. He seems to pick up anything within a 50 mile radius of us.

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I'd probably start with enzymes then - I have some of these that I use when we're showing/traveling a lot - helps keep them firmer..
http://www.naturesfarmacy.com/store/results.php?keywords=dogzymes

There's a version that has egg in it, the other doesn't depending on what he can tolerate...

Erica

MurphyTeller said:

I'd probably start with enzymes then - I have some of these that I use when we're showing/traveling a lot - helps keep them firmer..
http://www.naturesfarmacy.com/store/results.php?keywords=dogzymes

There's a version that has egg in it, the other doesn't depending on what he can tolerate...

Erica

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I do use the dogzymes digestive enhancer now. LOTS of probiotics and enzymes in it. It's very economical and has a long stable shelf life. This past time I got the water soluble version which I think is the one without egg ( check this out just to be sure) which can also be used dry. All of my crew is on it. A 2 lb can lasted our 4 about 4-5 months.