I must've forgotten how to post on here.  I can't seem to get an open window.  So, if this pops up in the wrong place, well, it'll show up where it's meant to show up...

ALERT ON QUAKER OATS BARLEY:
 
This is my experience only.  I have not yet called Quaker Oats, nor notified the FDA, etc.  I'll get to that soon.  This is just sharing my experience with those of you who read this...
 
I gave Kimtare his usual bowl of barley and chicken.  Instead of devouring it, he carefully ate a mouthful, then drank water.  Then he ate another mouthful, clearly hungry, but not wanting to eat the stuff.  Then he went around his placemat and ate the other stuff on there, mostly the wet stuff, didn't want the main dish.  I fretted that night, thinking that something was wrong with his urinary tract, as he drank huge amounts of water that night.  I threw out the food.  The next day, he ate other things, as I rotate the meals.  The day after that, dinner was very late, and he was hysterically hungry.  He ate a big bowl of turkey and barley - from the same batch, which I'd just cooked up that first day, from a new box.  End result, he was covered on the rear with horrible, thick, diarrhea that clung to his coat.  I was over an hour late for work, by the time that I bathed him.
 
My take is that the barley was poisoned.  It did have blotches of black and yellow that it doesn't usually have.  I didn't heed the difference.  I assumed that, like grits, sometimes there will be spots of color in an off-white product, that it's normal for grain.  Now I think that it was bad grain, rotted, or that there was melamine in it.  I'd called Quaker Oats once, on their grits, I think, and the woman on the phone told me that they grow their stuff in the U.S.A.  Nowhere on the box does it state that.
 
Bottom line, I'll let them know.  I could have the food tested, but, it would cost me hundreds of dollars, and I'm still not going to use it.  I talked to a vet, not even my own vet, but one whose name I recognized, when he went through my line at work.  He said not to worry about Kimtare, if the symptoms cease in twenty-four hours.  They have.  He's fine now.  But, I am going on an intensive search for U.S.A. GROWN, ORGANIC, GRAINS.  I'll let you all know what I find.  Organic alone is not enough.  Some of these stores sell "organic" food grown in China.  They grow the grain in polluted soil, water it with filthy water, just don't add additonal pesticides, and call it organic.  Oh, and then they dry the leaves of some of these plants by driving trucks over them, which use leaded gas.  Not good enough for me.
 
The above is the result of our experience and my research.  Buyer beware.

Note on above:  I did finally find a small packet of barley grown in Ohio in a small health food store.  We'll use that.

I also found Polenta (corn grits).  Has anyone ever used this before?  If the animal can eat raw corn, boiled corn, and cooked hominy grits, then, Polenta should be fine - right?  My vet's out of town, and I won't actually cook any of it til I ask him, but, I'm hoping for feedback.

BLESSED BE.
WOLFIN )O(
***

FOR the constipation, my vet told me to use 1 teaspoon of safflower oil (NOT HEATED) mixed in with food.  This is for a 27 lb. animal.  For a huge dog, I'm guessing 2 tsp. in the bowl of food, mixed in?  I also feed Stonyfield Organic Whole Milk Cream On Top (but I mix it in when I first open the container) Vanilla Flavor YOGURT.  Go slowly til you know how your animal reacts.  Again, 1 tsp. as a treat or side dish?  And - I feed whole green beans.  FRESH ONES, OUT OF A BAG IN THE PRODUCE DEPT., not canned nor frozen.  These can be fed as a side dish or broken into the food dish with the other food.  I use 6 - 12.  My baby doesn't eat them all at once, but, he nibbles all day, and does eat them.  

I have constant panicks over this very issue.  Several animal people whom I trust have told me not to panic til we've hit 48 hrs.

Exercise also helps.  Or a warm bath.  You can just play in the tub for a while.  It doesn't have to be with soap.  Make sure that no foreign bodies have been swallowed (pcs. of toys or furniture, bedding, etc.).

Blessed Be.
WOLFIN )O(

I posted this elsewhere on these forums, just not sure where to put it...  But...

I'm worried because of this:
 
FROM AN ARTICLE ON THE TOOTHPASTE:
Diethylene glycol, or DEG, is a thickening agent used as a low-cost — but frequently deadly — substitute for glycerin, a sweetener commonly used in drugs.

Earlier this month, the FDA warned drug companies, suppliers and compounding pharmacists to ensure that any glycerin they use is not contaminated with the poison.

FROM PETROMALT'S WEBSITE:
Petromalt Ingredients: Petromalt is an emulsion of Liquid Petrolatum 44%, Malt Syrup 47%, Glycerine 7%, Acacia 2%, Vitamin B1 (Thiamine HCI) – 1 mg per ounce.
 

I CAN'T EVEN CALL ANYONE, BECAUSE OF THE HOLIDAY, AND I'M SICK, THINKING THAT I MAY HAVE POISONED MY BABY.  HAS ANYONE HAD A PROBLEM WITH THIS ITEM???
 
BLESSED BE.
WOLFIN )O(
 

I don't know where to put this blog, either, but, here goes:

I'm worried because of this:
 
FROM AN ARTICLE ON THE TOOTHPASTE:
Diethylene glycol, or DEG, is a thickening agent used as a low-cost — but frequently deadly — substitute for glycerin, a sweetener commonly used in drugs.

Earlier this month, the FDA warned drug companies, suppliers and compounding pharmacists to ensure that any glycerin they use is not contaminated with the poison.

FROM PETROMALT'S WEBSITE:
Petromalt Ingredients: Petromalt is an emulsion of Liquid Petrolatum 44%, Malt Syrup 47%, Glycerine 7%, Acacia 2%, Vitamin B1 (Thiamine HCI) – 1 mg per ounce.
 

I CAN'T EVEN CALL ANYONE, BECAUSE OF THE HOLIDAY, AND I'M SICK, THINKING THAT I MAY HAVE POISONED MY BABY.  HAS ANYONE HAD A PROBLEM WITH THIS ITEM???
 
BLESSED BE.
WOLFIN )O(
 

I CALLED GIANT EAGLE HEADQUARTERS YESTERDAY. I WAS TOLD THAT THEY RECEIVED LETTERS FROM ALL OF THEIR CHICKEN SUPPLIERS (PURDUE, BELL AND EVANS, AND THE STORE BRAND, WHICH THEY GET FROM “MOUNTAIRE CHICKEN”), STATING THAT THEIR POULTRY IS NOT CONTAMINATED. THE MAN TO WHOM I SPOKE, BILL SMITH, SUPPOSEDLY IN CHARGE OF MEAT PURCHASING FOR ALL OF THEIR STORES, SAID THAT MOUNTAIRE CHICKEN IS LOCATED IN DELAWARE. I RAN OUT OF DAY YESTERDAY, BUT INTEND TO CALL THEM TODAY.

I’VE BEEN FEEDING CHICKEN, TURKEY, AND CHICKEN EGGS AS MY ONLY PROTEIN SOURCES FOR ABOUT SIX WEEKS NOW, AND SUPPLEMENTALLY SINCE LAST MAY!

I INTEND TO CALL NATURE’S BIN, MY SOMEWHAT LOCAL ORGANIC FOODS STORE, TO FIND OUT WHETHER THEY HAVE FRESH, ORGANIC, CHICKEN AND TURKEY THIGHS, AND CHICKEN EGGS, AND SHOPPING THERE ONCE A WEEK. I STILL NEED TO FEED WHAT I HAVE IN THE HOUSE FOR NOW, AT LEAST FOR A COUPLE MORE DAYS.

I NEVER ASKED ANYONE ABOUT TURKEY, NOR HAVE I SEEN IT MENTIONED ANYWHERE. I HOPE THAT THIS WON’T BE IN THE NEXT WAVE OF “POISON NEWS”.

Sorry that this is elsewhere on this site, but, I want anyone using chicken to see it.  "Cindy" also had useful information on the main comment site.

BLESSED BE.
WOLFIN )O(

I posted this question on Pet Connection, as well.  How does one go about finding out WHAT CHICKEN FARMS a certain grocery store uses for their store brand???  I already called them, and "they'll call me back".  Meanwhile, chicken's on the stove.  All that my baby and I have been eating lately is eggs, turkey, and chicken, plus some organic grains.  Now this?  Do I feed it?  Is there some way that I can find out now, on the internet?  He urinated five times yesterday.  He usually only goes two or three times a day.  Thing is, report just came back clean from the vet last week.  How do I know that he didn't just get a poisoned batch of chicken this week?  Someone please help with suggestions.  I can't be running him to the vet every week.  He seems playful and okay, but, I need to know what to feed now.  Dinner's in two hours.

WOLFIN )O(