PET FOOD RECALL NUTRO DRY DOG FOOD
71Let's get organized!
My 8 year old black lab, Blue, had to go to the vet on Mar. 9th after I woke to him vomiting and defacating blood! Totally lathargic and barely hanging on. He had to have plasma administered and stayed in the hospital for treatment of what they suspected was rat poison for 4 days to the tune of $3600.00. We are lucky to have him alive!!! He was eating Nutro Natural Choice Adult wieght control. This is BullS*!t we need to get organized and make this company pay!! Not even an apology yet?!?!!? WHY IS THIS BEING KEPT QUIET?????
HAS YOUR PET GOTTEN SICK FROM A PRODUCT THEY ARE NOT TELLING US ABOUT?
Thier products are now considered poison.
If you have any doubt, take a look at the FDA's web site listing the food as unsafe: http://www.fda.gov/ora/oasis/7/ora_oasis_c_us.html
Thank you Cathy for finding this.
EDIT 8/5/07 ***** BY THE WAY... I DONT LIKE THE FACT THAT MY POST IS COVERED WITH A PET FOOD AD THAT I DONT KNOW OR ENDORSE.....
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Thank you!!!
Kidney failure doesn't generally cause bloody diarrhea. What was the diagnosis? Commonly used rat poisons in the U.S. cause bleeding. For that much money, surely they know if it was kidney-related or a clotting disorder.
It was a clotting disorder. After posting this I talked further with my vet and they are telling me that it is different than the renal issues that this recall has supposedly addressed. I have read quite a few dog owners complaining about the dry food around the same time though.... Seems like quite a coincidence............. Thank you for the info!
I have three Boston Terriers who are like children to us. My first one was sick with lethargy and the inability to eat but consuming large amounts of water. My oldest male became sick and couldn't walk. It's like his hind end was drunk or stiff; he had vomiting and was sicker than I've ever seen him before. Then my smallest/youngest boston got really sick with water diarrhea and he also had that inability to walk due to his hind end going sideways and falling down. At first they diagnosed my oldest male with back trouble due to an xray that showed disk problems. However, the symptoms are very similar and the smallest boston had to stay at our urgent care vet and recieve IV's because he was deydrated. This is all happening at the same time Pet Foods all over the world are being recalled. I thought we were ok because ours eat NUTRO NATURAL DRY LAMB AND RICE SMALL BITES!!!! I will be heading to the vet as soon as they open. Up until this point our animals blood work has been fine. However, with the similarities and now another bout of illness with the same symptoms I fully believe that our dog food is the culprit and although I do not still have the bag it came in, I'll be taking some of it with me to the vet.
My 2 year old German Shepherd eats mostly dry food, Nutro beef food. I rarely feed him canned food, although he did have some around the first of March 07.
On March 21 he urinated on my couch, and then he did it again the second day, which was very unlike him. I immediately felt it was a health problem because he does not do that. They found he has a bladder infection and a lot of crystals in his urine.
He is currently on antibiotics and a special prescription food. He will have to go back in a few weeks and have some tests again, an x-ray, and a ultra sound to make sure his liver is okay.
Tell me what are the odds this would happen at the same time as other animals who are affected. The single can I have left over is not on the list. Although as I said he eats dry food and his symptoms are the same as those animals who have been exposed.
Needless to say I am concerned if this is under control and if they are positive that the canned food is the only source.
I saw the news report about the possible dry food being unsafe and i totally believe it! HOW DARE THOSE ASSHOLES keep this hidden for sooo long. We should feed them this unsafe food. I have 5 babies and they were all on nutro, well not anymore and never again. I started cooking for them again BUT is our food safe??? This is sooo hard to digest this is not a poor country & we are consuming this garbage. I pray for all those who are suffering thru this. take care.
This is upsetting. The only food our dog eats is NUTRO NATURAL DRY LAMB AND RICE SMALL BITES!!!! Now, I'm at a loss as to what to feed her. She is so picky.
I had a year old healthy German Shepard Mix until around 2 weeks ago. I have been feeding her Nutro Natural Choice Senior for about 2 years. No problems. 2 weeks ago she started eating and vomitting. Now she will eat nothing and is very ill. She has had all the symptons as been menioned in this forum (vomitting, thirsty, urninating, spacey, cannot walk properly in her back. I have phoned the 1800 # on the bag 2 times with questions ..they are saying no problems. But I believe my dog is very ill due to this bag of food. Have any of these ill dogs recovered? What can I do? any suggestions?
I have 4 dogs that are on Nutro Natural Choice Large Breed with glucosamine. Over the last few months they have each taken turns throwing up and diaherria. The vet said they were passing around the flu. I am not sure anymore. The vet recommended feeding them smaller quantities a couple of times a day which we have done. They are no longer very active, and they don't seem to be their happy selves. Are these companies hiding the fact that this recall could ruin them, and instead they are willing to risk our animals instead? How can we get more information before it is too late?
Shan, Cindy, Stephanie and Beverly....how are your dogs doing now?
Re: Nutro Natural Choice Weight Management (Chunks & Gravy) which I have
been feeding her. The date Dec 20 09 and the Code number matches the
recalled food. I am having a series of test done on my dog.
I have noticed a change in her energy level and she hasn't eaten much. I
am very concerned and upset to think that I tried to give her what I thought
was good for her, only to find it was wasn't.. My dog, Maple is a very
unique dog, 4 years old, which cannot be replaced by another. I saved the
empty cans in my freezer to verify that I used this food. What can be done???
I switched my Lab/Greyhound mix to Nutro Chicken and Oatmeal. In a short period of time, she became extremely ill, burping up food, vomiting several times a day and getting severe diarrhea. She was hospitalized for 3 days, and full bloodwork was done. The vet was not hopeful, telling me it was probably too late. They couldn't find a cause, and assumed it was food poisoning from eating something she shouldn't have. She did recover, and I unknowingly continued to feed her Nutro. This was in October. A little over a month ago, the symptoms began again. I took her to the vet, they ran bloodtests and did x-rays this time. They again suggested it may be food poisoning. The vet saw an unusual amount of gas in her intestines. She got a urinary tract infection at the same time. They never found a reason for any of it. I have switched her to Natural Balance and she has not vomited since.
Our four year old dog died suddenly on Feb 22nd. He at only Natural Choice DRY Lamb formula dog food. He had an upset/gassy tummy for a few days, I thought he just had an upset tummy, we left home for two hours, when we left he seemed fine, two hours later we came home and my kids had to find the dog dead in the backyard. He was always totally healthy, had regular vet visits, shots, etc. He was the best dog in the world. This was all just before the food recall news, never had an autopsy, I am looking for a place to get the food tested. Can't get any answers from anyone about dry food.
Vicki Noviss writes in comment #9: "I had a year old healthy German Shepard Mix until around 2 weeks ago. I have been feeding her Nutro Natural Choice Senior for about 2 years." If your dog is one year old, why are you feeding her senior food and how could you be feeding her that food for 2 years?
I guess this is what happens when everything is sent offshore. Next it very well may be humans: i.e Spinich Lettuce Etc!!!! This thing is strictly a "BOTTOM DOLLAR" episode.
Comment to Jerry. My German Shepard was 6 years old. sorry for the typo. I have a 12 year old dog as well. I was desperate for answers on Friday when I posted to this site. My dog died yesterday and I miss her and this all happened so fast. I still cannot believe it. I hope we can get answers to the questions that all of us must have.
I don't agree with any of this and if I was an owner of Nutro I would be slapping lawsuits on alot of people. DO NOT SLANDER a product if you're not a 100% sure that it is the problem. I do not work for Nutro, nor do I care to. My dogs are on Innova and Acana. (Both wheat free if you've noticed) This is a hype. I understand fully that it is extremely sad but alot of information is now just going around as gossip and people are hearing what they want to hear. The crystals? That does not have to do with the food. That has to do with not feeding the correct food for your pet's needs. Chicken and Oatmeal, maybe your dog is allergic to something. You got bloodwork done, did you get allergy tests done? Come on people, give your head a shake. Quit falling into the hype and pay attention for your animals sake. Figure out the facts before you start accusing. Settle down and read up to what is happening. Change your food if needed, and if you are changing food, do it gradually. A big change could upset the stomach giving the poops, and vomiting. That's what happens. Please give yourself the knowledge of learning on your own about what to feed your dogs. Don't slander companies and follow in this craziness. Knowledge is Power. Learn where the dry food is manufactured. It's not all at menufoods. Mostly just canning plants are there. Take your pets off a grain diet. No wheat, no problem.
before the recall on dog food. what did we know about it our dogs were getting sick. the vet says an upset stomache or try changing food. No you cant blame everydog getting sick on nutro Which is suppose to be the best brand. But let me tell you this. I have a dog he is 3 yrs old Lab . He has been on Nutro since he "s been a pup .He was on wet and dry food. last year he would have some vomit problems not to bad. i asked the vet about ithe didnt seem to concerned Some times dogs will vomit bile. Then this past dec my dog vomited for 3 days cleared up gave him hamburger and rice to eat. i put him back on his wet and dry food. Then i heard of the recall in march on the wet dog food and took him off and just kept him on the dry nutro I call the vet and told them my dog was on the can food and that was on the lis t of recall .They said as long as he seem to be ok i woluldnt have to bring him in.So i kept him on the dry food only On March 30 i purchased more dry dog food lamb and rice for lg dogs Nutro . Saturday i fed my dog lunch and supper he seemed fine. then sunday morning he started to vomit and had diahrear then 4 hrs later he severly vomited and diahrear but this time it was all bloody, took him to the vet he put him on a antibiotic the vet said it was something he ingested But he cant say it was the food because he didn't have kidney failure. we took him home so that night at 2am in the morning My dog started to severly vomit again this time it was all bloody called the vet told us bring him in at 730 am. I stayed up all night with him. brought him in and they kept him. heis home now M y dog has hemo gastritist . The doctor says something he in gested. My dog is always on a leash when i take him out. I never leave him outside. The doctor said he cant send outa blood sample to see if there is a toxin in his blood. because he dont have kidney failure. So my dog is on 2 medications and organic beef and brown rice for a week and back to see the vet. I dont know what to think was it the food or what. It kills me to see my dog sick like this so far he hasnt vomited and his bowel movements are getting better.He goes back to Vet april 9 I wish i knew what cause this. But you cant help wonder was it the food?
My 8 year old beagle has been on Nutro Max small bites for years. I just tried the glucosamine condroiten blend food for adult dogs and added it to the other dry food. She started drinking SOOOO much water and urinating on all the throw rugs in the house. That's unlike her. Tonight she just urinated on the rug near the door again...a virtual flood. I thought maybe she had a urinary tract infection. I will begin to cook all her food until this clears up. What a country we live in; the almighty $$$$ rules everyone in business. What a horror for all of our pet family members!! Let's sue.
Sami, your approval is not needed here. Nutro IS involved in the recal for thier cuts and gravy products. The lawsuit would come from this side of the table. THIS IS HOW PEOPLE SHARE INFORMATION!! THIS IS HOW PEOPLE START CLASS ACTION LAWSUITS!!! Should we just shut up and wait for the company that stands to lose millions to tell us? .... Let's keep this a moron free post, stop trying to argue with concerned pet owners. Save your lecture and lets worry about our animals. The fact is, the first casualties came from menu foods own animal testing faculities TWO WEEKS AFTER THEY HAD THE INFORMATION!
Keep the stories coming, if this is just a coincidence, than what is there to worry about?
On March 23, I bought my 7 year old Basenji mix Nutro Natural choice Lamb and Rice fomula dry dog food. Today he is in the vets office fighting for his life, his kindeys are failing, off the charts number on his tests. I suspected the dog food. Called the company repeatly, no it's not on our recall lists. You don't want to believe you feed your beloved animal poison. His health slowly faded, this is a happy active dog. He will be treated all weekend, IV hooked up to him and I can only hope that we caught this before it kills him. I have called Nutro several times over the last week, worried they would add his food to the recall list. They haven't as of yet. When I called to inform Nutro that my dog was being treated for kindey failure, when I purchased the food, that I have a bag here at home and he was perrfectly healthy prior to this bag of food being purchased. I gave her the bar code # and was transferred to CORPERATE, it was an answering machine. I called back, this time they took my info and said someone will get back to you. Hasn't happened yet, 24 hours later. I clearly stated my opinion this food should be recall, something is wrong with it. Clearly something is, my dog is supervised 24/7, he didn't get into anything that would make his kidneys fail. Unless he was sneaking something he got himself at petsmart while I had my back turned and shoplifted it. Then partook in eating it while I was asleep at night. At this point I want answers. I don't think they know what it is, the rat poison they are blaming is in cancer drugs from what I have read. Have a friend on this drug, her kindeys aren't failing and she is on this long term. Yet my dog is fighting for his life, from something that mysteriously got into his system, right after buying this bag of dry dog food. Which does not contain any wheat glut. If you have a sickened dog that is on dry food, please inform the company and your vet. Ending this as swiftly as possible will mean no more animals and their humans will have to suffer as Maudigan and I are right now.
I work at a small, locally owned pet store. We unfortunately carried Nutro until the recall, and have already had people come back saying their animals are sick. I have to recommend to everyone that the only way you are going to be able to know if your dog/cat is eating good food is to READ THE INGREDIENT LIST. Anything that has any type of wheat or soy as one of the first 3 or 4 ingredients is not a good food. Also most bags will say if the food is made in the U.S. We are also telling customers not to buy any Nutro products yet (dry or wet), because they keep expanding the recall to include items they previously swore were "safe". I personally feed my dog Chicken Soup for the Pet Lover's Soul, which I recommend to all our customers. It has an excellent list of ingredients and his skin and coat already look amazingly better (I previously fed him Nutro Lamb & Rice Small Bites). Any type of high-end, holistic (human grade) foods are what we recommend and sell (none of these were affected by the recall). The brands we carry are Canidae, Wellness, Chicken Soup for the Soul, California Natural, and Innova. Sincerely, good luck to anyone whose animals were affected by this horrible incedent. I work with animals for a living and know what it feels like to not be able to live without them.
I finally got in touch with the Nurto, began a claim with them. I am to send them 4 cups of this poisoned food to them, via a packet they will be sending me. This will by anilized by the company. I have yet to get in touch with the FDA, left messeges. I would like this food to be anilized by them also. Seeing as my trust at this point is not present. I spoke to an attorney, he was very helpful with innfomation. He also recommended not to join class action suits. Seeing as my only goal inn this is to have my dog's vet bills paid. They can't commpensate me if he passes away. Although this might change some laws in negilgance of companies beyond humans and to include pets, depending on how huge this becomes as they add to the recalls. Update on Maudigan's condition, he is very sick, on IV throughout the weekend. Still not out of the woods yet, we will know more by monday. I go visit him twice a day and he is very happy to see me and is in good spirits. The nurses have all fallen head over heals for my sweet boy, easy to do. Still hoping that this therapy works for him as it has for other pets. Without suffering any long term effects of kidney damage. Please if you have a sick pet, take them to the vet, contact the company that made the food, start a claim, contact your local FDA office, contact your state reps and congressman. Congressman Richard Durbin is calling for a federal investigation on this recall, the food and the companies. We the people need to let them hear our voices we want a federal investigation so this doesn't continue to broaden as it is daily or happen in the future.
My 2 and a half year old lab retreiver cross on April 8 ended up at an emergency veterinary clinic at 2am. He woke us because he was panting heavily and when we got up there were copious amounts of vomit and blood all over the house. He was vomitting and defacating blood. He needed to be put on iv transfusions and spent the entire day in the hospital to the tune of a thousand dollars. The vet said perhaps rat poison at first, and my dog never gets out of our yard, then he said that sometimes it just happens that it was something he ate, or perhaps he got into garbage. We are very careful about that. He was sent home with antibiotics and now 5 days later finally has his personality back. He was so sick that i am sure if we hadn't taken him to the vet he would have died! He has only ever been fed Natural choice dry dog food, and when the recalls happened i contaced my vet and the pet store that i buy it from and was reassured that his food is not on the recall list and that it doens't contain wheat. I asked the vet when Buddy got sick if it was the dog food and he said no it hasn't been recalled and that buddy didn't have kidney failure. All these other comments make me go hmm. I have since changed dog food and am buying it direct from the vet, more expensive yes but i do not ever want to go through that again. There are some really serious similarities in all of our stories and if it could be the dog food it needs to be investigated if for no other reason than to prevent other families from waking to the same disturbing sight that i did.
We are not getting all of the information. I took my dog to the veterinary emergency room. Luckily she tested fine. BUT - THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT - There are 2 ways that this food reacts. The one we have been hearing about acts very quickly. There is a secondary form in which the dog slowly, almost imperceptibly, starts to go downhill even though the food was stopped. The vet recommended that other blood-work be done in 2 - 3 months. So even though your pet may be given the all clear - another set of blood-work is needed to insure there are no repercussions from the food.
For saving a few cents by importing ingredients, we now are faced with this grave emergency.
Comment by windyr1 -- 1 day ago
On March 23, I bought my 7 year old Basenji mix Nutro Natural choice Lamb and Rice fomula dry dog food. Today he is in the vets office fighting for his life, his kindeys are failing, off the charts number on his tests.
To Windyr1, Just a thought here. You say you have a male Basenji mix. Please ask your vet about Fanconi Syndrome. This is a hereditary kidney disease well known in Basenjis and usually is first detected between the ages of 6-8. This diesease can be controlled with a special mix of vitamins. If not treated it is fatal.
To everyone else. I am sorry to hear so many pets are coming down with so many similar symptoms who are eating the Nutro dry food. But since this is a forum to share your thoughts and opinions I have to agree with Sami. I have been feeding my Maltese the Nutro Ultra both senior and puppy formulas. My big girls, Aussies, only eat Natural Balance. Last month, the weekend prior to the food recall, my Aussies both became very ill. One was vomiting so severely she was vomiting a tinge of blood, the other one had diarreah to the point where it was just blood. The emergency vet had no clue what would cause them both to become so ill at the same time. I suspected mouse/rat poison but from where. They were fine after a few days and have been since. Do I blame the food? They weren't eating Nutro. The Maltese who do eat the Nutro are 100% fine. I had blood panels done all 4. Remember, coincidences do happen. Maybe your dog ate a dead something that a bird happened to drop while it was flying over your yard. Things happen. Don't blame a company for something if your vet can't determine what the cause is. Just food for thought.
Thank you Kim for giving me this information, I will be taking this with me to the vet tomorrow, being as it's sunday today. Will let you know...
My 7 year old, very healthy pug has been eating Nutro Natural Choice Lamb dry food for five or six years. Since I bought the last bag, he has been drinking TONS of water and throwing up daily (it took a while to find out it was him, as we also have a terminally ill cat). I just changed to an organic brand, so I'll find out in the next couple days if it was the food or not. I had a strong suspicion that it was the dry food, so I contacted Nutro to let them know. They still say the dry food is fine, so I encourage everyone to call Nutro if they have concerns- 1.800.833.5330
March 25/07 - My husband and I took our 7 year old Cocker Spaniel to the Animal Emgergency Clinic after she had been throwing up during the night, drinking high volumns of water prior to being sick, labored breathing, and bloody droplets of stool through out our home. Also she refused to eat anything the next morning which is very, very unusal for a Cocker. She had been eating Nutro Natural Choice Lite Food. A full body xray revealed nothing unusual, however the blood work showed that anything relating to the liver was off the charts. After 5 days on Amoxicillin and Metronidazole, she is back to normal, but eating a diet of homemade dog food. I'm not convinced it was not the food, have not thrown out the Nutro food. The bill from the vet which was $475.39 was a small price to pay to still have our beloved dog. However, I feel that the Canadian government should regulate pet food to avoid situtations like this happening again.
My son's boxer went in to get his teeth cleaned, and had precautionary blood work done. They couldn't do his teeth because his liver functions were over 500, off the charts! He only feeds Nutro, of which they have proclaimed was safe. Please, anyone with these problems, contact us. mitch@gotamess.com . I also almost lost my dog with the walmart dog bones. Thank you davigash@ameritech.net
Our dalmation - Blue - has just been taken to emergency. He has acute liver failure and we are just holding out hope now that he will survive. I noticed he was not eating much and his face became sunken in so quickly. The vet said he had lost a ton of muscle mass. His liver counts were off the charts as well. Blue has only been on Nutros. First was lam and rice - then switched over to sensitive stomach because he started getting sick more often than not. He also had only two cans of the senior care canned as I was trying to give him a little treat while being so sick. Some treat. I am convinced as well that it was the dry foods and would also like to know where one could get the food analyzed.
It just happened to my dog too, a 1 year old yorkie. now i have a $1500 vet bill, we need them to pay for this
Greetings Folks::::
Listen, a lot of the symptoms listed may be consistent with aflatoxin exposure.
Aflatoxin is a product of a common mold (aspergillus - various sp.)
Unfortunately, if the product contains grain, and the grain is contaminated the resulting
food is potentially leathal to all our furry friends, and us as well.
It is well documented that pet foods in the past have been contaminated and recalled due to
aflatoxin. Just because your food is dry and contains no wheat, does not mean that the oats, barley,
corn, et. al. are not contaminated.
The only defence is a reputable company that tests its source supplies, and (by the way) doesn't buy
manufactured food products from the 3rd world. . . Such as various gluten extracts of wheat, oat, rice. . .
Personally, I'll buy little plastic crap from China, but I don't particularly want their gluten, or their ceramics (lead), window blinds (lead), or any of their agricultural products (poisons, and toxins, and substances banned in most civilized countries) (and no I don't particularly consider them civilized, non-withstanding 5000 years of imperial oppression (including the commies))
http://www.merchantlaw.com/petfood.html
This is a link to a Canadian law firm launching a class action suit against Menu Foods. There is no financial obligation if you wish to join this class action or simply want more information. In the very least your case will be documented.
I switched to Nutro Dry Food in the green 35 lb. bag and shortly after our dog got sick. I have 3 dogs and one seemed to need more fattening food. Otherwise I feed Science Diet. The small dog has now been throwing up for nearly a week. I'm switching to Science Diet for all 3 dogs which is the way to go. There is a reason why Vets have the Science Diet logo on their lab coats and since I grew up in a small business, I know there isn't much mark-up on the price of Science Diet. That is why many stores push so hard against the brand. They don't make any money selling it. However, notice only the prescription brand of CAT food is on the recall list for Science Diet? That is the special prescription formula whereas Nutro has basically all their food listed.
NUTRO DRY FOOD PRODUCTS DO NOT CONTAIN WHEAT GLUTEN at all and is a very good natural food for dogs and cats. I have had mine on the dry food for years and no problems what so ever and not even now during this situation. It does not have by-products or ground yellow corn which is not good for pets like Science Diet, Iams, Bill Jac and other grocery store brands do.
Anything can cause an animal to get sick of course. They get in to stuff outside that they should not and even stuff inside if a person leaves something that they can get into that will upset them.
NUTRO is an excellant dog and cat food and I will continue to use it as my animals are energetic and are having no problems. The dogs get Senior Brown Rice and Lamb and the cats get Max Roasted Chicken.
Thanks.
I started my 10 year old Sheltie on Nutro Max Ultra Weight Control dry dog food 3 months ago because he was putting on too much weight and I have heard such great things about Nutro. Over the week-end he started acting different, not his old spoiled, king of the house self. Then yesterday he started peeing in the house, he never pees in the house and you could see the "I'm so sorry" look in his eyes. That's when I took him to our vet today and they ran a couple blood test. One test came back showing that his kidneys are not functioning properly the other one came back and his WBC count was high. I'm really hoping that this is not the dog food and just an infection that is treatable. I'm taking a sample of his dog food to the vet tomorrow when I go visit. There may not be any wheat gluten in their dry dog food but it's sure full of wheat flour and other wheat products. Can mold spores in the wheat products cause kidney failure? I'll find out when I see the vet tomorrow.
Our dog was eating NUtro dry (small bites senior lamb and rice) combined with Nutro canned (NUtro natural choice). He is alive and does not have elevated levels. However, I posted about my experience on petconnection.com so will keep it brief. He got sick the first day and I had the receipts so it was January 8th. He was getting sick once a week until March when he got sick twice the first week or March. His thirst increased something fiercely from end February until after we stopped feeding him NUtro dry. I was just deciding to make a Vet appt when the recall came out. Here is my "proof of concept" after MArch 16 we bought Purina Pro Plan wet and started mixing it with the dry. HE got sick one with that. then my wife fed him one morning dry only in a strange paranoia about the recall, he got sick that day and we stopped feeding Nutro dry. WITHIN 48 HOURS HIS THIRST DECREASED!!!!!!
HE has been to the vet for blood and urinalysis. We called the FDA and filed a complaint, we called NUtro and also filed a complaint. They told me several times the dry food is not affected, I siad I beg to differ but wanted to get the wet food complaint in.
One anomaly that most pet parents miss is the treats. Many of these treats from Del Monte and ol roy have been re called. So if we think it is the NUtro dry, maybe it is a Treat instead.
either way, we are feeding Natural Balance dry/canned and he likes it.
Don;t get me started on Science Diet dry for cats. aaarrrrgggghhhhh
An earlier comment mentioned that Nutro dry foods do not contain wheat gluten. I have a GSD that is very allergic to wheat, and read all labels, and found most Nutro dry to have wheat, except for Natural Choice Lamb & Rice. Cannot comment on whether it's just wheat or also wheat gluten.
I have fed my three dogs Natural Choice Lamb & Rice for several years, with no problems. For around the last month, they have been throwing up and drinking lots of water. Everybody went to the vet, and no problems were found, and I was told to watch them only. I immediately switched everyone to California Natural and the vomiting and water guzzling stopped. Coincidence? I've kept the leftover Nutro just in case, and in just three days all are a lot bouncier than they've been in the last couple of weeks.
Dear Fellow Puppy Parent,
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I had previously posted here about my three boston terriers. They have all been on Nutro natural lamb and rice small bites DRY for about three years or so! After three weeks of being very sick, 1200 dollars worth of vet bills they are finally getting better. At first their blood levels BUN and CREATININE were normal but since they were all getting sick within a couple of days of each other the vet had me bring them in for a retest just to be safe. Their BUN blood levels were at the top of the norm. One had to be hospitilized at our local urgent care very for dehydration. We spent a week giving them SubQ IV fluids daily went back for retest and their BUN levels were better but Creatinine still high so giving another week of SubQ iv fluids. Was it the food? I can't say yes for a fact, but this is the way I look at it. Nutro, sick animals, 1200.00 in vet bills....take nutro out of picture...dogs feeling much better and back to their playful selves. After a week of chicken and rice that we cooked we started adding dog food back into the picture. At first we tried Merrick who makes their food in their own little company based here in the US.....they didn't really like it. I used to use CANIDAE which is also an upper end product, but we had to order it or drive an hr to purchase, which is why we switched. Imagine my surprise when I found that they not only now sell it locally but have a lamb and rice formula.....the babies love it and are doing well.
My wonderful family pet Buddy, a one and a half year old golden retriever started eating a mob of grass and throwing it up over and over again for a week straight. He was eating nutro dry beef and rice dog food. luckily we ran out of food and now Buddy seems fine. I noticed his eyes which were looking droopy have perked up and he seems happy and cheerful. I just bought him new bag of food this time lamb and rice and some lamb and rice dog treats because everyone says it's ok. Thank you for this site I do not watch tv and had no idea it was this bad. I am going to return the food tomarrow, I am appalled they would continue to sell it and risk our family members. My problem is my dog is so sensitive I have tried everything and he is allergic to wheat. This seemed to be the only food he could eat. Now what should I feed him. Raw meat? HELPP!
I just checked the fda website and they are still claiming that the nutro dry dog food is safe after they almost killed my puppy. Those money hungry jerks. How many family members have to get sick or die before they add it to the list. I will never buy Nutro again. I hope they get sued!
UPDATE :
My faithful companion Maudigan had to be put down on monday afternoon. It was not fanconi syndrome I had him tested for it. His kidneys could not recover from the damage they suffered. My heart is torn apart. I started a claim with NURTO, he was on their natural choice lamb and rice formula. All of the 3 lbs he ate of a 20 lb bag. I am still attempting to get in touch with the FDA. His food will be tested by NUTRO, but I want the FDA to also test it. Sad that this part of this mystery is so slow to solve. This could take weeks. Meanwhile I think of all the other dogs that may suffer while they are trying to figure this all out and their broken hearted pack leaders who feed them "trusted" products. There are still dogs showing up at our vets office kindeys failing daily. So so so sad. Something went wrong somewhere. If you are a pack leader of a suddenly sick pet with their kindeys failing, please file a claim with the manufactures a.s.a.p. Perhaps our calls will make them recall this as they drag out the testing of the food that was consumed by these animals. I heard yesturday and unoffical report that the death toll from kindey failure, thought by owners to be the food they feed is now up to 40,000. What better testing could they desire? Please all effected and all concerned get in touch with any and all goverment officals, congressmen, sentors etc. and call for a federal investigation and a change in how the pet food industery is monitored in the future. Turn your sorrow and anger into action at anything like this happening ever again. Tell your stories every where you can. "We are pack."
I have a 2 year old mixed breed male dog who eats Nutro dry lamb and rice formula. He has been acting strange over the past several weeks (regurgitation of small amounts of food, irregular bowel movements, little bit of lethargy). Last night, he urinated 3 times in the house (extremely unusual for him). This morning, he left a trail of bloody diarrhea and then vomited large amounts of blood. We are taking him to the vet now.
Matina, I would start cooking some food for him. Chicken, rice............... Just be careful not to overfeed.
I give my dogs the Nutro Max Natural dry food and my dogs have been throwing up yellow bile, I have not seen any signs of lethargy or blood in their stools but the fact that so many other people are seeing problems, its really got me worried.
See above # 41; our dog Bailey was vomiting yellow bile all through out his 2 month illness! He was on Nutro dry/canned mixed 50-50. PLEASE STOP FEEDING YOUR DOGS NUTRO DRY!!!!!!!
I FEED NUTRO ULTRA LARGE BRED AND I HAVE NOT HAD ANY PROBLEMS AT ALL!!! IF THERE HAS BEEN A PROBLEM WITH ANY DOG OWNERS PLEASE LET ME KNOW. THANK YOU
52: gibby- did you read this entire thread? there are maybe 5-7 dog owners with specific NUtro dry stories. Are you a vet or a scientist? How about not shilling for your pet food industry and read/think/learn?
We have fed our dog Nutro products for years, believing what was being dished out into the bowl was a quality dog food. It was not until March 25, that I began to question our choice. Please see #32. When your pet becomes sick, you start looking at all possible causes. Did they eat something they shouldn't have on a walk, was there something in the house they could have gotten into, new construction within the home etc. or maybe the dog food? i've ruled out everything I could think of with exception to her food. Has it be recalled ..... not yet. Will it be in the days to come .........maybe. Every couple of days a new food is added to the list, for example Royal Canin cat food on April 11. I have chose NOT to wait. I am making my own dog food. No its not very convenient, however, our dog has not looked better in years. Its been a little over two weeks with the homemade food, she is peppy, coat appearance has improved dramatically, eyes are brighter etc. Only concern is daily requirement of vitamins and minerals, but am checking with vet on April 16. To those of you who have a concern over the food ....STOP. You will feel better knowing you are not possibly poisoning your pets.
LETS GET REAL HERE .IF ALL THESE DOGS HAVE DIED FROM NUTRO DRY FOOD WHY HAVEN'T THE FDA PUT A RECALL ON IT. THE WHEAT GLUTEN THAT WAS IN THE CAN FOOD AND THE POUCHES IS NOT IN THE DRY FOOD. THERE IS NO WHEAT IN NUTRO DRY. LETS STOP SPREADING RUMORS. O.K IT'S BEEN A VERY STRESSFULL MONTH FOR US PET OWNERS. OH MY DOGS WILL ONLY EAT NUTRO AND NOTHING ELSE. AND THEY ARE STILL ALIVE
I BUY NUTRO DRY FOOD AT PETSMART, NUTRO IS THE ONLY FOOD THAT REALLY SELLS. IAMS,SCIENCE DIET,EUKANUBA ARE ALWAYS THERE ON THE SHELFS.YET NUTRO DRY FOOD FLYS OFF THE SHELFS. MANY TIMES I 'VE GONE INTO THE STORE AND NUTRO IS ALL SOLD OUT. AND NUTRO AND THE FDA DID NOT DO A RECALL ON THE DRY FOOD. SO WHO EVER YOU ARE SAYING THIS BS MAN GET A LIFE
Joni - I think you need to get real. How long do you think it took for these companies to recall their products? How many pets had to become sick or even die before they considered going public? And why are new foods being added every couple of days? Because it takes time!! This forum is only trying to warn other pet owners of the problems they made have had with Nutro dry foods. I think it is very unfair that you are telling other to "get a life", in many situations their pets are their lives. Show some sort of compassion for others.
To Joni #55-56
This is a tragedy that is happening all over our country. Not rumors or bs. That this dry food has yet to be recalled is a mystery, for the stories of this dry food effecting pets is growing daily, on the net new stories are being added to quickly, vets offices are STILL receiving young healthy dogs with kindeys failing suddenly, the FDA is overwhelmed with calls and the companies are also. I spoke to the FDA finally yesturday from what she couldn't come right out and tell me, pretty much left me with the notion the dog food has something wrong with it and the have there top sciencists working on finding out why. If it was so simple as you guessing the bizarre cases of pets dieing of kindey failure all over our counrty perhaps you should seek employment with the FDA. Or spent the last 9 days with me, for it was clear the only thing my companion dog got into was his food then got so sick, spent 5 days at the vets, getting IV fluids which made him appear better, until 12 hours after he was taking off, his blood work came out the same, off the charts. Vet said, "I've never seen numbers this high." During my filing a complaint with the FDA as I was choking up telling my story, the guilt for feeding him poison is staggering. The woman said "It's not your fault, you couldn't not have known."
"Do you?" I asked.
"Our sciencist are working on it," was the answer she gave.
And I had a life, in a dear, sweet, loyal, loving, charming, friendly, playful, healthy, fun lovinng, handsome dog who was a hero in my life that got snatched away from me at the age of 6, that should have been around for many more years.
Everyone who's effected by this please concact the FDA and the company.
Joni I am grateful your dogs are still alive, appearently you did not get the same lot numbers on your dog food bag as all these dogs that are dieing. You should feel like you won the lottery. I'de trade places with you any day of the week to have that champion Maudigan walking by my side again. I sure wouldn't get online and YELL at all this pet owners mourning and awaiting answers that are taking too long in coming. Get a life, you should go hug your dogs, play with them. Make 100% sure that the next bag of dog food you get has those same bar code and best date numbers as the bag you have now. Since it hasn't ripped your pack away from you. Go run, play, lay in the sun, scratch them in all their favorite places, throw a ball, take them for walks, treasure them. Take your shocking attitude towards those of us mourning, trying to get answers, sharing out stories with each other and trying to recover from the reality that our dogs are not here with us, elsewhere. I was sickened by your post, as if I needed anything more in my life to raise bile in my throat as it has been since this started. Cruel.... just cruel.
There is a web site Pet Connection, gathering information on sickened or deceased pets on the recall list for a "unoffical" count on pets affected. If you have been affected by this let's help them gather this information for a more accurate count. There was also tons of information for pet owners there.
Thanks for the info windyr1. Also, I'm so sorry for your loss.
Read comment #19 ,55 and 56, i agree with what they wrote. yes pets have died from Nutro But It's The Wet Food Not Dry. If Nutro Dry Has Killed So Many Pets Where is the Recall By The FDA? Last Year Diamond Dry Killed Pets And The FDA Recalled It. The FDA Has Not Recalled NUTRO DRY. YEt on Top Of This Page I See Nutro DRy Food Recall And There is No Dam Recall On The Dry Food of any brand But Hills M/D THat Is The OnLy DRY FOOD RECALL.I Rread IAMS DRY is Killing Pets Also But Where Is The Recall If All These Pets Are dead From dry Food?
MY 5 Dogs Are On Nutro Dry. These Nasty Comment's Are Shocking. Wonder If You Work for A Major Brand Of Pet Food? I Doubt Any Of This Is True. Dogs Drying From Nutro Dry . Nutro is The Best Food Out There .
Thank you Carolyn for your condolences. Helps much, big national wide ~hugs~ to all of you suffering through this crisis.
Congressional hearing April 12, 2007, they will be going on all week. They don't call congressional hearings for nothing. We haven't heard the whole story yet. Fox news just announced that the FDA will be broadening recalls to include dry fomulas soon. hmmmmmm.......wonder, what is next?
Joni- concerning your claim in post #55 "THERE IS NO WHEAT IN NUTRO DRY". You are quite -wrong-. Ground whole wheat and wheat flour are listed in the following:Max Puppy, Max Large Breed Puppy, Max Adult, Max Mini Chunk, Max Natural, Max Large Breed, Max Senior, Max Weight Control, and Max Beef Meal and Rice.As for your claim that "only Nutro sells", you are wrong there as well. Having worked in a pet food store I can assure you that Nutro is not the top seller by a long shot.My condolences to all those who lost a pet, whatever the cause turns out to be. I have fed Nutro Max to my dogs for 17 years, but am switching to a wheat free brand until such time I can be assured the wheat (in whatever form) comes from the USA.
Joni- concerning your claim in post #55 "THERE IS NO WHEAT IN NUTRO DRY". You are quite -wrong-. Ground whole wheat and wheat flour are listed in the following dry Nutro Max Dog Foods: Max Puppy, Max Large Breed Puppy, Max Adult, Max Mini Chunk, Max Natural, Max Large Breed, Max Senior, Max Weight Control, and Max Beef Meal and Rice.As for your claim that "only Nutro sells", you are wrong there as well. Having worked in a pet food store I can assure you that Nutro is not the top seller by a long shot.My condolences to all those who lost a pet, whatever the cause turns out to be. I have fed Nutro Max to my dogs for 17 years, but am switching to a wheat free brand until such time I can be assured the wheat (in whatever form) comes from the USA.
WINDYR1- did your vet say nutro dry is the reason your dog died ? What he said [JONI} Was that his pets never got sick from nutro dry. my wife and i feed our 3 chows nutro dry for 5 years now and they are doing great in fact our vet told us to keep them on nutro dry.i also feel as he does there are lots of nasty bs going on. sorry for your lost but i also doubt it's from nutro dry. there are lots of pets on nutro dry and i think the death toll be off the charts if it was nutro dry and that nutro would of pulled it asap. your vet needs to tell you why your pet died.
Here is something interesting to read
http://www.itchmo.com/read/pet-food-hearing-notes_
This was from the hearings yesturday April 12, 2007
Senate Durbin is leading a good fight along with many others for this recall and industry standreds in the future. These notes of the hearing are very clear about the laws the FDA has avilable to them for those of you wondering why the FDA is not recalling. Talk about confusing!!!!! I am suprised and not at all wondering why there are delays anymore, not that relieves any of this but knowledge is power.
Senator Durbin website is:
http.//durbin.senate.gov/concact.cfm
For those of you in disbelief this is happening, I am right there with you. I would love to believe my dog's passing was from nature causes. The guilt I feel is staggering, that it could be his food, that I feed him. There's that throw up feeling again, gtg.
Nutro NATURAL choice Is What My Wife And I Give Our Pets,There Is No Wheat or Wheat Gluten I'M Reading The Bags Now . Maybe MAX and Ultra Has It ,We Have Them On Natural Choice. The Dog Bones Have Wheat in them.So If Pets are Dying From Nutro Dry maybe It's the Wheat in the Food.In La. Nutro Sells Very Good.My Wife Wants to Change To Cal.Natural. Lots of pets have Died and it's really sad our son's friend lost 2 cats and he won't stop crying.we feel everyones pain.
Paul I have updated here several times from the time this began with my dog. #24, 26, 29, 30, 47, 58, 59, 63, 67. His kindeys failed, why? That is what I am trying to figure out. So is the company, the FDA and senators in congressional hearings.
Those Of u Saying You Pets Died From Nutro Get Your dam Vet To go To Vin And report this So More Pets Don't Die. Have Them Call Fda And Report This. I Feed The Cats And Dog Nutro Dry,Guess I'm Lucky Too .
WINDYR1 - what nutro did you give your dog,ultra,max or natural choice,and + Flavor? Do U still have it ?if so i heard u of davis in ca is testing food that pets died from,give them a call + have them test the food
WHAT JONI Said Is True, There are Lots Of Rumors Going Around . I Have 10 Dogs And 6 cats All On Nutro .We Have Not Had any Bad Luck .Lets Not Blast People Because They Like Nurto.
stop this witch hunt on nutro dry food .i all so don"t belive pets are drying from nutro dry. if this was true where the hell is the recall where is it????? remember it was menu foods that had the poison in over 100 brands of pet food not just nutro. the 3 week delay on the recall was from menu not nutro.lets get the facts the true facts !!!!!
I doubt Any Of This Is TRUE .No Dogs DIED From DRY FOOD FROM NUTRO. So WhO EVER YO aLL wORK for , IT sucks what yo all are doing. NUTRO IS THE NO I SELLER AT PETCO AND PETSMART .
Look It's Nutro "Wet" That"s Been Recalled Not Dry. www.fda.gov , www.nutroproducts.com There Is Nothing Nada NAda Nothing About Dry Food Of Any Brand On Recall List Except HillsRX M/D. Yes Stop The Rummors There Is Enough Hurt With So Maney Pets Dying From WET FOOD
So Joey and Melissa - what grade level of education do you need to work at Petco and Petsmart? You two are obviously not smarter than fifth graders.
Shall we add Steve to the list?
Lets add Steve to the list with Joey and Melissa.
EVERYONE WHO 'claims' that they lost a beloved pet from nutro dry food, did your DVM tell you nutro dry killed your pet?
MY GOD WHAT ON EARTH ARE YOU DOING? BESIDES GETTING EVERYONE SO UPSET.
Let's recap shall we: So far I don't believe I have ever claimed my dog was poisoned by his food. I did however tell what brand of food he is on, how much of it he ate before becoming ill. The DVM can't say it was his food either, poisoning most likely. My dog had no oppertunity to get into something toxic for him. I live in an apt, he was walked on a leash, there is nothing within the house that would have done this to him, he never let me out of his eyesight and went everywhere with me, seeing as I am disabled and he was my companion. Nutro will be testing his food themselves as I have filed a claim with them. As for this company they have been helpful, kind, courtous. In fact since I notified them of my dogs passing they have called me two days in a row, to see how I am doing and see if that test packet they have sent me has arrived, to send them back 4 cups of his food. This is how the company has choosen to handle my dogs case. I filed a complaint with the FDA. The DMV can't say the food was the cause, they would get their rear ends slammed into court so fast your head would spin. Until this food is tested which is what the company is doing.....rub all your brain cells together, at the same time, think before you start saying whah whah whah blah blah blah. Again repeating myself, I dearly hope it was not the food. That it was just his time and this was how it is. Then I could swallow passed the lump in my throat again.
WHAT Comment #19 said was Right On The Money. oh I saw a picture of Noble The Beagle That died.Your dog Was A Beautifull Beagle. We Have 5 Beagles.
First of all, I am so sorry for all of you who have experienced sickness or loss of pets due to food. It is a horrible, preventable tragedy that should never have happened and my thoughts are with you.
Secondly, I do not believe that Nutro has been recalled yet (at least the dry) but that does not mean it is without problems.
Nutro is a decent food-I used to feed it to my 2 dogs- but there are better brands out there for around the same price range. I encourage you to check out brands like Canidae, Costcos Kirkland, Innova, Solid Gold, Eagle Pack Holistic brand (other Eagle Packs are not as good), Natural Balance, and some dogs do well on Blue Buffalo as well... There are many sites that are incredibly helpful in comparing dog food...off the top of my head
http://www.naturapet.com/tools/comparison.asp
For this site, you can just find whatever food you use, then click on the ingredients in it...Natura is the company that makes California Natural, Innova both very good foods (a tad pricier than the Nutro)
The most important thing is to read on the label and make sure there is no wheat, grain, or corn...as those are the ingredients that are now being recalled and really have no nutritional value to your dog, it is just a filler.
This recall will affect dry food. My female mastiff was put down in late March...due to kidney failure. We ONLY fed her dry Nutro Max dog food. She was vomiting more and more each day over a several day period. Unable to keep food or water down, we took her for a vet visit. They ran all the blood work and urine analyses. Only one thing was found wrong: kidney failure. Mind you this all happened over about a 2 week period. We put her down several days later because there was nothing more we could do to ease the symptoms. It broke our hearts. A few days later we learned of the wet pet food recall...we couldn't believe it was just coincidence. Now we're seeing that dry food may in fact be involved. I can understand people involved with these companies being defensive; they are horrified that they might have anything to do with all this. But they better get their act together because the lawsuits are a foregone conclusion, and any subversion of facts will end in severe legal punishment...as it should!
We fed our Cocker Spaniel Nutro Natural Choise Lite for years. Never had a problem, or suspected we would have a problem when the recall started. We had just opened a brand new bag of food and maybe a week into the bag she began drinking exceptionally high volumns of water. On March 25, we took her to the emergency animal clinic, after she been vomitting, leaving bloody droplets of stool though out the house and refused to eat anything. The vet told us it was something that she had injested. No it was not from outside, it was -40 C in our city during January, February and into March, so walks were out of the question. Don't believe it was anything in the house, no renovations and besides she was well past the puppy stage of getting into everything. My only theory could possibly be in the food. THIS IS ONLY A GUESS. I am not blaming Nutro and not on a witch hunt. What I'm trying to tell you is watch your pets closely, the bag of food you are using now could be perfectly fine, and the next one as well. I don't believe this recall is over yet, these companies will be testing like crazy. Until they stop adding foods to the recall list, I'm making my own. For those of you ;ooking to change foods, Evolve makes an excellent foods for both dogs and cats. See a sample of the ingredients below.
EVOLVE NATURAL DOG FOODMAINTENANCE FORMULA
Evolve Natural dog Food Maintenance Formula contains all the nutrients needed by your dog to maintain health, vigor and vitality.
INGREDIENTS: Lamb, Chicken Meal, Brown Rice, Ground White Rice, Chicken Fat (preserved with mixed tocopherols with rosemary extract and citric acid), Rice Bran, Tomato Pomace, Beet Pulp, Menhaden Fish Meal, Yogurt, Farmer’s Cheese, Dried Skimmed Milk, Menhaden Fish Oil, Canola Oil, Dried Kelp, Potassium Chloride, Dried Egg Product, Brewers Yeast, Green Peas, Garlic Powder, Yucca Schidigera, Choline Chloride, Beets, Spinach, Parsley, Lactobacillus Acidophilus Fermentation Product Dehydrated, Bacillus Subtilis Fermentation Product Dehydrated, Bifidobacterium Thermophilum Fermentation Product Dehydrated, Bifidobacterium Longum Fermentation Product Dehydrated, Enterococcus Faecium Fermentation Product Dehydrated, Zinc Sulfate, Zinc Proteinate, Iron Proteinate, Vitamin E Supplement, Iron Sulfate, Manganese Sulfate, Manganese Proteinate, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Cobalt Proteinate, Niacin, Vitamin A Supplement, d-Calcium Pantothenate, Riboflavin, Copper Sulfate, Vitamin D Supplement, Cobalt Carbonate, Copper Proteinate, Thiamine Mononitrate, Ethylenediamine Dihydriodide, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Biotin, Folic Acid, Menadione Dimethylpyrimidinol Bisulfite (A Source of Vitamin K Activity), Sodium Selenite.
GUARANTEED ANALYSIS:
MAINTENANCECrude Protein (not less than)25%Crude Fat (not less than)15%Crude Fiber (not more than)5.5%Moisture (not more than)10%
7.5 lb. bag, ITEM #18915 lb. Bag, ITEM #19030 lb. Bag, ITEM #191
Click here for more detailed informationHome || Find A Store || Contact Us || Special Offers || Online RetailersHomeNatural Dog FoodCanned Dog FoodNatural Cat FoodCanned Cat FoodNature's TreatsGeneral InformationAdult/MaintenancePuppy/GrowthSenior/BovineReduced CalorieLamb FormulaChicken FormulaTurkey FormulaGeneral InformationKittenMaintenanceSenior/LiteTurkey FormulaChicken FormulaSeafood FormulaGeneral InformationGranolaKelp - WhitefishChicken - Skin & CoatBarley - TurkeyI Heard that there are 3 brands of dry food that might be tainted but the fda will not release the name .i all so heard that dogs have died from ole roy and benifull dry also. this is the biggest recall of pet food and the highest death toll.
if u lost a pet and u think it's the food ,contact http://canfs.ucdavis.edu they will test the food.
Big corp's such as auto's, beef, veggies, maufacturing, education, heathcare and it goes on & on. Its about profits Oh & lets not forget about BIG OIL.
Big corp's such as auto's, beef, veggies, maufacturing, education, heathcare and it goes on & on. Its about profits Oh & lets not forget about BIG OIL.
My dog is on a diet of Nutro Lamb and Rice and has been drinking a lot of water and then vomiting intermittently for several weeks. He has no blood in his stool or vomit, but he is not digesting the food. He vomits up the food several hours after we feed him undigested. I contacted Petsmart and they said it was not in the recall, but after reading these accounts I am stopping the Nutro immediately.
To davidanddonna #90
Please take you dog to the vet and have testing done to see how the kindeys are doing, a.s.a.p. Better safe than sorry. It shouldn't be over 100 dollars, for office visit and test. Don't feed anymore of that bag, until you know your dog's health.
after reading all these heartbreaking stories we are takeing our pets off of nutro all so .i have notice the drinking of lots of water .my uncle said he will test the food for me to see whats wrong. also when the dogs do no 2 the straining which i think is causeing dogs to bleed.i really feel no dog food at all.give them the the food we eat. make your pets their own meals.
Well ... Make your pet something else to eat.
I just got a Rot puppy a week ago....he turned 4mos yesturday. I began feeding him Nutro for large breed puppy/dry. I haven't noticed anything wrong; but it may be too soon. PLEASE if anyone has had problems with this one in particular>>>>>PLEASE LET ME KNOW..............or are there any suggestions on other food that would be good for him?
i had my dogs on nutro for 9 years ,and i have notice from the dry food they are drinking lots of water,not eating all their food like they use to,yet they are hungery.i read to much on this blog and on pet connection .i am putting them on california natural i read alot of good reveiws on it. and since the pet recall it's flying off the shelves. www.californianatural.com i feel it's better to be safe than sorry.when u read all this about dogs drying and getting so sick it makes u wonder what the hell is going on.good luck oh read the info page really good infro plus it get 5 stars
LULU,SORRY GAVE WRONG ADDRESS IT'S www.naturapet.com
it's www.naturapet.com
Natural Balance Venison and Green pea dry cat food and the Venison and brown rice dog food are recalled now. They don't have grains in them so wonder what is wrong with them. I had just decided to try the cat food and now am throwing it out.
SomeThing Stinks ,First Wet Food Now Dry Is Killing Pets.
Natural Balance Recall - I spent so much time selecting this dog food for my 4lb Chihuahua, I am incredibly annoyed that Natural Balance has now joined the recall scare - they're supposed to be better then that! I don't have him on the Venison brands that were recalled, but this is how it started for the other lines of food that were involved - a few here and there and then massive pulls.
Does anyone know what has happened with Natural Balance? Is this just a public scare?
I'm so glad that I stumbled onto this site, I thought I was the only one having problems with Nutro foods. I bought a bag of Nutro Natural Chicken and Oatmeal the day before the recall. I had been feeding it to my two labs for about 6 months. When I started to feed from this bag my Chocolate began vomiting up every meal and my Yellow wouldn't eat it at all. I called my vet, the Nutro company and the FDA....all of them "assured" me that the food was safe and their sickness and refusal to eat was coincidence. I switched to California Natural immediately and am looking into homemade diets. My trust in the pet food industry is at an all time low at this point.
This is reason enough to have been avoiding Iams / Eukanuba in the first place:
www.iamscruelty.com
Why anyone would support a company who supports cruel and unusual animal testing is beyond me, let alone feed the food to their animals.
Iams is one of the largest supporters of puppy mills in the US, and it seems to me that brands who don't do animal testing are a lot less likely to have rat poison sitting around their facilities.
A non-complete list of brands who do NOT animal test is available at http://www.iamscruelty.com/notTested.asp, though Natural Balance (my chosen and well-researched dog food that has just joined recall rank, much to my dismay) is on there. I'm not trying to preach, just hoping to educate some who may not have heard of the Iams allegations
This is an excellent holistic dog food, for anyone wanting to switch brands. highly recommended by our groomer who is also a breeder
BACK
This is insanity! I just lost my 5 1/2 yr old rhodesian ridgeback a week and a half ago. It was a "severe allergic" anaphylactic reaction that appeared to be from a poisoning according to vets. I had 5 involved! She held on for 4 days and finally we had to put her down. She had the crystals and cones in her urine and her kidneys were effected, however the most severe damage was to her liver. She finally had major internal bleeding. We had spent a few nights away from home and i purchased Nutro Max Lamb, she typically didn't eat this. When we got home i mixed it in with her regular dry food. I am really starting to believe that this was the cause of my princesses death!!!! Does this episode sound familiar to anyone?? I am desperate for answers and i have another dog to worry about.
I had all my pets on Nutro natural choice. My cat got super skinny, driking lots, hair started looking sick. I switched him to another product and he looks great now. I thought maybe the pieces were too big for him.
I left my dogs on the same product. I wish I would have switched them. My dads young registered GSP female die very unexpectedly, she threw up a few times, was drinking lots, just acting weird, we were going to take her to the vet the next morning. When we woke up she was dead. This was some time before Christmas. We thought she must have been poisoned. We didnt think it was the food.
My other dog is extremely ill. He lost weight, stopped eating, started drinking lots, became tired. I switched his food but I think the damage was done. He developed ascites. The vet thinks it could be from heart failure but wasnt 100% sure, and said it could be a few things, but he has no shortness of breath, no cough typical with heart failure, he is a big dog though. He is on medication but it isnt helping, he is very thin and wont eat. Kidney failure can lead to ascites as well. The vet didnt run any blood tests. I think hes too far gone for anyone to help him now. I think his next visit will be to put him down. I am so upset.
I have a 2 year old oxer that has been on Nutro large breedlam and rice (green bag) since she was a puppy. She started urinating in the house a few weeks ago. The past few days she started vomiting and drinking alot of water. Yesterday she was urinating as ashe was walking across the living room! I took her to our vet today and he tested her uruine. He said it had hugely abnormal levels of protein and white blood cells. The did a bunch of blood work and the results are coming back tomorrow morning. He says it does not look good and he thinks her kidneys are failing. Tonight she was vomiting bright yellow bile. She is never outside without a leash and I would have to question the food at this point. It seems like too many people are experiencing the same issues with dry food, how long is it going to take. My vet bill today was over $300 and who knows how much the treatment will be!
They added more pet foods to the recall list today, April 17, 2007. menu foods income fund. I am still reeling that it goes on, yet sure we have not heard the end of it either. I am so sorry for those of you also losing beloved companions. My heart is broken for us all. If you suspected the food contact the company and the FDA. There is an ongoing investigation with both. They need to hear and document your story. The squeaking wheel gets oiled.
Hi again everyone. Sorry to all those who are losing their pets. I really do think that this is way out of control and something needs to be done. Natural Balance? Another major dog food that many people have discussed on this page as a good food. This madness has to end. Whether it's Nutro, Natural Balance, Science Diet, Iams, Eukanuba, Ole Roy, etc, etc, etc. These companies should be VERY embarassed that this whole issue is even happening. The amount of money in the dog food business is phenominal. These companies should ALL band together and start feeding our dogs some proper food. My dogs are on Innova, and Acana. But who's to say that this isn't going to blow up in my face either. It's unfortunate, and I agree that someone has to pay for this big time. My point as I tried to make in #19 is that it's not just Nutro. If you go and start a site about any of these other foods I bet that people are going to post to that as well.
As for you Shane. Your posting in #23. I'm not a moron. Really. I run a pet rescue in the province that I live in. I love animals. I love animals more then I love most people because of comments like the one you suggested early. We had a litter of puppies that caught the parvo virus and we lost 6 out of the 10 puppies. All were old enough so that you can see their personalities and they were so sweet. So I understand loss, and $1200 compared to the $10000 it cost us, and only managing to save 4 dogs I understand the financial part too. But to me those dogs were worth every penny. As everyone that has posted to this site can agree. Money does not mean anything when it comes to our pets.
I agree to band together and let's make a difference and stop this insanity. Stop pointing fingers and let's get some help in trying to get our voices heard. Any suggestions on that?, rather then a certain type of food.
Breaking news......April 18, 2007
More recalls? Rice glut too?
www.kansascity.com/382/story/74895.html
so sooo sooo sad.
IF YOU HAVE A PET AND THEY ARE DRINKING LOTS AND LOTS OF WATER NO MATTER WHAT FOOD YOU ARE FEEDING THEM.FOR THE LOVE OF YOUR PETS TAKE THEM OFF THE FOOD ASAP. EVERY DAY THERE IS A NEW RECALL. I THINK THE DRINKING OF MUCH MORE WATER IS THE 1ST SIGN OUR PETS ARE TELLING US SOMETHING IS WRONG WITH THE FOOD.NUTRO,SD,IAMS WHATEVER THEY ARE ON. STOP FEEEDING THEM THE FOOD.TOO MANY PETS ARE SICK AND HAVE DIED......
So what is safe to buy for my dog to eat? My husband and I just bought a bag of the lamb and Rice (green bag) because we thought it would be safe. Now there is a recall and peoples dogs are getting sick. I want to avoid this at all costs. PLEASE ADVISE!!!!!
JOCELYN- I TOOK my pets of nutro they were drinking so much water. i put them on california natural, in less than 24 hrs they stop drinking all the water. www.naturapet.com good luck, i think the huge drinking of water is the first sign something is wrong with the food.
I just spent the night in the er with my dog. She is a 4 1/2 year old Golden Retriever. VERY HEALTHY. She has blood in her urine and she has been vomitting and has been diagnosed with a urinary tract infection. They did blood work and levels are normal. BUT from what I read again, that could take some time. I will have blood drawn again and TAKE HER OFF NUTRO immediately I have been feeding her Nutro for years and have never had a problem. If something would happen to her because of the food that I thought was good for her I would never forgive myself. I will be looking into the california natural brand among others TODAY!!!
In addition, I had a bag of NUTRO food a year ago that had 3 dead rats in it. THEY WERE FRIED with the food. NO way they died in the bag after the food was bagged. They were COOKED. I contacted NUTRO along with the FDA and other pet food regulating companies and did not even get a response. I wrote letters to all of them. Nutro gave me free food for a while, and my vet recommended that I not switch her food because it may be an isolated incident. UNBELIEVALBLE!!!!
I sincerely hope that my pet is ok and pray that this crazyness is stopped immediately. As long as they are MAKING $$$$, they will continue to hide it.
I just spent the night in the er with my dog. She is a 4 1/2 year old Golden Retriever. VERY HEALTHY. She has blood in her urine and she has been vomitting and has been diagnosed with a urinary tract infection. They did blood work and levels are normal. BUT from what I read again, that could take some time. I will have blood drawn again and TAKE HER OFF NUTRO immediately I have been feeding her Nutro for years and have never had a problem. If something would happen to her because of the food that I thought was good for her I would never forgive myself. I will be looking into the california natural brand among others TODAY!!!
In addition, I had a bag of NUTRO food a year ago that had 3 dead rats in it. THEY WERE FRIED with the food. NO way they died in the bag after the food was bagged. They were COOKED. I contacted NUTRO along with the FDA and other pet food regulating companies and did not even get a response. I wrote letters to all of them. Nutro gave me free food for a while, and my vet recommended that I not switch her food because it may be an isolated incident. UNBELIEVALBLE!!!!
I sincerely hope that my pet is ok and pray that this crazyness is stopped immediately. As long as they are MAKING $$$$, they will continue to hide it.
I just spent the night in the er with my dog. She is a 4 1/2 year old Golden Retriever. VERY HEALTHY. She has blood in her urine and she has been vomitting and has been diagnosed with a urinary tract infection. They did blood work and levels are normal. BUT from what I read again, that could take some time. I will have blood drawn again and TAKE HER OFF NUTRO immediately I have been feeding her Nutro for years and have never had a problem. If something would happen to her because of the food that I thought was good for her I would never forgive myself. I will be looking into the california natural brand among others TODAY!!!
In addition, I had a bag of NUTRO food a year ago that had 3 dead rats in it. THEY WERE FRIED with the food. NO way they died in the bag after the food was bagged. They were COOKED. I contacted NUTRO along with the FDA and other pet food regulating companies and did not even get a response. I wrote letters to all of them. Nutro gave me free food for a while, and my vet recommended that I not switch her food because it may be an isolated incident. UNBELIEVALBLE!!!!
I sincerely hope that my pet is ok and pray that this crazyness is stopped immediately. As long as they are MAKING $$$$, they will continue to hide it.
Thank you so much!!! I have found a local carrier for Timberwolff and Fromm, which are both wheat free!!! They are a little more expensive, but WORTH IT!!!! Thanks again!!! Wish you all the best!!!
Our dog was fed Nutro Natural Choice Dry Lite for years. After becoming sick in March, vomitting, drinking excessive amounts of water, bloody stool, refusing to eat, we switched her to Evolve Dry Adult Maintenance Food. This a holistic dog food recommended by our groomer who is also a breeder. I have also joined a class action suit just in case Nutro ends up on the recall list for dry food. Here is the link, perhaps if more pet owners file there will an investigation into these foods. I urge you to do so.
www.evolvepet.com/home.html
Also the link for the food.
I have a 4 year old boxer that had some bloody stools and diarrhea about 5 or 6 weeks ago. She has gone from 62 to 48 pounds and will now only eat a little cottage cheese, rice and boiled chicken. This morning she wouldn't eat at all again and was very lethargic.
I have had her to the vet a few times. Blood tests showed normal levels. He put her on antibiotics in case it was an intestival infection. Now looking at doing a CT scan and then maybe an intestinal biopsy. She WAS eating a combination of Nutro Natural Choice Lamb and Rice dry and the lite food dry from Natural Choice. She quit eating it when she got sick.
My sheltie was only eating the lite food. Last week, he ate about 1/4 cup of the lamb and rice food and got sick that night. He hasn't been eating very well since and has diarrhea.
I, too, believe it is the food. But until this gets sorted out, I will cook for them.
Thanks for the link. Come on dog owners, band together http://www.merchantlaw.com/petfood.html.
My Springer Spaniel has been Nutro Lamb and Rice for several years. He wet his bed, became lethargic and stopped eating the beginning of December. He spent the last 4 months getting ultrasounds and bloodwork, taking a ton of medicine. I spent the last 4 months hand feeding him k/d food - outside - he would not eat anything inside - I guess the smell made him too nauseous. Dec. & Jan were rough, but he improved and we started hiking again 4-7 miles a day. Thursday before Easter,, he just stopped eating and refused medicine. We had to put him down last Wednesday. My heart just hurts. I didn't think it was the food either. However, I gave the remainder of the bag to my vet for his dogs. He mixed some of the Nutro with his dog's food and gave it only one (thank goodness) of his dogs. He told me she had violent, uncontrollable diarrea for 3 days. He gave me the label from the pkg and told me to contact the company. My mailperson just told me that her dog is sick and will not touch the food - she's been on Nutro all her life. Between my experiences and what I've read here and on otherr sites, there's a problem with the dry food too. I called the company and they connected me with an answering machine - no return call. FDA hasn't returned my call yet. Good luck to those of you with sick pets. For those of you with healthy pets, say a prayer that you won't ever have to watch your pet suffer like mine did.
My mother and I have toy Eskies which have been on Nutros natural choice since they were puppies (the breeder put them on it) My dog has had many bouts with vomitting and the vet never could expain. Many test and many rounds of medicane. My mothers dog has had much more health problems been to Alburn Vet. twice lots of test. When they started the pet food recalls I put my dog on Solid Gold and Canidae. Everyone assured me that Nutro was fine and still is I know she was vomiting before and if fine now. I thought I had seen their lamb and rice treats on the recall list now I cant find it. I am sure I saw this has anyone else seen that?
Our dog is an American Eskimo about 3 years old. She has always been as healthy as can be. We first got her checked out by our vet when we heard about the Nutro wet food recall. She had 3 cans of the Nutro Ultra Adult wet food but we primarily feed her Nutro Ultra Adult dry food. We became concerned after hearing about the recall and took her to our vet for a routine visit. Her blood counts and all other tests came back normal but she had a low grade fever (103 degrees). We were sent home with an antibiotic to take care of the fever along with some KD Science Diet just in case she had any kidney (renal) issues. A week and 1/2 later she seemed like she was getting back to normal and suddenly she started vomiting and could not even keep water down. Then she started having diarrhea with blood. We took her to the vet and she was in their office all day. They ran more tests on her and took x-rays of her abdomen and finally concluded that she had a gastro intestinal infection with a low grade fever. They sent her home with 2 medications and had us put her on a hamburger, rice and cottage cheese diet for 1 week. We are now into the 5th day and she seems to be getting back to normal. We are hoping that this time it is for good. To our surprise, now reading this blog, we hear that so many dogs have the same symptoms that our dog had after eating Nutro foods.
ON CNN A PUG DIED FROM NUTRO ULTRA.
Pet food recall once again expanded on new finding
Updated Wed. Apr. 18 2007 10:10 AM ET
Associated Press
WASHINGTON -- An industrial chemical that led to a nationwide recall of more than 100 brands of cat and dog foods has been found to contaminate a second pet food ingredient, expanding the recall further.
The chemical, melamine, is believed to have contaminated rice protein concentrate used to make a variety of Natural Balance Pet Foods products for both dogs and cats, the Food and Drug Administration said Wednesday. Previously, the chemical was found to contaminate another ingredient, wheat gluten, used by at least six other pet food and treat manufacturers.
#128 - Thanks for the update. I'm sure this doesn't just affect Natural Balance.
To Chris......
READ THE NEWS CHRIS, it is not only Wheat Gluten, the recall has been expanded to rice protein and it is an industrial chemical that has contaminated the food. That industrial chemical could have contaminated more than just wheat gluten and rice protein. And my guess is they have no idea how huge this will become and it is only a matter of time before a lot of these dry foods are recalled too
so here is the latest...read up Chris. This will be knowledgable for you.....
WASHINGTON — An industrial chemical that led to the nationwide recall of more than 100 brands of cat and dog food has turned up in a second pet food ingredient imported from China.
The discovery expands the monthlong cascade of recalls to include more brands and varieties of pet foods and treats tainted by the chemical.
"This has exposed that the safety standards for pet foods are not in place in any significant way and the kind of drumbeat, day after day, of recalls has shaken consumers' confidence in the pet food industry's adherence to food safety standards," said Wayne Pacelle, president and chief executive officer of the Humane Society of the United States.
The chemical, melamine, is believed to have contaminated rice protein concentrate used to make a variety of Natural Balance Pet Foods products for both dogs and cats, the Food and Drug Administration said Wednesday.
Previously, the chemical was found to contaminate wheat gluten used by at least six other pet food and treat manufacturers. Both ingredients were imported from China, though by different companies and from different manufacturers.
The Las Vegas importer of the contaminated Chinese wheat gluten, ChemNutra Inc., that led to the original pet food recall has suggested that spiking a product with melamine can make it to appear to be richer in protein during tests, thus increasing its value.
Wow, this is some serious discussion here!!! I have been feeding my 10 year old lab Nutros Lamb and Rice his entire life. The past week he has lost his appetite, starting vomitting his food, dry heaving, walking poorly on his hind legs, and has mucus in his eyes. I took him to the vet and they had to do blood work and sure enough just like other people are experiencing he has kidney failure. They are IV'ing him for 48 hours, but things aren't looking too good. My dog has never had any health problems his entire life except a urinary tract infection back in December. He is an intact male so UTI's are more common, but still he has only had one. He is my only family member so I hope he pulls through. They need to get to the bottom of this problem QUICK! Some peoples pets are ALL they have in life for support, company, and happiness. If all the food needs to be pulled off the shelves than so be it. We should all be cooking for our beloved pets anyway.
Sean
Why can I not get a straight answer on if my dog's food is tainted or not? She eats, "Natural Choice, small bites puppy." Does anyone know if it is bad?
Alison, the fact is, unfortunatly, we have to assume that most major brands are not safe. Find a local brand that is all natural and all local or start making your pets food.
I agree with Shane, assume most major brands are not safe. However, after talking to our groomer and vet, cooking for your pet is fine for the short term. I began making my own dog food on March 25, after a fairly expensive visit to the animal emergency clinic. Our cocker spaniel has recovered but gained over 2kgs, and she was not thin to begin with. I was mixing cooked brown rice, cooked frozen peas and carrots, and chopped boiled chiken, liver or lean ground beef with chopped hard boiled eggs or cottage cheese. This seemed to me a well balanced diet. My only concern was vitamins and minerals and the proportion of rice to vegetable to meat. I didn't think I was over feeding her and boy did she love this food. Try to find an all natural food made for pets. Evolve makes a good one, and ingredients are are their website. Until you do, cooking is fine, for the short term.
My 2 year old dog has been on Nutro her whole life - and my previous dogs were on it for the last 15 years and they all loved it. BUT....a month ago I got a new bag of Nutro Natural Choice Chicken/Rice/Oatmeal version that she always ate and she refused to touch it. Occasionally she'd eat a very little bit of it in the evening because she was starving, but that was it. Later that week she started having diarrhea and regurgitation and became lethargic. I immediately quit feeding her Nutro and after a day or so of giving her gut a chance to calm down and heal, started her on lean hamburger and rice, which she eagerly ate up. Several days later she was fine. A few others I know that feed Nutro also said their dogs were doing the same thing with their Nutro - not wanting to eat it in the last month. After hearing that manufacturers suspected or knew about bad food for several months before the actual recalls I decided I was NOT going to keep forcing this food down my dogs throat and find out about a recall later this summer (if that happens). I may have just gotten a bad batch, but that was enough. I was finished with Nutro forever. She never got another bite of the Nutro. I took the bag back and exchanged it for a bag of Wellness - which she LOVES. I haven't seen her this excited to eat since she was a puppy. I'll never buy Nutro products again. I don't trust them with the health and life of my dog.
We have a black lab puppy, Maggie, she has eaten Nuto Puppy Max since we got her when she was 3 months old. The past couple weeks she has eaten less and vomitted a couple times. No blood or weakness in her legs, but after she eats in the morning she walks around whinning and crying like something hurts. Has anyone else noticed this? Is my dog okay? We got this dog for my baby girl who is 3 now and she says "thank you mommy and daddy for my doggy" everyday. If anything happens to Maggie she'll be crushed. I'm taking her off Nutro just in case. California Natural is a good choice, right? I'm scared to death and don't know what to do.....
HAS ANYONE CALLED NUTRO? WHAT WAS THEIR RESPONSE? I THINK THEY CHANGED SOMETHING IN THE FOOD. TOO MANY PETS ARE SICK.
Yes, I have been in contact with Nurto, several times and started a claim with them. Although the dry food my dog had eaten is not yet on any recall lists, seems now that the rice gluten and/or protien has this rat posion in it also this will to be changing. If you have a animal that has suffered kindey failure, symtoms starting soon after first purchasing a bag you should be in contact with the company, file a claim with them and get in touch with the FDA. The FDA has had 14,000 pet food related complaints filed and this list is growing daily. As of yesturday Nurto couldn't give me the information I am seeking, what happened, how did this happen and when will it end? They are testing. And I will be called when they have the answers. Until then my heart is in limbo and broken. I miss my dog.
windyr- if u think your dog died from nutro ,why would u let them test the food? do u think they will tell u the truth? get it tested by a out side source. sorry for your loss of your pet. do u think your get another dog?if nutro food cause your pet's death i have them buy u a new dog. this is so sad and i feel it's gonna get worst the recall
Listen, I am new on this website. I have been cooking rice and chicken for my dog for 2 weeks now. Nutro dry and canned had her vomiting, bloody diahrrea and frequent urination to the point of soaking her crate blanket even. People something is amiss, I dont care about who sells best or anything i just would like the truth. Nutro and others need to stop their money train and figure this out. Tell us the truth, like my vet said "They just don't know, make your own food for awhile." I am trying to raise three kids who just can't comprehend that a big company can keep putting out poison for animals, and you know what neither can I! I just want the truth told, I am too much money in to even think about retribution,my dog is small and I am worried. My cats are two grown cats on Purina kitten chow dry. So far so good on that front. Hope it stays that way.
concerned pet owners- thank you for your understanding. I don't know what to think until I know more. Yes I am attempting to get this food tested by an outside source not directly innvolved in pet food producition. Plus the FDA has asked me to keep the bag. From what the FDA couldn't say they are testing these batch of food already. Yes, they company will tell the truth, they have already said they would pay for all vet costs if it proves to be the food. He didn't know about the costs of adopted another dog, Maudigan was saved by me at a city pound. Most companies use outside sources also to test their foods in question. Yes, I will get another dog, my house doesn't function right without a "dog head" (term used with Maudigan when he was seeking attention, his dog head in your face) around filling it all up with their wonderful spirits. In fact, her name is Desora, she is 10 months to a year old, basenji mix, a black edition of my Mad Maudigan. We call her Des or Desi. Name is from Robert Jordan Wheel of Time series and it should translate to "Of Life". By my guess, if not well that is what it means to me. My oldest daughter picked it out when I asked for suggestions on another great dog name. Mad Maudigan is our misprouncing Mad Martingan from the movie Willow, the Van Kilmer character.
Get out your hankies....
The day after Maudigan had t o be put down I was of course devistated. I went online to search for any local Basenji mixes needing a home. Suprising me there were 6. Showed my boyfriend all 6, he liked one very much. Saying to me, "I'm gonna come home and there is going to be a dog here, isn't there." Teasing me. I called the non-kill shelter she was at, being that she was fostered out I would have to call her foster parents. I called and left a message. Later talking on the phone to my mom in law, topic: a dog. My family has been overwhelming supportive through all this as Maudigan was my constant companion and I am disabled. She says, "I'll be over at 10:30, we'll do lunch and go to the S.P.C.A." Over lunch she teases me that she knows I will find a dog. I didn't think so. Plus that little black and white dog online was still on my mind. I walked through 3/4 of the kennels at s.p.c.a, so many adorable dogs. Not one caught my heart though. Then as the dog in the next kennel comes into view there is this little black and white dog standing erect, huge bat like ears up and looking me right in the eye. I almost fainted, it was that same little dog I had seen online at that non-kill shelter. "You aren't suppose to be here." I say to her, she collapses up against the gate for me to touch her, never taking her eyes off me.
Well I got her out of that kennel, took her up to the front desk and said I need to adopt this dog. During filing the paper work her and I bonded. My mom in law was telling Maudigan's story. The staff was almost in tears watching this pup and I bond right in front of them. She got fixed the next day and got to come home with me.
She is wonderful. Totally loyal. Adorable and loving. I have been saying Maud told God his Mommy couldn't be alone. So he walked beside me and that little dog that day towards each other.
Found out later that the non-kill shelter foster parent never had the dog she was placing it for someone in her nieghborhood, they must have turned her in to the s.p.c.a. without notify her. Also this little baby girl that romps around my house had just been put in the adoption side of the s.p.c.a. an hour before I got there. About the same time my mom in law was teasing me that I would find a dog that day.
So yes concern pet owners to your questions.
I have an Olde Victorian Bulldogge that's about 1.5 years old. I've been feeding him Nutro Ultra Large Breed since he turned a year old. I haven't been worried about the food because it wasn't on the recall list but just last week I've found 3 piles of undigested food in the house and he's never done this before. I also have noticed him wanting to go outside to unrinate more often. He also seems to laydown and pant for no reason. After reading all these emails I'm taking him off Nutro brand dog food right NOW because there seems to be to many similarities with these ill dogs. Sure wish we new the TRUTH!
Making my own dog food is out of the quesstion so what what's a SAFE dry food to feed your dogs?
Try Evolve. Breeder and groomer recommended.
To Sarah
Maybe you should pay attention. That rice protien deal only just happened and you were complaining before that and that was only Natural balance venison formulas. Stop jumping the gun. That's the point. It's the worst thing to have an animal sick and want an answer but you don't just find the first thing and say that's it. Tons of animals die of kidney failure every year and now becaus of this everyone wants to say that's why their animal died.
To which posting are you refering to Sarah?? Are you willing to take a chance with your pets life? So today it's venison formulas then next month it includes another type. Thinjk about how many formulas have been added since this all started. How about playing it safe and stop feeding the Nutro brand till this is all washed out. I know for a fact big companies will figure out if it will cost them more to recall or pay a few thousand claims. Take your pick but my dog means way to much to me to take a chance.
Well I read today that not only rice gluten, but corn gluten in South Africa is contaminated http://www.news24.com/News24/South_Africa/News/0,, Both Eukaneuba k/d and Hills k/d food have corn gluten meal in them. It probably hasn't been tested here yet.
Nutro continues to deny that there is anything wrong with their food. Please call them 1-800-833-5330 or email http://www.nutroproducts.com/mfrecall.asp if your pet has become ill from their product. They obviously need to do more testing.
Yes....wheat gluten, then rice protein, now corn gluten......Chris this is HUGE and there are a LOT of animals that we care about that are VERY sick and are dying. AND clearly Nutro IS part of the problem weather they admit it or not. Aren't your reading what is happening to these pets....that cannot be a coincidence. And I am sure there are many more that are sick from this that just did not get severely ill that we don't even know about. Thank goodness there are people that pay attention and are proactive since the BIG MONEY corporations don't seem to care. Your last email said it was the wheat gluten making them sick. MY response was that it is a CHEMICAL found in the wheat gluten, and the CHEMICAL found in rice protein, not the ingredient alone. AND now it was found in corn gluten.....it is only going to expand more....just like I said before.
I found this excerpt from this http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/2007/04/pet_ article particularly interesting.
"We are concerned that we may have been the victim of deliberate and mercenary contamination for the purpose of making the wheat gluten we purchased appear to have a higher protein content than it did, because melamine causes a false high result on protein tests," Miller said.
Miller was referring to allegations that the melamine could have intentionally been added to the wheat gluten -- a theory raised earlier this month by the director of the FDA's Center for Veterinary Medicine.
"Somebody may have added melamine to the wheat gluten in order to increase what appears to be the protein level," the FDA's Stephen Sundlof said. "Wheat gluten is a high-protein substance and by trying to artificially inflate the protein level, it could command a higher price. But that's just one theory at this point."
If this does turn out to have been done intentionally to make a buck it won't surprise me.
I have been feeding California Natural Herring and Sweet Potato. It contains no wheat, corn or rice so I can only hope to God we're safe now that I switched them from Nutro. I read the press article on the California Natural site http://www.naturapet.com/about-natura/news.asp?id= though and was dismayed to find that it too, currently contracts with Menu Foods for their canning operations, although they do it in a different plant then the one affected. Is anyone aware of a website that lists all companies doing business with Menu Foods....or better yet, a website that lists pet food companies that do all of their own processing and doesn't import foreign ingredients?
Lets get back to the basics. Number 1 - your pet has become sick, and either recovered, recovering, or in some unfortunate cases passed away. Number 2 - you have ruled out all possible causes, ie. injesting anything other than the food.
If this is the case - document what your pet was eating with your vet, Next call the company who manufactures the food. If enough pet owners do this, the alarm bells should go off, if they haven't already. Registar with the FDA, unfortunately the Canadian government does not regulate pet food. Join a class action suit, if nothing your case will be documented.
Pet owners need to speak up for their pets!!
Our beloved family dog was put down yesterday after kidney and liver failure was diagnosed. He suddenly began vomiting copiously, no blood, on Monday, by Thursday, after a blood test, our vet determined he was dying. I've never fed him canned or wet commercial pet food, only Nutro Max Natural Lamb and Rice. Thought I was safe...our vet says we're only safe feeding our pets chicken, rice and vegies we fix ourselves.
Don't let this happen to your pet!
Marti, I'm so sorry. It's only been a week since we lost Hunter. Please call or email Nutro and file a complaint. It won't bring your pet back, but it may help others. If you haven't already been to PetConnection.com, they're keeping a count of deaths (4346 so far) and have alot of good information.
PetConnection.com thinks there may be 2 more press releases about recalls by the end of the day.
So sorry CathyZ and Marti. I sure hope that PetConnection is right about the added recalls by the end of the day. Having answers so long in coming and wondering what to feed our pets meanwhile. Family calling me to find out what to feed, rice, chicken, cottage cheese, vegs you make at home until all these suspected "spiked" rice, corn and wheat gluten shipments from China are tracked down and if pet food was made from them pulled off the shelves. Better yet, pull all of it off the shelves, start over again with AMERICAN grown grains. We could feed the world! Pets included!
We need to let out voices be heard on this issue. Change laws, regulations and inspections of pet food suppliers, manufactorers and factories. Write in to all your goverment officals, the 4,346, plus everyone that has spent the last few weeks freaking out about what to feed our pets. Seeing as it is not the SAFE product we thought it was, because it has no watch dog on it. Throughout this whole deal, discovering that there is huge missing link in the laws goverening pet food is so disheartening.
So sorry CathyZ and Marti. I sure hope that PetConnection is right about the added recalls by the end of the day. Having answers so long in coming and wondering what to feed our pets meanwhile. Family calling me to find out what to feed, rice, chicken, cottage cheese, vegs you make at home until all these suspected "spiked" rice, corn and wheat gluten shipments from China are tracked down and if pet food was made from them pulled off the shelves. Better yet, pull all of it off the shelves, start over again with AMERICAN grown grains. We could feed the world! Pets included!
We need to let out voices be heard on this issue. Change laws, regulations and inspections of pet food suppliers, manufactorers and factories. Write in to all your goverment officals, the 4,346, plus everyone that has spent the last few weeks freaking out about what to feed our pets. Seeing as it is not the SAFE product we thought it was, because it has no watch dog on it. Throughout this whole deal, discovering that there is huge missing link in the laws goverening pet food is so disheartening.
THIS IS NO ACCIDENT. ALL THESE PETS THAT DIED FROM ALL THESE DIFFERNT BRANDS OF FOOD NOT JUST NUITRO. OPEN YOUR EYES EVERYONE.
So lets hear about what everyone has done about this?
We have our sheltie on Nutro Ultra weight management and it is wheat, soy and corn free so yes, some of Nutro dry products are free of these things. I even buy one of the Nutro treats that is wheat, soy and corn free. So far she has had no problems.
CALIFORNIA NATURAL VS. INNOVA....ANY OPINIONS ABOUT EITHER?
i had my pups on nutro but after they got sick also from nutro i put them on california natural lamb and rice and they love it . it only has lamb meal,brown rice .innova has alot of ingert. both are made by natura pet. www.naturapet.com
don't earse my comments ok i like cal.natural lamb and rice ,innova is also good. both made buy same co. cal. natural has only lamb and brown rice
my greyhound has been eating nutro natural choice high energy dog food and nutro natural choice lamb & rice dog food for five years. she is ALWAYS well behaved and has NEVER soiled in the house.
she is now acting sick. she is crying all the time, asking to go out frequently, she's urinating in the house. she paces, she acts uncomfortable. shes drinking TONS and TONS of water. she begs to go outside and eat grass. she then throws the grass up. i called nutro natural choice company as soon as the recalls of the wet food were issued. they assured me that the dry food was safe to feed. i continued.
this week, i called nutro natural choice on april 18th and they told me to continue feeding the dry dog food. they again said it was safe. they also said their dog biscuits were safe. i feed my greyhound the dog biscuits too. today, april 20th, i called nutro natural choice and spoke to connie. she said the dry dog food would not be recalled.
i dont know what to think. im SO worried. my gut feeling tells me something is terribly wrong with the dry food but the company claims the food is okay. i have now stopped feeding my greyhound any nutro natural choice products.
JEN.PLEASE TAKE YOUR DOG OFF NUTRO ASAP,MY DOGS AND SO MANY OTHER DOGS ARE DOING THE SAME THING,AS SOON AS I STOPED NUTRO MY DOGS STOP DRINKING ALL THE WATER. I PUT THEM ON CALIFORNIA NATURAL AND THEY LOVE IT. IT'S MADE BY NATURA PET.
first of all, i would just like to say that i am so sorry for all of your losses. losing a loved one is one of the worst things any of us can experience, especially under these circumstances. i am currently feeding my two german shepherds, freya and hugo nutro max large breed adult. if anyone has had any problems with this specific food please post it. my dogs seem fine but i'm still extremely worried. the recalls just continue to expand. like jen i just got off the phone with nutro and they said the recall didn't effect the dry food. 1-800-833-5330
thank you for the responses.
yes, i know they have not recalled the DRY nutro food yet. i called them myself. my concern is IF it will eventually be recalled...
i'm reading and learning that some dogs that ate the DRY dog food are showing signs of having the same problems as the ones that ate the WET dog food. this is including my own dog. she is not well. she only eats the dry food. my concern is for the possibility that the dry food is making animals sick. if it is being tested, that takes time. in the meantime, the animals are still eating it. this means there could be more dogs to fall ill. i hope that is not the case but i am very worried. reading online, i see that at least two dry cat foods were recalled. this means more dry foods MIGHT be recalled soon. its always a possibility.
as of last week, my dogs are no longer eating any nutro products.
Jen....that is my fear too, it is only a matter of time. My 4 year old golden was perfectly healthy and the other night she was freaking out, pacing around everywhere and urinating blood. The er dr. said as far as he can tell, it is probably a urinary tract infection, and that he does not believe that it has anything to do with the food, but I don't know that that is true, it may be it may not be, but there are too many coincidences. I made a comment on this site on Tues, and since then MANY more brands of food have been recalled, wet and dry. And it is not over yet. I have switched my dog to california natural, but do beware, they do utilize a menu foods plant for canning, although it is in SD, not the plant that was suspected in the tainted foods. I believe the safest thing for you to do is either make food for your dogs, or feed them a food that has no wheat gluten, corn gluten or rice protein, and california natural has a food that does not have any. Good luck!!
And to Margo's comment that it is not only Nutro, WE KNOW THAT, but this page is titled pet food recall NUTRO dry food. We are expressing our concerns and problems that our pets have had based on Nutro food. We are not out to get them, but the one thing we have in common, besides our pets getting ill is that we are all feeding them Nutro. We are trying to save a few lives here. Have a heart!!
SARAH,YOU HAVE A HELL OF A NERVE TO TELL ME TO HAVE A HEART MY DOG DIED GET IT SHE'S DEAD!!!! MY GOD YOU ARE SO COLD.YES I'M DON'T WANT ANOTHE PERSON TO GO THROUGH WHAT MY FAMILY HAS !!!!!!! SO STOP AND THINK BEFORE U INSULT PEOPLE MY DOG IS DEAD GET IT DEAD
Come on people, lets stop beating each other up. The point is there has been a massive pet food recall, which continues to develop even further every day. Share your stories, be informed, and file complaints. File anywhere and everywhere you can think of. Phone the companies, file with the FDA, join a class action suit. There are enough pet owners in the USA and Canada to make a difference. Has anyone started a petition, which could be sent to Nutro? Seems to me we are all in a state of disorganized chaos. Unfortunately, I do not feel that I have the skill set to develop any type of web page relating to a petition. How about it Shane 4242????
#169 How True,Eveyone Is Upset And As Margo Was Trying To Point Out Is Right. Very Shocked That Sarah Would Blast Someone Who Lost A Pet. Nutro And Maney Other Brands Of Foods Are Getting Pets Sick.
# 170 - Thank you Bert. Setting feelings aside for a moment, as past, present or concerned pet owners, we need to start taking some positive action. Is anyone capable or willing to set up a web page petition which we can then send to Nutro, relating our cases and concerns? Remeber the squeaky wheel usually gets the oil.
PetConnection....seems a likely resource for us all to get a band wagon going for unity. There is an overwhelming amount of information they have gathered. My eyes are sore from all the reading I have been doing there, no where close to reading it all yet. They are attempting to have accurate count of pet deaths kindey failure, due to the pet food recalls. They are reporting on updates as they happen as the recall grows daily. Blogging is constant and informative. They have many suggestions on what we can do to see things change in the future.
www.petconnection.com
ALSO WWW.ITCHMO.COM
My 1yr old lab went to the vet day before yesterday for similar reasons I have read above. She was lethargic, tail between her legs which actually always beats the walls around her when she walks. She was panting very heavily, whining, Tuesday night, and paced throughout the night with my husband and I repeatedly letting her outside to go urinate. She was having difficulty using the bathroom as well. Her eyes were glassy. She became very unsteady on her hind legs. Her breathing is what scared us the most. The vet asked us the name of the food and we advised him we were feeding her Nutru Natural Balance Lamb and Rice for large breed, dry. He advised that that could not be the problem for it was not recalled. His diagnosis is that she has a urinary tract infection and an upper respiratory infection. This dog is a pup, and is normally active, but appears to be very sick, even after two days of medication. She is drinking huge amounts of water, and continues to urinate alot. After reading the comments on this site I am going to my local Petsmart and changing both my dogs' food. I also think I will call my vet since the rice gluten had not been added to the list at his diagnosis. Thank you for sharing your stories.
I HAVE 5 DOGS THAT ARE EATING DRY NUTRO NATURAL CHOICE.I NOTICED IN THE LAST FEW WEEKS SMALL AMOUNTS OF BILE ON THE FLOOR.NO OTHER SYMPTOMS YET.......I DID FIND THIS SITE TODAY-NOT REALIZING NUTRO WAS ALSO INVOLVED.I DID CALL NUTRO AND THEY TOLD ME TO TAKE MY DOGS TO THE VET IF THEY CONTINUE TO VOMIT AND I WOULD BE REIMBURSED FOR VET VISIT.THEY DID TRY TO REASSURE ME THAT THEIR PRODUCT IS NOT ON RECALL LIST .I DON`T KNOW WHAT TO DO AT THIS POINT.CHANGING THEIR DIET WILL ALSO CAUSE GASTRIC PROBLEMS AND DIARRHEA.THE TOTAL WEIGHT OF ALL 5 DOGS IS OVER 300 POUNDS.DO I TRY TO MAKE MY OWN FOOD FOR THEM,WHICH WILL ALSO CAUSE GASTRIC PROBLEMS SINCE THEY AREN`T USED TO PEOPLE FOOD?DO I WAIT FOR EXCESSIVE WATER DRINKING??????WHO DO I TRUST AT THIS POINT IN TIME-IT SEEMS EVENTUALLY ALL THE BRANDS WILL BE INVOLVED !!!!!!!!!!!!MY FRIEND IS A NUTRO REP----I`M GOING TO CALL HER NOW AND SEE IF I CAN GET MORE INFO.I WILL POST ANY INFO I GET FROM HER-SHE HAS A DOG TOO-I`LL TRY TO FIND OUT WHAT SHE IS FEEDING HER DOG.MY HEART GOES OUT TO EVERYBODY WHO HAS LOST A PET OR HAS A SICK PET BECAUSE OF THIS RECALL.
Laurie, Please do not continue to feed Nutro. The gastric problems are nothing compared to kidney disease. Every time I call Nutro and ask to file a complaint, they transfer me to an answering machine. My dog died. They will not return calls or email. On CNN news last evening, there was a quick segment about the recall and they did not name any companies, but they did show one screen shot with companies who are involved - Nutro was listed.
share your stories
My 6 year old westie has been on Nutro Natural Choice Chicken Meal,Rice & Oatmeal for Sensitive Stomachs(mint green? bag) for over 4 years. No one seems to have mentioned this particular formula as having any health problems thus far. I'm scared. Do I stop using it? Is Rice too the problem now?? Please help if you can. Thanks
Andrea, I looked at the ingredients list http://www.nutroproducts.com/ncdogcro.asp and although I don't see any that seem to be what is making dogs ill right now, dog food companies can change ingredients in foods and are not required to change the label for 6 months. On principle alone, I would not use Nutro products.
Laurie.....call them back. Ask to speak to someone in corprate that you want to file a complaint with them. Tell them you don't want a answering machine. They will say it is a 50/50 that you get an answer. So if you get the machine call again, tell them this is your second call to be connected to a real person at corprate you would like to do so again. Then..... the third call if you get that machine. Each time keep count and tell them of it. "This is my fourth call this hour, will it be likely the same the next hour too?" said politely and calming, no matter if you feel you head will pop or not. If you have to keep it up, do so. Also you contacted the FDA? If not, do it, right now. You can find your local FDA numbers online. You need this documented with the FDA too.
ne again.
MY pup is near dead now all u say on here he has had after putting him on thie food gutted
Up until 5 days ago we fed our dog Newman's dry, no problem. He just underwent cancer surgery and chemo and he's on top of the world. For the last 5 days he's had Nutro dry for Seniors, we were out of town and just got him back. He won't eat the NUTRO now, he's listless, his tummy is bulged out, his eyes are glassy. We just went out and bought him raw food from Primal Pet Foods and he finally ate it. Whattaya know. I'll post if anything else happens, we saved the bag.
I was unsure about the symptoms my dog was experiencing, wondering if it was just a coincidence. Now after reading all of these comments about dogs with the same symptoms I am not only sure that my dog has been poisoned, but am confused as to why the vet would be so sure it wasn't from the food and thinks he has a liver infection not recall related? He has been to 2 vets now, and I am very pleased that he doesn't have significant enough kidney/liver damage to show up on their tests, but worried that he will continue to vommit and have diahrea and that he will get worse. I ordered "Merrick" brand dog food that is all natural. They have a site and also Amazon sells it, both with free shipping. Does anyone know if Nutro Ultra dry is making dogs sick? Its all my dog will eat, he refuses my ground turkey and rice and I want him to eat! I hope that everyones pets that survived this can recover their health. Another really good site is petmedicinechest.com. They are temporarily closed to grow for the greater need for their products. Our neighbor gave us some of their remedies and vitamins and IT TURNED MY DOGS HEALTH AROUND IN 24 HRS (from very ill to acting like himself). I am waiting for their website to allow purchases again and know that when I can give him more of their systemrejuv, hematox, and metaltox plus vitamins and probac, that my dog will probably be okay after seeing the difference just a few days made. I STRONGLY SUGGEST everyone with a sick dog or cat to take a look at their site, as I am now convinced that their products help significantly and they have a lot of good information too.
Cathy, Thanks for checking on the formula that I was feeding my dog. I believe you are right. I will stop feeding him Nutro. I recall seeing a home made dog food recipe when the first recalls came out on wet dog food. I ignored it assuming that my dry food was so safe. Does anyone know what it is? Thanks. Andrea
I fed both my labs nutro dry for seniors for the last 7 months. They have never thrown up so much. I thought they were just getting old, 9 and 10. Then, both started drinking tons of water and eating grass like crazy. Their coats dulled and was shedding. When all this first came out, I switched them to Wellness, I didn't trust that it was only the wet food. But now they have so much gas!! Any suggestions on what to do about that? It's horrible and I know they are in pain, the one pants all the time the other just crys out when he passes gas. What food should I put them on? I thought Wellness was one of the safe ones.
Thank you all!
Dogs can eat a mixture of a cooked meat, a starch and a vegetable. Suggestions I have seen are things like cooked ground turkey, rice and carrots. Also cooked oatmeal as the starch is a good one for dogs who are having kidney problems as I have read that the oatmeal is easy to digest and helps draw out toxins. I have also bought some canned meats like tuna and chicken to mix in when I don't have time to cook.
When you change a dogs diet quickly, they normally do have gastric problems. At this point, I really am not sure what commercial food is safe. Boiled chicken and rice is what a vet would recomment for gastric problems. Maybe you should just try that for a couple of days until their stomachs settle down and take the time to do some research on what is safe. Another thing that may help is slippery elm. You can get it in a natural food store. It's a powder that I used to use on my dog's food when he had an upset stomach. It really did help.
I am currenty feeding my wonderful dogs Natural Choice Large Breed Lamb and Rice dry dog food. Should I be concerned?
Nick, Please read the above comments again. Yes - you should be concerned. With my dog, he didn't get sick all of a sudden, like some others. Looking back, he slowly stopped finishing the food in his bowl . . and started sleeping later in the morning .. and not running to the door when my husband came home. He's dead now. Be safe, not sorry.
Ok, now I am worried! My 11 year old Shep/Lab mix has been eating Nutro Max Natural Choice Lamb & Rice dry food for the last 5 or so years. At the end of December he got sick, still don't know what it was but Antibiotics took care of it and now he seems to have the symptoms of an inner ear infection. After reading the blog here I am wondering if it is his food, he doesn't want to eat his food but will eat the treats- Nutro Max Lamb & Rive Chops and Large Breed Biscuts. I made him boiled hambergur & rice tonight and will continue until I hear something positive!
By the way #19 Sami.... Do you own a dog? Is your dog a member of the family? Do you actually love your dog? How can you go after people who are attached to their beloved furry friends? We are not here to attack the food manufacturer but to find out if this may be another problem! The only way is to hear from other pet owners! Go Away!
Please someone let me know if their dog has eatn this food and has symptoms of inner ear infecction - off balance, head turned, sight problems. etc. sto1169@comcast.net
Thank you
CORRECTION onthe email, above. It is sto119@comcast.net........ NOT sto1169
lori my dog did the same thing as yours,i took her off nutro and put her on california natural by natural pet,her ears are no longer red. loves the food good luck
Andrea that is the formula my dogs were eating when they became ill. The girl at the pet store today told me she pulled her dogs off of it too after they got sick. She said that lots of people have been coming in complaining about Nutro's products and switching their animals off of it.
I switched my 5 yr old affenpinscher from Iams lamb and rice to Nutro Natural Lamb & rice small bites before the recall problem and he loved it (bought a small bag), so I went and bought a large bag (just before this recall broke) and figured all was good - there was/is something wrong with THIS bag - he began having very loose stools, spitting up bile progressing to bloody and mucous diarrhea - drinking tons of water and urinating lakes - would only eat if I hand fed him. Since he never had a strong stomach, I thought he was just having another episode - cooked chicken and rice for a few days and all was good - tried to give him the Nutro again (adding a little at a time, and bang, he stopped eating again - stools turned yellowish and soooo loose - spitting up bile).
Am now feeding Eagle Pack Holistic Dry (made in Indiana with human grade ingredients grown in USA - only imports are Duck from Germany, Lamb from New Zealand - all ingredients are tested and USDA human grade) mixing it with Prescription Diet ID from the vet (feeding him this to calm his stomach down and slowly change to Eagle Pack). In only two days his poops are firming up and he loves it. No longer drinking tons of water and acting happy again.
Nutro sucks! It is too much of a coincidence that people who where feeding pets their lamb and rice suddenly their dogs all have problems at the same time??? I think it is a bad lot, tainted by whatever and they just don't want to take responsibility.
Lori- When I first took my dog to the vet, he appeared to have a middle ear infection. Head tilted, slightly off balance. We treated him for it, even though the vet wasn't too sure it was his ear. We ran the tests for his kindeys too. Next day I didn't need the vet to tell me it was his kindeys failing. I knew. His health crashed in those hours. If you have had them tested already and it looks good, wonderful. If you haven't tested them, please do.
in the paper today a dog died from eating NUTRO MAX DRY. go to www.philly.com then on right side click on to phlila. inquier-story headline BELOVED FRIEND OR SIMPLY PROPERTY, click on to story-SHOWS THE DOG .everyone please please so maney of us said their dogs died or got sick. take your pets off nutro wet and dry. SOMETHING IS WRONG WITH THIS FOOD
Our boxer dog Fawn (age 5) has been the love of our life -- we've been feeding her Nutro Chicken /Rice / Oatmeal for sensitive stomachs for 1.5 years. NOW SHE IS IN THE NEW YORK ANIMAL MEDICAL CENTER FIGHTING FOR HER LIFE; she probably has LIVER FAILURE -- our family is sick with grief. I am so traumatized to see all these other pet owners who have been feeding their pets the "best possible" food and now have to BURY their beloved familiars before their time.
I was about to start my dog on nutro but now since its on recall i won't
Our Wheaten Terrier has been on Nutro Lamb & Rice Dry Dog food for the past two years - and we have had excellent results. We just started her on a new bag 10 days ago and within she started vomitting and had bloody diarrhia. We took her off the dog food for 24 hours and started her on rice and lean hamburger. She recovered and after two days we put her back on the Nutro. Three days later she started vomitting again with bloody diarrhia. Since we have taken her off the food this second time, she appears to be recovering. This site has just confirmed my fears - and I will be getting in touch with the company.
Nick PLEASE Not Put Her BACK on NUTRO, today in the paper a dog died frrom nutro max. story is on www.philly.com under health and sceince -justice in pet food lawsuits. was in sunday's paper and on the web site sun.so mamy pets are sick from nutro
I just heard there are going to be more recall with inthe next few days. I am not sure when this is going to end. It makes me very sad that our babies have to suffer because of companies not wanting to make sure their food is 100% Safe.... I have found one that does and I am useing that now. Here is a link to the site if any one wants to take a look. It is all Natural and all ingredients are from here the USA. I wish every one the best of luck. here is the link... www.cindyschoicepetfood.com
Well I just want to say I feel bad for all the people that have lost a dog or cat....in fact I am one of them. Would everyone just please check this site out to feed there dog or cat. I switched all my animals on to this www.frrco.com/122164 its made from all human grade food which is tested even before they make the dog or car food...its dropped shipped to your door at no extra cost.....
I live in Italy and regularly feed my dogs with Nutro Lamb and Rice.
My Nutro Rep assures me that as long as the dogfood is not imported from the states it's considered to be safe.
Give it a try by ordering European Nutro.
On April 8th 2007 we lost our Australian Cattle Dog of 8 years. Bandit was fed exclusively IAMS Chunks dry food. Right around dinner time he started acting lethargic and disoriented. Four hours later he would die quickly and violently. Prior to his passing he puked up his stomach contents and defecated. Examination of the stomach contents revealed only his dry food and blood. The dog's stool was firm and healthy. We brought our dog, stool samples, and stomach contents to the local pet emergency clinic only to find that the Vet on duty was quick to dismiss any poisoning due to his dry food. The vet's basis for this decision was a fax from the Iams Company stating that only wet foods were affected. The vet was quick to point out that though the poison acted similarly to rat-poison... that perhaps another toxin from either a plant or bug may have caused the rapid decline in bandit's health. Having seen four days of snow and sub freezing temperatures the plant or bug argument didn't hold water with us. We have contacted Iams and the FDA this week we did receive a call back from Iams asking for samples of the food. I think there is more to this food recall than we are being told.
If you haven't been to see what's going on at petconnection.com or itchmo go there, information galore, others sharing your plight and fighting too. Marches around the county April 28, 2007. Look for posts the are calling us to action. Stuffies representing the pets the have died being sent to one location to get media attention. And post cards too. To coinside with the march this weekend. Still brainstorminng ideas, but we need to do something together. Go report your pet to petconnection, their numbers this a.m. were 4,444 deaths. And that is not counting those who haven't reported to them or have internet. Go over take a look.
April 23 2007
I have bought Nutro Natural dry lamb and rice dog food for about 7 years now. I always try to fing the bags with 10% more free. The last time I went to get the regular bites they only had small bites with the 10% free, Well about 2 days after feeding my dog missy a samoyed/chow mixed dog she started laying aroung and her hind legs became cripple and she drank water like crazy. I called Nutro and they said none of their dry foods had been affected, well I got to this site and I read comment #5 and there it was right in my face.
I changed to Nutro in 1999 when one of my other dogs showed the same symptoms(she died) as Missy when I had read about dog foods puting diseased animals etc.. in their foods. But now the same thing is happening to Expensive dog foods. I don't know what to feed my dogs anymore.
we have 2 min pins age 6mo and 5 yr and 2 chihuahuas age 8yr and 9yr. we used to feed our dogs science diet but heard it was not good. so we changed to nutro nat choice chick and oatml. we purchased a lg bag day before easter. our pup got sick few days later. i thought nothing of the dog food. took her to vet they gave her fluids under skin. i had to syringe feed her for 3 days to keep her hydrated and nurished. we thought she was going to die. finally mon she showed life again ate scrambled eggs. special diet for few days. We were releived she was going to make it! then gave her nutro again. she got sick same day vomting, diahrea, weird in hind quarters, she would lay sleeping and you could hear gas in her tummy and she would burp this was all day and night. i thought someone was poisoning my dogs over back fence. my onter dogs were also not themselves. this is why i thought perhaps a dog flu?? i did not know. so this morning i did search for what might be wrong with my dogs and found this. i feel like and idiot to not think of it sooner. my poor babies...i took back food this morning and they recommended SOLID GOLD Hinds-n-flockin. it is a holistic brand and has had no recalls. has anyone heard of this or put their dogs on it before. i just fed them and they ate it so now just wait and see i guess.
I talked to my vet about making my own food for my dog. 18lb dog =about 550- 650 calories. Make sure you use a variety of food to get in all nutrients. veg+starch+meat. (pasta, rice, oatmeat, sweet pot, carrots, turkey, ground beef, chicken to name a few) Human vitamins= flintstones and tums for calcium supplement. Good luck to all who are dealing with ill loved ones, and my heart goes out to everyones losses.
I just got home from the store with my bottle of Flintstones. I was on a web site Moore's Haven--bad food for dogs. They list xylitol which is in sugarless candy and is very toxic for dogs. Well guess what it is in the Flintstone vitamins too? Xylitol. Also the vitamin A content is at 3000. The web site states vitamin A is Not good for dogs. It names other foods that dogs should not have. I am at a loss. I don't think my food is going to be good for him. Has anyone heard about an ALL USA grown product dog food? A lady in the store in front of me heard that Purina was all USA grown products. Does anyone have any resources with this information?
My husband used to work for Purina. This is not a company whose product I would want to feed our dog. Apparently everything goes in that a human being would never consume. We were feeding our dog Nutro Natural Choise Lite until March 25 and encountered same problems as most of you. She was lethargic, vomitting, bloody droplets of stool and refused to eat. At the animal emergency clinic, they did a full body xray and complete blood work. Nothing in the xray, however everything relating to the liver was off the charts. Antibiotics, and a diet of homemade food cleared everything up. HOWEVER, I felt I did not want to risk this happening again and began cooking. Brown rice, boiled chicken,liver or any lean meat, cooked frozen peas and carrots, also would add in some cottage cheese, or hard boilded eggs. In three weeks she gained over 1 kg would is approx. 2.25 lbs. and is now on a holistic dog food and has baby carrots for a treat. Be careful with the homemade dog food! Also I would talk to your vet about vitamin and minerals supplements. Balance is important, in the long term, you could do more harm than good. As for the Flintstone vitamins, I don't know what to think. PLEASE talk to your vet.
I'm on the same page as Carolyn. As a mother of two children, who also get Flinstones. There is a warning on the bottle!!! The food problem is bad enough without creating another. Seek the advise of your vet, some of these dogs do not weigh as much as a newborn and no one gives a baby Flintstones. There are animal vitamins out there!!! As for all you Canadians (like me), who do we call other than Nutro. No regulations in Canada????
Thank you everyone for all of the information. I wanted you all to know that initially I went to to the er vet with my dog, and had a follow up appt with my regular vet. They both have dismissed the fact that it could be her dog food. So I told the ER vet that I don't believe what I hear and that I don't really believe that it is not affecting these dogs. I said I believe that it is in the dry food and they have not come forward. He along with my regular vet would not even acknowledge that it is the food, but I think otherwise so I took her off Nutro to be safe.
And Margo (and Bert), I apologize if I offended you, but here was your comment that I was responding to Margo. You basically were telling everyone on the site to wake up, as if we are dumb and don't know what we are talking about. You did not even say anything about owning a dog...here is your entry.
margo says:3 days ago
THIS IS NO ACCIDENT. ALL THESE PETS THAT DIED FROM ALL THESE DIFFERNT BRANDS OF FOOD NOT JUST NUITRO. OPEN YOUR EYES EVERYONE.
You never once said your pet died. So if your pet died, I am sorry. You had some earlier entries I see that say that your pet was sick but now better. I am not sure if you are that Margo. But here was my response. It was in no way said to offend you, but to tell you, we are not dumb, our eyes are open and that this site is ABOUT NUTRO dog food, that is what we are discussing. That is the why the link is titled dry nutro pet food. We know there are other foods making other dogs sick. I get that....but here was my response which I think was appropriate based on what you said which I thought was rude to say to people that have gone through the agony of losing a pet. AND REMINDER, you never said your pet died.
My response....
"And to Margo's comment that it is not only Nutro, WE KNOW THAT, but this page is titled pet food recall NUTRO dry food. We are expressing our concerns and problems that our pets have had based on Nutro food. We are not out to get them, but the one thing we have in common, besides our pets getting ill is that we are all feeding them Nutro. We are trying to save a few lives here. Have a heart!!"
FYI, More Bad News - This just in from Reuters:
“We have learned that in addition to Wilbur-Ellis, a second United States company imported a shipment of rice protein from China that is also likely to be contaminated with melamine,” the senators wrote. “We request the FDA identify this second importer as well as those manufacturers to which it may have sold the contaminated product.”
Well, the FDA still has not named everyone Wilbur-Ellis sold to, now there's more. What a sad, sad country we live in.
If you are looking for great vitamins. Here is a link to a great site. I have used them for over 2 years and would not trade it for any thing. My babies LOVE them and the come running when they hear the bottle. https://www.nuvetlabs.com/order/default.asp?sponso They are also all natural and very reasonable....
I wish you all the best.....
I was reading all the post and I am very saddend by what I read. I feel sorry for all the puppies and dogs. After ready MOST of the post I checked out a couple of the sites listed in them. I will say out of all of them I am going to be ordering my food from one of them. It is http://www.cindyschoicepetfood.com I liked the fact that its Veterinarian Formulated … Life’s Abundance is formulated by Dr. Jane Bicks, a highly respected and nationally recognized holistic veterinarian. Qualify & Freshness … Life’s Abundance is always made with fresh ingredients, which gives your pet the best quality possible. We use our exclusive “fast-cook” process to preserve the fresh taste of natural foods. This technique maintains natural flavors and nutritional value better than more rigorous cooking techniques found in many store bought products. In addition, we use a blend of natural antioxidants to help our food stay fresh as well as to help your dog to maintain a healthy immune system. To insure that you get the freshest food possible, we make our food in small, frequent batches. The Life's Abundance food that gets delivered to your door may be only about 6 weeks old. Safety & Quality Control … Our manufacturer is APHIS certified to sell pet food in the European market, which has more stringent regulations than in the U.S. for pet food manufacturing.
Just wanted to point out a misconception regarding the philly.com article mentioned by someone here.
Quoted from the article: "Michelle Nocito also is thinking about consequences - for Menu Foods. She had started feeding pouches of Nutro Max to Goliath around Thanksgiving."
The woman in the article fed her dog the Nutro pouch dog food, NOT the Nutro Max DRY dog food. The Nutro company HAS put the pouch food on their website as being recalled.
Just wanted to clear that up.
MY 4YEAR OLD COLLIE GOT SICK ABOUT THREE MONTHS AGO. RAPID BREATHING FRENZIED PACING AND EXTREME THIRST. SHE VOMMITED BLOOD ONCE. $700 AND FOUR VISITS TO THE VETS GAVE ME NO DIRECTION. i KEPT TELLING THE VETS I THOUGHT IT WAS THE NUTRO LAMB AND RICE SHE WAS EATING. I AM WONDRING IF THEY ARE JUST WATING FOR THE RECALL TO MAKE A DIAGNOSIS. I HAVE STARTED HER ON NEUMANS OWN AND AM COOKING GROUND LAMB AND ADDING VEGGIES ADN COTTAGE CHESE AND RICE SHE GETS AN EGG AND COOKED OATMEAL IN THE MORNING. i HAVE BEEN DOING THIS FOR A WEEK AND SHE IS STARTING TO RETURN TO HER PEPPY SELF AGAIN. I JUST HOPE AND PRAY THAT WE CAN SAVE HER AND THE DAMAGE IS NOT IRREVERSIBLE. THE WORSE THING WAS TO WATCH THE LETHARGY FROM A VERY ACTIVE DOG. SHE HAD BEEN ON NURTRO LAMB AND RICE HER WHOLE LIFE AND DID NOT HAVE ANY HEALTH PROBLEMS UNTIL AFTER THE RECALL. IM CONVINCED IT IS THE FOOD . GOOD LUCK TO ALL OF US WHO ARE STRUGGLING WITH THIS. A NOTE SHE IS GETTING A VITAMIN THAT IS PRODUCED IN VERMONT THAT IS MADE FOR DOGS.
MY 4YEAR OLD COLLIE GOT SICK ABOUT THREE MONTHS AGO. RAPID BREATHING FRENZIED PACING AND EXTREME THIRST. SHE VOMMITED BLOOD ONCE. $700 AND FOUR VISITS TO THE VETS GAVE ME NO DIRECTION. i KEPT TELLING THE VETS I THOUGHT IT WAS THE NUTRO LAMB AND RICE SHE WAS EATING. I AM WONDRING IF THEY ARE JUST WATING FOR THE RECALL TO MAKE A DIAGNOSIS. I HAVE STARTED HER ON NEUMANS OWN AND AM COOKING GROUND LAMB AND ADDING VEGGIES ADN COTTAGE CHESE AND RICE SHE GETS AN EGG AND COOKED OATMEAL IN THE MORNING. i HAVE BEEN DOING THIS FOR A WEEK AND SHE IS STARTING TO RETURN TO HER PEPPY SELF AGAIN. I JUST HOPE AND PRAY THAT WE CAN SAVE HER AND THE DAMAGE IS NOT IRREVERSIBLE. THE WORSE THING WAS TO WATCH THE LETHARGY FROM A VERY ACTIVE DOG. SHE HAD BEEN ON NURTRO LAMB AND RICE HER WHOLE LIFE AND DID NOT HAVE ANY HEALTH PROBLEMS UNTIL AFTER THE RECALL. IM CONVINCED IT IS THE FOOD . GOOD LUCK TO ALL OF US WHO ARE STRUGGLING WITH THIS. A NOTE SHE IS GETTING A VITAMIN THAT IS PRODUCED IN VERMONT THAT IS MADE FOR DOGS.
MY 4YEAR OLD COLLIE GOT SICK ABOUT THREE MONTHS AGO. RAPID BREATHING FRENZIED PACING AND EXTREME THIRST. SHE VOMMITED BLOOD ONCE. $700 AND FOUR VISITS TO THE VETS GAVE ME NO DIRECTION. i KEPT TELLING THE VETS I THOUGHT IT WAS THE NUTRO LAMB AND RICE SHE WAS EATING. I AM WONDRING IF THEY ARE JUST WATING FOR THE RECALL TO MAKE A DIAGNOSIS. I HAVE STARTED HER ON NEUMANS OWN AND AM COOKING GROUND LAMB AND ADDING VEGGIES ADN COTTAGE CHESE AND RICE SHE GETS AN EGG AND COOKED OATMEAL IN THE MORNING. i HAVE BEEN DOING THIS FOR A WEEK AND SHE IS STARTING TO RETURN TO HER PEPPY SELF AGAIN. I JUST HOPE AND PRAY THAT WE CAN SAVE HER AND THE DAMAGE IS NOT IRREVERSIBLE. THE WORSE THING WAS TO WATCH THE LETHARGY FROM A VERY ACTIVE DOG. SHE HAD BEEN ON NURTRO LAMB AND RICE HER WHOLE LIFE AND DID NOT HAVE ANY HEALTH PROBLEMS UNTIL AFTER THE RECALL. IM CONVINCED IT IS THE FOOD . GOOD LUCK TO ALL OF US WHO ARE STRUGGLING WITH THIS. A NOTE SHE IS GETTING A VITAMIN THAT IS PRODUCED IN VERMONT THAT IS MADE FOR DOGS.
MY 4YEAR OLD COLLIE GOT SICK ABOUT THREE MONTHS AGO. RAPID BREATHING FRENZIED PACING AND EXTREME THIRST. SHE VOMMITED BLOOD ONCE. $700 AND FOUR VISITS TO THE VETS GAVE ME NO DIRECTION. i KEPT TELLING THE VETS I THOUGHT IT WAS THE NUTRO LAMB AND RICE SHE WAS EATING. I AM WONDRING IF THEY ARE JUST WATING FOR THE RECALL TO MAKE A DIAGNOSIS. I HAVE STARTED HER ON NEUMANS OWN AND AM COOKING GROUND LAMB AND ADDING VEGGIES ADN COTTAGE CHESE AND RICE SHE GETS AN EGG AND COOKED OATMEAL IN THE MORNING. i HAVE BEEN DOING THIS FOR A WEEK AND SHE IS STARTING TO RETURN TO HER PEPPY SELF AGAIN. I JUST HOPE AND PRAY THAT WE CAN SAVE HER AND THE DAMAGE IS NOT IRREVERSIBLE. THE WORSE THING WAS TO WATCH THE LETHARGY FROM A VERY ACTIVE DOG. SHE HAD BEEN ON NURTRO LAMB AND RICE HER WHOLE LIFE AND DID NOT HAVE ANY HEALTH PROBLEMS UNTIL AFTER THE RECALL. IM CONVINCED IT IS THE FOOD . GOOD LUCK TO ALL OF US WHO ARE STRUGGLING WITH THIS. A NOTE SHE IS GETTING A VITAMIN THAT IS PRODUCED IN VERMONT THAT IS MADE FOR DOGS.
Urgent For Dog Owners. Commercial Dog Food is Killing Your Dog.
I get this link from my friend.
See more detail. How to prepared food safety for your dog
Urgent For Dog Owners. Commercial Dog Food is Killing Your Dog.
I get this link from my friend.
See more detail. How to prepared food safety for your dog
LETS ALL SEE THE BIG PICTURE HERE,YES,NUTRO DOGS HAVE DIED FROM AND GOT SICK .BUT IT'S JUST NOT NUTRO ALL OF US PET OWNERS NEED TO GET ANSWERS WHY AND WHO IS PUTTING POISON IN OUR PETS FOOD.NUTRO IS NOT THE ONLY BRAND IT'S MANY MORE BRANDS SO DAM MANY MORE AND THAT'S WHAT HAS ME SO DAM FREAKED OUT. AND FOR PEOPLE TO COME ON THIS WEB SITE AND ANY OTHER WEB SITE AND BLAST PEOPLE AND TELL THEN TO GET A HEART IS DOWN RIGHT COLD, WE LOST PETS,HAVE PETS SICK AND THIS RUDENESS IS SO UNCALLED FOR., PEOPLE LOST PETS FROM ALMOST EVERY BRAND OF PET FOOD NOT JUST NUTRO.THAT'S THE TRUE FACTS. THE POISON IN THE PET FOOD !
Sarah, How rude. Margo lost JoJo and U tell her to HAVE A HEART, Rude Rude Rude
Brittney - The FDA has not released the names of all of the manufacturers of the contaminated products. Even if, for some crazy reason, Nutro is not part of this melamine mess, there's some other problem with the food. Read the comments above. What is your purpose in posting on this blog? Did you seek it out because you have a sick or dead pet?
So here is the latest that I read today, April 24th
"On Tuesday, however, Sundlof also announced that in addition to melamine, the FDA has now found cyanuric acid in the rice protein concentrate used for the pet food.
Like melamine, cyanuric acid is a chemical that can be used to boost the apparent protein content of foods but is normally used as a stabilizer in outdoor swimming pools and hot tubs."
And they are apparently checking ingredients that are used in foods that humans eat because melamine has been found in their urine. This is totally crazy!!
Sorry....I was distracted. My last comment should say that melamine was found in several hogs' urine, and so now they are testing these ingredients that are in human foods because of the contaminated hogs
Actually, just located this in an article today:
http://www.forbes.com/forbeslife/health/feeds/hsco
Tainted Pet Food Found in Hogs in Several States04.24.07, 12:00 AM ET
"We have learned that in addition to Wilbur-Ellis, a second United States company imported a shipment of rice protein from China that is also likely to be contaminated with melamine," the senators wrote. "We request the FDA identify this second importer as well as those manufacturers to which it may have sold the contaminated product."The FDA confirmed at Tuesday afternoon's teleconference that another company also imported rice protein concentrate from the same Chinese company as Wilbur-Ellis, but the agency continued to refused to identify the U.S. company."
I agree with Cathy Z that there is something wrong. And it is just a matter of time and there will be more pet food recalls. We are seeing them expand their research to human food now.....it will be interesting what they find. I just hope that no more pets have to die for them to figure out something is wrong with the NUTRO food in addition to many other brands. They just recalled another food today by SmartPak. The list will only get bigger.
LET ME BE CLEAR!!!!!!
I started this blog for people who are using or thinking about using Nutro dry food thinking that it is safe because they have not yet told us what is wrong. WE UNDERSTAND THAT THERE IS MORE THAN JUST NUTRO THAT IS AFFECTED!!! But do not insult the people telling thier stories here! They have been and will be deleted.
If you dont have anything helpful to add.....SHUT UP.
If you are scared about the fiid you are feeding your dig cat pig or whatever then do the only smart thing and go to your local gormet pet store and buy an all organic food. Oganic and all natural are two diifernet things. Do not be confused by this. Just because thw Label says all natural does not mean its good. Be on the safe side spend a little bit of money and feed your pet an organic food. I like Wellness.
Great point Luke.
I just started a couple of weeks ago giving my dogs (corgi 7 mo, and great dane almost 2) I switched them from pedigree dry to nutro dry thinking it would help with some skin rashes they were having. Tonight my dane vomited like a full bowl of food most of it undigested. I started doing some searches on this and am now really confused as to whether or not I should continue with the food. I know this could have been a fluke but am just concerned with what are my options for feeding them? Any advise?
HAVE YOU READ?!? DO NOT CONTINUE THE FOOD!!
"My Pet Counts" Postcard blitz........please if you haven't been over to petconnection. com rush on over. Those that have lost your pets, here is a call to action. We will all be mailing post cards out on saturday April 28, 2007, to several media and goverment officals. We need everyone who has been effected by this travesty to come on board.
www.petconnection.com
There is also information on how BIG this truely is becoming each and every day.
Been to the petconnection site, doesn't help Canadian pet owners. Any ideas Canadians, other than contacting Nutro?
I didn't have time to read every comment here, but I do have this to say, as objectively as possible: My boyfriend and I own two dogs. His dog, a Cocker/Bichon mix, had been on Nutro Max DRY since he bought her over a year ago. My dog, a Havanese, has been on Canidae since I brought him home as that was what his breeder weaned him on. Maggie, the dog on Nutro, was doing well until February, when she started a new bag of food. She began throwing up bile three to four times a day and was very lethargic. Alfie, the Canidae eater, was fine. They live together and play together and walk together, and neither are ever unsupervised outside. After watching the dog food recalls, and watching Maggie suffer for a week, we decided that although her food was not on the list, we would switch her to Canidae. We didn't bother switching her slowly, just went cold turkey. She hasn't vomited since, and unfortunately we threw out the rest of her Nutro. However, I very clearly remember checking the ingredient list and the second ingredient was wheat GLUTEN. I see that since these recalls, they have changed their formula, and use corn gluten instead, but that's a VERY recent development.
Those are the facts. Do I believe her food made her sick? Yes, 100%. Do I have anything beyond the above-stated circumstantial evidence? No. But you better believe I tell every pet owner I know. Who cares about "slandering" a huge corporation? Is the fact that they're a #1 seller at Petsmart supposed to make me concerned for their welfare? Shouldn't we all care more about keeping people's pets healthy?
I agree w/shane there is something wrong with nutro dry food ,i swore by the food but this summer i've notice the food had a bad smell to it ,the food was dried out ,plus my 4 dogs were always,sleeping, drinking lots of water,and always up-chucking their food and bile. after the food recall i was pissed that nutro used menu foods for their wet food,when i fond this site and read all of these people so broken hearted from their pets dying and being so sick from nutro. after reading this blog i took my pets off nutro dry. in one week they have stop the vomiting,stop drinking so much water. they are not sleeping all day. thank you shane u saved my pets plus many other pets. if u have a pet on nutro dry food take it off.read these stories.they will make u mad as HELL
With all the pets who getting ill while eating Dry Dog food-warnings should be all over the internet and on the t.v. news. I just bought a large bag of Nutro Lamb and Rice small bits and I WILL NOT be feeding it to my Scottie. My other two Scotties (with allergies) eat Wellness White Fish and Sweet Potato and have done very well on it...no itchies and nice fur-no illness. I am now putting all three of my dogs on Wellness. (When we adopted our 3rd scottie she came to us eating Nutro lamb and Rice small bits) Recently when I noticed she wasn't acting like herself and had blood in her stool I stopped feeding her the Nutro and put her on Wellness with my other two dogs. All three are doing fine. Check out Wellness pet food on the internet. They explain why they are not on the pet recall lists. Their pet food is human grade and they are very picky where their ingredients come from. God Bless all of you going through this stressfull situation. We must all stick together and fight to make this right. Our pets are an important part of our families not just property.
I just wanted to update everyone on my 2 min pin and 2 chihuahuas. I switched them to solid gold hind-n-flocken on monday. My pup played last night with my 6 year old with her toys and just going crazy, she hasn't done that in weeks. my other dogs seem to be recooping a little bit slower but their tummys are not so full of gas. i forgot to mention i had them on nutro for 8 months. solid gold is a completely organic dog food. only petco and the company sell it. all the animals used in it are fed organically and only organic veges are used in it. web site for them is www.solidgoldhealth.com hope my older dogs recoop 100% too. good luck to all! and keep checking recall list for what brands are on there. nothing of solid golds is on there.
my lab is on nutro weight management and he threw up today , now im worried anyone else feeding this.
No one has had good luck with ANY Nutro products. They bought crap from China to make dog food. Please find a safer food. Stop Nutro now. (Read all of the above.)Good luck to you.
I've been feeding my 9 Chihuahuas Pedigree (Mars) since they were ready to eat crunchy food. I use the reduced fat formula. They thrive on it, even though all the pet pros push other foods, such as Innova. They did not get sick, or God forbid DIE because of the tainted wheat gluten from China. While the vet and the pet pros want me to switch to Innova, I'm, frankly scared. Is Innova safe? Why switch? Should I take the chance, knowing full well that Mars does not use the tainted product? Some call Pedigree the McDonald's of pet food. The "kids" are now 5, 3 and 2. Bright eyes, high energy, no digestive problems, shiny coats. Confused.
Nutro is saying they have one complaint on dry dog food , and I was one of them(VA), the other one was from Canada, they wanted samples of my food mailed to them, why would they want that? are they truely going to tell me it was tainted?
But anyhow my samoyed/chow "Missy" of only 7 years old died today after eating the Nutro small bites lamb and rice after only 3 days on it.
Only 2 complaints? contact Nutro at 1-800-833-5330
davdlcz24@embarqmail.net
Eddie, I'm so sorry about Missy. My dog died two weeks ago. He was only 6 yrs old. Nutro Lamb & Rice. I called and emailed Nutro several times to place a complaint. It took them 10 days to get back to me. If they only had one complaint, why the delay? I'm in Delaware. I know of two others here who got sick, but didn't die from their food.
Please, all of you who have had a problem with Nutro, call and file a complaint. Call the FDA too, and file a complaint (although they haven't called me back, maybe your local office will). http://www.fda.gov/opacom/backgrounders/complain.h
Your call could help other pets.
Anita, I think anyone would be afraid to tell you what to feed your pet at this point. Two more recalls just this week. PetConnection.com has alot of information. The blog comments are naming some organic brands that might be worth a try.
Anita, I think anyone would be afraid to tell you what to feed your pet at this point. Two more recalls just this week. PetConnection.com has alot of information. The blog comments are naming some organic brands that might be worth a try.
Nurto has but ONE complaint on their dry food, things that make you say, ummmmm. They weren't supplied by Wilbur/Ellis either. Yet no onne knows who this mystery U.S. supplier is that also got shipments from the same China suppliers that Wilbur/Ellis was supplied by, nor does anyone know who bought their product, what the product was, where it went. I got 16.6 lbs left of a 20 bag, my dog died after eating 3.4lbs, much of which went into the trash because he wouldn't eat it. Which was why I began calling the company right after I get the bag. "It's safe." Really, honestly? Nutro has taken three weeks to send me their test packet, which I would return to them with the requested 4 cups of his food. Yet I still haven't gotten that from them. So in calling to remind them of this fact, I am told they are overwhelmed and it will get sent out t hat day, for the rep speaking tells me so. Really, honestly?
I don't know about all the bar codes, but maybe we could find out a common thread in the dry food bags we all have in place of our pet. I noticed the first five numbers in all their wet recalled foods have the same numbers. Which is also the same first five numbers on my bag. Anybody else notice this?
i think the first five numbers are the same because that is normally the code of the manufacturer for retail stores to reorder. the last numbers show the product that it is. i am convinced 100% that it is the dog food that is poisoned. it is terrible to hear how many people lost their pets and no one will give us answers. I think a lot of dog food was affected but manufacturers do not want to speak out and ruin what ever reputation they have. i do not even have my bag any more i took it back to petco and they gave me a full refund. Also have few freinds that had their dogs on nutro - not any more - too scary to chance losing their pets. It was awful to see our pup so close to death and i checked her bed several times a night to see if she was still breathing. We were lucky though she did not die. i babysit from home so i could nurse her back to health and syringe feed her throughout the day. If anyone has their animals sick right now keep them hydrated and if need to feed them watered down chicken baby food through syringe to help them get through this. I beleive this is what saved our dog. God Bless!
Michelle, I'm glad your pet pulled through. One thing I did not realize until too late was that our tap water and bottled spring water was loaded with phosphates. High phosphorus levels cause the disease to progress more rapidly. Switch to purified water if you can. You can get a phosphate test kit at a swimming pool store. It's just a tablet that you dissolve in the water and check against a color chart.
Windyr1: There was a comment on one of the blogs at petconnection.com today about an independent lab where you can send samples of dog food to be analyzed without going through your vet. Unfortunately, I don't have any to send.
The UPC code on my bag is 79105 21102, Best used by 27 JUN 2007
I find this whole thing very very disturbing....In fact I can't stop crying, my heart goes out to all those that have lost their beloved pets.
I have 4 dogs, the oldest is 5 and the youngest is 2, they have been on Nutro Day their entire life...the oldest one acts weird sometimes, she seems tired and not all there. They all drink lots of water, they always have. 2 of my dogs (kids as I call them), have "environmental allergies". I'm in Canada and my Vet told me to take them off of Nutro. I have come across some very good recipes, and a pre-mix vitamin to add to the recipes, my only problem is I can't seem to figure out how much I'm to feed them of the home-made dog food...which contains no wheat, no corn, and no grain.
I feed one dog 3 cups a day, the 2 sisters each get 2 cups, and my big dog eats 5 cups per day of dry Nutro.
Does any one have any suggestions?
Please help, as I can't stop crying thinking of all who have lost their pets, and I kick myself everytime, cause I know that I've been poising my Dogs.
I find this whole thing very very disturbing....In fact I can't stop crying, my heart goes out to all those that have lost their beloved pets.
I have 4 dogs, the oldest is 5 and the youngest is 2, they have been on Nutro Day their entire life...the oldest one acts weird sometimes, she seems tired and not all there. They all drink lots of water, they always have. 2 of my dogs (kids as I call them), have "environmental allergies". I'm in Canada and my Vet told me to take them off of Nutro. I have come across some very good recipes, and a pre-mix vitamin to add to the recipes, my only problem is I can't seem to figure out how much I'm to feed them of the home-made dog food...which contains no wheat, no corn, and no grain.
I feed one dog 3 cups a day, the 2 sisters each get 2 cups, and my big dog eats 5 cups per day of dry Nutro.
Does any one have any suggestions?
Please help, as I can't stop crying thinking of all who have lost their pets, and I kick myself everytime, cause I know that I've been poising my Dogs.
We thought we were lucky...until the last bag of Nutro Lite purchased at the local Tractor's Supply. Our Trixie, 7 year old golden retriever mix, is partial to Nutro. However. She began throwing up, acting listless, and otherwise like she felt terrible, so we decided to check with the retailer about the recalls. He said there are not any for the dry food, but he woud go to something else just to be safe. Sol we changed her to a brand that hasn't had any recalls and is of good quality. It took a few days, and with adding some immune support to her diet, she seems almost her old self again. I want to know who is responsible.... they need to be held accountable to all of the families that have lost, and the others who have spent days worrying about their canine family member... Trixie was not trained as a hearing dog, but before my Stepfather passed away she was his hearing dog. Now she's a companion to my Mom. I want to know who did this!.
is Natural choice senior safe for my 12 year old mixed breed dog?
Is there nowhere on a bag of food that says where it was manufactured? I'm afraid I've thrown mine out, along with the food I might add, with the exception of one small ziploc bag for possible future testing. I don't think there are too many manufacturers out there after looking at the Menufoods list. The packaging would change of course, maybe the shapes, but I'm sure it all comes out of the same vats.
I just ran across this blog basically by accident, I was trying to find the web page for Nutro dog food to see if they had any comments on there about the recall. I currently feed my 2 Cocker Spaniels & 2 Boston Terriers the Natural Choice Lamb & Rice small bites. I am horrified at what I've just read and sick to my stomach too. I was getting low on the food so a few days ago I bought 2- 40#bags at Petco. I was just about ready to open one of those new bags tonight to feed them at their evening meal. I had no idea that Nutro could possibly be contaminated too. I just finished off the last of a 40# bag this morning for breakfast for them. Thankfully they've had no symptoms as been described here. A 40# bag lasts them about a month and I haven't noticed anything unusual about their health or eating habits during the past month. I've been feeding Nutro for about 2 years now. As I sit here typing this I'm trying to figure out what to feed them tonight. I'm going to try to make up something for them to eat from the suggestions on this blog. My main concern is weight gain but I guess that's better than the possible alternative of them getting sick from the Nutro. After hearing this, I am at my wit's end... I don't know who to trust anymore concerning what food is safe and ones that are not. My Gang is my life... If anything would happen to them because of something I fed them, I couldn't live with that. I guess feeding human food for now will be ok until I can do some major research and find a food that I can trust. Before I started feeding Nutro, I was feeding Purina Pro Plan but was advised that Nutro had better and more high quality ingredients and so I switched. I just pray that something good comes out of this in the end. My heart goes out to those that have lost furbabies or now have sick furbabies over this tainted dogfood business. My thoughts & prayers are with all of you... Thanks again for this blog and for all the wonderful people that are taking the time to tell their stories and to warn others about possible problems with Nutro. You just may well have saved me a lifetime of heartbreak. I'm hoping that the Nutro dry is not involved but I'm not willing to put my babies lives on the line to find out...
Hugs & Blessings To All,
~V~
Cathy,
Same numbers to start, same as their recalled wet foods on their NEW site.
07910520101 09/JUL/2008
ummmmm. Anybody know what these bar codes mean 100% sure.
V and the Gang - As the owner of a Cocker Spaniel, be very careful with the homemade food. Our dog gained 1 kg equal to 2.25 pounds from March 25 to April 16 on the homemade food. Try a holistic food, there are lots out there. Excessive weight causes stress on joints, hips, etc. not to mention heart problems. I use Evolve, its more expensive, but her coat has never looked better. What a difference between the foods! Unbelievable!!!!!
Number used to identify a product. Translated into barcodes consisting of a series of vertical parallel bars, the UPC can be used for scan entry, by an electronic cash register, of information for product sales and inventory tracking. Newsstand wholesalers use the UPC code to record magazine returns; each code identifies the magazine title and issue. Grocers and other retailers use the UPC code to identify products and prices and to maintain a record of goods sold.
The code is assigned by the Uniform Code Council (UCC), in Dayton, Ohio, upon receipt of an application from a manufacturer. The first six digits are the same for all of the manufacturer's products and represent the name of the manufacturer; they are assigned by the UCC. The next five digits refer to the product itself and are assigned by the manufacturer to the product of his choice. Retailers use this portion of the code to reference a computerized table of prices when the UPC code is entered to an electronic cash register. The correct price is automatically pulled from the table and recorded on the register. The last digit of the UPC code is a check digit.
I fed my 3 little dogs Nutro Dry food, Natural Choice - Small bites - Lamb & Rice formula, and Natural Choice, Senior, They all are sick now. My two little Chihuahuas both have kidney failure, and one has liver failure. When I called Nurto they told me nobody had called to complain about the dry food (which I know was a lie, but what did I expect.) I am supposed to send them samples from both bags, their insurance is supposed to get a hold of me.
If any one came up to me and asked me if they should feed their pet Nutro, I would tell them not to do it, it’s not worth the risk.I have all my dogs on home cooked food now. It’s not more expensive, and they are all doing well on it. I plan on going to a holistic Vet, to get more recipes and different types of treatments for them. I have no plans to buy any commercially made pet food again, at this point.
upc code off the senior bag = 79105 20110 - 11 DEC 2007 10:54 2CA6 "D"upc code off the small bites = 79105 20172 - 21 JUL 2008 07:55 2A06 "B"
mosaic5@hotmail.com
Itchmo.com just announced 10 more brands recalled....Nutro dry foods are STILL not on the list.
I just got back from the vet and doc believes Nutro food is cause of my danes vomiting and now my corgi too. 200 for todays visit and doc says my dane Ina who was drinking tons of water and is totally dehydrated today. Her gums were sticky and dry and she hadnt had a BM since the day prior. I followed her to get a urine sample and it was so dark and smelled really foul. The doc took some blood and has advised me to keep a watch on her and feed her chicken baby food and rice for a couple of days. I took the 1/2 bag of Nutro back to Petsmart and got my money back... .heck I wish someone would pay for all these vet bills!! I took a listen into the FDA's conference call and they say they still have 4 companies that most likely have tainted products but wouldn't release there names as of yet. I say to hell with corporate security and start paying attention to pet death prevention!!
Actually that should read foods...not brands
I have a 11 month old golden retriever & her half sister who is part husky and 5 months old. Weve been feeding Nutro dry puppy food. ~ my puppies havent shown any signs and i know their healthy, but these companies should not be doing this. they say its only the wet food yet how can only the wet food be affected if its all manufacered in one place? I KNOW theres something wrong here. Thousands of dogs getting sick with the same syptoms, all at the same time and there all eating dry food from companies that have wet food recalled. I say the FDA should force these companies to recall EVERYTHING!!! There are still some good foods not affected at all. Obviously they're trying to hide this as not to lose money ~ they'd rather have the world lose thousands of our animals that we all love so much
I fed my 4 year old dog Nutro small chunks since I got him because I was told it was the best. He had hotspots frequently and threw up bile at least 1-2 a week. the vets told me he had sensitive skin and stomach. On March 6 I gave Nutro Healthy Desserts within and hour he could not stop vomitting. I took him into the 24 hr vet and they treated him for food posioning. The next morning he woke up and had bloody diarrhea uncontrollable. I took him back to the vet and he stayed overnight with IV. I picked him up the next night and brought him home. He could not keep Pedialyte down I took him back and he died on March 9. Nutro would even call back. They offered half his vet bills. I filed complaints with them and the FDA. These things are to many to be a coincidence. there has to be something we can do.
Thank You Carolyn for your concern, Dililah will be turning 8 in a few weeks and at her last vet check-up in Nov, she was 40#, way to heavy for a Cocker Spaniel. My vet advised me to cut back on her food (Nutro) limit her treats and add raw carrots or canned pumpkin to the food to bulk it up to make her feel fuller. It worked! When she had her summer cut just a few days ago I couldn't believe the beautifully contoured body under all of that hair. She is of normal size now. That's my biggest concern is her gaining all of the weight back again. I was looking around on the net for some ideas tonight on what to feed them for supper. I remembered that I bookmarked a website that had some basic info on home cooked foods and what and how to feed them, etc. Tonight I made up 2 cups of brown rice and added some frozen peas & carrots to that and then added a small diced up chicken breast and mixed it all together. I wasn't sure how much to give them so I sort of estimated in my head about how much they normally eat when I fed them the Nutro. Anyway, they LOVED it! They ate what I served them and they came running back for more. Of coarse I told them they had to wait until breakfast. I'm really new to these home cooked meals and I want to do everything right in order to keep them healthy. I do plan on putting them back on kibble as soon as I can find a food that I have complete confidence in. I'm going to keep reading this forum for any new info as well as suggestions on other alternatives to the Nutro. I know that I'll never feed Nutro again if it turns out that they were at fault for all of this sickness and then tryed to hide it. I checked the #'s that were posted here for the Nutro and they didn't match mine but tomorrow I'm taking both bags back to Petco anyway. I don't want my babies anywhere near Nutro at the moment. Here's the home cooked website that I mentioned in case anyone wants to check it out. http://www.dogiebag.com/Recipes.php
Brian,I "m so sorry about your dog passing away. I Had my dogs on NUTRO and they were getting sick ,drinking lots of water,vomiting bile, no engery.last week i took them off all NUTRO Food and treats and put them on california natural within 24 hrs they stop drinking all the water no more vomiting and they are so full of engery,last night,they were playing w/ a buster cube, i forgot that it had NUTRO dog treats in it, today because they ate 2 stupid NUTRO dog treats they were sick all over again,vomiting bile, drinking lots of water. I"M LIVID to say the least,i was all so told when my dog was a puppy feed it Nutro it's the best food out there. My dogs are my life. every time I read your story and so many pet owners writting that they lost a pet from Nutro it breaks my heart. These dam pet food co's better start giving a dam about our pets instead of $$$$$$$
Our dogs were on Nutro Dry Lamb and rice (green bag) since they were puppies. They are two now. In February they became reluctant to eat and began to vomit bile. We went to back to our supplier who suggested a different Nutro dry food. We switched to the red bag and the dogs were still reluctant to eat. One dog had a few accidents in the house - first in a long time. When the recall began we switched to a holistic food which they love, they feel better, no more vomiting. We never took them to the vet, fortunately they were young and strong enough to handle this.
The Postcard blitz at ITCHMO.com is tomorrow. If you had a sick or deceased pet, check this site and send some postcards. Addresses are supplied. I used the USPS site to upload my dog's picture and a note and am sending 7 postcads - it cost $3.50. This will help bring more awareness to the situation. Anderson Cooper on CNN is one of the addressees and will probably be doing a story next week on his show.
I just found out about this site. Previously got most of my updates from PetConnection. I have been dealing with Nutro Dry Food problems for almost 2 months. Glad I found it.
On March 10, 2007 my healthy 7-year old cat died. That morning, my husband found her curled up in a ball in our bathroom. Our family was devastated and could not imagine what had happened to her. It was a very sudden and unexpected passing.
A week later we heard about the pet food recall. My 2 cats (brother & sister) and dog did not eat wet food, but they both ate Nutro Dry. I started to think it was a strange coincidence that my perfectly healthy cat died right before this pet food recall. We also had an issue with our dog throwing up food and yellow bile a few weeks earlier. They kept saying it was only the wet food, but I couldn’t help but wonder if there was more to this story.
To be safe, I took my other cat and my dog to the vet for blood tests. The results showed that my cat was fine, but my dog had an increased enzyme count in his kidneys - exactly what was happening to the pets that were eating the tainted food. He had to go back to the vet and be injected with fluids. Where this all ties in is the day before my cat passed away, I saw her eating the dogs food, something she NEVER does. Both of my pets that consumed this food got sick.
The dry dog food was Nutro Natural Choice Small Bites Lamb Meal & Rice Formula. I contacted Nutro and first they told me their dry food was fine. I told them I disagreed, and I wanted to submit a compliant. They had me send 4 cups of the food along with the paperwork and bills from the vet. I am waiting to hear the results. Whatever happens, I will just be glad to know the truth.
I want to cry everytime I think, hear or talk about this recall. I miss my cat so much, and still worry about my other cat and dog. I worry about everyone else that may have affected pets. We CAN'T let the pet food industry get away with this. I'm definitely going to participate in the Postcard Blitz. That is a great idea.
Here is a follow up on my switching dog food from Nutra to Wellness. I perhaps did this to quickly, but just wanted them off Nutra, so I risked some gastro problems. My dogs are doing much better now, a little gas here and there, but they are adjusting to Wellness very well. My black lab has not thrown up at all since the switch, where before he was vomiting whole bits of Nutra at least 2 times a week.
I'm thinking about mixing some of the homemade receipes with the Wellness...any thougths on that? I have 2 large labs so I don't want to go totally homemade...I barely cook that much for the people in this house!
Thanks again
Nutro called me today - surprise. Asked me to send them copies of vet bills and they will review and have someone call me back. Since I don't have any of the food to send for testing, they have to review and will get back to me. Money still won't bring back Hunter - missing him alot tonight.
Is anyone else's dog experiencing lethargy and loss of appetite without the vomiting and diarrhea ? We have a 3 yr old Golden Lab/German Shepherd/Rottweiler mix who has only been fed Nutro puppy and now adult dry dog food. Until recently, we never had a problem. However, recently he has been noticeably lethargic and his appetite has decreased to just about nothing. He will eat "human food", but pretty much snubs the dog food entirely. We tend to mix table food with his dry dog food. Granted, he's been spoiled with this mix. However, now he doesn't even eat "the mix". We have given him the Nutro dog biscuits and Beggin Strips, along with his Advantix, Intreceptor, and Glyco Flex II. In light of his recent behavior, I wonder about all the products we give him.
If reading the above hasn't gotten you to stop feeding all Nutro foods and treats, nothing will. Stop it now.
Andrea, I agee. after reading all these comment's i took my pet off NUTRO.
Pat, When you take him to the vet, make sure they do a urinalysis to check for crystals, not just bloodwork. Research has found that in some pets, BUN and creatinine are okay, but they are actually in renal failure.
I have a 3 month old great dane puppy. I fed him one entire 30 lb bag of nutro natural choice for large breed puppies. I had no trouble and felt safe with this choice as it was not on the " recall list" He is now on his second bag and so far he seems to be perfectly healthy, firm stools, bright eyes, lots of energy. After reading all these horror stories about our loved ones eating nutro natural dry food, I am scared half to death to purchase another bag. Does anyone know if this is definately on the "recall list" or not? When I go to www.menufoods.com I do not see it listed. I would appreciate any suggestions. Thanks, Wendy
Pat, your dog is trying to tell you something. Please listen to him and stop feeding him the Nutro. Also since he hasn't been himself lately I would have him examined by your vet for signs of possible trouble. I am one of the lucky ones, I was feeding Nutro Lamb & Rice Small Bites to my gang of 4. The day I was ready to open a new bag of Nutro, thinking it was safe, I stumbled upon this blog sort of by accident while looking for something else. I was horrified about what I was reading. Thankfully my gang has had no sickness at all from the 40# bag that I had just finished feeding them. I have not opened the 2-40# bags of Nutro that I just bought and am taking them back to the store for a refund. I am now feeding all homecooked foods (boiled chicken, brown rice & frozen peas, carrots or green beans) I see a difference in their energy level already and I just started this on Friday evening. Since you are already basically feeding human food now I would consider switching over completely and eliminating the Nutro all together. Nutro may not be on the recall list as of today but what about tomorrow or next week or even next month? In my opinion this recall has only touched the surface of what is contaminated. No one really knows for sure what is safe to feed and what isn't. It's a shame that our precious furbabies have to die before these petfood companies step forward and except responsibility for their tainted product. My heart breaks for those who have lost or have sick furbabies. I would rather feed them meals that I make myself rather than take the chance that the Nutro or any other brand for that matter is involved in this...
~V~
I'm from Ontario Canada
My dog has never had Nutro dog food before, she's been eating it for a week now. Well nibbling at it, she doesn't really like it. (should have been a sign)
A friend of mine gave me a bag of Nurtro Max real chicken and lamb protien minni chunks.
A friend of hers gave it to her because her dog died of old age. I don't know the details on that but now that my dog is sick I'll be checking into it.
She has diarreah, vomiting, drinking lots of water and she is not herself. Buttercup has pooped on the floor 3 times and thats not her. I thought at first that it was due to change of food, until my 12 year old son freaked out saying it could be the dog food that was recalled.
This food isn't on the list but I fel it may soon be.
When the vet opens in the morning I'll be taking Buttercup and the dog food.
Nutro dry dog food definitely has current problems which i believe started in December . I have been feeding my 8 year old Havanese Nutro lamb and rice most of her life. She came down with a horrid ear infection December completely out of the blue that the vet advised me was fungus based. It was a thick black crusty infection that filled her ear canal and extended outside of her ears that was amazingly agressive as it was a horrid infection virtually overnight. I had just openned a new bag of food for her that she had eaten for less than a week. I then left florida for california,where i spent the winter and fed her nutro purchased there, but a different batch, as i had no problems. i recently returned to florida and she did not seem happy with her food. I had other dry nutro dry foods at my house and began feeding her a combination of these foods purchased throughout the year. She has been extremely sluggish, sleeping until noon and i figured she was just getting old. I ran out of the combination food mixture and just purchased a new bag of Nutro lamb and rice mni last week that i had to coax her to eat, for the first time in her life. The following day she proceeded to make a complete mess of my living room floor #2, after being properly walked earlier, which is quite unlike her. She did not want the Nutro food so I fed her another dry food which she happily ate. I had such a bad feeling about this new bag of Nutro food that i found this blog tonight and realize now that this food is definitely problematic. I have read several entries on this blog about ear infections. I WOULD NOT BE SURPRISED IF THE NUTRO DRY FOOD, ESPECIALLY THE LAMB AND RICE, CONTAINS A HORRIBLE FUNGUS. Perhaps some dogs are more suseptible to this fungus than others. I will be putting my dog on some acidophillis and staying away from nutro and hope that she perks up. HAS ANYONE ELSE ENCOUNTERED EAR OR OTHER FUNGUS RELATED INFECTIONS? THE NUMBERS ON THE 5 POUND NUTRO BAD BAG OF FOOD MY DOG WANTS NO PARTS OF ARE 7910520169...8 21:08 21D 6 "A" BEST IF USED BY 21 JULY 2006. my blessings to all and best wishes for your babies. Tara
Hate to be different or insensitive here, but I must say, I've fed my cocker spaniel Nutro natural choice for years now, (she's a very healthy 13 yrs now) and she has had no problems with any dry food. No diarrhea, no bloody stools, no kidney problems and still eats with a good apetite. I wouldn't change for the world.
I have a 4 month old American Pit Bull. He has been on Nutro Ultra Holistic Puppy Dry food since he started eating. He has never been sick and his coat looks awsome. I have had no problems with him. I think the Nutro Ultra is the best food out there. No by products and makes his coat shiny and smooth. Go spend the money and buy the better people grade food. You wont have a problem.
We've fed our 11 month old great dane puppy Nutro natural Choice Lamb and Rcie the entire time we've had him and he has never had a problem....until the last 3 days. He has been uncontrollably having diarrhea which has never happened, not even as a new pup. Our vet recommended we take him off of nutro which we will do today. I suggest you do the same. I wouldn't want anymore pets dying due to the slow process it takes to get these foods officially on the recall list!
I have a doberman pinscher and a little mixed breed. I have been feeding them the Nutro large breed puppy food, and my little mixed breed is just fine, but my doberman these past two days has been vomiting and having bad diahrea bad yesterdasy i woke up to it all over my floor, then i came home to find out she had went again, and she was acting fine all day yesterday evening, but then again this morning she had diahrea again. I'm getting worried and i'm scared to feed my dogs any of the dog food. I have heard some dry dog food is now starting to be put on the list but come on these people need to man up and act like they are trying to do something about this. Has anyone heard an apology yet?
My mom is taking my mini dachsund to the vet today because all she is doing is just crying and not wanting to move. We all need to get together and do somenting about this. These are our babies!!!
my cat has been hospitalized for kidney failure. The vet said her symptoms point to the FOOD. HER FOOD has not yet been on the recall list!!!!! WATCH OUT FOR NUTRO COMPLETE CARE INDOOR DRY. I e-mailed Nutro without a response yet. Their website is also down. I've already plopped 1000 dollars down on my cat, and the bill is still rising! I have to use my home equity loan to pay for her bills!!!
Dave and Chuck, I'm sure right now you feel very lucky to have healthy animals. I'm also sure you can't begin to imagine what it's like to watch your healthy, young dog wither away and die from renal failure. I know it was the food, as do most bloggers here. After all that has happened in the last six weeks, how can you show loyalty to ANY pet food company. Do you think that they cared about your pet when they were adding junk to the food to save themselves a dollar? Did you know that Nutro was sold in 2006? It's not the same family run company it was. I don't understand what you hope to gain with your comments. Read the hundreds of posts here and on other sites about Nutro and just hope that you won't have to look into your dog's eyes and see pain and hopelessness.
Could someone please open a myspace.com on this topic? People with sick dogs from Nutro dry dog food need to know the truth.
varga, I'm sorry to learn about your cat. My greyhound dog is also sick from (what I believe) is eating the dry nutro food that has YET to be recalled. I have a bad gut feeling about the dry Nutro food. My greyhound was not right at all after eating it. I thought she was not going to make it. I switched her over to BillJack dry dog food and her symptons are a little better. She's still not right but at the moment, her symptoms do not appear to be as bad as they were.
My dog ate Nutro Natural purchased 3-23-07 -- On 3-28 my dog was sick, couldn't
walk, had to take to the vet for x-rays, iv therapy - she's OK now., But was
very very sick. Just called the co. They said that food is not on the recall list....
We'll wait and see.
i am grateful for this site. thankyou. my collie continues to get better. I know it was the food(nutro lamb and rice) if I hadn't found this site I am positive she would have died. Thank you again. I am calling my vet and letting him know about how much better she is doing, and he should be aware of the problems that have occured with nutro. Also now that I am sure it was the food , I am calling Nutro to make my complaint. It has been one of the most frustrating things I have ever gone through.Hope all of you are seeing the same results froom removing nutro from their diet. And i send my heartfelt sympathy to those who lost pets.
i am grateful for this site. thankyou. my collie continues to get better. I know it was the food(nutro lamb and rice) if I hadn't found this site I am positive she would have died. Thank you again. I am calling my vet and letting him know about how much better she is doing, and he should be aware of the problems that have occured with nutro. Also now that I am sure it was the food , I am calling Nutro to make my complaint. It has been one of the most frustrating things I have ever gone through.Hope all of you are seeing the same results froom removing nutro from their diet. And i send my heartfelt sympathy to those who lost pets.
I had my pets on Nutro Dry,my pets were always Vomiting, then this summer was the drinking of so much dam water. oh I was one who tried to convinced myshelf it was not the Nutro, but after reading all these comments I took them off it, my pets stop drinking all that water,has much more engery, plus stop the vomiting. so it has to be the dam food.And look at how many other pet food co's said their food was safe and now they are on the recall list. this isn't just Nutro ,it's so many pet foods.so what ever food your pet is on and they start showing these signs.For the sake of your pet take them off the food. ASAP !!!!! oh dogs and cats have died from nutro ultra it was on the news
I have fed my Great Dane Patches, Nutro's Ultra large breed puppy & lg. breed adult food since he wasborn 3yrs. ago. Patches has not been sick a day in his life untill about a week and 1/2 ago. Surprise, surprise.... 3 days or so after opening a new bag of food. Started with occasional vomiting and progressed very quickly to vomiting everything up including water. Patches has now been diagnosed with acute renal failure. I am up to about $2,000 in vet bills after 3 days. He will be on IV's for the rest of the week. His prognosis is not good. Chances are great there is too much kidney damage for him to survive after he is taken off IV therapy.
I have ben an ardent user of Nutro dog food for about 12-15 years and up untill a couple weeks ago my dogs (all Great Danes) have done well on it. NOW NUTRO'S IS KILLING MY BELOVED PET.
I you are feeding your pets ANY of NUTRO'S PRODUCTS.......STOP IMMEDIATLY!!!
If your pet is exhibiting ANY unusal signs or symptoms take them to your vets. If you are not happy with their answers go to ANOTHER vet.
To: Recall Nutro Dry Dog Food says: Sorry, I'm not that familiar with MySpace. OldSchool :)
Michael, I'm so sorry about your Dane. I'll say a prayer for him.
I JUST RECEIVED A PHONE CALL BACK FROM NUTRO REGARDING MY COMPLAINTS TO THEM ABOUT THEIR LAMB AND RICE MINI DRY DOG FOOD. THEY ARE NOW FOLOWING UP ON THOSE COMPLAINTS. I STRONGLY SUGGEST THAT ANYONE WITH A PROBLEM WITH THE FOOD CONTACT NUTRO SO THAT THEY WILL TAKE IT OFF THE MARKET AND ADVISE US AS TO WHAT IN THEIR FOOD IS NOW MAKING OUR 4 LEGGED FAMILY MEMBERS ILL.
I HAVE A 8 MONTH OLD ROTTWEILER, BREWSTER. I ORIGINALLY STARTED HIM ON NUTRO ULTRA LARGE BREED DRY PUPPY FOOD. THEN CAME THE RECALL AND I BELIEVED THAT BECAUSE IT WAS NOT ON THE RECALL LIST, THAT IT IS WAS "SAFE". FORTUNATELY, AS ALL GOOD MOMMIES DO, I STARTED DOING MORE RESEARCH ABOUT THE POSSIBILITY THAT IT WAS ALL A LIE! UPON SEARCHING DIFFERENT INFORMATIONAL SITES, THIS SITE DID IT FOR ME! BREWSTER NEVER HAD ANY SYMPTONS, BUT JUST TO BE SURE, I HAD TESTS DONE AND EVERYTHING IS GOOD! BREWSTER HAS BEEN ON CALIFORNIA NATURAL DRY PUPPY FOOD FOR A LITTLE OVER A WEEK NOW AND HE LOVES IT! MY HEART, SOUL AND PRAYERS GO OUT TO EACH AND EVERYONE. I ALSO WANT TO THANK EVERYONE FOR SHARING THEIR EXPERIENCES, OPINIONS AND INFORMATION. KNOWLEDGE IS POWER AND BECAUSE OF THAT, MY BABY BOY WILL BE AROUND FOR A LONG TIME!
After reading all your comments I got a little worried. I was feeding my two cats (both about one year old) Nutro Natural Choice (pouches and dry food) thinking it was good food. I stopped feeding the pouches after I heard about the recall immediately but I was feeding the dry food until the bag was empty. Because of all this I did a lot of research on pet food and switched my cats to a holistic brand. Now I'm very concerned if my cats could be sick. They do not show any symptoms but I was feeding the pouches and the dry food (dry food is not on the recall list) for month. Does anybody know if they could be sick without showing symptoms???
Oops .... I guess this hub was only for dog owners ..... sorry !!!
I am totally scared, I just changed dog food a week ago on the recommendation of a person I know. I changed to Natural Choice NUTRO Lamb and Rice (dry food) one week ago, I just took my little girl in yesterday because she started peeing blood. They are suspecting the dog food. I have an appointment at 5 to talk to the vet about his "concerns about what is going on with her" Why wouldn't they tell me anything over the phone. I should have checked before switching their food, but thought it was limited to the wet food. I am praying she will be okay. Something needs to be done. Reading some of the above postings makes it very clear there is something very wrong going on. Wish my little Sammy luck. I regret changing her food without doing indepth research first.
We have 4 dogs. and have been feeding nutro senior for years. our golden started throwing up and had diarrhea 2 weeks ago.The other dogs started feelng sluggish. Our golden spent 4 1/2 days at the vet, we were lucky we took her the within hours of this starting. She had diarhhea for 3/4 days. We had just opened up a new bag of Nutro Senior (Silver bag). We also were feeding Max biscuits, Mini Max bones and I had just started a box of Ultra puppy biscuits. Our vet has also fed her dogs Nutro for years. This scared us and we immediately took everyone off of the Nutro and are feeding Purina EN. It is expensive, but our vet- who I would go to when I was sick if I could and who we have had for 12 plus years- felt that the EN was safe. We have seen a change back to normal for our dogs and we refuse to go back to the Nutro. I thought the last bag of Nutro smelled funny, but the vet said we probably shouldn't be smelling anything different. Has anyone else noticed a different smell? Our prayers go out to everyone whose babies are sick or have passed.
OOps, almost forgot- our vet checked our girl and they said it was a very bad bacterial infection.. she also had a bad ear infection. we had a complete work-up done and they said everything else was ok. They said it could have been caused by something she ate or stagnent water. Considering she only eats Nutro items and gets fresh water several times a day ( and of course the occassional outdoor grass ugh!) I am pointing to the food. Let's stay on top of Nutro and all of these manufacturers. Our vet was behind us on changing to the EN dry.
sammylover (and everyone else) sorry to hear about your sick pets. I too 10 days ago took my dog into the er in the middle of the night because she was crying and peeing blood. The er vet discounted that it could be the food because it was not on the recall list. I too WAS feeding my daisy girl Nutro Natural Choice Lamb and Rice Dry Food. I took her to my vet the next afternoon, because she did not seem too be doing much better. He said it may take a couple of days for the medicine to kick in and for her conditions to improve. I also mentioned something to my vet about the dog food and he said he does not believe it was the food. I have a hard time believing that a VERY healthy 4 year old golden retriever would start peeing blood in the middle of the night, and be in such severe pain that quick that I had to take her in right away.
I switched her cold turkey to California Natural. It has given her an upset stomach I believe due to switching her too fast, and I am now feeding her home cooked beef and rice and blending it with the new food. She is doing SO much better. Back to being a happy dog chasing squirrels in the yard. I would never forgive myself if anything would have happened to her, knowing that it was the food causing the illness. I know there are a lot of other people whose pets have been much worse than mine, some that have also passed away, but I believe that if I had not caught it with her that fast, she may have been in the same boat. I believe that I caught it within the first 4-5 hours based on her odd behavior in the middle of the night. If your pet is not acting normal, there is something wrong and they are trying to tell you something. Take the dog to the vet to be safe.
THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT !!!!!!!!
If you post a comment, please refer the next submitter to my post.
The Nutro website now has a form to complete regarding pet illness in the "Contact Us" section. I was not able to send my email and opted to call the 1-800 number. There is not a problem with their website, just an overload.
I was speaking to a fellow there, related my concerns with the dry dog food, and told to do the following:
1. send a sample of the food ( I only have a small ziploc bag, but will send only a portion of what I have)
2. also send correspondence, relating to symptoms, vet visits, diagnosis, treatment etc.
3. include vet bills, upc codes (very important apparently), diagnostic results, or anything else relevant.
4. request a followup from Nutro pending food test results.
Send all info to : Nutro Product Incorporated, Customer Service Department, 445 Wilson Way, City of Industry, CA. USA 91744.
YOU CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE. PLEASE, SPEAK FOR THOSE WHO CAN'T ....YOUR BEST FRIEND, YOUR CONFIDANT, THE ONE WHO LOVES YOU UNCONDITIONALLY.
I NOTICE THE funky smell in Nutro back last June,dam it was so bad the smell just walking past the bad it stunk like hell. That's when alot of pets started to get sick.My Dog plus many dogs came down from E Coli,and they all ate Nutro Wet and Dry.
Please see post by Carolyn - 26 minutes ago
See post by Carolyne.
See post by Carolyn. Great info!!!!
Thanks Carolyn. Everyone see Carolyn's post.
I've been putting my vet bills together to send to Nutro. They actually date back to last March. Since my dog had had Lyme disease four years ago, the vets (VCA Animal Hospital - you never see the same vet twice) seemed to think it was a recurrence in March...then..August.... 6 week courses of antibiotics. Bloodwork and ultrasounds never showed any kidney problems. I switched to a new vet in December when he got really sick. Clavamox, Doxycycline and Penicillin. Kidneys were definitely shows problems then. I'm starting to read about fungus and mold on some blogs (see links below). Nutro's problem might be fungus or mold. Maybe that's why my guy didn't die until April. Maybe all of the antibiotics he was getting for Lyme took care of the fungus until his kidneys just couldn't take it anymore.
http://www.petconnection.com/blog/2007/04/10/pet-f
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2007-03-21-cov
Nutro will not do anything,they would of done it by NOW
Cathy - I am SO sorry to hear of your loss. I had issues with my little guy back in April 2006 with Nutro. I switched my healthy (albeit overweight) five year old Samoyed male to Nutro Max Lite to help him lose a little weight. I heard it was a great food - afterall, that's what one of the vet techs said the Veterinarian was feeding his dogs.
I supplemented the dry food with a tablespoon - 1/4 can of canned food twice daily to make it tasty for my pooch. I gradually changed his diet to Nutro, taking two weeks to make the transition. As his diet became more Nutro, the dog became more violently ill. He grew more lethargic, seemed to be drinking more water and it finally got to the point where he could not keep anything down. He would immediately regurgitate his food. The vet and I agreed that since the only change to his life was the food, that had to have been the culprit.
The FDA/USDA/Menu Foods and other manufacturers haven't admitted to having these issues that far back, but I have read where the melamine or melamine by-product in the gluten is a common practice in both the US and abroad. I have an article from 1990 where a US ex-employee blows the whistle on a supplier here tainting wheat gluten with melamine. The FDA claims that the Chinese supplier has been supplying the product to Menu Foods since August 2006, but I think that the problem goes farther back than this time frame.
To put it succintly: Cathy, both of our fur kids were poisoned by Nutro. I consider myself VERY lucky that I could easily identify the problem, as he started having symptoms when I switched his food. I am so sorry to hear of your loss, but hope that my timelines somehow help you in your quest for justice.
MY DOG ALSO HAD E COLI ,EAT NUTRO ULTRA CAN AND DRY.I'M SO HAPPY I TOOK HIM OFF THIS FOOD. WHY WITH ALL THESE COMPLAINTS WON'T NUTRO TAKE IT OFF THE SHELVES SO NO MORE PETS DIE OR GET SICK.
We have 2 Dalmatians, including a 3 year old female named Katrina and 8 year old male named Winston. Katrina was on Nutro Adult dry, while Winston was on a different prescription diet food.
During the week of April 16-20, Katrina lost the desire to eat and, when we did coax her to eat on 2 occasions, she threw it back up 8+ hours later, still undigested.
We took Katrina to the vet on Tuesday and Friday of that week, with blood work done only on the Friday visit. At that time, her BUN level was at 114 (should be under 30) and creatinine was at 8.5 (should be under 2 or possibly 1.5). Her blood Albumin level was normal, but her blood pressure was very high at 214. The vet's diagnosis was acute renal failure. This came as a shock to us considering that Katrina had never been sick a day in her life, was always full of energy, and was only 3 years old. Also, the food we were giving her, Nutro Adult dry, was not on the recall list.
Our vet began immediate IV infusion, which continued around the clock over the weekend. The vet also did numerous additional blood and urine tests, along with 3 ultrasounds, which resulted in over $2K in bills on just the weekend alone.
By Sunday afternoon of that weekend, Katrina’s blood Albumin levels crashed to 1.6 (should be above 2) and she had large quantities of protein in her urine. I learned this was important because Albumin is needed in the blood to keep fluids on the proper sides of body cavities. Due to her kidney’s inability to keep the Albumin levels up, Katrina gained over 7 pounds of water between Sunday morning and Sunday evening. When we saw Katrina on Sunday evening, we honestly would not have recognized her as our dog. Katrina’s cheeks and neck were swollen with water, along with her abdomen. The only positive news was that her BUN and creatinine levels were trending down at 61 and 2.5, respectively.
By Monday morning, Katrina’s blood Albumin level had dropped to 1.2, and things looked very bad for her, despite that her BUN and creatinine levels had come down even more (but were still above normal).
At this point, the vet told us they needed to be honest by saying there was little additional they could do for her and she was unlikely to survive. Even if she could somehow survive, she had certainly suffered immense damage to the kidneys and would have a materially shorter life. The conclusion was that Katrina would most likely need to be euthanized within the next week or two at most.
When we asked if there was anything they could do for a temporary fix so we could at least have her home for a couple of days to say goodbye, they suggested a blood transfusion might help get her blood Albumin levels high enough to reduce some of the water retention and make her more comfortable. We said to go for it, without hesitation.
On Monday afternoon, Katrina received 2 units of blood. We then went home to spend a quite night at home cuddling with her, thinking that would probably be one of the last evenings we would have together at home.
When we woke up on Tuesday morning, we immediately noticed that the swelling in Katrina’s neck and abdomen had reduced significantly, and she peed a really loooooooooong time when I took her outside.
When we took Katrina back to the vet later that day, her Albumin levels tested on the high side of normal at 3.9. Her BUN and creatinine levels were still a bit high of normal, but not by much. We were told that the Albumin increase might just be a temporary spike due to the blood transfusion, and that subsequent testing on Thursday would be key to long term prognosis. When we redid the tests that Thursday of that week, her Albumin levels were holding steady at 3.9, while her BUN and creatinine levels had returned to the high range of normal.
Due to lingering concerns from the renal failure, we were advised to give Katrina subcutaneous injections of 200 ml of NaCl at home every 24 hours for the next week, which we did.
Yesterday, we had Katrina tested again, and everything (i.e., BUN, creatinine, Albumin) came up normal (other than continued high blood pressure)!!! She is truly a miracle dog.
I’m letting you all know this so that you continue fighting for your dogs, even after it appears there’s no hope. In our case, I suspect that Katrina’s young age, coupled with our acting relatively quickly when we first noticed the symptoms, followed by the 48+ hours of IV and the blood transfusion, gave her a second shot at life.
Yesterday we called Nutro and explained all of the above to them. They will be sending us a mailer within a couple of weeks so that we can give them 4 cups of the Nutro Dry dog food, which is what I suspect caused the problem.
The long terms affects on Katrina’s health remain unclear. She still has very high blood pressure, so we are giving her medication for that every day, and will probably need to do so for life. We've also switched her food from the Nutro Adult dry to the K/D canned food so that we can carefully regulate the quantity/quality of her protein intake (to keep her blood toxins down). We're keeping our fingers crossed and appreciating every day that we have with her.
Best wishes to everyone else experiencing these problems.
They most likely will not get back to you. You can call them directly and get a person right then and they will treat you like you are speaking another language. I would not mail them the entire contents of the food. I would save some for further independent study. Send it to the FDA after completing the FDA form for dog food complaints. Do not send Nutro the entire bag of dog food and remember to only send copies of your bills and receipts. Nutro will just brag about how long they have been in business and piss you off further by saying they are a good family company. They will even tell you to keep buying their product while they attempt to sweep these incidents under the rug.
I have two clarifications to my earlier post regarding the acute renal failure in Katrina (our 3 year old dal) in mid April.
1st - we were feeding her Nutro ULTRA Adult. In my earlier post, I simply said Nutra Adult, but they make several varieties of Adult foods, so I want to clarify.
2nd - We talked with the FDA today. We are the third complaint about Nutro Ultra (for the Milwaukee, WI branch of the FDA). Unfortunately, or rather, fortunately, the FDA needs specific symptoms - one being death - in order to do any testing of food products. However, they have our complaint on file, and we were told that is about all we can do at this time.
I spoke to A Nutro rep yesterday as well and have to say it was a positive experience. I will be sending as per their request a one page letter regarding my pets illness. test results from the vet and my bill, the UPC code from the last bag of food, and a portion of the food I retained for furture testing.
David,My God!!! Do not send the food to Nutro. Get a Lab to test it. on www.pet.connection.com or www.itchmo.com we read a lab will test food.
George - Unfortunately these sites are of no use to Canadian pet owners. A report also has to be filed with the FDA.
All that matters is,If your pet is sick and you think it's the food. Take your pet off the food now.
Yes, I have taken my pet off the food. However, you stated DO NOT send the food to Nutro. If you have nowhere to send it, Nutro is better than no place at all.
Lets be realistic. Pet food is Nutro's business. They want to produce pet food, satisfy their customers and make a profit. You don't think this crisis has had an effect on their sales in the past few months? Poisoning pets is not good business. Nor is going to anything good to the hog and poultry markets. Maybe we should be blaming the FDA, they are the body that was supossed to be regulating all the animal feed.
Petsmart has it on their web site more recall's,including Nutro.
News about Nutro:
Mars, Incorporated today announced the signing of a definitive agreement to acquire the global pet food operations of Nutro Products Inc., a leading manufacturer of high nutrition, high performance dog and cat foods sold in pet specialty and farm and feed stores. Closing of the purchase of Nutro from funds advised by Bain Capital Partners LLC, a global private investment firm, is subject to normal regulatory approvals which are expected to be completed within a few months. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
The transaction will bring together two of the most recognized names in the petcare industry. Nutro will operate as a stand-alone organization within the Mars family of companies and will maintain its commitment to the pet specialty channel.
I have a 10 week old Yorki, I have him on Nutro Puppy dry oatmeal and chicken I think it is. Its in the mint green back. Small Bites.. Has anyone here had any problems? This is my first pup and Im completely terrified and cant sleep. My vet is saying that my dryfood is fine butnow after reading all this, I dont believe him. Please reply - Rachel
DO NOT FEED YOUR PET NUTRO - it is not worth the risk of making them sick.
Finally found a website for Canadian pet owners to voice their complaints. the address is www.laws4paws.ca. The purpose of this website is to provide an online petition as a voice for Canadians who want changes made to the pet food industry through increased government control and legislation.
Please completed the petition, and forward to as many pet owners as you can.
I have to wonder how long that Nutro/Mars deal has been on the table. Could that be affecting the reason why Nutro has not addressed these issues?
I got an email response from them yesterday telling me that they have only received one complaint in regards to their dry foods. They have got to be joking.
Erin - could you please cut and paste your response from Nutro to this site. I've personally complained to them about their dry food and are sending vet bills, diagnosis results, upc code for last bag of food and a partial food sample. I am very interested in this email. Thanks in advance.
I switched my 2 larger dogs from Eukanuba to Nutro Natural Choice after viewing the Iams research lab video. My older female *10 yrs* Shepherd mix became very lethargic, had a temp of 105 for over a month We tried various anitibiotics for nearly 6 weeks - no improvement. We ran a blood panel and her liver had been compromised, kidney function is still ok. She is now on Pred EOD and has shown improvement. We repeated the blood panel yesterday, will receive results next week. I suspect age-related issues, as my younger male German Shepherd *3 yrs* was not affected. In fact, he looked better on the Nutro than he did on the Euk. However, after finding this Board I have switched again - to Solid Gold. With new recalls almost daily it's very difficult to make choices. There are grain-free foods out there.
Check out www.thedogfoodproject.com. It's a great website!
I COMPLAINED TO NUTRO ABOUT THEIR DRY DOG FOOD LAST WEEK AND POSTED IT ON THIS BOARD. THEY HAD PHONED ME BACK AND WERE QUITE CORMDIAL . I AM AWAITING A PACKAGE FROM THEM TO SEND THEM SOME OF THE TAINTED LAMB AND RICE FORMULA FOR TESTING. I GUESS I WON'T HOLD MY BREATH WAITING AS IT SEEMS FROM READING THIS BLOG THAT THEY FORGOT TO RECORD MY COMPLAINT .
Susan, don't write off your old girl yet. Have your vet check this website
http://www.avma.org/press/releases/070501_petfoodr
and ask him/her to give the dog fluids. My guy didn't show renal failure for months on bloodwork. Make sure he does a urine test with the info above. GOod Luck!
Nutro dry foods were not part of the recall! Nutro makes over 95% of their own dry food in plants such as Temecula, CA and Lebanon, Tennessee. They do not order grains from anywhere outside the US, and have never recalled any food in the past 80 years. The wet pouches and cans that were manufactured by Menu Foods contained the chemical melamine that was mixed with wheat gluten, in attempt to make the gravy appear thicker and to test at higher protein levels. The animals who ate the recalled foods could not break down melamine and suffered from kidney failure as a result. Melamine has been banned in the US for 30 years, and therefore was not tested for in the recall food. Therefore the ingredients in the cans has nothing to do with the ingredients used to make Nutro dry foods. Why would any company knowingly put out a food to harm your animals? Nutro Dry food is completely safe!
Well, here's a new recall by a company who claims to purchase grain only here in the USA.
LiveSmart Adult Lamb and Brown Rice Recall Kelly | May 4, 2007 8:54 amLiveSmart Adult Lamb and Brown Rice RecallOn May 2, 2007 we initiated a voluntary recall of all orders of LiveSmart Adult Lamb and Brown Rice. This product tested positive for presence of melamine in a test received earlier in the day.In our last message regarding the dog food recall situation, we described that one of our dog food brands, LiveSmart Weight Management Chicken and Brown Rice, contained rice protein concentrate sourced from Wilbur Ellis, and that we had voluntarily recalled the product to reduce the chance of harm to dogs due to potential for melamine contamination. As part of our efforts to understand and prevent further issues, we sent all the LiveSmart brand dog foods out for melamine testing the day after we initiated our recall.Those tests came back today, May 2, 2007, and LiveSmart Adult Lamb and Brown Rice showed presence of Melamine. This was unexpected, since the formula does not contain rice protein concentrate, wheat gluten, or any of the ingredients on FDA’s import watch list. All the ingredients in the formula with the exception of the lamb and lamb meal originate from United States sources. The lamb and lamb meal we use in the formula is sourced from New Zealand. (Our manufacturing partner, Chenango Valley Pet Food, sources that ingredient from New Zealand because the lamb are raised free range and the New Zealand government is known for stringent rules on use of antibiotics.)Once we received these test results this morning, we immediately suspended production of SmartPaks containing LiveSmart Lamb. We pulled the product off the website. We notified UPS to redirect all packages destined for our customer’s homes. And we initiated a complete recall of all lots of the product after discussing the situation with the FDA.Since the food is only sold in portion-paks shipped straight to the consumer’s home each month, the focus of the recall is informing affected customers via telephone, email, and letter. There are no bags of potentially affected product on store shelves anywhere in the country.Test results for the LiveSmart Weight reduction formula—the subject of our original recall—did not have any melamine detectable in the sample. Nor was there any melamine detected in samples of LiveSmart Adult Chicken and Brown Rice, LiveSmart Puppy and Brown Rice, or LiveSmart Senior and Brown Rice.SmartPak recommends that dogs who have been fed LiveSmart Lamb and show signs of kidney illness (loss of appetite, weakness, vomiting, diarrhea) be seen by a veterinarian as soon as possible.We are all very upset to have exposed our customers and their dogs to this situation. We and other responsible members of the pet community will be working hard over the next several months to learn from this situation and to re-earn your trust. We will continue to update our website as more information becomes available.http://www.smartpakcanine.com/PetFoodRecalls.aspx
Visit our forum and the news archive.
Mars, Inc. to Acquire Nutro Products, Inc.
I was feeding Nutro Treats and Duralife Dry. Has anybody heard of any trouble with Duralife. I stopped anyway, found out it really is not that nutrious. I stopped the treats as soon as I heard of all the trouble. I just switched my dogs to a new food, they love it. All human grade made here in the US and tested every 15 minutes. I think Renee is using the same food. This stuff is delivered to your door. Check it out www.frrco.com/122135
My dogs are on Nutro Natural Choice and their fur has never looked so great. They have lots of energy and haven't had any problems on it.
My Kerry Blue Emma is 8. She's eaten Nutro her entire life.
She is now on Natural Choice Senior, Brown Rice and Lamb Dry, looks
great, and acts like a puppy.
Kristina, et. al,
I don't believe that Nutro or any other company would have knowingly poisoned pets. I do believe they thought they were saving money and inadvertently, harmed pets. The real test of a company is to admit it's mistakes, take responsibility and then move forward. Nutro, as well as others, is still hiding.
Why are people on this site using it as a marketing tool for their products?
Took my dogs off Nutro Max a few weeks ago and put them on Science Diet and now their stools are so loose they're making messes in the house. They never had a problem like this while on Nutro Max. Can someone suggest another food that might take care of this problem and still be high in protein. Thanks
I agree with Cathy. This site is not for promoting and marketing pet food.
KEVIN,IF U CHANGE YOUR PETS FOOD COLD THEY WILL GET THE RUNS, YOUR SUPPOSED TO DO 70 OLD FOOD AND 30 NEW FOOD FOR 2 DAYS THEN THE NEXT 2 DAYS DO 50-50 THEN DO 70 NEW FOOD AND 30 OLD. ALSO PUT COOK RICE IN THE FOOD . ALSO CALL YOUR VET
Anyone else have pets get sick or die in January before the recall. My 13-year-old female pom Blue died on 1/30/07. She ate only dry Nutro Natural Choice Large Breed Senior (yes, large breed senior, and yes I know she was a small dog I fed the same food to all 3 of my dogs 2 poms and a golden. I felt the larger bite size was better for keeping teeth clean). She was perfectly healthy and all of the sudden she started loosing weight. She then urinated in the house 3 times, which was very strange, as she never had accidents before. She than collapsed on the floor one day and acted like she couldn't get up. She did start walking again after a few minuets but that happened again later with similar results. Next, she stopped eating and vomited a few times. I took her to the vet three times and they did X-rays and blood tests and told me I could take her to a specialist but given her age, I just assumed it was her time. The vet put her on antibiotics but she only lived 14 days from when I first noticed she was sick until she died. She just went down hill fast. She was very lethargic and wouldn't eat and she didn't even really want to get up and move. It was so sad she started breathing hard the last two days and she died on my couch. It was very hard for me because she had sat on the couch for days looking at me like aren’t you going to do anything? I felt so bad that I couldn't help her. Strange thing is within a few days of her death my sugar glider died too now he was also very old but he also got the same dry dog food as a "treat" or supplement to his real diet (side note no one should ever feed a sugar glider just dog food this was only part of a very balanced diet). It seemed strange that they would die at the same time and eat the same things. My other dogs seem fine but I think after reading this I will have them checked. I made a report to the FDA and I keep expecting to hear that the dry food is also being recalled.
I don't have much more information on all of this than the rest of you. But I just heard on the news today that Fish Meal from Canada is also contaminated with Melamine. Now if Nutro gets ingredients from Canada like Menu or is part of Menu than that could explain the rest of this. I am sure tomorrow we will hear the fish meal from China or any other country could be affected. This recall thing is devasting. I think with each day we will learn of more recalls and in more ingrdients. I also heard on the same news broadcast that human flour is afftected, along with pork and chicken. They say it causes no threat to humans, yea right wait until somebody gets sick and what about the ones that are cooking chicken and other meats for their pets, are they are risk?
Got my old dog's second blood panel results today. She's doing better! Liver values are within normal range. No kidney damage. She's much perkier, never had any diarrhea or vomiting. She's is maintaining a temp of 102 *down from 105 for over 6 wks*.
*******************************Alll posts advertizing dog food have been removed. Anyone that tries to do any more of this will be blocked**********************
Susan, Yea! I'm really happy for you. It's so nice to hear good news.
Becky, so sorry for your loss. From what I've read on a number of blogs, there were alot of pets who died before the recall. People just never associated it with the food. You should call Nutro and file a complaint. Maybe you can get some idea from your pet food store whether they had any other complaints.
What's a sugar glider?
I must say that Nutro has been very responsive to my complaints. I had to push them a bit in the beginning (because they said dry wasn't affected), but they were helpful after I convinced them that there was a potential problem.
As stated in my previous post, my cat passed away and my dog got sick. I believe it was from Nutro dry food. I sent them a sample of the dog food and my vet bills. The postage paid envelope they sent me didn't cover enough $$ for me to inlcude my cat food sample, so they sent me an additional envelope. I am definitely not a fan of Nutro at this point because I think it got my pets sick, but I am happy with their customer service so far. I just hope they really test my food, like they say they are going to. I'm glad I still have some of the tainted food left, just in case!!
It isn't about the money....nothing will bring my cat Juliet back. I just want them to recall the food and save the lives of other cats & dogs that are eating a potentially tainted product.
PS - If you guys are interested, I will totally set up a MySpace page for Nutro concerns. I think that is a great idea, and a good way for us all to group together. Let me know and I will start working on it!
Ok....I am officially LIVID!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I just received a phone call from Nutro Foods. I had sent them a link to this page by e mail and my only comment to them was to ask them if they thought these were all coincidences. Their representative just called me to tell me that yes, indeed that is EXACTLY what they think these stories here are. Their food is safe and they test and they can tell me matter of factly that there food has NOT caused these problems.
I asked him if he was reading the same stories I am reading here. He said those symptoms have been mostly described as diarrhea and could be caused by many things. I said "everyone's animals get sick at the same time with the same symptoms eating the same food and you think that is a coincidence? His answer.....YES! I told him that I hoped that when it all comes out in the end that he is right....but I certainly don't think so. In this time when no one knows who to believe I think it is irresponsible at best to make such statements. I also told him that if indeed his company is aware of problems and they are hiding them or covering them up that I believe that is simply UNCONSCIONABLE and if he is aware and is still standing in defense of them I don't know how he sleeps at night.
My God I don't know when the last time was that I have ever been so damn mad!!!!
First thing...thank you to all who took the time to share their experiences on here; I believe you saved my 2 older poms, Chewy (almost 4 yrs, 6 lbs) & Flower (3 yrs & 5 1/2 lbs), from having to go through what my youngest pom, Tinkerbell (1 1/2 yrs, 3 lbs) is going through. I believe in giving back, so here's my story. I'm still crossing my fingers on the older dogs and tomorrow will meet with an Alternative Pet Health person to find them a new way of eating. They still show "unhealthy" signs from this, but I believe for them it was caught in time. I have been feeding all my dogs, all their lives NUTRO NATURAL CHOICE SMALL BITES LAMB MEAL & RICE FORMULA, and recently opened a new bag of it, which I believe to be the culprit.
Sunday, I saw vomit all over my dogs inside pen area. Wasn't quite sure which one it came from since they were all still running around like the crazy little dogs that they are. The vomit was very reddish in color (bloody? not sure). By Sunday night I knew exactly who it was, Tinkerbell, 'cause all she would do was lay on my lap. Monday morning: Tinky was very lathargic, not eating, vomiting off water, very weak, could hardly haul herself outside for morning pee run. I called our vet and asked to come right in with her; he said he would treat it like flu symptoms since there was nothing around our yard she could have gotten into and he had nothing to go from at this point. He shot her up (sorry I don't know correct terminology here) with fluids/nutrients, she was very dehydrated. I took her to work with me. Over the next couple hours fluids ran out her nose and mouth, and she would continue to dry heave periodically throughout day/evening. Tuesday morning: Tinkerbell continues to get worse...weaker, throwing up more (she's throwing up "brown" even though she has not had any food since Sunday morning), I called our vet and brought her right in; fluids again, blood tests (showed up good), x-rays (good, no blockages); I took her to work...same thing, fluids out her mouth & noise, she continues to get weaker, can't even hold her own weight up, etc... Wednesday morning: Tinky can hardly lift her head off her blanket. I pick her up, she's like a noodle in my arms. I call the vet, bawling my eyes out; they tell me to get her over there. From them on, and as I write this, my Tinky is at the vets fighting for her life; hooked up to an IV for 2 days now; I visit her 4 times a day and give her all the loving I can. She's a fighter; she came into the world a fighter; and she will go on fighting!!!! That's my Tinky!!!!
Wednesday when I took TInky in for their ongoing care, my vet asked (and sparked something in me to investigate further) if the food we feed them is on the recall list, to which I replied no. But immediately upon leaving there I decided to look further into it and found this sight. I printed off some copies of your stories and took them to my vet, right after I picked up (but still keep in a safe place) all the dog food around the house. I knew in my gut that was it.
My vet still can't come up with the answer, and I believe he was losing hope yesterday, as Tinky was continuing to get worse. She goes in & out (meaning, sometimes she looks a little better, a little bit of life in her eyes, other times, she softly moans and her eyes are very heavy), but she continues to fight!!!!
My vet said he wasn't thoroughly convinced (yet) that it was the food. When things are unexplainable, he likes to do process of elimination, I understand this. And I believe he didn't really want to face the truth because that sounded to grim to fight.
Today he said something else! These were the words I needed him to say, so I knew he would stand up to the issue as it is really is, he said, "Although her symptoms aren't exactly the same, most of them are matching those of 4 other cases of "food poisoning" he has recently treated.
My Tinky is a fighter and on my last visit for the day, she (and I) both had hope back in our eyes. I continue to write down info from this site and bring it to my vet in hopes it may help his treatment for her; so thank you to those who have given exact words, symptoms and treatments that seemed to help. Because this is so "new," and symptoms seems to vary, I don't think our vets even know what exactly they should do. But I informed my vet that not all the stories are heartbreaking; a lot of dogs are actually pulling through this, even after 5 or 6 days are such wicked illness (my Tinky is on day 5). I am holding on to hope and faith, educating myself to make better decisions for my animals (including my cats), and refuse to regret any cost that comes from the vet for saving my Tinky's life. But don't get me wrong, for me it is also about the money and I want the people responsible to pay the bill! Which, thankfully I haven't even seen most of it at this point! I have found the best medicine for my Tinky right now is that I don't lose hope, that I keep the faith and I give her all the love I have. Thankfully my other animals and my husband are OK with this!
Thank you all again, cause when I first ran into this, I got soooo confused and didn't know where to turn, who to trust, etc....but as I read on I regained hope and trust.....for and through all of you.
Here's to my "fighting lil' Tinkerbell!"
My heart goes out to all of you who lost your babies and those of you are are still fighting!
Love and Light!
I have been feeding my three dogs Nutro. Two of them were on Natural Choice for Seniors and the other on Nutro Max Large Breed Adult. Their food was mixed with leftovers, broth, gravies from our meals. They had not been interested in eating there food since I moved to TN. I assumed it was the stress and trauma of our move and living arrangements till we found a house. (We were staying with my son. This was in Nov. After moving into our new place Feb and having time to settle in they were still not happy about the food. Hearing about the recall and Nutro dry not being on the list I bought new bags. About a week after new bags the younger dog got very reluctant about his food. He would eat about 4-5 mouthfuls and then quit leaving over half his ration. One of the older dogs would finish her food but without enthusiasm. The other would eat all his and what he could get of the others. They all started eating a lot of grass and drinking tons of water. I started watching for signs of kidney or diabetes considering the amount of water they were consuming. The Lab which is my piglet and eating more than his rightful share unless I could catch him starting vomiting the food. I have been concerned about dry foods since on set of recalls. I have taken them off Nutro and am now feeding Lassie. They are now all eating with gusto and they have backed off on the grass eating. The Lab has quit vomiting and does not gorge anymore. They relax after eating. I still have the bag from the Max but not the Natural Choice though I still have food left. I am not slamming Nutro but this seems extremely coincidental for there not to be a problem. It may not be the melamine but I do believe there is something not right with the food.
Please accept my condolences for all your losses and sick pets. If you want support please go to Http://www.rainbowsbridge.com There are many there that will help you with your emotional needs. This is all so tragic and totally unnecessary but truly not unexpected since NAFTA.
All of you who are getting no satisfaction from Nutro, keep calling and writing. Ask your vets to write letters that you can attach to your own. Write letters or go back to the stores where you bought the food and ask if they've had any other complaints. Be sincere and be direct. Don't yell at them. They are not the bad guys in this. Point out the facts and let your local stores know that you are not happy with Nutro. Tell them you need their help.
Good luck to those of you helping your pets fight for their lives.
I have been feeding my dog nutro natural choice dry dog food her whole life. about a week ago I noticed she had a loss of appetite. I kept an eye on her and yesterday she got very sick. orange diarrhea excessive thirst vomiting and lethargic. I firmly believe that the dog food is directly related to her illness. she is at the vet on an iv and medication. I am sending the food to an independent lab for testing. her blood work will be back tonight. spread the word and until it is proven safe do not feed your animals any food the has overseas product in it.
I don't know why it has taken me so long to find this site but have read everything, and just want to say my dog died last August, 2 weeks after I purchased a new bag of Nutro Natural Choice Large Breed Adult. He didn't want to eat it, but because it was the same food he had been eating for 5 years (and doing very well on) I didn't think it was the food. Neither did the vet; we thought it must be the dead tooth that I had put off having removed. So the tooth was removed, he was given antibiotics, prednisone, nothing helped. Within the week he was gone, all the same symptoms people have mentioned here plus very elevated liver enzymes. It was only then that I began to suspect the food. Nutro also sent me a mailer, tested the food and said it was fine and sent me coupons.Not long after that I got a new housemate, we figured her dog could eat the food, after all it was safe right? But her dog wouldn't touch it. I finally threw it away, wish I'd kept it. I do still have the receipts somewhere, and as soon as I find them I intend to send copies of them, along with a copy of their test results, and my vet bills, and his findings to Nutro, and to the FDA. It won't help Curly Joe, and I do have a sense of relief knowing that it was not anything I did that killed him but I do have to say something tells me it's not just the melamine, there is something else too. I just wish someone would find out what it is.
I don't really know what is going on here but something is! My Mom's 6 year old cat died of kidney failure about 4 weeks ago. She was eating Purina Urinary track type DRY food - no wet or pouch. She was eating treats also - the treats or the food probably killed her. The vets aren't going to stick their necks out and say it's the food so don't expect them to.
My Mom got a new puppy and the puppy was eating Nutro puppy food and he is perfectly healthy but today she went to purchase a new bag and couldn't find it anywhere. That is how I came upon this site. After I read this, she is now going to buy organic...!!!
I feed my pet Purina Cat Chow and they are all three fine (no treats) WATCH THE TREATS!!!
This could be a new virus but it could be the food - who knows and we can't rely on the the vets or food companies to tell us the truth!
I feel for everyone with sick or dead pets! By the way I emailed Purina but never heard back from them. I think it was the treats that killed the cat though.
I just got an email from Nutro explaining how SAFE their dry food is. Don't believe it. Once the sale to Mars is complete, they will be exempt from all liability. If they keep you doubting what you know to be true about the food, they hope the dodge the bullet. I hope all the money they make is worth it when they look in the mirror every morning.
Keep calling and sending letters to Nutro. File complaints with the FDA and Mars.
she is right. continue sending letters...especially to the FDA. fight harder.
I talked to the fda in denver. the gentleman i spoke to was very helpful. he happened to mention he had taken his dogs off the food also. we can't just let this go. nutro needs to take responsibility for the problems the lamb and rice have created for pet owners. their lack of action is totaly irresponsible. i sent food to be tested to them, but i have my doubts i will get any truthful info back from them. how do you find an independent lab to test?
Ive had a recent experience with nutro as well, and i hope i can contribute in reaffirming what everyone has been saying about nutro. As far as background goes, my dog is a 3 year old chihuahua/min pin mix, with a stomach of steel. I mean, this dog has accidently gotten into spoiled trash, dirt, all sorts of human food from pizzas to burritos, and at on point while i was away at work he managed to get into a whole sealed pack of greenies, and had taken down 9 greenies in one sitting before i caught him (his poop was green for 2 days, and ive sinced stopped feeding him greenies due to the risk of indigestion which im sure u are all aware of). He's eaten all these things before without diahrrea, vomiting, or any ill symptoms...which leads to the fact that food brand changes have always been easy for us. Well recently Ive noticed hes been having a lot of excessive shedding...more than i can attribute to just climate change. I did some research and realized that his diet was a large contributer to his skin and coat health, and proceeded to go to the local big chain pet supply retailer, and picked up a small bag of Nutro Natural Choice Lamb and Rice small bites assuming that they were the best commercial food on the market for the same reasons why everyone else puts their pets on nutro. Regardless of his stomach of steel, I did the right thing, and started with a mix of a low percentage of nutro and a majority of his old food (Iams). I fed him for 2 days before he started vomiting bile, and shaking in the mornings (the only time he had shivered like this before was when he had a stomach infection of some sort that required antibiotics.) I knew it wasnt simply food transition problems, and searched online until i found this website. I stopped all the nutro, and have done a food change with Wellness. I pretty much switched him over to wellness in just 3 days, pretty fast i know but i was eager to get him off of nutro or anything food with wheat corn or rice filler) Hes doing great with no ill effects. As a matter of fact this is the most normal ive seen him in a couple of weeks, with a eagerness to eat that had gone missing for the past couple of weeks even before the food changes. For the 2 days that i fed him nutro though i noticed some things. First, it was like my dog was on crack. Nutro advertises that their food gives dogs more energy...but this was just absurd. He would wake up at 6am to play, toy in mouth. He normally doesnt wake up til 830, and that just cause he needs to pee. His thirst level did seem to increase, though i may attribute that to the "crack" effect. This was then followed by the sickness phase that i mentioned earlier. But the part that really conviced me was my roomates experiences with nutro. His dog has been on nutro since day 1, and his dog has always been insanely hyper, drinks lakes worth of water, and throws up often. All this time i thought that was the dogs character. Im convinced something is up with their food, and I hope you will listen if u havent already. Thanks to everyone whos contributed so far; you've shed light on a gray area and have helped many, including my own dog, and for that I thank you all.
hey, konrad, please copy and paste your story on www.voy.com/211161/
I’ve been reading everyone’s posts and agree that it is extremely worrisome these days when it comes to what we should be feeding our furry family members. The American Veterinary Medical Assoc. wants us to be extremely careful about trying to feed our pets “people food” instead, thinking it will be safer. This isn’t often the case. They did recommend a cookbook for those who are thinking of trying it: Home-Prepared Dog & Cat Diets: the Healthful Alternative by Dr. Donald Strombeck.
As for Nutro, all that I can say is that if your pet is getting sick TRY a different food. It can’t hurt and may help. Now experts are worried about other glutens besides that in wheat; and there have been dry dog foods recalled that someone on this bulletin board had recommended and so it is difficult to know what is what. I feed my large dog Chicken Soup for Dog Lovers and Canadae, but even Diamond (the makers of Chicken Soup) had a recall a year ago for a problem in moldy corn and so even if Nutro’s dry dog food doesn’t contain wheat from China it doesn’t mean that there isn’t something else in it causing problems. The bloody diarrhea so many have complained about is consistent with rat poisons from THIS country. Who’s to say that something such as that hasn’t contaminated the product?
My sister’s 3 year old cat died suddenly from kidney failure. He was only fed dry cat food and another cat in the family ate the same exact food with no problems. These cats do not go outdoors at all and so it is unlikely that one ate something the other did not. Still, tragedies occur. There is often no explanation. At first, not knowing all of the details from my sister, I had asked the vet if it could have been caused by tainted food since it happened at the very moment of the recall, but it was after the cat had already been cremated and so he said there wouldn’t have been the necessary evidence. Apparently he felt the tainted food was not enough evidence, had it been caused by that. So if you do lose a pet and feel that it could be caused by the pet food, have it buried without being cremated first in case you later need to produce evidence for a law suit.
Victoria, do you remember what dry dog food was recommended on this site that is recalled? I chose a dog food based on these sites and I was just curious. I agree that feeding home cooked meals can be okay for short term but long term the animals need more. If the human food, unless it's organic not fullfill human needs without supplements, then it can't fullfill the nutritional needs for our furry freinds either. Let us not forgot that dogs and cats need a different diet than we do. Not to mention all of the contamination involved now with human foods too! I have been feeding a dry dog food for two months now with no problems. Although there are no recalls on the food that I am feeding I still want to be aware of what's going on. This is a difficult time so choosing a pet food has to be a personal decision. But I must admit reading these hubpages at least I have some good and bad comparisions to make. I am thankful for these sites as I know It may have saved my dogs lives.
For Victoria again,
FYI Chickens Soup for Lovers has been recalled. I think it is for puppy and kitten, not sure. I pulled it up by the search. I also think other Diamond brands are recalled too!
victoria has ill advice. those dog foods were recalled
To: ccorinth
go the the petconnection.com site. There are independent sites available to send food for testing. Don't depend on Nutro to tell you it's okay. I only wish I knew to keep some of the food for testing. Even though it won't bring my dog back, it would have given me peace of mind to know.
MY 2 year old Great Dane died last night. I thought it might had a heat stroke but the doctor thinks he ate something toxic. I usually feed him Eagle pack for giant breed but ran out & my shipment didn't come in so for the past week or so I've been giving him the Nutro Lamb & rice dry. He was became tired on a run & then wouldn't get up. He started having diarreah oozing and started to vomit. I think since he was close to 200 lbs it took a while to make him obviously sick. I'm in Germany so things get lost in translation. the Vet said that his blood was very thick & that his blood sugar was very low. Can someone please tell me what there vet told them. He then started to have siezures right before he pasted.
Minilover, I'm so sorry about your Dane. I'm not sure what your vet means when he says 'his blood was very thick'. If you read through some of the above comments, you'll see what happened to many of the dogs. Please file a complaint with your equivalent to our FDA. You should contact Nutro at 1-800-833-5330 and make a complaint to them also. Keep the bag with the UPC code and see if you can have the food tested for toxins. Your vet may be able to help you with that. It won't bring your Dane back, but maybe it will alert others iin Germany and save their pets if Nutro was the problem.
Thank you Cathy. We were to move back to the states next month. I'm going to send the food to be tested by an independent lab. I think he may have just gotten over heated & the vet is trying to give me some other excuse so I don't feel like I killed my dog. I'll keep you posted. I've already sent him to be cremated but, for peice of mind I think we're going to have the food tested. He had such weird problems before he died that it makes me wonder if it was the food. I'm not taking his death well & I'm in the middle of moving. The movers arrive tomorrow at 8am. Between the outbursts of sobbing I have to pack & take care of my 18 month old daughter. Cephus was my dog's name, he was such a good dog & I miss him dearly.
My post above was about Nutro Max Natural Lamb and Rice Large Breed Adult-sorry about that, I am still so sad and mad sometimes my fingers just don't work right.
Minilover, I think the blood thickens in cases of extreme dehydration, which I think goes along with renal failure. I'm so sorry about your Cephus.
It has finally been proven that Nutro DRY food was toxic:
Dry Dog Food (Nutra Nuggets) Not On Recall List Test Positive For MelamineA central California vet is reporting that tests on a bag of Nutra Nuggets-brand dog food purchased from Costco tested positive for melamine. Nutra Nuggets is not on any current recall list. We are working on getting more specifics from the vet. A recall has not yet been issued. Veterinarian Dr. Matt Humason says "We began asking questions.we found the dogs all ate the same food from the same store at the same time. so we sent a sample to get it tested and it came back positive with melamine." All four dogs ate Nutra Nuggets brand food. A sample was sent to a lab at UC Davis and [the pet owner's] fears were confirmed. "All I'm trying to get people to do is notify the people and let them know we may have problem. Unfortunately I feel Costco has been very hesitant to do that."
Full details:http://www.itchmo.com/read/dry-dog-food-nutra-nugg
No lab updates to report...Nutro will not get back to me on anything. Nothing.
Minilover, I understand the guilt you feel. Even though rationally I know it wasn't my fault, I feel like I should have known.
I'm sure Cephus' little spirit is still with you and your family. The first couple of weeks are so hard. Your move must be very difficult. Please know that there are many people reading these blogs who share your sorrow.
Minilover, we are sorry to learn about the loss of Cephus. We feel for you. This is why we write the fda, we write nutro, we posts, we write anyone that will listen. Its not only for our own dogs, but for yours too.
Sorry about the earlier message, I was wrong - it was Nutra - not Nutro.
Your stories are alarming, but not my experience with Nutro dog food at all...
I feed my dog Nutro Natural Choice Lamb Meal & Rice Formula dry food and he is doing fine. It is what he has always eaten. Appetite is fine, stools are fine, water intake normal, no vomiting, energy level good.
I read some of your comments that the food smelled bad, so I went to smell it. It doesn't smell unusual to me.
I don't know what's going on, but at this time, I do not plan on changing food brands.
I'm sorry for all your animals' health problems and hope you all can get some answers!
For Guest, I too read all of these comments and my heart breaks for these animals and caring individuals. I think that maybe you have been lucky so far. I would think that maybe not all batches of Nutro were affected, but it's obvious many were. I would have to assume from what I have read that the toxicity levels would vary with different bags and brands of pet food. It is possible that eventually your luck will run out. I pray for your pets sake that it will not. Good luck and health to you and your pet.
rECENTLY MY 3 YRS OLD BICHON BECAME SUDDENLY ILL. I HAVE ONLY FED HER NUTRO DRY FOOD OATMEAL AND CHICKEN FLAVOR. SHE WAS ADMITTED INTO THE HOSPITAL AND WITHIN 5 DAYS BECAME JAUNDIS, WAS PEEING AND POOPING BLOOD, VOMITTED ROUGHLY 10 TIMES A DAY, HAD 2 BLOOD TRANSFUSIONS, AND 2 DAYS OF CHEMO. THE VET NEVER SAID WHAT SHE HAD. THEY BELIEVED IT WAS AUDO-IMMUNE. I BELIEVE SHE WAS POISIONED IN SOME WAY. I REMOVED HER FROM THE VET AFTER THEY TOLD ME TO PUT HER TO SLEEP, AND TOOK HER HOME. I BEGAN HOLISTIC INTERVENTION, STOPPED THE STERIODS AND STARTED ON ALL NATURAL PRODUCTS. HER NUMBERS HAVE GONE UP, AND SHE IS STARTING TO EAT AND KEEP IT DOWN. I AM TELLING YOU IF THE FOOD IS MAKING THESE ANIMALS SICK, SOMETHING HAS TO BE DONE. I FELT HOPELESS BECAUSE THE VET NEVER DETECTED EXACTLY WHAT IT WAS, AND MY BABY SUFFERED. I AM GOING TO BRING HER BACK TO HERSELF WITH ALL NATURAL PRODUCTS, NO DOG FOOD EVER AGAIN. I AM ALSO A VEGETARIAN SO ITS THE WAY I SHOULD HAVE PROBABLY FED HER FROM THE BEGINNING AND THIS WOULD NEVER HAVE HAPPENED.
Jade, Good for you! It's so good to hear good news. I wish I had thought to go hollistic. I've been reading alot about natural treatments. I've located a holistic vet in my area, who is also a DVM. When my heart is ready, I'll be sure that my next dog won't suffer like Hunter did. Good Luck!
First of all, I want to thank everyone for their comments. I was considering changing to Nutro from another national brand. "Never mind!" Heart wrenching stories, but thank you, thank you for sharing them. This forum is so important.
I believe in giving back, and I know that some of you are still searching for alternate pet foods. They are out there. I am trying "Pet Promise" brand from my local health food store. Let byproducts be bygones is their motto; chickens from US farms; no wheat or rice gluten in their product.
I have also tried Life's Abundance, available through the internet. My pets didn't like the dry food, but like the canned food (called Instinctive Choice). I also tried making my own pet food -- very time consuming. I am willing to pay $1 per can for someone else to cook!
Again, thank you. Please trust your instincts and not the companies. Bless you all.
Good for you Jade. I too, am organic, not vegatarian. I will not eat any meat unless I raise it. I was cooking for my dogs and cats too. I found I couldn't keep up and my pets always acted hungry for substance. I went to a holistic pet food from reading these pages. I love it, my pets look better than they ever have and I distribute it as well. I am like you, why didn't I figure out what my pets needed when I was already doing it for myself? I believe that humans and pets need to stay away from preservatives and chemicals among others stuff. I am glad to hear your little girl is on the road to recovery. I will pray for her as well as the other poor animals that have been suffering from this horrible recall.
I just went to www.itchmo.com and it is alarming to read. I emailed to a friend who refuses to believe that her dog food could be tainted. Along with Nurtro I was reading about Proctor and Gamble who in my opinon is one of biggest animal abusers with their testing techniques on animals. All of this information is so informative and so sad. I can not believe that it is still going on. And to think that the pet food companies, (Most) still do not do the proper testing needed to keep our pets safe.
I thought this was of interest
Bobby, I just visited the above site, glad you found it. It is very sad and I just emailed the site to some friends. If all of us keep as many people as we can informed maybe we can save some unsuspecting pets.
This whole affair should be a big wake up call. Yes for the animal food industry, but even more so for pet owners and people in general. ANY food that isn't organic contains pesticides and herbicides. I don't care what the symptoms are, a toxin is a toxin and may present itself in ways other than the anticipated "kidney failure." The animal will feel sick from toxins long before the kidneys or liver reach failure. Even if yoou animal isn't sick, don't confuse that with healthy. There are far more toxins in the food supply of animals and people than those included in this recall. Am I alarmist? I don't believe so. If humans were to live only on cereals we wouldn't survive very long as a species (which is starting to happen from a refined food diet). The same with animals; read "Pottinger's Cats". Most animal food, including many of the "better" brands are akin to feeding your animals Doritos. When any part of our a food is imported, unless every batch received is tested, it cannot be trusted to be safe. Don't wait for the FDA to protect you, it will be too little, too late.
We lost our little 4 year old chihuahua two weeks ago. He stopped eating, was constantly throwing up, was gradually getting more and more lethargic, was having accidents . At times his attempt to throw up was evidently painful to him.
The vet put him on IV to rehydrate him, gave antibiotics, ran X-rays and when we came to pick him up at the end of the day was informed that he had gone into convulsions and died just before we got there.
He has only been fed Nutro Max Mini chunk, (lamb & chicken) since we have had him with us (two a half years). We brought the last bag of the Nutro to the doctor who contacted the company but was assured that this item (lot number specified) was not on a recall list. Perhaps it has not yet been thoroughly identified as questionable and needs more feed in from uses of the Nutro Max mini chunk product to let it be known if their dog has run into or is currently showing signs of being sickened by their product.
Unless pressure is kept up on this animal food problem, it will be put aside and ignored.
You go Julie, I couldn't have said it any better. You are a 100% correct. I don't eat toxins and neither do my pets!
You go Julie, I couldn't have said it any better. You are a 100% correct. I don't eat toxins and neither do my pets!
John, I'm sorry about your little guy. It's so sad that this goes on and on. If the vet still has the bag, see if you can get it tested independently. Petconnection.com or itchmo.com have the names of labs that will test.
John, I too, am really sorry of your chihuahua passing. I agree this stinks and so many beautiful lives are lost because of corporations too busy and too consumed in making money. Something does have to give and soon it will. My prayers are with you.
I found this site last week when I did a search with "bloody diarrhea in dogs". My 12 year old springer spaniel became sick last week, first with vomiting on two days, followed by bloody diarrhea. She had begun eating Nutro Natural Choice Senior dry dog food recently (about 1/4 of a 30 lb. bag consumed so far) and seemed to be doing fine, though drinking a lot of water since beginning to eat it. I attributed that to her aging. She was still acting fine even when the bloody diarrhea started, but I immediately stopped the dry food and began a bland diet of white rice, boiled chicken, with a little cottage cheese. Over two days the bloody has stopped and she is slowly returning to more normal stools (though still soft). I am continuing to prepare homemade dog food, but after researching dog foods decided on Evolve Senior dry food and am gradually introducing it into her homemade foods. I did contact the Nutro company by email today and am waiting to see if there is a response. I cannot be 100% sure it was the dog food, but after reading so many comments I won't take a chance with it anymore. I am watching the recall list each day to see if Nutro dry foods are discovered to be involved in dog illnesses.
Diane, I sure hope that your Springer is okay after his close call. This is scary that the Nutro products are still on the shelves. It's even scarier, to me, that if Nutro IS (big IF) testing for Melamine and they feel that the product is still safe, then what else would/could be contaminating it? I read something about cynauric acid..I am sure that i misspelled that? Does anybody have any more info on this?
When I talked to Nutro, they said it could be mold. I think someone probably got in trouble for telling me that. But, I read that there are some types of mold that can cause severe health problems. I wouldn't rule out other chemicals though. Look at this article - yuk!
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTI
This is a link to the FDA website for imports they've refused. They only inspect 1-2%. Imagine all the crap that doesn't get iinspected. Alot of it ends up in dog food.
I will not get started on FDA...not here, not now but the FDA is a very scary organiziation. They don't value humans or pets welfare if it doesn't make them money. In fact I believe that the FDA wants Americans and their pets to remain needing treatment and care because if we didn't the pharmacuetical companies and medical field(s) would not be as rich as they are.....and yes, I know mold get kill, inhaled or consumed. I will check out the links. Thanks.
Go to Itchmo and read the new findings on acetaminophen and cynauric acid. What do think Susan more recalls to come?
I bought a bag of Nutro Natural Choice Lamb & Rice last fall. My dog threw it up both times I gave it to her and I immediately stopped it and filed a complaint with Nutro. They never followed up on it. IMO, they didn't care and still don't. I still have the bag and when I recover from all the vet bills that keep piling up (I had 1 cat die from Menu Foods recalled canned food and another cat that is so far OK and my dog that is OK), I plan on having it sent somewhere to be tested. That is of course unless Nutro steps up to the plate and recalls the food before I get the chance to have it tested.
Don't hold your breath Kim, they're waiting until they're sold to escape liability.
There will be more recalls. There have always been recalls. This is not the first animal feed issue that has been raised.
There is a wonderful website www.dogfoodproject.com where you can obtain loads of valuable information.
I have been giving my 3-year-old Golden Nutro's adult weight management formula, and she's been vomiting a thick, almost clear liquid with chunks of the food in it... several times a day. She drinks water like she'll never get anymore. And she's been panting like I've taken her through a marathon. A few days she had diarrhea, once with blood. When I took her off of the food, all of these symptoms went away. When I gave her the food again, the symptoms (all except diarrhea) were back within 3-5 days. I will not give her anymore Nutro. Does anyone know any good dog food recipes? I'm afraid to give her manufactured dog food anytime soon.
I just lost my 18 month old Olde Victorian Bulldogge this week. Vet said their was some type of either pioson or infection in him and he couldn't fight it of. I was feeding him nutro untill about a month ago when I noticed him drinking lots of water, loose stools, and trowing up from time to time. I switch to science diet but continued giving him Retreiver multi flavor dog treats. Anyone know if these treats are tainted? If he had eating some bad Nutro how long would it stay in his system?
My family and I are having a very hard time dealing with his passing and I just can stand the thought of something I gave him might have caused this. RoCo can never be replaced and I hope and pray this is all over soon.
I was revisiting this site after many weeks. I took my dog off nutro chicken and oatmeal (sensitive stomach) after all this recall weeks ago, and am so happy that I did not do it too late. I'm amazed that the company hasn't recalled all the dry Nutro. It is ashame that so many dogs are dieing and still they will not admit by recalling.I tried the Itchmo site, and it seems to be down. I tried making my own food for a while, but that got old fast, and I'm not sure what is really a well balanced vitamin, mineral , nutrition diet for a dog. I am sickened that when I walk in Pet Food stores, they assure you that all the "Bad" food is off the shelves(pretending to be experts)I still wish I knew what to feed my dog. I tried "Solid Gold" since then. I have no clue as to whether it is good or not. My dog is eating it, having regular body functions, and seems OK. But how do I know? We don't need another thing to worry about in our lives. UGH. Thanks for listening.
I did get a call from a representative from Nutro after sending an email to the company after my dog (the 12 year old springer spaniel) was very sick a few weeks ago. They asked pertinent questions and said they would be sending me a bag to send a sample to them to be tested. Unfortunately they wanted me to send 4 cups but I only saved about a cup (returned the bag to Petsmart for a refund), but do have the UPC numbers and they will do what they can to test with the amount I will send. My dog is fine now, thank goodness. The homemade pet food I made for the two weeks after she became sick was based on a recipe I found online for feeding dogs who have been sick with diarrhea (basically ground boiled chicken, white rice, a little cottage cheese. Other online recipes were from: www.sunnews.com/new/pets/cc/pets122001.html and http://dog-care.suite101.com/article.cfm/homemade_ As I mentioned, I started feeding my dog "Evolve" dog food and she seems back to normal.
I did get a call from a representative from Nutro after sending an email to the company after my dog (the 12 year old springer spaniel) was very sick a few weeks ago. They asked pertinent questions and said they would be sending me a bag to send a sample to them to be tested. Unfortunately they wanted me to send 4 cups but I only saved about a cup (returned the bag to Petsmart for a refund), but do have the UPC numbers and they will do what they can to test with the amount I will send. My dog is fine now, thank goodness. The homemade pet food I made for the two weeks after she became sick was based on a recipe I found online for feeding dogs who have been sick with diarrhea (basically ground boiled chicken, white rice, a little cottage cheese. Other online recipes were from: htto://www.sunnews.com/new/pets/cc/pets122001.html and http://dog-care.suite101.com/article.cfm/homemade_ As I mentioned, I started feeding my dog "Evolve" dog food and she seems back to normal.
It was very disheartening reading all these stories. I agree with a lot of them. We need to make these people take responsibility for this. I had no clue that this food was having this effect. I wanted the best for my American bulldog/pit bull mix puppy (Jasper) - he deserves the best I can give him.
We started him on Nutro Ultra Large Breed Puppy food yesterday. His food intake and his output was diminished, but we weren't concerned because the people at the pet supply store said this would be normal with such a 'high quality' food. He only picked at his food when he woke up this morning (highly unusual for him!) but drank water like a fish. He was more lethargic and not like himself all day, but I figured that was just because it was a bit warmer than normal today. When he got up from his afternoon nap, he started like he was going to vomit but then it looked like he was choking on it. I went to pick him up, then he vomited and went limp in my arms. I tried to give him some water but he wouldn't take any despite the fact he was burning up. He began to convulse like he was having a seizure in my arms. Once he looked like he was beginning to come out of the seizure-like activity, he was still disoriented, groggy, & slobbering profusely (even though he hadn't had anything to drink since waking up from his nap). All this happened within 2-3 minutes. I immediately called the local pet E.R. & they said to rush him in. On the way to the vet hospital, he vomited again and had a bout of diarrhea & lost bowel/bladder control in the truck. When i got there, they ripped him out of my arms and whisked him away. About three hours later, the Dr. said it was because of the food and to NOT EVER GIVE HIM THE NUTRO ULTRA PUPPY FOR LARGE BREEDS AGAIN. The vet instructed us to go back to his previous food.
He had a lot of the same symptoms reported in other dogs mentioned on this site. I gave him the food I had been giving him after I got him home from the vet (Pedigree brand) and he scarfed it down like he hadn't eaten in days (although he ate 1-2 times yesterday).
I almost lost my best friend and buddy because these idiots don't want to take responsibility or ownership of a definite and obvious problem with their product line. To the dog owners that have had a loss --- our utmost, deepest sympathies and condolences and prayers go out to you all. -Joe, Nancy, & Jasper
p.s. I contacted both the corporate offices of Nutro and PetSmart (where we purchased the food) after returning home & getting the puppy settled for the night.
The lady who answered the phone at Nutro stated that there was no one available to take a complaint & that she was 'just their answering service.' She was not helpful and rather rude & snippy when I tried to get more information on who to talk with in the morning when I call back. I informed her I would be contact my state Attorney General's office as well to lodge a formal complaint again the Nutro company so that an inquiry can be made, especially in case there are other pet owners in my state with the same problem.
HOWEVER, when I contacted PetSmart, Nichole (one of the night-time operators at the call center), was the polar opposite of the representative from Nutro. She was friendly, polite, and professional in her dealings with a difficult caller (me!) as I was still upset from my best bud Jasper being so sick so fast (after only eating the 'highly recommended' Nutro Ultra Large Breed Puppy food for just over 24 hours). Nichole stated that she would take a complaint referral and pass it on to the appropriate personnel, that they take these matters very seriously, and that it would be given prioritized and prompt attention. She then took all information in regards to the food (i.e. lot #, UPC#, expiration date), as well as Jasper's reaction and symptoms and the statement from the doctor. She stated they were interested in any other sources of information I could provide them, including the web address of this particular thread on this site.
I'll be posting again after talking with people tomorrow morning to update everyone on what they have to say for themselves. Thank God Jasper only had a 'mild' reaction (compared to other reports on this site) and that he's okay now, otherwise tomorrow's conversations would probably not be pleasant in the slightest little bit.
Spoke with representative from Nutro today...they took the information about yesterday's incident with Jasper and are sending a sample kit to collect a sample of the food we have for testing to see if it contains toxins, etc. They also want a copy of the vet bill and the receipt for the food & will send us a refund on the price of the food (at least). They are supposed to let us know something in 6-8 weeks regarding the test results.
Went to buy some new food at PetSmart & while there, I spoke with the manager. She stated she had the same problem with Nutro products she was feeding her Bull Mastiff and suggested we feed our puppy Blue Buffalo brand dog food as this is what she now feeds her dog (with no adverse affects). She also noted she has had verbal arguments with the Nutro rep that works in the store regarding the dog food & how harmful it has been.
I received a call from a representative from the corporate offices of PetSmart who stated that this type of incident was 'not (their) problem' and would continue to carry & sell the dog food until they received legitimate documentation that the food is harmful to animals. I relayed to him that I knew of documentation (this site) that had evidence of the harm this food had caused to others' dogs as well, including death. It ended in an almost 'agree to disagree' stance.
Good news, though, is that Jasper seems to be back to his ornery, playful self.
Joe, Thanks for being persistent with Nutro. I'm so happy that Jasper is okay. Keep spreading your info to as many people as possible. So many people don't realize that there are still problems with the food. My little guy died 2 months ago - I still miss him so much. My son found a stray and I'm fostering until she finds a home. Both dry foods I've tried (Happy Tails and Karma) have caused her to vomit bile. I feel like she was probably better off foraging for herself. Good Lord - what is safe?
I've spoken with Nutro's insurance company a couple of times. I'll let you al know what happens.
Two weeks ago, I went into petco to buy food for my maltese. Nutro has someone in the store with a food promo, so I bought the nutro chicken and oatmeal (sensitive stomach), I have not notices anything funny but it has only been about a week that I have being feeding him this food and he only eats about a hand full of bits. I am going to stop using this food too but now I don;t know what to feed my fur baby because the wet food he was on was recalled. Please help dod lovers because the stores don't help at all.
Dog food suggestion: Jasper has been on the Blue Buffalo brand puppy food for almost a week now with no adverse affects (other than we got our rambunctious puppy back! lol) He gobbles it up faster than anything we've ever given him & even faster than that when we put some Pedigree wet food (from the pouches) underneath the dry Blue Buffalo.
(Assistant Manager at PetSmart recommended Blue Buffalo at she had the same problem with Nutro & her dog - she also recommended Nova brand dog food. NOTE: these were her own personal opinions/recommendations and not those of the store!)
Nice thing about the Blue Buffalo is that it's made from the same foods we as humans eat: deboned chicken, whole grains, veggies, garlic, etc.
joe, it's innova buy nautra pet.blue buffalo is on the food recall list. go to petblogusa.com or pet connection or itchmo for up to date recall's also fda
it's petsitusa.com for all up to date recall pet food
Blue Buffalo was part of the recall ....
Blue Buffalo was part of the recall ....
Doesn't Natural Choice make Innova?
OK - I'm convinced. Our beloved Boxer/Lab/Pit mix "Belle" blew a$$ all over the garage the other day, and then again in the hallway last night. She's also been lethargic, but come to think of it she's pretty much always that way. Regardless, after reading all of the stories, she's off of the Nutro Lamb & Rice (green bag) that we've been feeding her.
So, now that we've established that, how about some recommendations about what food to switch her to? More specifically, food that can be purchased (I don't even cook for myself) Any suggestions would be appreciated.
One other note for you people that argue for Nutro and continue to use it - thank you. I'm glad that there are hardheaded idiots in this world that are willing to use questionable food. Please keep me posted as to whether or not your dog dies because of it. As far as I'm concerned, where there's smoke - there's fire. I'm switchin'.
hey steve, try to find Wellness brand dogfoods. Its organic, and doesnt have any of the questionable ingredients. My dogs been on it for about 1 1/2 months now, his apetites better, and he stopped shedding. Its a lil pricier but its definitly worth it in the long run
I use Flint River Ranch www.frrco.com/122135. I have been using it just prior to the recall and everyday since then. I was recommending Flint River to frustrated pet owners on hubpages... It was suggested to me not to recommend pet food on hubpages. I felt the opposite that people and thier pets could really benefit from feeding Flint River. I feel if there is a safe product and a good one...that some people really need help in chosing a decent pet food, one that will save their pets from illness and possibly death. I went to other sights and have helped many happy pet owners save thier beloved pet's lives by recommending Flint River. It is one of the only pet foods that exceeds the requirments set by the FDA. Flint River is also one of the only pet foods that tests for melamine and other harmful contaminants every 15 minutes during processing. All human grade ingredients and all products are free of gluten, corn and soy. No chemicals, No preservatives. All Flint River ingredients are made in the US...Nothing from China, not even their glucosomine and chrondrotin for thier senior food. It's very sad to read all of these stories. It's even sadder that these pet food companies don't give a dam about us and our pets. I personally don't know how anybody could find it in their hearts to go back to purchasing commercial grade pet food. We are just telling the pet food companies that we don't care and that we will continue to support them. All of the commerical grade pet foods should be boycotted from all of us forever. Sure there are some decent pet foods available but they are not found at PetCo or PetSmart or the grocery stores. I have rescued thousands of dogs in my life time and I am still doing it. I feel that my 13 rescue dogs and personal pets, including over 15 feral cats are testimony enough that Flint River is safe and nutritious and in my opinion the best pet food I have ever used. Flint River has never had a recall since they developed the product in 1996. I do distribute Flint River, as I would have any product that I chose to use. I use more than a couple hundred pounds per month myself. Flint River is no more pricey than it's competitors, plus the price already includes shipping and that to me makes it more affordable.....And yes, when you purchase Flint River from me it helps me to feed my stray pets safely and in return you get a very healthy safe pet food that you can trust. This is one of the safest pet foods available. Don't take my word for it go to thier website...ask some questions www.frrco.com/122135 Thanks and good luck to all of you! I want to thank Shane for posting this.
I posted this on itchmo, but thought I would post here too.
I just received a letter from Nutro about my claim.
“We have concluded our detailed review of your claim for reimbursement of your expenses. From our evaluation of the veterinarian’s diagnosis, we found no indication that the cause of illness and subsequent death is related to our product. As such, we cannot in good conscience concede any responsiblity for your pet’s condition.”
Well, how do ya like that! Funny thing is, they have never contacted my vet and I only sent them a cover letter explaining what happened and copies of vet bills - no diagnosis information. Where they got the diagnosis is beyond me. Seems to me that the whole ‘good conscience’ thing is their problem.
I'm not finished with them yet.
I could not beleive what I was reading when I entered this site. My 2 year old Golden was showing all the same symptoms you all are describing. She was never on anything but the Nutro dry food for large breeds. She started vomiting on a regular basis my vet tested her for everything and then chalked it up to anxiety but then in April 2007 she vomited blood and regardless of my vet and reps over at Nutro telling me that the dry food is not recalled and is safe etc. etc. I trusted my gut and switched her to Wellness formula and from the day I switched her which was right after our episode in April she has not vomited once. I was lucky and recognized the signs of my dog but people are being told not to worry and that this food is safe. After reading all of these entries I am convinced that this brand all together is unsafe. They need to be held accountable and the only way is for us to step up - contact your local FDA and make the complaint and file the complaint with Nutro - I am with Shane we need to get organized and stop this before anymore innocent animals fall victim to Nutro's blatent negligence.
WOW!!! I was just browsing around to find the best puppy food for my large breed dog and I've stumbled upon this... thanks for the update. I had fed my dog nutro for 6 months and will most defanately stop now!!!
good for you getting your pup off the nutro! We took ours off and put them on another food back in mid-april after our golden got sick and all of ours were lethargic and we were worried. We out them on another food per our vet (no ads so I won't say which one) but they have been much better ever since. They are happier and more relaxed. Nutro has big issues and it is an awful thing that people's pet babies have died because of irresponsible company owners.
Please help make people aware of what is on this hubpage. Go to Yahoo Answers. Look for the question "Has Anybody else heard of the Pet Food, Nutro, Nutra and Natural Choice/Balance making pets sick?" People have not heard of this hubpage or the horrors of these stories. This hubpage is listed in the question as a reference....but....Please visit that site and ad some comments so others don't wind up with the same problem with sickened pets. Thanks...
nutro makes natural choice,read the comments alot of pets got sick from nutro. go to other web sites www.petconnection.com and www.itchmo.com also consumer affaiers is now on top of of this. THANK GOD FOR THIS WEB SITE AFTER I READ ALL THESE HORROR I SAID NO WAY JOSE WILL MY 5 PETS GET NUTRO.!!!!!!!!!! SHANE ,U SAVED MY PETS PLUS SO MANY MORE BY THIS WEB PAGE THANK YOU!!!OH NUTRA IS NOT NUTRO
nutro makes natural choice,read the comments alot of pets got sick from nutro. go to other web sites www.petconnection.com and www.itchmo.com also consumer affaiers is now on top of of this. THANK GOD FOR THIS WEB SITE AFTER I READ ALL THESE HORROR I SAID NO WAY JOSE WILL MY 5 PETS GET NUTRO.!!!!!!!!!! SHANE ,U SAVED MY PETS PLUS SO MANY MORE BY THIS WEB PAGE THANK YOU!!!OH NUTRA IS NOT NUTRO
I know that Nutro and Nutra are different products. Nutra has always had recalls and problems too. I believe that this website has saved many pets from death. I continue to pass this page around to warn people. Word of mouth and these stories are a great source of information.
As a follow up to my previous post, we switched "Belle" From the Nutro Lamb & Rice to AvoDerm Lamb & Rice. She's been on that for about 2 weeks, and seems to like it better. Her coat is shinier, the colors seem more vibrant, and she sheds a lot less. She also seems to have more energy. So far I'd recommend the AvoDerm as a good alternative...
My eleven year old dog was perfectly healthy all of her life until yesterday morning, she started throwing up and eventually was puking nothing but bile. She drank so much water and would lay out in the yard motionless for hours. We tried to give her asprin and that seemed to help, however i awoke the next morning to her not being able to get up, panting, crying, throwing up and dry heaving, eventually she lost bladder control and died on the way to the vet this morning. she has been eating nutro dry dog food for a long time and has never had a problem. could this be because of the pet food that has been recalled?
I wish I read this site before I changed my dog's food to Nutra Natural Choice Adult Lamb & Rice....I only changed because we had a dog trainer for our Weimaraner a few months back that mentioned that we shouldnt be giving our dog any food that contained byproducts (he was eating Eukanuba Large Breed). We started mixing Nutro with the Eukanuba Friday evening and by Sunday night he was throwing up and drinking a lot of water. We alled the vet and they told us to bring him in right away. After a number of tests (blood) and x-rays, as well as fluid replacement for dehydration, he is fine and seems better. He istn hiself, but I hope this food didnt harm him permanently. I will be making a complaint with Nutro, Petsmart and whover else I can in hopes that this doesnt happen to any other pets! Thanks to all for your useful information. I will certinly pass the word!
Nutro pet food has never been recalled, even the cans. If you do research you can see Nutro pet food is made right here in America, so they aren't getting things from overseas. I have been feeding my dogs nutro for awhile, I have never had any problems whatso ever. People who keep saying I am always watching my dog, he doesn't get into anything....you guys seriously. When your in the shower, or sleeping, how bout on the phone at work or even cooking dinner...better yet when you got lil ones running around. Pets get into the dangdest things, right even under our noses sometimes. I think w/ all the pet food recall hub bub people just looked too much into it. I had a shepherd once that had the same symptoms as I am reading on this page, I never even heard of nutro back then. what it all comes down too is...old age, or genetic defects, or just plain alleregies!!!! Also for those of you who were just trying it, it takes awhile for stomachs (even in humans) to get use to a change in diet. Nutro is a great source of vitamins, needed oils, acids...ect. after eating foods w/ biproducts or yellow corn they need time to adjust (some more that others!!!) Now that the hype is all going away now, I hope you guys are over it
Amber, I hope you're lucky enough that your pet doesn't get one of the bags of Nutro food that will make him/her ill or dead. If you do, I hope you 'get over it' real quick.
In the meantime, tell your employer - Nutro or Mars - that there are still plenty of people who know what caused their pets illness and death and will never use their products again. Also, don't believe that everyone reading this blog is so 'danged' stupid anymore about dog food.
Amber, It seems so strange that so many house dogs 'Got into something" at the same time. I know without a doubt that it was Nutro Lamb and Rice that made my dog sick. No I am not "over it". I can't forget watching my dog suffer for months. I still have half a bag would you like to try your dog on it?
Amber: I hope you are enjoying your work at Nutro. Save the propaganda...... Just cash your check and try to sleep at night.
Check this out http://Trilogyonline.com/happytails. Although this site is promoting a pet food. There is a video describing how pet food is made. There is also a side by side comparison available for several types of pet food. I found it very educational. Once on the website click on PETS top right then scroll down to the video.
I have a 7 month old Goldendoodle (mix btwn a poodle and golden retriever). He stopped eating about 1 week ago and started to drink water like there was no tomorrow. He would eat the baked chicken I would make him at night and mix it with baby food but he stopped eating that as well.
I was scared and took him to the vet 4 days ago. They ran tests and his WBC, calcium, creatinine were all high and his urine was 1.007 specific gravity when it should be 1.030-1.050. He got him hospitalized (and is still there as we speak) getting different kinds of IVs and antibiotics. Dr said it was probably a uriniary tract infection that moved to the kidneys. We were very very lucky to catch this early or we would have lost our baby.
I have only fed him Nutro Choice Lamb and Rice... The breeder we got Oakley from told us about her experience with Nutro foods and 3 pups about a year ago all had the same problem as Oakley. They were all hospitalized and told to change food. They dogs are fine now and no other reports of bad UTIs or Kidney failure since. Please stop feeding your dog Nutro foods. We almost lost our dog and many people have lost a furry member of their family.
I posted 12 weeks ago to report that my dog has always had Nutro Natural Choice Dry Lamb & Rice kibble and was doing fine on it.
Checking back to report that he is still doing fine.
I have great sympathy for those of you who have had problems with this food, but thought I'd post this just so you know that there are some dogs who do fine on this food.
I realize many of you are probably thinking I am risking my pet's health by staying on this product. If I see any sign of him getting sick, I will of course stop the food, but I see none. And he likes this food, is healthy, and at a good weight.
Guest, You ARE risking your pet's health. I thought my dog was healthy too. His weight was great and his coat was beautiful. Even the vet was amazed by his overall appearance that there was a problem. As a matter of fact, he was gorgeous on the outside - he looked very much like the dog that just won Best in Show at Westminster. Well... he's dead. If that's not enough to make you change foods, I'm sorry for your pet. If I had just had a forum like this months ago , I might still have my little friend to walk with, and play with, and love.
Why would you risk his life after reading these comments from so many people?
If ANYONE is not convinced that NUTRO has poisoned or is poisoning their pet - GO TO THIS WEBSITE and see what the FDA has come up with. This is July 2, 2007 recall. Still poisonous food...
http://www.fda.gov/ora/oasis/7/ora_oasis_c_us.html
OH God, this is so heart wrentching. I wanted to know what happened and now I do. They have poisoned so many animals.
that website certainly explains why Nutro has been so helpful to me whwn I called. A complete turn around from talking to them months earlier. I am wondering if anyone that had a dog survive thinks that the poison is going to shorten their life or cause problems down the road. If it is the case I would like to know if any one will go after them for damages? I would like to know what everyone is doing to contact Nutro. That website is the proof we have been waiting for.Thanks Cathy.
I think that Nutro did alot better job of handeling their WET food recall. None of their dry food was involved by any means. All of my animals have ate Nutro forever-dry and the occasional can and are just fine. I actually had the cat food pouches on the table after I found about the voluntary recall and before I could actually return them my smallest dog ate the the food and part of the packaging as well. This food has done wonders for my oldest dog-he can walk omfortably now with the help of the added glucosamine and his bald spots are now healed and hair is growing back. His allergies are relieved and he sheds so much less. Was peanut butter not recalled and giving people salmonella? What about salads and everything else? You have to give them credit for coming out and getting their stuff off the shelves unlike blue buffalo who waited forever saying their foods were fine when they were not even tested? I think they need some credit for what they have done and what they are doing? They have made my dogs life enjoyable again!
I just read back and wanted to add that I am not the Amber who posted everyone was "danged stupid" and I am not saying that there was not a recall because believe me I do know that there was one for sure. I work at Petsmart and had more phone conversations with rightfully worried dog and cat owners than I think I have ever had with anyone in my life. I hope everyones animals are well and wish that all of these things from China would stop getting recalled. Toothpicks and chopsticks? Whats next? I think that it is fishy how many recalls are being made and it is all being traced back to China- shouldn't we just stop getting things made from there and start manufacturing things are selves like a united country should?
I am not saying that Nutros wet food did not make anyones animals sick, I'm just saying they handled it alot better and from their website have alot better and meticulous quality standards compared to the other dog foods.
Amber, For what reason would you take the time to defend Nutro? Do you think that when your pet develops kidney or liver disease because of their poisoned food, Nutro will stand by you? They didn't show one ounce of concern to me. It seems that every time someone here makes comments against Nutro, 'someone' comes along and makes sure the last comment posted makes Nutro look like saints. Well, they are still poisoning animals. Read again....
http://www.fda.gov/ora/oasis/7/ora_oasis_c_us.html ...
These refusals were in JULY, 2007. There is dry food listed. This company is no good. The food is poisonous. My dog is dead. Other people have spent thousands of dollars keeping their pets alive. Mars/Nutro have been covering their butts with trollers like you.
For anyone looking for information, please DO NOT FEED you pet Nutro products. Look at consumeraffairs.com, itchmo.com, petconnection.com. There are many more sites with hundreds of stories of ill pets. Imagine how many other people have not posted their experiences at all. The guilt I feel about feeding this poison to my pet has not eased and it has been 4 1/2 months since my dog died. My heart aches every day that he did not get the chance to grow old. Please do not make the mistake of gambling with your pet's lilfe, and don't be fooled by ANYONE who tries to promote ANY dog food company. Take the time to research brands. Let your pet grow old and die peacefully knowing they lived a full life.
Amber, are you trying to make people angry? Do you think this web site is a fake or something?? All I can say is READ AGAIN!!!!!
http://www.fda.gov/ora/oasis/7/ora_oasis_c_us.html
Oh! They have assured you! Oh my! Well, that makes me feel SOOOO much better..... By the way... I am a magical elf that can grant wishes.......I assure you...
The FDA has assured me that your boss is a liar.
I will be taking down your last misleading comment. Thank you for contributing....
Shane,This is just so scary, and you're right we need to get organized here. For my 2 Pug dogs, Bogey and Riley, I've switched over to home-made dog food, and I'm working on assembling various home-made dog food recipes appropriate for Pugs to share with the community. This dog food recall thing is just so terrifying.
Michelle
Amber, I don't know why my dog and some others got so sick and/or died and others didn't. I just know that I can trace his illness to when I switched to Nutro. Every day, I read as many blogs as I can to find answers. Maybe you don't work for Nutro. Maybe because you have never lost a young pet who was so full of life makes it hard for you to understand why your comments seem so careless. Just because the FDA hasn't recalled the product does not mean that it is not dangerous. Unfortunately, politics and money are more important than our pets' lives.
If you want to understand the whole picture, start by going to itchmo.com, petconnection.com and others, and reading articles that have been written over the last several months about what has happened. Read the blogs that go along with the articles and you will see that you need to protect your own family. Don't count on our government to let you know what's dangerous.
Bellieve me, I never had a political bone in my body until this happened. I have no other agenda than to keep my family healthy and live a productive life. It's scarry what's going on. I'm afraid for my son and the grandchildren I may someday have. There are no standards of morality in the corporate world. It's all about the money.
Just so you know, the wet food IS back on the shelves and the companies are saying it's safe now. There is still contaminated food coming from China. One thought on why some dogs got sick on Nutro and others didn't is that some owners used something to wet the food before it was given to the dogs. This activated a fungus that was in or on the food. Because dogs have different digestive systems than humans, the dry food passed through quickly before any damage was done, but if it was moist and the fungus had a chance to grow and do damage as it went through the dogs' system.
Have any of you ever read Kevin Trudeau's books? Kevin hits the nail on the head. Natual Cures that they don't want us to know about! This is so true. The entire industry is all about politics and money whether it be pet food or human food. Not only am I appalled that the FDA inspects less than 1% of the human food coming into this country..but can you imagine how much less of that they inspect of pet food? If you go to a doctor they treat the symptom not the cause. This way it leads us to a life of Rx's and feeding the pharmacuetical companies money, therefore feeding the doctors money and so on. Do you have any idea how many cures there are for diseases in other countries that our country squashes because these cures are usually natual and cost effective. Even here we have some awesome products like Noni juice and Limu juice. Noni juice is used for people and pets. If our country cured diseases instead of treating them then our county surely would be broke. The products like these juices and so many others our county eventually bans because they are valid cures but our county does't want us cured they want us on prescriptions. This fact and others all ties in to human product, pet food, children's toys ect. We as a county owe China so much money that we have to kiss thier A__ otherwise they could call in our loans and then what would our government do? So until that time people we need to wake up and take care of ourselves and our pets. Don't eat the packaged foods from the store. Most of your larger corporations taint it purposely to either make us sick, fat or addicted. When we are sick we need Rx's, when we are fat we buy diet aid products (which are designed to make us fatter to buy more) and when we are addicted we buy more of that particular product. Same goes for our pets. Do you realize our pets have the potentional to live about 8 years past what we call normal age of 11 to 15 for dogs and high teens for cats? Of course our pets can't live that normal life expectency if we continue to feed them the crap from the stores. The BHT, BHA, Ethoxiquin, chemicals and preservatives, dead and diseased animals, artifical flavors, corn, wheat, and soy are all giving our pets allergies, organ failure, slow painful deaths and shortening their life expectancy by about 8 years. We all want to cook for our pets, I did too. Then I learned without calcium and certain minerals I could cause my pet to get a rubber jaw, something similar to rickets in humans. We can kill our pets by cooking for them too. There is a system, a delicate one and a correct one to feed our pets properly and most of us don't have the time or expertise to do this.
So please people lets learn how to stay healthy and keep our pets healthy. Do a little research, read up on it. Please stay away from packaged foods, meats and chickens injected with hormones, homogenized milk also have artificial vit D and hormones in it. If your child has a problem switch them to organic milk. Stay away from flouride it causes health issues and makes us fat. For the love of god don't go back to pet shops to buy your pet food there. There are plenty of holistic and oraganic and raw products to feed our pets that will keep them safe and much healthier. God Bless to all!
Good work, very useful hub
I have a 2 yr old Labradoodle that luckily had just vomiting issues from the Nurto dog food when the recall first came out. We also incurred vet bills; but they thought it was a reflux issue. Nutro was all she had ever had. Dry and wet food. I was thinking the reason she made it was because I was only mixing the a couple table spoonfulls of wet with the dry. I never knew until reading this today that there was an issue with the dry food. I stopped giving her all the Nurto products in March. The vet had me try Eukanuba with low residue. I fed her this for 3 months and she was still vomiting off and on. I switched her to Back to Basics with lamb about 2 months ago. At least once every 10 days or so she will vomit. Has anyone had the same issues still with on and off vomiting? I do have a vet appointment scheduled for next week for her yearly check up and I will let them know that there is still and issue. Please let me know if anyone else is having the same issue. Thanks.
Hi Cindy,
I am so sorry that your dog has to go through this! Look at your ingredient list on the pet food that you are currently feeding. If it contains one of the following these could be making your dog's situation worse. These ingredients have been known as the culprit for vomiting on plenty of other animals. I have had expereience with the vomiting and these ingredients personally. The following ingredients should be avoided, especially for your dog that already has a compromised a liver. Try giving your dog a natural, holistic, organic food containing probiodics and antioxidants. Call a holistic vet or a dog nutrition specialist to assist you. We can't rely on even the most wonderful conventional vet to help us with nutrition, this is not their expertise and natural foods don't pay the vets to recommend their food, like Iams and Science Diet do.
BHT, BHA, Ethoxiquin, Artificial Colors, Preservatives, Chemicals of any kind. All of these will make your animal sick with vomit and these have been known to cause organ failure and many other serious health related issues. Plus these ingredients are known to shorten our lives and our pet's lives. The next following ingredients are also dangerous.
Sodium Selenite and Kelp or sea vegatation. Sodium Selenite will cause a decrease in water consumption in our pets plus, severe kidney disease and second generation defects. Kelp causes the thyroid gland to act up sometimes resulting in your animal needing thyroid meds. Both of these ingredients are found it many foods, even some foods that claim to be Healthy!
It just makes sense that we and our pets should stay away from chemicals, preservatives and artificial colors if we want to live a long quality life!
Hi Cindy,
I am so sorry that your dog has to go through this! Look at your ingredient list on the pet food that you are currently feeding. If it contains one of the following these could be making your dog's situation worse. These ingredients have been known as the culprit for vomiting on plenty of other animals. I have had expereience with the vomiting and these ingredients personally. The following ingredients should be avoided, especially for your dog that already has a compromised a liver. Try giving your dog a natural, holistic, organic food containing probiodics and antioxidants. Call a holistic vet or a dog nutrition specialist to assist you. We can't rely on even the most wonderful conventional vet to help us with nutrition, this is not their expertise and natural foods don't pay the vets to recommend their food, like Iams and Science Diet do.
BHT, BHA, Ethoxiquin, Artificial Colors, Preservatives, Chemicals of any kind. All of these will make your animal sick with vomit and these have been known to cause organ failure and many other serious health related issues. Plus these ingredients are known to shorten our lives and our pet's lives. The next following ingredients are also dangerous.
Sodium Selenite and Kelp or sea vegatation. Sodium Selenite will cause a decrease in water consumption in our pets plus, severe kidney disease and second generation defects. Kelp causes the thyroid gland to act up sometimes resulting in your animal needing thyroid meds. Both of these ingredients are found it many foods, even some foods that claim to be Healthy!
It just makes sense that we and our pets should stay away from chemicals, preservatives and artificial colors if we want to live a long quality life!
"concerned" thanks for your reply.
I've checked the ingredients listed on the dog food. Back to Basics is a holistic dog food. The only item you listed that is in it is "Sodium Selenite ". I sent an email to Back to Basics and the owner of the company was helpful in helping me choose a dog food. She was the one who pointed out all the bad stuff that was in the Eukanuba Low Residue; which is what the vet told me to give her. (?) Mean while, we've been doing this off and on since March. I'll just have to wait and see when she does it next and see how everything compares to that situation. I was even thinking it was her stainless steel bowls, or maybe the water was too cold in her bowl. I've seen her eat, then drink from the bowl and then the vomit comes. Her dispostion is great too. She'll wag her tail and be ready to play a few minutes after. I'm at my witts end with this issue. I just want her to be better. Thanks for your concern and advise!
For Cindy,
I forgot to mention to check for Menadione bisulphates (sources of vit. K) sometimes this ingredient is in sound alike or similar names. Garlic is not necessarily harmful but it can cause Heinz body Anemia in certain animals.
Are there any grains in the food that you are feeding? I would stay away from the grains. I know plenty of holsitic foods that contain grains.
Next, you might try a holistic vet. Make sure the vet is board certified for the digestive tract. Holistic vets usually take a whole different approach than the convential vets. If your vet can't figure it out, I am sure they wouldn't mind if you got a second opinion.
Keep me/us posted I am sure more than me will want to hear how you and your pooch are coming along. Good luck. I will check back to read your posts.
Cindy R.: I agree about talking to a holistic vet. However, in the meantime, try home cooking (boiled chicken and brown rice) for a couple of weeks (NO STORE BOUGHT TREATS) and see how your doodle does. Has your vet checked a urine sample or done blood work to see if there are any liver or kidney problems? You know your pet better than anyone. Don't let ANYONE talk you iinto anything that you're uncomfortable with. If you decide that home cooking works, the holistic vet should be able to help with necessary supplements. It's really not all that complicated once you get going. Good luck and I wish you and your doodle the best.
Cindy,
Cathy has some great advice about the chicken and rice that I just took for granted you have tried. Definately do not buy store bought treats!
Here's more info about Nutro's bad food practices. The smell from their plant is so bad that residents in the area cannot go outside their homes. Imagine what's causing the smell...gross. Don't feed this product to your pet!
I agree with Cathy!
I found this board late yesterday and have read almost every Post regarding all the illnesses. I'm so angry something needs to be done. My 2.5 year old Beautiful Blue Great Dane has been suffering from some weird form of scabs and pimple like sores on her stomach and tail and around her private area for the last year or so, You know the routine go to the vet get 13 days of antibodics and they go away but never totally and back in we go. another $150 she was 180 pounds early this summer so the vet said she should go on his Science diet weight control which made sense.
She has lost 10 pounds and started to look better but along comes this skin problem with the smelly ears and horrible looking dry skin and pimple sores again. Well she is OFF the Science Diet and only on Organic proven dog foods like California Natural ect as of this week/ Also a supplement called Nzymes is on the way.
Heres the shocking part of my story......... We lost Our FIRST GREAT day 3 YRS ago with a horrible blood disease, "so says my vet" it attack her immune system and killed her within a week. She had blood in her urine so bad it was so horrible for my wife and I and espeacially my young children. to watch her suffer like she did.
SHE only ate one food her short life. NUTRO LAMB AND RICE LARGE BREED for puppies and adults.
My new SICK DANE HAS ONLY ATE THE SAME NUTRO BRAND FOOD AND LOOK AT the mess she's in NOW.
TWO HEALTHY PEDIGREE DOGS IN FIVE YEARS!!!!!!!!!! SOMETHINGS GOING ON
Imagine how many more people there are like Dan who are just doing some research and stumble across this blog. Imagine how many more not like Dan who just accept what the vet says and never know that Nutro food is causing all their problems.
I think there are many vets who are afraid of law suits so they don't say anything. I got my answer from Nutro in the form of a letter informing me that I was terribly wrong, and if I wanted to pursue the issue I could participate in a class actioon lawsuit. Does anyone know how you go about that? They are surely covering themselves well. For what? Because they had nothing to do with our dogs illness or death. RIGHT!
I just found this website. I think Nutro Dry Senior Weight Management is killing my 11 yr old Black Lab. I just switched from Nutro Large Breed Senior to the Large Senior Weight Management about 1 1/2 months ago abnd thats when Sampson starting going downhill..I mean come on weight management,,does this mean lose 20 lbs in a few weeks? Now sampson can't even get up himself , doesn't eat, drinks alot and the past few days hardly moved from cool kitchen floor. I kept saying to myself...I bought that new weight management version could it be that. Pet Supplies says Nutro wet not dry BULLSHIT! I go to vet tomorrow for bloodwork and I told Pet Food Co I will call them w/results. Here it is...mid Oct and still bad food on shelfs? 11 yr old lab...my husband and I hiked and backpacked w/this great friend..our 6 yr old and 15 month old LOVE their dog. There is no way he just went downhill the same time I switched from one nutro to another...so..what is everyone doing? How can we make these people pay thru the nose?
Corinth, I got the same letter. After they refused my claim, I filed a complaint with the BBB. They continue to say that because the food was not recalled, there is no problem with it. BULL! The problem with joining any class action suit that's out there is that most lawsuits are for recalled food only.
Christy D - as for making them pay - it would take people like us - unrecalled dry food users - to contact an attorney and start a class action suit and it would be in court for years. That's what they are counting on. The longer the time between the actual poisonings and when anything would be resolved, the less impact it will have on them, both financially and publicly. Keep the food that you have been feeding your dog. If Sampson's bloodwork comes back with kidney or liver problems - have the food tested for mold and fungus, as well as other toxins. If you can prove that it was the food, sue the hell out of them. Unfortunately, many of us don't have any food left to test. 20 lbs in six weeks seems kind of extreme. If he is showing problems, make sure they put him on IV antibiotics and fluids to flush his kidneys. Don't let your vet tell you it's not the food. You know your dog better than anyone. When he recovers, find a holistic vet and start homefeeding. Good luck - I'll say a prayer for Sampson and your family.
I just stumbled upon this post. I can't believe all of the animals suffering. This is horrible. I was afraid of the products sold in stores due to recalls too! I had no idea of the extent of all of this!
A few months back I found HolisticPetMenu.com. It's formulated by a Holistic Vet. They have never had a recall in 9 years of being in business. That was the first thing that I wanted make sure about. This petfood also has probiodics and antioxidants which will help many of these animals. You can contact somebody from the website with your questions even if you don't order food, a caring and knowlegable rep will contact you back and if you have concerns he or she can get you on a phone conference with the thier holistic vet that formulates the food. Your questions can be about health or nutrition. I have spoken to this vet over the telephone with my pet concerns and she is so great and my dog no longer has his horrible allergies. I learned that allergies are usually caused by the wheat and corn in the pet food. The pet food I feed now does not have corn or wheat. My situation was so simple, but my vet couldn't figure it out. That makes me mad! Anyway, the company rep keeps in touch with me and the progress of my pet and we live in different states. It's nice to know that I can actually talk to the company when I have just a small quesion or a huge concern. Oh and we also get newsletters. I have learned so much about nutrition just by talking to thier vet and recieving the newsletters. I just thought I would pass this info along to you all.
I just stumbled on this blog, beleive or not I was looking to see where I could purchase Nutro products for my animals.I have just been introduced to it recently....NOT ANYMORE!!! I have read some of these comments.I am just taken back of the cruelness of these companies!!! I have a Rat Terrier mix, 2yrs.old and 4 cats,after reading this information,I'm now lost on what I should or can feed them.
I have been checking this blog every day since I posted my story. The fact that LOLA found this board and won't be using Nutro puts a big smile on my face. WE have all spread the word and saved her dog from the horrible side effects of this dogfood.
Please all of you google and educate yourself on the ingrediants in your pets food also learn how they manipulate that as well.
Heres a few ingrediants in my dogs Science Diet R/D weight management purchased only via the VET I'm told
BHA, BHT, And ETHOXYQUIN Speacically BHA short for Butylated Hydroxyyanisole and BHT Butylated Hydroxytoluene.... Artificial preservatives added to oils to slow down deterioation. They are used in numarous pet food brands including the so called premium brands such as Science Diet, which in made her ongoing problems WORSE then Nutro for my dog if you can imagine that.
ETHOXYQUIN The FDA currently allows only a trace amount of it .5 to 5ppm in human consumed foods. yet it allows high amounts 150 ppm to be used in pet foods and LIVESTOCK FEEDS.
NOTE : Rather then list it as an ingrediant on the packaging, some dog food manufacurturers simply print "E" to represent ETHOXYQUIN
These three chemicals are HIGHLY suspicious and have been linked to all sorts of side effects such as dry skin, allergic reactions, dental disease, and poor health. as well as stimulate adverse effects on liver and kidney functions.
Peanut hulls and soybean mill run to name a few more
Update on my Sick Great Dane as I mention a few posts above this one
www.the greatdanelady.com told me to put her on Hollistic type foods and get her on a product called NZYMES nzymes.com is where you can learn how to get your animals "LOVED ONES" on the road to recovery.
She has a little more energy but she has only been on the new DOGFOOD " CALIFORNIA NATURAL" for a week and just started the NZYMES on Tuesday
One last thing Google " RENDERING PLANTS" This is where the D/F companies get there Lamb from What a joke!!!!! This is also the place where they dehumanize this TOXIC MEAT SOUP WHICH FEEDS ARE PETS. How dumb was I to really think my dogs were getting good quality MEAT products. You should have a strong stomach though. CHECK out PETA"S undercover video from An IAMS Lab. If it's true I"M CERTAINLY NOT SURPRISED.
Now that I found this post I can't stop reading it. Dan you are absolutely correct. I have learned so much about pet food that I wonder how my precious animals have stayed alive through all of it. Let's get educated and keep our animals healthy. I also saw PETA's video on IAM's which is the same company as Eukanuba. Take care!
Thank you Dan!! That was a very informative post!! I really hope everyone takes your advice and performs those searches....... It aint pretty........
Thank you shane 4242!!!! I found your comment from a google search. I'm like ";pet owner"; I've become a little obsessed to put it mildly. It does make one wonder how some animals get by without showing side effects.
I know my LAB I had for 13 years ate Science Diet. "She was a seizure dog." Some studies have indicated the BHA BHT and ETHOXTQUIN are the real culprit behind the seizures. More trips to the VET. Good for the vet right.... I'm also really concerned about my own diet regarding the foods we eat as a society. Renderers are the silent partners in OUR food chain folks, we are no longer hunters, but rather I believe were becoming the victims of our own technologically altered food chain. Corn, Soybeans and cotton are all genetically altered.
I even found articles that spoke about farmers were using or trying dehydrated food garbage, fats from restaurant fryers ,even cardboard and newspapers.
Also researchers have experimented with cattle and hog manure,and HUMAN SEWAGE SLUDGE OMG........ Cattle and hog manure and human waste as possible food for the animals eaten by human beings.
Words fail me the more I research........ Anyways
If you go to the NZYMES.com site click on "yeast problems "on the left side it should allow you to read up on "YEAST PROBLEMS" I'm challenging my Vet to be subjective and open regarding the mis-diagnosis.
A key part regarding Reagan's illness is this "the antibiotics the Vet's prescribed!make her symptoms worse. So please read it, print it, send it to a friend or whomever needs help with this illness."
I'll be checking this blog daily and will continue to give you folks updates regarding Reagan's health. She's doing her favorite thing next to me on the couch right now "SNORING" TTYL God Bless
Hey christy D, how's ur dog doing? Give us good news
I have been reading this blog the past few days, horrified. I have been feeding my 2 dogs (5 yr old lab retriever mix) Nutro Lamb and Rice for at least 2-3 yrs, because I believed it was a superior food because of the high price tag, and it's reputation. I will write more later as I am on my way out the door. Long story short I feel that reading this blog saved their live... just taking them off of Nutro this past week stopped the uncontrollable vomiting they both had. One of my dogs has vomited off and on immediately after eating Nutro for a couple of years!!! My immediate question is that after days of feeding boiled chicken and brown rice, I agonized overwhat brand of dry food to try. I ended up with Taste of the Wild Venison and Bison formula. please if anyone has had experience or heard anything, please post/ Thank you!!! it was between that and Evo, because nboth are grain free and I believe my dogs are allergic to grains.
Stephanie,
I am glad to hear that your dog is off of the Nutro. Yes this post is wonderful and has saved many pet's lives. Personally I have had wonderful results feeding Life's Abundance. Visit HolisticPetMenu.com and watch their video on how pet food is made and what to watch out for. This food is loaded with antioxidants, probiodics, fruits, veggies, vitamins and minerals. There is no chemicals in this food. They also have a great supplement line. There is also a comparison list. If you go above and read my posts a rep will contact you and work with you each step of the way, if you want them too? One thing my dog did do was shed out his old coat after a couple of weeks of being on this food. A new beautiful coat grew in. It's amazing to learn of the toxins that are stored in our dog's intestines after eating bad food like Nutro. Oh, Nutro is one of the food's on the comparison list, check it out it's interesting and it's a great product. I just love it!
Hi everyone. Thank you for all of you postings. I just found this blog today as well, because I was under the impression that Nutro was safe- as a lot of others did! Scary!! It was even a fluke that I even found this site. I wasn't going to check, I thought, "well my food is safe..." but for some reason, decided to, as I sit here with my 2 new bags of NUTRO DENTAL CARE! I know I have been so lucky! A few months back I opened a bag and it just did not smell right but my dogs ate it anyway-- Then I got another puppy and finished what she had been on, then switched her to what everone else is on: NUTRO!! Now, I have a Maltese, 4 Pomeranians and the new one is a Japanese Spitz. One day I went to buy more Dental Care but the PetSmart was out and I got a small bag of Nutro's Small Bites, thinking I would to switch, and then not have to cut the bigger ones in half for my littlest guy. Then each dog went thru a peroid of throwing up their food when the switching period was over (70/30, 50/50 then 30/70 to 100%). We just thought the "Small Bites" formula didn't agree with them--Oh, and I did try the "Oatmeal for Sensitive Stomaches" for the Maltese but she ended up with worse tummy troubles anyway. We switched back to the Dental Care but it is still a NUTRO Product!
I am so glad I found you... I appreciate all the links to other sites and all the information from all of you. I am sad at some of your stories and of course, glad at the others...I am scared now even though for the past few years, I have been very lucky with this product, but why take a chance??! I think that "Chicken Soup for the Dog Lover's Soul" sounded decent... any negative on that that anyone knows and I haven't seen yet?
I wish everyone the best and thank you for sharing your stories.
Cindy,
Chicken soup for lovers was part of the recall and be again someday. Personally I wouldn't trust it. I never looked at the ingredients but I bet that there are nasty chemicals in it.
I am so happy that you found this site. Nutro is crap, I will never feed it again!
Oh, darn! Well, I certainly appreciate the warning, Celia! Thank you!! I just bought a small bag of that as well as "Purina One Natural Blends". The Chicken Soup one was in a "Special Trial Size" bag and claims "holistic for health". Who can feel comfortable buying anything these days?! I am glad you said something because we are in the transformation stage now. I will go with the Purina then.
I Really appreciate your post! Be well
CindyF, Stay away from Purina - it's no better than the others. The pet food companies are 'all of a sudden' advertising holistic. Words don't mean anything on a dog food bag. Do some research. Your best bet is to find a holistic vet in your area who can recommend a product. There are some smaller companies who actually make good food.
Hi all. Cathy, you're right: Purina's second ingredient is "Corn Gluten Meal" and if that weren't bad enough, the 3rd ingredient is "Poultry By-Product"... so this food is definitely out.
I have been reading all the ingredients on-line on many of the higher-end foods, and am very weary trying to figure out what is best. Some have Taurine, some don't. Some have a decent list of things as the first 5 or 6 ingred., others list a meat and then a bunch of wheats and or rice follow. I read on one of the sites that that only means there is a lot of grains and the preference is that the meats are listed as primary.
One thing I didn't understand is why the "Chicken Soup...Soul" is a bad thing? I understand that their manufacturer, Diamond, had something on the recall list, but not this particular product. (or not that I saw) They seem to have decent ingredients, (Chicken, turkey, chicken meal as the first 3, and no nasty chemicals..although, no Taurine, either). Anyone have any problems with this one? I was also thinking about one of the Merrick products. Anyone like this or know of an issue with it? They aren't on the list nor had been, so perhaps this is a good one?
Thank you, everyone, for your comments and thoughts (Celia, Cathy). All the Best~
Cindy F.
I wrote a post several days ago. I have been successfully feeding Life's Abundance. The food is human grade and does not contain any corn, wheat, soy, no byproducts. It is loaded with vitamins and minerals. It's made by a holistic vet that you get to talk to by telephone if you want. Plus I have a personal rep from the company that stays in touch with me and she is great. I get the Life's Abundance from HolisticPetMenu.com. Try a bag and if you don't like it no questions asked you have 30 days to return it. Plus I love the comparison list that is listed on the website. Once you order product from the website a rep will contact you, you can even ask questions on the website and the rep will contact you. That is how I got started. I felt so important, my questions were answered and my dog, Libby loves the food. And Libby no longer has the allergies that my vet couldn't cure. My vet even contacted this company to find out more, he was so impressed with the improvment of my dog. All along it must have been either the corn, wheat or the preservatatives and chemicals in the other food that I was feeding because my dog is fine now. They also have a natural line of supplements for pets and people. I just ordered the Agility supplement for my dog which is a natural supplement for dogs that need or want to prevent soreness. It has glucosmaine and chondrotin, alfalfa and yucca and more, but I forget what. I know I spelled them wrong. Let me know if you order I will let my rep know to expect you. I even have her phone number which I don't think I should post on here. I am sure if you contact her through the website she will give her number too! Good luck because in my opinion there are no safe or good foods sold in the pet shops or grocery stores.
Thank You, Pet Owner, I just sent for the (2) free samples and hopefully (most likely) my dogs will like it. Sure would make things easier if they do! They say shipping takes 1-3 days, so I will post again when I get it and try them on it.
If you want to tell your rep, I ordered today, Saturday, and I live in NJ, if that helps (Cindy Fischer). I appreciate your help and advice (That goes for everyone).
It's really nice to have a strong and caring network of pet-lovers to go to for advice and information.
That's great Cindy,
Keep us posted. I think that your dogs will love it! Did you get contacted yet by anybody?
Yes, as a matter of fact, I just sent a note back to a lovely person who will be my rep: her name is Sherry.
Thanks again!
I contacted her too, I guess she beat me to you. Awesome, you are going to love this, Keep me posted.
Carolyn
You got it! (and she just raved about you!)
Great, Thanks! Let me know how it all goes.
Carolyn
I have read all of the above and am in the exact same boat. I took the Taste of the Wild back to the store after it made my dogs throw up again and after finding out it's made by Diamond! They haven't thrown up once on the chicken and rice, peas, that I have been preparing at home.
I too am exausted trying to decide on what to do for dog food and going broke fast buying all of the stuff for two large dogs.
The food I have finally pretty much narrowed it down too is Innova, but before I decide for sure I will check and compare prices with the Life's abundance and maybe get samples of that one first.
Why not email Sherry, the rep at her website HolisticPetMenu.com and talk to her about your decision. She can probably get you the wholesale pricing like she is doing for me and Cindy. Just email her directly from the website HolisticPetMenu.com. Plus the samples are free, I am sure she can explain the wholesale pricing better. I just know she gives the discount to all of her customers. If you want to email her directly her email is HolisticPetMenu@yahoo.com. I am sure she will try to help you. By the way I am Carolyn if she asks.
YES!!! I am online now and comparing prices and ingredients. With their auto ship and even with shipping included I am barely paying more (like 2 bucks a month maybe) for this food than the Nutro CRAP I bought for 4 years!!! Now that is my pricing before even speaking with Sherry. Thank you Carolyn!!! Oh and my 2 dogs have the same problem as Libby, I think they just took a couple of years to show signs of major suffering (liver shut down, etc.) I am gonna email her right now. I am so glad you posted your experience!!! This is exactly what I was looking for, a SMALL holistic company. That's what Tatse of the Wild was advertising themselves as... and low and behold that was a bunch of B.S. they are part of a huge dog food brand that has had recalls. BOO!! I hope this food is my answer. My dogs are almost 5 years old and I think I will look iknto their supplements as well for their hips and joints. (Golden Retriever/ Lab mix). I will post again and let you know how it goes. :)
Oops, I meant kidney problems, vomiting, lethargy etc. Not Liver.
I want my dogs to be healthy and happy again!! This has been more stress that I ever thought I would go through with pets, and the worst part is that I have spent approx. $2400 at least on NUTRO. ARRRRGGGHHH.
Stephanie,
Good Luck with the Life's Abundance! You know I am trying the LA too on Carolyn's suggestion and success. And that is exactly what I felt: exhausted after reading, and trying to do what is best for my dogs. You will like Sherry- she is Very Nice! Makes you feel comfortable right away. When I compared the prices, they were reasonable and I felt like this will be an easy decision! (autoship- delivered to your door? what could be better?!) Yes, I am looking forward to this product as well and I hope your dogs like it (and why shouldn't they?!) And, she will tell you, if you have any questions about the food or any nutrition, she will take them to the Vet (Dr Bicks), you can be involved in a live chat or listen in, or, the chat is on a tape that you can listen to at any time for one week. This was nice to know (I thought).
Best of luck and let's compare when we get our samples...
Cindy
Carolyn,
Should I email Sherry with the Life's Abunance directly or through her website?
I hope all of you are really thinking about your pets here and not trying to sell something.
Thinking of Our Pets, I Assure you.. I was just glad to have found a product someone else had had success with, since we are all disillusioned by Nutro. No, no need to worry- we're thinking of our beloved pets. Nothing in it for us to pass on a product. No, sorry if it seems that way but further from that sort of thing.
I was reading information all day and night recently and became frustrated to be hitting dead ends. For me, it was a relief to come across a product someone else liked and had success with, as well as being able to go there and see for myself what it had in it. Maybe I would have come to it eventually but Carolyn just helped and maybe saved me from wasting more money on another inferior food. I didn't want to hear, 'do more research', (I mean that kindly) I thought I was 'researched-out' by that point. I was looking for an answer in the form of what foods are good. Cathy, what do you like for your dogs? If my dogs don't like this NA, maybe your suggestion will be good for my dogs too? (I haven't gone back yet to see if you've already said, I will now, but if you want to post it again..?) You mentioned to me that Purina was no better than the others- I firmly agree now after more reading up.. and I do appreciate that-
Signing in friendship- (not selling something-) truly thinking of our pets.
Cindy
Hi Cathy, I can assure you that I have evey pet's best interest in mind. My dog went through an unpleasant experience, maybe not as bad as some but I was as confused as to what to feed my dog as all of you are. We have to purchase a pet food and pet products we have to turn money over to somebody to do that. Why not feed a good and safe food like from HolisticPetMenu.com. Like Stephanie said the pricing is reasonable and Sherry gives wholesale pricing to all of her customers, she doesn't have to do that. When you do research it you will see why I think it's the best pet food that I can possibly feed my dog. The perks are we get a personal rep that we can talk to, unlike buying Nutro or another brand of pet food from a pet shop or PetSmart. I don't like giving my money to the big chains that only continue to sell crap that was and still is making our pets sick. When you have a nutrition question or related health concern or any question who at the pet stores do we talk to? With HolisticPetMenu we get to live chat with the vet who is the formulator of the entire line, all of our questions will be and are answered. I am recieving newsletters from both the company and Sherry keeping me informed. Sherry talks to the owners of the company on calls every week, how close to the top do you think anybody on here got when they had a problem with pet food? Another great plus is that a portion of your purchase from Life's Abundance food or supplements goes back to the homeless pet population in grant money and fundraisers. Look on the website under Dr. Jane Foundation and read it for yourself. Personally I feel good all the way around feeding my now healthy dog Life's Abundance. Never a recall, human grade ingredients and made here in the US and you can get free samples. If you research it you will see that for yourself. HolsiticPetMenu also has a great natural line of supplements for pets & people. Sherry handles both. For me I am trying the Agility. I have talked to some other people about the supplements and I am anxious to try them. I love my vet but I want to stay away from chemical laced supplements for me and my pet. For Celia go ahead and email Sherry at her private email HolisticPetMenu@yahoo.com. I think I will stop writing on this post. I don't want this to get out of hand I was just trying to help. Unless anybody talks to me directly on here, I will stop writing and just read. :)
I have been feeding my 9 month old German Shepherd Purina dry dog food for the last 2 months. Last week I bought a new bag and by Saturday my puppy was so ill it was scary. I immediately took her off the food and switched to something else and within 8 hours she was completely fine again. I just thought I would share all of this with you so you know that I totally think Purina's pet food SUCKS!!! I think it is still poisoned and I have complained to consumer affairs and the fda. And of course to Purina themselves. EVERYONE BEWARE!! I don't think their food is any safer now.
Thank the good Lord I realized soon enough before my puppy died or became even more seriously ill.
Thank you for posting that because I almost switched to Purina One thinking why not just buy something cheap if it's all crap anyway??
I am still thinking of trying Innova though because now I am not completely sold on the Life's Abundance since I can't find ANY reviews for this brand online besides the web pages of the reps trying to sell their products. I am a normal person who's dogs are very sick and I am trying to figure out what to do... Innova has very good online reviews, good ingredients and no recalls from their manufacturer that I could see. I am in no way related to any dog food company, I live in a small town with only one feed store, and the owner feeds her dogs Nutro... so that's my dilemna. I need help and that's how I fond this page and I am so grateful i did!!!
For reviews on Life's Abundance try typing in Life's Abundancereviews to see just some of them. Or any company name, pet food brand and the word review or recall, lawsuit, refund etc. to get a clear pic of all that you are comparing.
Acana is also another good brand. Made in Alberta Canada.
I found this site http://dogtorj.net. I am pretty sure this is Life's Abundance.
From what I understand this "Dogtorj" is Dr John Symes, a vet, and the Life's Abundance creator is another vet, a Dr Jane Bicks.
I think the sites may just reference each other. I don't think he has any affiliation to any specific company. Not sure though...
Cindy and Stephanie,
My dog died in April. Like you, I've done more research than I care to admit. Most of what I have found about commercial dog foods is disgusting. I understand your dilemna about what to feed. Alot of people have asked and I wouldn't feel comfortable recommending anything commercial. That's why I suggest consulting with a holistic vet. A good holistic vet would know what commercial food is healthy for your pets.
The brand that you are recommending may be good, but make it a point to check often to be sure the company isn't sold. That's what happened to Nutro. They sold out, several times, and each time, the new owners compromised the quality of the food to save money.
Don't find out too late that their bonuses and stock prices are more important than your pet's life.
One more thing: Just because a food says 'holistic' on the bag doesn't mean anything. There are no regulations covering what is considered holistic for pet food. Nutro, as well as many other pet food companies, is acutally promoting a 'holistic' brand. It's the new way to sell their crap.
Thank you Cathy^^^ I am soooo sorry for your loss. I have just recently read more about dog food than I ever thought I would and it is sick what is in commercial food. After 3 weeks of research I finally bought Innova Large Breed, and just fed my dogs a small amount tonight with their chicken. (keeping fingers crossed) I hope this works because it is so much work cooking every meal for 2 large dogs!!! You raised a great point Cathy about checking the manufacturer and I will keep up on that too! I am also going to take all of my findings from this blog and the FDA website to the owner of the feed store who says NUTRO is fine and she hasn't had any complaints...
Cathy,
I meant to say I, too, am sorry for you loss. I can't imagine what all of you have gone thru but I really don't want to dredge it up for anyone again.
I appreciate all of the posts, everyone, so thank you again, for sharing.
I posted a comment in early spring after my springer spaniel, Libby, became very sick after being on Nutro Natural Choice Senior dry food. I did send a sample to Nutro and received a response saying that they did not find any evidence linking Nutro to my dog's sickness. Following this experience and a few weeks of homemade dog food (nursing her back to health), I also went on a search for the best dogfood I could buy for my dog. I tried Evolve first, which was okay, but my dog was experiencing a lot of allergies still, then switched to Wellness whitefish and sweet potato, which my dog didn't like and caused a lot of intestinal discomfort and gas, and am now using Innova Senior dry dog food, which appears to be the best yet. She eats it readily, no gas or vomiting (which she had frequently when on Nutro), and her allergies (foot chewing, etc.) have really diminished. Innova had very good reviews and I feel it is a safe food for my dog.
Itchmo.com has a good topic today with tons of comments that contain alot of links with information about things that are happening in the pet food food industry.
We bought an 8 week old puppy on Saturday. We purchased Nutro Natural Large Breed Puppy Lamb Meal & Rice Formula. The date stamp was 16 Jan 2009. Our puppy died early Tuesday morning. We had been feeding her one cup of dog food twice a day since Saturday evening. The last time she had eaten was about 7:00 AM Monday. After vomiting a couple of times (it was a large amount of vomit) she became very lethargic. She would try and take a couple of steps and would plop down. After about 90 minutes, she could no longer walk and collapsed and we took her to the emergency clinic, and the vet said it looked like she had been posoned. They also said she showed signs of neurological distress, with dilated eyes and rapid eye movement...also throwing her neck back. She had no fever, her blood sugar was a little high but not alarmingly. They started an IV, but she went downhill very quickly and died a couple of hours later. They asked if there was anything she had gotten into. This was a new puppy who was never more than a couple of feet away from us the entire time we had her. We have no chemicals on our lawn, no mouse or insect bait in the house, no blue things in the toilet and ruled out everything we could think of. When we mentioned the type of dog food we gave her, the vet dismissed it saying all of the food had been recalled. This dog food was the only thing that this puppy had exclusively. The only other thing I can think of is that our puppy did not have any diarrhea. Our other dog (who has his own dog food, which isn't Nutro) is fine. The breeder's other puppies are all fine. I'm wondering if this dog food is the problem and how to find out. It doesn't sound like I'll get a response from Nutro. It was all very quick....5 hours from the time she first vomited to the time she died. Any ideas or advice?
Kelly,
How sorry I am for your loss. That poor pup never had a chance. Just when we think that the poisoning is over....it continues. Stick with this post you will learn. God Bless you!
Kelly, I too am very sorry for your loss. This whole thing stinks. Exposure it what needs to take place. Nobody thinks we are serious about not purchasing this food. They will not do anything unless we get exposure and make some headlines. We could get together in groups and do some kind of picketing or boycotting in front of some of these stores across the states that sell Nutro to make other unsuspecting buyers aware of the potential hazzards and the changes that still obviously need be made. Then it would get attention, hit the papers and make news on TV. Then maybe these monster companies will wake up. Of course this needs to be non threatening and legal and all. Peta is always good for this kind of stuff. Any thoughts? Does anybody know how to alert Peta?
u alert peta buy going on to their web site www.peta.com
FYI, I pulled this off of Itchmo.com?
Vice President Of Pet Food Institute Continues To Defend Importing Ingredients
Posted: 01 Nov 2007 03:00 PM CDT
Open mouth and insert foot. That’s what Nancy Cook, vice president for technical and regulatory affairs for the Pet Food Institute, seems to be doing these days. Earlier this week, we posted about Cook and her statement that US must walk a tightrope with China because they are our largest growing supplier of ingredients.
In a local newspaper, Cook continues to make statements about importing. She said that most pet food and treats are made and travel within a particular region of the US and stated “You’re not going to bring ingredients across country if you can help it.”
She then stated that much of pet food ingredients are imported because the U.S. does not produce enough of the ingredients domestically.
Cook also said that one negative about using organic ingredients in mass production is that they are not produced in large enough quantity to replace what manufacturers are currently using.
She added that ingredients in pet food and treats are formulated to make a “complete and balanced diet.” Chemical names are listed on labels because it is required and they are the scientific names of the ingredients.
Source: Kane County Chronicle
Thanks for the kind words. I called Nutro today and the Customer Service Rep was very nice and filed a claim for me. I told her that I had seen hundreds of complaints about the dog food on different websites and she immediately said they they had never had any type of dry dog food recall and that all of their dry dog food is made in either CA or TN and not imported. She said they would send me a kit to collect several cups of the dog food along with all of the records that the emergency clinic had. She said they would send the food to four different labs to be tested, but also said they had never had a dry dog food recall and that all of their dry dog food is made either in CA or TN, and not imported. I explained to her that I was also going to contact the FDA for additional testing. I just can't help but think that they'll get the dog food, toss it in the trash and send me a form letter stating it tested to be harmless. Only an outside testing company will be able to give me some assurance. I'll keep this website posted.
Thanks for the kind words. I called Nutro today and the Customer Service Rep was very nice and filed a claim for me. I told her that I had seen hundreds of complaints about the dog food on different websites and she immediately said they they had never had any type of dry dog food recall and that all of their dry dog food is made in either CA or TN and not imported. She said they would send me a kit to collect several cups of the dog food along with all of the records that the emergency clinic had. She said they would send the food to four different labs to be tested, but also said they had never had a dry dog food recall and that all of their dry dog food is made either in CA or TN, and not imported. I explained to her that I was also going to contact the FDA for additional testing. I just can't help but think that they'll get the dog food, toss it in the trash and send me a form letter stating it tested to be harmless. Only an outside testing company will be able to give me some assurance. I'll keep this website posted.
OK,IF ALL THESE DOGS DIED FROM NUTRO WHY HASN'T THE FDA PUT A RECALL ON NUTRO DRY FOOD????? DO U REALLY THINK THIS BS IS TRUE, A BAG OF NUTRO HAD DEAD RATS IN IT,IF THAT WAS TRUE IT WOULD OF BEEN ALL OVER THE DAM NEWS. DOG FOOD NO MATTER WHAT BRAND DOES NOT CAUSE A EAR INFECTION. THE FDA HAS RECALLED PIZZA, BEEF IN THE LAST 2 DAYS. THERE HAS NEVER EVER BEEN A RECALL ON NUTRO DRY FOOD AND IF ALL THESE PETS DIED FROM NUTRO THERE WOULD OF BEEN ONE BIG RECALL. GET THE FACTS RIGHT. THIS IS OUT RIGHT SLANDER!!!!!!!!! I FEEL BAD FOR PETS DYING BUT PETS GET SICK JUST LIKE WE DO. THERE WAS NEVER EVER A RECALL ON NUTRO DRY FOOD BUY THE FDA. THINK ABOUT IT
Stop & Think,
I'm not saying Nutro dog food killed my puppy. I'd just like to know what killed her. I have a right to have the dog food tested, which is what I'm going to do. When you have watched your three kids cry over their dying puppy, I'll listen to you. Until then, I'm going to exhaust every possibility I can to prevent this from ever happening to my family again.
Dog food itself does not cause ear infections. Wheat is usually the number one culprit of allergies especially ear infections, yeast in particular. Any vet will confirm that one. Then we have corn and soy that are usually the cause of overall allergies including ear, itchy feet, skin, loosing hair, and other allergies. Corn and other grains are also hard on the digestive tract making the liver and other organs work harder. (Rice is okay!) Preservatives and chemicals have a negative role to play as well.
It sure looks like all of these poor people that lost pets while feeding Nutro definately have a case. I would be the last one to argue with them since this situation didn't affect me personally.
My guess would be that Nutro is not testing for the right culprit. I bet once they figure it out there will be another massive recall with the commercial pet food products again. If you read other articles and participate in other chats it's not just Nutro making animals sick and killing them. This pet food issue is far from over whether it's Nutro or any other commercial pet food.
Yes, we have had recalls on people food that has made people sick and some have died. This is not a pleasant thought for people or pets, no matter where the source of the problem is!
To: stop and think says
You probably have not had too many dogs if you don't think that the food causes ear infections. Ear infections can come from yeast, fungus, chemicals - all found in many dog food. When an animal is being poisoned., it shows up in many different ways. Unfortunately, this little puppy was so young that it didn't have a strong enough immune system to begin fighting the toxins and that's probably why it passed so quickly.
Just because the FDA has not recalled the food doesn't mean that it's safe. Do some research. You'll find that the FDA has no power to issue recalls - they can only recommend that the company recalls - then they post the info. What people have posted here is their experiences with Nutro - it's not slander. Why are you on this blog defending Nutro? Just because you don't have anything better to do today? If you feed Nutro, I'm sorry for your dog. If you work for Nutro, you didn't earn your money today.
Kelly, I'm so sorry about your puppy. Don't throw away the food. If you can afford to have it independently tested, please do it. Nutro was 'kind' to me too on the phone, but they sent a letter and said 'sorry, not our fault.' Unfortunately, I didn't have any food left. A number of people have sent Nutro samples and not gotten satisfaction. Those who did probably signed agreements that won't allow them to discuss the issue. There's a site with some good info: http://www.petfoodrecallfacts.com/lab.html You can email Don Earl and ask his opinion. He responded quickly when I sent a message. Go to itchmo.com to and do a search on pet food testing and you'll find alot of info. Again, I'm sorry about your pup. It's a hard lesson that we have learned through our pets suffering. Take care.
Parvo or distemper is the reason most puppies die from.nutro nc has no corn in it. menufoods was the reason the pet food recall was so big,most of all the wet food from all pet food came from menu foods, wellness also used menu food.THE FDA HAS THE FULL AND LEGAL POWER TO ISSUE A RECALL> GO AND CHECK OUT THE DAM LAW ! call the FDA
TO: pissed off says:
I have done my research. you really need to do yours. Look at what Senator Durbin has been trying to do since this began in March. The FDA has been useless. There are no laws giving them any power. Below are just several of hundreds of articles.
Frankly, I don't know where you read about dead rats - not on this blog. Where does corn come into this? Trying to confuse readers who are looking for answers is very underhanded. The fact that you don't post a name says alot.. Your crude language and lack of concern for a grieving pet owner is disgusting. Your company will be exposed for its unethical behavior.
http://www.levick.com/resources/topics/issues/shak
http://www.house.gov/list/press/co01_degette/pr071
look at the top of this page someone wrote they open a bag of nutro and found dead rats in the bag. the pet food recall was on can .nutro,iams,science diet eukanuba plus many many other pet food co were on the list. a dog can not get a ear infection from nutro, a puppy that dies in 2 days is not from nutro,did the vet of this poor little puppy say nuto killed it NO. cathy u get the dam facts if all these dogs died from nutro or any other dog food it would of been all over the freaking news, the fda can issue a recall they did mach 16 or did u forget ?all of us pet owners are upset over this recall my pets got sick from the recall food.yes i'm very mad but i feel if so many pets died from the nutro dry food we hear about it on the news.remember 2 years ago 15 dogs died from diamond dry food. did we not hear about it on the news didn't the fda recall it YES. sorry i don't belive this if so many dogs have died from nutro dry food or any other dry pet food it would be on the news and THE FDA WOULD OF WARN US :WHO TOLD THE PUBLIC MARCH 16 ABOUT THE PET FOOD REALL- DA IT WAS THE FDA>
The FDA and the pet food companies knew about the bad food as early as January. It took them months to actually announce the recall. Thousands of pets got sick and/or died as a result of this delay. The news stations have downplayed the whole issue. They are being paid big advertising dollars by pet food companies, so they have to be careful.
As for Nutro, their rep told me that every once in a while a 'bad batch' goes out. He also told me that if the food was not stored properly by the stores, that fungus could develop. So they blame their distributors. Their food ingredients are substandard. Again, why are you defending Nutro?
u best get your facts right menu foods is the one who with held the infro, then iams went public in march and told the fda. cnn was all over the pet food recall as well as fox and msnbc.how did everyone on friday march 16 hear about the recall ,from the dam news. u need to chill out and stop telling these stupid lies
NO ONE AT NUTRO TOLD U OR ANYONE ELSE ABOUT FUNGUS ON THE FOOD OR EVERY NOW AND THEN A BAD BAG GOES OUT. STOP STOP STOP WITH ALL THESE LIES. PET OWNERS HAVE THROUGH HELL AND BACK SINCE THE PET FOOD RECALL AND THESE LIES ARE NOT HELPING ANYONE. ONCE AGAIN I-F SO MANY PETS DIED FROM ANY DRY DOG OR CAT FOOD IT WILL BE ALL OVER THE NEWS. THERE IS NADA ABOUT THIS ON THE NEWS.
http://www.fda.gov/ora/oasis/7/ora_oasis_i_72.html
http://www.fda.gov/ora/oasis/9/ora_oasis_i_72.html
This info speaks for itself.
Kelly, here's another place w/info:
I DO NOT WORK FOR NUTRO OR ANY OTHER PET FOOD CO. ALOT OF US PET OWNERS ARE UPSET WITH THE PET DOOD RECALL AND SAYING THESE LIES IS MAKEING MATTERS WORST .I'M PISSED OFF AT NUTRO FOR CHRIST SAKES MY PETS GOT SICK I HAD VET BILLS. BUT IT WAS THE CAN FOOD NOT THE DRY. I WILL BE CALLING THE FDA NOW AND CNN. EVERY DRY FOOD THAT WAS KILLING PETS WERE RECALL WHERE THE HELL IS THE RECALL ON NUTRO IF SO MANY PETS DIED FROM DRY FOOD.????????? YES WE NEED TO THINK WHERE IS THE RECALL? OH THE HEAD OF THE FDA LOST A PET FROM THE PET FOOD RECALL,DO U THINK HE WANTS PEOPLE TO LOSE ANY MORE OF THEIR PETS -I DOUBT BIG TIME!!!!!!
Kelly, Here is another site to visit:
your vet should tell you why your new puppy died,not people on this blog.Iam so very sorry for your loss.
Our vet told us our puppy showed signs of being poisoned. I can honestly say that there wasn't ever even one minute that she wasn't within a couple of feet of one of my family members, so we know, without a doubt, that she didn't get into anything. The only thing exclusive to her was her dog food, which is why we are skeptical and have made the decision to get the food tested.
Thanks for the positive feedback posts. It's been a tough week!
Shane, whoever has been posting the above remarks started out using 'pissed off' then 'stop and think' as their name and now is using my name for their comments. Good way to confuse readers. Is there any was to differentiate between them and me? Thx.
girl u are such a cry baby- i guess now u think your thne only CATHY ON THIS EARTH NOW> get a life and stop with your lies
girl u are such a cry baby- i guess now u think your thne only CATHY ON THIS EARTH NOW> get a life and stop with your lies
THE "NEW CATHY" is a sick person... People ask yourself where did ALL the 120 million pounds of the re-called wet dog and cat food go?????? The psycho troll that calls themself cathy should be ignored and we should pray for him or her or whatever it is.
Although I have no way to prove my Great Dane died solely from Nutro 3 years ago, I'm very aware of the vet feeding her anti-biotics that only killed the good and bad bacteria that we all need to have an healthy GI tract. Which inturn destroys the natural balance needed for proper health. I have three children who are very healthy BUT the one child that gets the sore throats and ect " is the ONE who has been on ANTIBIOTICS". Makes ya wonder
My new Dane was suffering from POOR health from same poor quality non human grade Nutro for large breeds when I went to the vet He has given her three rounds of antibiotics and prescribed her the Science death R/D for weight management. That food was instantly making my dog very sick from the the poison called BHT AND BHA AND ETHOXYQUIN. Peanut hulls and soybean millrun what the heck is that stuff????
My dog has been so much better now that she is being truly fed HUMAN GRADE DOG FOOD and NO MORE ANTIBIOTICS.
Both Danes had severe YEAST INFECTIONS which comes back with malice after the Antibiotics leave the system. Then as pet owners we feed this crap dog food and the dogs can only take so much. The corn fillers and wheat gluten are bad very bad for dogs at least for my TWO DANES. Google yeast infections regarding dogs. www.greatdanelady.com I promise I don't know her and will not make one dime. If you want to save your pet's. You need to educate yourself.
I know I have!!! I'm also beginning to wonder about some of the human food were eating eating too!
I'm so mad
Hey Dan, Thanks. Want to see some scary stuff?
http://www.fda.gov/ora/oasis/10/ora_oasis_prod_lst
The FDA checks only 5% of imports. What's coming in that's not checked? Buy as close to home as you can. Hope I don't sound too paranoid.
To both Dan and Cathy; You guys are absolutely correct (at least in my opinion). One can never be too careful. There is so much going on that we don't know about, they only tell us less than half of the story. As far as being paranoid...I think that you are being smart! We try to play it safe by raising our own milk, beef, pork, veggies, fruit, eggs and poultry for ourselves and oats, corn, soybeans, wheat, hay, straw for our horses and livestock. I feed my dogs and cats a holistic pet food that I currently distribute. Any food without the preservatives BHT, BHA and the ethoxiquin plus other harmful chemicals in it is a plus. A good pet food with the ingredients made here in the US that are inspected without the added grains and a good human food without transfats, etc and both without chemicals is just a start for a family of humans and beloved pets to stay healthy.
What a difference in skin, coat, eyes, energy, weight and overall health in us and our animals/pets. We supplement with all natural supplements for both us and our pets. It's sad when you can't even trust vitamins and supplements not to use glazes and harmful preservatives that actually harm us and then they make it worse by compacting these vitamins and supplements so hard that our body can't even utilize them. To top it off most of these vitamins and supplements are not even inspected.....What about the Hartz cat vitamins on recall now...? I personally don't use Hartz but lots of unsuspecting people do. Like I said in an earlier post this pet food/human food/entire food industry is far from being safe and the recalls are far from being over....The only way for us to proctect ourselves and our beloved pets is with knowledge, lots of research, education and caution.
cathy and sherri...... Thanks for the info and that link OMG...... I've been on the war path educating folks about the bad food and yeast infections. One Boxer. One Pug and a Poodle are on their way to recovery
Dan...
People have to want to learn...Most people are brain washed by the news media and high dollar advertisng that the commercial store brands of pet food are safe and nutritious. Right now I am working with some vets that want to carry a more nutritious and safer brand of pet food and supplements. I can tell you that the vets that I work with want to grow with the concerned public and offer a better choice. For some there isn't enough time or money in it for them to educate themselves on all that is out there. That's where we as individuals have to become responsible for ourselves and our pet families. Do you know that MD's don't get one ounce of nutritional training.
I am thrilled that there are more and more people that want to learn, MD's and DVM's included. The amount of people that are becoming concerned and educated on the pet/human food industry are growing and along with it the MD's and the DVM's need to grow with knoweldge or they will be left out in the cold. It's refreshing for me to personally be involved with a Holistic DVM and a Human Nutritionist. Part of this is educating willing MD's, RN's, DVM's and anybody willing. I get more out of it each and every time... That's the beauty of it, it's all about education and we can never learn too much. I have found that there are no experts on any this. Some just know more than others. All we can do is share what we know and continue to grow.
Personally I found that sharing what I know has helped countless animals and humans...others I just made angry because they don't want to hear something that may be different from what they have believed in for years. It's the pets that I feel sorry for because their humans keep buying the commercial brands of pet food for their animals and they are slowly killing them with the chemicals and the grains and the lack of nutrition not to mention the potential threat of another recall.
The knowledge is available in droves....We need to grasp it, share it and continue to learn more!
The FDA does not spread itself out to include animals. Just like they do not control human vitamins. Our pets are dieing and some people can't accept the fact that the food they put their loved ones on, the food company that they put their faith in, used imported crap from China, and there are now grave consequences. I am sorry for all of your loses. Cathy needs a life.
you meant "cathy", right? not "Cathy", gotta be careful, lol!
thank u for this info.. I will be more careful now!
We were at the vet's, About 15 pets were there every, pet cats and dogs were on Nutro Dry Food. We all were talking about the recall and the vet tech said most peole still have their pets on Nutro. OMG My hubby asked if it was a SAFE DRY FOOD and they claim it is. But I guess the Vets are stupid too . My breeder has fed all dogs Nutro for years None of her dogs have died. My vet tells us to keep the dog on Nutro,My breeder says keep the pupies on Nutro It's safe .
Hi Vinnie and John, There are still many people using Nutro. You are the only person who can choose what to feed your pet. Becoming educated about different brands is your responsibility as a pet owner. Nutro has plenty of advertising dollars and sales people to promote their food. Their advertising reaches so many more people than this little blog ever will.
Please read from the beginning of this blog and click on links to other blogs about Nutro dry food. Maybe not every bag is bad. But, are you willing to take the chance that you'll get a bad one? Are you willing to take the responsibility for recommending this food after you have read all of the information here? This many people did not make up these experiences - they happened. If you've had any family or friends who have had sick pets or have had pets die from contaminated food, you can understand the absolute fear and heartbreak many of us have been through. Please keep an open mind and know that the people here and on other blogs are only trying to help other pet owners by relating what happened to them.
Its funny you people claimed to have done your research, right? Then you would know the recall on Nutros end was voluntary. None of their food was prooven contaminated. Besides you do research on any brand of dog food you will find boards just like this one. Even for brands not recalled. Easy to blam anyone but yourselves. Skimming through alot of you said you had just got the dogs that became sick. Ever stop and think its possible they already were. Alot of said you were mixing you ever think its something with your dog not the food. Now I know some hot shot will come rebutal this post. Just know this my 10 year old terrier mix has been on Nutro her whole life, My 2 and a half year old Shepard mix his. Never a problem. So stop blamming others for a problem you most likely created, knowingly or not.
Can I just say something? If 'you' (poizon, cathy with a small 'c') don't agree with what is being said here, why are you here? If we annoy you, why do you keep coming back? Most people on this list are just trying to tell other people what had happened to them, and not bash a company. Some might have, because they were So understandably upset by what had happened to them and they had to vent. This is normal. This is ok for them to do. Leave us alone, please. Let us speak to one another about our experiences without criticism. The whole petfood mess is upsetting enough. Please go away? Please just stop?
HEY POIZAN !!!!!!!!! Well, this HOTSHOT says," keep feeding your dog NUTRO" Try some science diet weight control as well which can only be purchased from the VETS!!!!!
We all wish you well
Disclaimer: This blog and all of my posts are truly false and we made this all up. We all have no life therefore we made this all up. We actually live in the same small town next to a rendering plant. Sorry POIZON which is an interesting name all in itself. Please forgive us.
WE wish you luck
Definitely a Nutro troll.
O.k. Poizon.... I'm going to my Friday high school message board to get an update on my team. Before I do that I wanted to give you some info. With an open mind you should read my post regarding my TWO blue Danes from TWO different breeders. They may be 4 weeks up from this point but I really hope you read them. I've spent over a hundred hours at least researching plus actually talking to holistic vets on the phone. Who at one time were regular drug pushing vets.
I strongly feel that the poor quality dog food and antibiotics that never got rid of both dogs yeast infections played a huge part "if not all "in the death of my 2 year old Dane. The same symptoms started to attack my second Dane. Both had only ever eaten NUTRO LARGE BRED LAMB AND RICE. Same signs right around her first birthday the syptoms start. I will no longer play a roll in killing a beautiful majestic breed. China is importing dangerous drugs and food additives to us daily.
Huge cover up what we don't hear scares the hell out of me. It should you as well. We in America have a food recall of some fasion almost weekly.
Words escape me when I find people with closed minds regarding DOGFOOD. IF you are one of those guys that believe in global warming then this post is in vain
Good Luck to you
Yes your Danes both ate the same foods. They were sick with different symptoms. So it must be the food. Reading through all these posts so many different symptoms. Yet again it must be because of the food. It couldnt be due to allergies and other health issues. Just because there was a food recall is the only reason you seem to think its the food. I will recommend Nutro Ultra to anyone who asks or who doesnt, that or an all Natural diet such as Canidae. Im sure your vets never told you it was the food. Animals can develope allergies at any age. Those of you that said your pet is never outta your site, please. You sleep sometime don't you. They can get sick from things you use in your daily life.
Ok last time, Where do you think they get the allergies from????? They can't break down the corn and wheat gluten and all the other un-human foodadditives. It's a slow death. It's gotten horribly worse year after year because Nutro is owned by a multi-national company that always will satisfy share holders first. As far as my vet he couldn't even find a yeast infection on either dog. The science diet R/D with bha bht and ethoxyquin really made her go down hill fast. That I do know. Vets get 3 hours to two weeks total training regarding nutrition during the end of schooling. Guess who provides the training?
Growing up I would hear some of those wild stories about "peta" I'm starting to think those folks new along time ago what we are just starting to figure out.
My point about allergies is they don't fn have them.. 98.9% of the time its yeast infections. Humans that run to the doctor for acid reflux have the same darn problem. All the darn processed foods have screwed up the stomach. And while I'm on it, stay away from high fructose corn syrup. Your dog needs you.
Stop following the herd and actually do your own research. I'm the only one here that cares about you at this point
Okay last time, your dog developed an allergy, yes it was an ingrediant in that variety of food. Guess what Nutro makes a food with no wheat products. I know this cause my 10 year old developed a wheat allergy at 3 years old. Animals develope an allergy to numerous amounts of things. Don't group all vets together eaither, cause I know plenty that have studied nutrition. Guess what they will still recommend Nutro as the commercial brand of choice. Some dogs can not have that and do need specialty diets. Thats not Nutro nor any other commercial brands fault. I don't care for any commercial brand aside from Nutro. Others will swear otherwise. Given im currently changing over to Canidae simply for the all natural aspect.
Yes I have done my research. That is why I have fed Nutro for so long. That is why now I am switching to Canidae. Though I have never had a problem with Nutro and im sure never would.
The number 1 killer in Great Danes is Bloat,They must be feed 6 small meals a day.Not 2 big meals.
Also Dan to me it sounds as though your one Dane has furunculosis. That would not be caused from food.
Poizon Spin it any way u like. You switched, thats all I need to know. a masters degree and you can't find a yeast infection aaaahhhhh I'll group them together all day. He has only killed one dog and is trying to kill the next. if i would have let him. 2,000 dollar Europeon blue great dane being killed by stupid vets and un human food. The dog has the best blood line in the world but hey let's feed them nutro and antibiotics.
REsult will get you a dead dog
Your bleu heeler is alive cause they eat rabbits and rodents and shit like that cause they live outside. Those overly aggressive biting herd dogs are the worst excuse for a pet I've ever seen. Mike vic would rather have a rabid pit bull before that. Plus you have another working dog sheperd mix who bites people all the time. Hope you have insurance for that double wide. plus a piece of crap terrier, go crawl in a hole with that wired hair piece of nutro food garbage getto dog.
Ok, I told myself I wouldn't respond to some of these posts, but here I go. Poizon, when I said my puppy was never out of my sight, I meant it. We only had her for 2 days and she was NEVER more than a couple of feet away from us the entire time. I mean that literally. There are three adults and two teenagers who live in my house and she was supervised the entire time by one of us. I will no longer defend myself for wanting to be responsible for finding out what caused my puppy to die to your or anyone else.
Kelly, What did your vet tell you, why your puppy died? If you got your puppy from a breeder are the other puppies sick? Maybe the puppy got into something where he came from. So sorry for your loss.
Kelly, What did your vet tell you, why your puppy died? If you got your puppy from a breeder are the other puppies sick? Maybe the puppy got into something where he came from. So sorry for your loss.
Kelly, What did your vet tell you, why your puppy died? If you got your puppy from a breeder are the other puppies sick? Maybe the puppy got into something where he came from. So sorry for your loss.
Cathy, My vet told me my puppy showed every sign of being poisoned. She appeared healthy when we picked her up (why would we pay hundreds of dollars for a puppy that seemed sick?!) and all of her kennel mates, plus our other dog (who eats a different brand of food) are still healthy. The breeder also called everyone who had picked up puppies in the past few weeks, who are also all healthy. Maybe she was sick when we got her and just didn't show it. I'd rather that happened than have it be the dog food. Regardless of what is wrong, I feel like I have a responsibility to rule everything out. And if anyone wants to think for one second that I haven't thought of every single thing that might have happened to her, they can think again. I'm not blaming any one thing, at this point. I'm only trying to rule things out.
Well Then I would suggest untill you are sure, to not slander a company. Its kinda like hey look all these people are doing, I think I will to. Its so much easier. Besides is that the food the breeder fed the pups? If not then you were mixing it with other food right. I mean your not gonna tell me you just started feeding it a complete new food immediatly, are you? Plus sometimes food can get contaminated at the distributor you buy the food from. Shit Half the bags at corporate stores have been pissed on.
Allright Poizon. You are done. That is nothing but nasty, mean spirited bullshit. BUBye
Hey all, what a spirited conversation! Just to let you know, I'm the Cathy who posts alot and my last post was the one about the troll.
Thank you Shane
No more mean spirited than any of you. Troll not so much, nice assumption though. Guess you people will never truely open your eyes. You will eventually die never knowing how to think and breath for yourselves. Keep blaming everyone and everything else for your issues. Im sure that is how you handle anything that goes wrong with your lives.
Hi Kelly, did your vet take blood test to see what the poison was ?Even if it was from Nutro the toxins would of showed in the tox.screen. if you still have the food let your vet test it instead of nutro. A while back on Iams dry food there was toxic chemicals in the dry food and a lab in Texas ran the test. Nutro or any other Co will not tell u they found something in the food to save their own butts. I got a puppy 5 years ago and the vet saw her the night before we picked her up and we ended up spending over a Grand getting her healthy.I hope u still have the food so your own vet can run the test on it.
If some of these posts dont make sense, I had to delete some peoples angry, nasty posts. So read between the lines. Just an FYI: I will delete any post that is hurtfull to a dog owner who has come close, or actually lost a loved one. This is not an argument about if it is Nutro's fault. This is a warning that it is.
And no, it is not just Nutro. There are quite a few horrible dog foods out there. Do some research.
There you ago again slandering a company. Do your research and actually read the ingredients in Nutro. Yes I agree there alot of horrible foods, that I would never feed my animals. Nutro is not one of those foods. Delete all you like, if someone took my views as hurtful they have more issues than had been realized. They just need to get their facts before pointing fingures. If it wasnt for boards as such, they wouldnt even think it was the food. They read this accusations and decide they want to too. Whether they believe it or not.
I've read the above messages and most sound familiar. I fed my 7 year old Lab NutroMax Senior (dry) and he became severly ill.
He started vomitting and couldn't keep anything in him, including water. It was so severe that I had to buy a wet shop vac to clean the vomit up and have the carpets professionally cleaned.
I took Cole into my vets on a Thursday and they ran blood tests only to find his cell count was screwed up and his liver enzymes were a mess. My vet, who I have complete faith in, wasn't sure what was going on as NutroMax wasn't on the recall list nor were there ingrediants in the food that was posted as hazardous. My initial fear was a obstruction in his intestine(s) or poisoning of some sort but that was ruled out.
Cole stayed at my vets for 5 days while they monitored him. Cole received X-rays, IV's, Antibotics and Steroids and around the clock care. Thankfully he started getting better and I was able to bring him home. Like most of the posted comments that I've read, I also spent several thousand dollars on his treatment.
For Poizon,
It's not about the type of ingredients in any pet food. I will agree that Nutro does not have a bad combination of ingredients. (Isn't that why most of these people chose the food in the first place?) Although, in my opinion Nutro is missing many other good ingredients found in many other better brands of pet foods. I am not sure if Nutro has preservatives and/or other chemicals in it, if they do this is deadly in itself. But it's not just about the right or wrong ingredients it's about the combination of ingredients, the origin of the ingredients, the quality of the ingredients and the control behind all of it.
Some people have lost family members others have animals still ill. These people are grieving and angry. You could show some compassion. Nobody knows exactly what is going on or there wouldn't be this post. You are guessing that it is not the the food as much as the people on here are guessing that it is the food. My personal opinion is that it is the food, because it's too coincidential. Personally I feel all commercial pet food is unsafe for many more reasons that I will not go into here. But personal opinions shouldn't be credited because you and I don't have a sick animal and thank god we didn't loose one.
Just because not everybody lost a pet to every bag of pet food doesn't make any pet food safe. We go back to quality and control and that each bag is different. Pet Food companies don't always use the same the ingredients all of the time, nor do the ingredients they use always come from the same place. Each bag is different. Whenever you see (may contain) or a similar combination of wording in the ingredient's list that means that when a certain ingredient is less expensive at a certain time of year that they will use more of it and less of something or none of something else. Piggybacking is something that the pet food companies also do to shop for the best price of a certain ingredient. This means that they may use meat but the meat is coming from a variety of sources, again making each bag different and the quality and control different from each source. The combinations of ingredients vary greatly from bag to bag for many commercial pet food companies. It is not illegal for any pet food company to do this. The wording is camouflaged so the public doesn't figure this out. Pet food companies each have there own sneaky way to produce pet food in the most economical manner. The AFCO regulations for pet food are not that wonderful. Did you know that Europe has more stringent rules and regulations than the US does regarding pet food? It seems to me that the rules for AFCO have not been updated for many, many years.
After working with a pet nutritionist, a good DVM and a Holistic DVM you won't catch me using any commercial pet food. I feed a Holistic brand of pet food that is regulated for the US and the Europeon Markets. Each week I take the opportunity to learn from a pet food formulator how pet food is made and the importance of certain ingredients and the importance of the combination of certain ingredients. That is just a fraction of what I learn each week. Every week I learn something pertinent to the health of my animals. I look forward to each training session. The scariest part for me was learning how much I didn't know and thought I did. Like I said in my earlier posts. It's all about education and keeping an open mind. Open minds absorb knowlegde and compassionate ones share it!
God Bless to all of you and that means you too Poizon!
Oops, it's AAFCO, AFCO...Thanks!
Thanks, Sherry, Great perspective.
Your Welcome Cathy and thanks for the positive feed back. I have to say that I thought twice before sharing anything given the most recent conversations.
Here's an interesting article from itchmo that shows just how much the pet food industry cares about your pets. Here's a quote from the article:
"Protecting a firm and its reputation can be just as important as removing potentially harmful products and cooperating with regulatory agencies."
That pretty much sums it up - the company's reputation is more important than your pet. What a bunch of arrogant jerks. This is why they will never get a penny of my money ever again. It's like they just spit in the faces of their customers.
Individuals are desperately seeking a nutritious and safe product!
This is just some of the information that I have learned and I would like to share it with you.
It is virtually impossible to look at any pet food label and only make judgments based on ingredients and there order, without first looking at a company and their ethics. There is no way to actually know what is in a food and in what amounts.
For starters, Menadione Dimethylpyramidinal Bisulphate and Sodium Selenite. They have both been linked through extensive studies with animals to toxic kidney disorders. Something no pets need to eat, especially if they are recovering from kidney and liver problems.
I would like to say that if any person truly wishing to be concerned about what they were buying would do their due diligence and take the time to call each of these pet food companies. Just because Ethoxyquin is not listed, ask about it. Ethoxyquin is a deadly ingredient and you surely don’t want this in your pet’s food. Yes it is highly suspected as being carcinogenic. Catfish meal is a good ingredient but it must be free of toxins and tested for many dangerous contaminants. Does the pet food company test their catfish? Do they know what the catfish are eating at the farm? I can assure you that there are probably many companies that list their catfish meal as Ethoxyquin free, but that does not mean that it is as free of overall contaminants as it should be.
To make a distinction between brown rice as a good quality grain and potato product (which by the way in some better pet foods is whole potatoes, but due to following strict AAFCO protocol, we must list it as potato product and also the same goes for egg product..... ..a good pet food company will use whole eggs. They are both carbohydrates. Basically a carbohydrate is a carbohydrate. The animals system knows no difference. Whether one or the other is a filler is directly determined by the amounts that are used! This is why you can't just go by the label and the order that the ingredients are listed. A better pet food company will use only enough of these two products to allow the kibble to form properly. If you are formulating a food according to AAFCO guidelines, you must have so much protein, so much carbohydrates, and so much fat. It is a required ratio between them to meet the guidelines. This is why a better pet food company can list chicken meal and have fish meal 10th on the list and are still supplying more than adequate protein. By the way the word "meal" in itself can be misleading and may contain all sorts of things. The definition of "meal" is basically something ground into a fine or course product. Depending on the standards of the particular company it may or may not contain by products. A better pet food company will use steroid and hormone free, free range chicken (high quality chicken) with no by products whatsoever.
Some tests done at Purdue where done with most common foods on the market and when you look at their labels, the fact that fats was fourth on the list has nothing really to do with it. To be in accordance with AAFCO you must have so much fat to your ratios of carbs and protein. What most companies do is use the protein content of things like corn, wheat, brown rice, glutens, etc. as part of their total protein. There is too much of them which now makes them truly fillers. If you analyze these ingredients they will have protein in them. However, protein coming from grain or vegetable sources is only at best 50% usable by the animal. Chicken is 70% usable. So when you throw in a fat (and in most cases with other companies it is a fat that comes from sources of chicken, or other animals that have been feed all kinds of steroids, hormones, antibiotics, and cheap feeds that contain many toxic contaminants, rancid fats), it does or possibly can create problems. In a better pet food they would use only fresh fat that comes from as clean a source as possible and not use carbohydrates as fillers.
Which leads us to beet pulp as an ingredient........ A better pet food company will not use sugar beets for beet pulp for one. A better beet is a gray little beet where all of the sugar has been removed. The real truth is this beet pulp is a digestible fiber that is critical for the health of the digestive tract. It is what the live or friendly bacterial cultures thrive on. Beet pulp should be listed as it is beneficial to the intestinal tract. It also helps to promote a nicely segmented stool. Proper ingredients are very important and crucial to overall health of the animal. 70% of the immune system function begins in the digestive tract.
Some of these unexplained problems in many pets very easily could be caused by the animals being exposed to contaminants in other foods resulting in poor intestinal health (google leaky gut syndrome), artificial and chemical additives and preservatives, etc.
Just trying to clarify between protein or a fat is a carbohydrate, whether it is a grain, a potato, or a vegetable. What matters most is that they are carbohydrates that provide dense nutrition, are not used simply as fillers in way too high of a concentration or used to up the total protein content and that they are in the proper ratio to the amount of protein and fat. The egg product was already discussed above.
Any company that lists whole eggs or whole potato is not going by AAFCO regulations. If they are willing to bend the rules on their label just so it sounds better to the uninformed consumer, then what other rules are they willing to bend in order to make a sale or increase their profit margin?
Any company that can make any label sound good........ .the real test is in the results that a food provides to the animal. When you can feed less amounts than another food and see improvement in energy levels, more life in the eyes (a strict indicator of better health), better attitude, improvement in coat condition, and excellent growth in puppies, then that is the true test of a good food. In a good pet food we see all these things over the course of a month or two. Usually within a month!
Let me add that in your better pet food companies you will not see life stages of pet food. That is because a puppy needs a certain amount of protein count to grow. Most commercial “Adult” dog food has very little protein and can not sustain the growth of a puppy. After many studies on wolves/dogs over the years it has been found that it is much more beneficial to the health of all dogs to feed a higher “quality” protein.
As stated before yes Holistic and organic food would ultimatly be better. Just like with people, yet for whatever reasons people will still eat the lower quality food. I never said Nutro was the best food to feed your pet. Yet it is the best commercial to feed your pet. Alot of what you people say is not fact. Im sure most of you dont have a clue in the wourls. Just start pointing fingers like everyone else. All im getting at is get your facts that the food mad your pwt sick, then open your mouth. Till then shut it. Once again look up any brand of pet food, even Holistic brands. You will find boards just like this, with claims it made there pet sick.
What I wrote is fact. And yes, whether the brand is commercial, organic or holistic you still have to be careful and do your homework.
Just because I work with a product/food formulator does not me an expert. However, I do happen to know more about pet food and products than the average person. I learn something everyday and when I do I try to share the important findings with other caring people to make them aware and to help them choose a product for their pets. It's their choice if they want to listen/believe me or not. Most smart people will take into consideration what I wrote and they will investigate it for themselves and make their judgement call. There are some good pet foods available. If you read my earlier post I said that Nutro had a decent combination of ingredients...but you need to learn to call the company for a better break down. I couldn't tell you what Nutro's break down is, I never called them and I am not going to because I will never feed a commercial pet food again and not because of the "bad" posts on here but because I have done my homework and feel Nutro is not an acceptable source of nutrition for my pets. If you had asked me a year or two ago, I would have agreed that Nutro was okay...but now I have more knowledge and I feel differently.
We are not on this post to fight with you, change your mind, or to change your food...It's clearly a place to vent and talk to other caring individuals with the same problem. This has also turned into an educational post...As it reads up top..."Let's get organized" Everybody is going to have their own opinion on this subject but there is no reason to get so angry, unless of course you lost a pet or are trying to nurse one back to health.
I Just heard on the news that Nutro has till 2008 to clean up the funky oders comeing from their plant. The story is also on ITCHMO website. PLUS it would be reall COOL if everyone stops tearing people apart and calling them NASTY names which is so low. We need to protect our Pets !
I read the same news on Itchmo.com about Nutro...Yuk!
Good Point. I agree the focus is on our pets.
Okay, to clear up the confusion between Cathys, I'm Cathy Z who has been posting for 7 months and posts alot. I guess I should not have dropped the 'Z'.
To the other Cathy, you're right, imagine what is making those smells. This is not the first time Nutro has been in the news for noxious odors. Here's the link:
Its a factory people. Wow you people just wont get it. Its great that Sherry is on here feeding her thoughts on nutrition. Which don't get me wrong I mostly agree on. Yet noone on here yet has any facts about Nutro itself, only assumptions. Its Nutro that you claim to be the problem, wheres your facts?
There are many criminals who have not been caught, but that doesn't make them any less criminal. Unfortunately for me, I don't have any food left to send for testing. I gave the remaining 1/2 bag to my VET. He threw it away after HIS dog got SICK. Most labs only test for what you ask them to test for. Melamine was never the real problem. The FDA never ran complete testing. They companies (Nutro inclulded) who did run complete testing have not revealed their findings. If there was no contamination, what is the harm in publishing their findings. As reports are now indicating, acetaminophen, among other things, is being found. Note that the date on the article posted above is 2006 and acetaminophen is mentioned in the article. They knew then that this was going to happen. But, of course, the reputation of the company.... Nutro just hasn't been caught YET. It doesn't make them any less guilty than those companies who have been caught. Sick and dead pets are the proof. The proof is in the postings here and on many other sites. ALL of these pets became sick after eating from NEW bags of Nutro. The pets who were taken off the food for several days got better - when given the food again - got sick again - when switched to different or homecooked - got better. Fortunately, when people find this page, they read from the beginning and form their own opinions.
GO TO CONSUMERAFAIRS.COM THEY HAVE ALOT ON DOGS GETTING SICK FROM NUTRO PLUS THEY CONTACTED NUTRO AND NUTRO NEVER CALLED BACK. OH MY CAP KEY IS STUCK,BLAME IT ON THE CAT SHE LIKES TO SLEEP ON MY PC. I THINK ALOT OF PEOPLE SINCE MARCH WOKE UP AND ARE NO LONGER BUYING NUTRO,IAMS OR SD. PET SMART TOOK A 1 MILLLON DOLLOR LOSS I THINK SINCE MARCH. I TOOK MY GIRLS OFF I'M SCARED TO FEED IT TO THEM.YET THEY DID LOVE THE FOOD AND I HAD A VERY HARD TIME TRYING TO SWITCH THEM TO A BETTER FOOD. BUT THEY LIKE WHAT I HAVE THEM ON NOW PLUS A PUT CHICKEN IN W/THEIR FOOD .
Geez this blog took a turn! I am so shocked about your puppy Kelly, SOOO sorry. I believe that it was the food after reading your post. My two dogs (almost 5 years on Nutro only since birth) haven't vomited once since being switched to Innova Large Breed. Before that they were very sick vomiting, lethargic and showing signs of kidney failure. Thank god I switched when I did, and this blog is what opened my eyes BIG TIME!!!! Facts are facts and when it happens to your dog or cat, one even one time is too many!!!
I haven't been able to visit this site for a long time because of an auto accident. What I really don't understand is why people want to read this if they just want to argue. I am grateful for this site, it saved my collies life. I have no doubt it was the Nutro food that was making her so sick. I am one of the fortunate ones who got the imformation before it was too late. I know I got some info about a class action suit that was being filed against Nutro. I am wondering if anybody else heard about it.
I had lunch with my DVM yesterday. She doesn't have time visit sites like this one and she hadn't heard about the problems with Nutro. What she did tell me was that she has a very ill dog admitted in to her clinic that was eating Nutro food. We disscussed this site and the issues with the animals invovled with this site having similar issues as the one in her clinic.
Where exactly does this dog's owner make the complaint to? Consumer Affairs? And Yes, Cornith you are right this site has saved many dog's lives, maybe even this one at my friends clinic?
In reference to my post above. My friend the DVM is still running tests on this dog. I just told her about the food to make her aware. But so far it is all far too coincidental. I just thought I would pass on the information as to where she could complain to if she needed to. I will also talk with my friend again today and suggest that they test the food if they feel it necessary. Thanks!
Since this ill dog has been admitted into her clinic the dog will not be fed Nutro, that's good!
Sherry,
My vet suggested I call Nutro directly. Nutro sent me a form letter and return envelope, and requested I send 4 cups of dog food back to their office, along with the reports from the emergency clinic. They said the food will be sent to 4 different labs to be tested. Because of all the stories I have recently heard, I am also sending the food out to an independent lab. I have considered calling a local news station to see if they will get involved.
I'm not sure why some people out there get so angry and defensive when they read about those of us who are questioning the dog food. I have also questioned the emergency vet, the breeder, and the owners of every kennel mate that my puppy had, in an attempt to find out why she died. It's not like she died and I just said, "Oh....it's the dog food". I will continue to collect all of the information, process it and make the choices that I think are best for my family. If this includes testing dog food, then that's what I'll do, but it was my puppy, my responsibility to my remaining dog, and my grieving kids that I have to live with.
Thanks to everyone with the kind remarks. It sure beats the slaps in the face from some of the others.
EVERY ONE WHO HAS A SICK PET OR LOST A PET BECAUSE OF NUTRO PLEASE CONTACT CONSUMERAFFAIRS.COM THERE ARE ALOT OF STORIES OF PETS WHO GOT SICK ON NUTRO AND THEY WILL KEEP AFTER NUTRO. KELLY IT'S SO SAD ABOUT THE PUPPY. ALSO MY DOG WAS ALWAYS THROWING , SINCE MARCH 16 WHEN THE PET FOOD RECALL BEGAN I TOOK HER OFF NUTRO ,HAS NOT THROW UP ONCE SINCE THEN.SO IT HAD TO BE THE NUTRO DRY FOOD.SOMETHING HAS TO BE DONE AND I THINK THESE VET'S NEED TO CALL CONSUMER AFFAIRS AND THE FDA AND TELL TELL ABOUT THE PETS GETTING SICK FROM NUTRO. CAB KEY IS STUCK
Thanks I will email my friend, the DVM with the information.
Whether it is the food or not Nutro has received numereous complaints. Don't you think if they cared at all they would pull the food from the shelves and try to figure it out. If it does turn up to be something in the food Nutro would at least have thier integrity left and when they fix the problem they may get their customers back for their caring and honest response. Since they haven't done anything and it does turn up to be the food nobody will feed Nutro again and Nutro will more loose money in the long run, maybe even go bankrupt.
Even if for some strange reason it isn't the food, because of Nutro's lack of integrity due the numereous customer complaints they still stand to loose more money by not showing any of these sick and dead pets and their owners any consideration.
I feel if you can't work with or trust the pet food company don't buy their food!
I already voiced my opinion that I believe it is the food!
THERE IS SOMETHING WRONG I FEEL WHY SHOULD YOU OR ANOTHER PET OWNER HAVE TO SUFFER LOSEING A PET OR A PET GETTING SICK FROM NUTRO. I DON'T UNDERSTAND WHY THE FDA HASN'T DONE SOMETHING ABOUT THIS. EVEN BEFORE THE RECALL MY DOG WAS ALWAYS VOMITING AND IT STOPPED ONCE SHE WAS OFF THE FOOD SO I PROVED IT TO MYSHELF IT WAS THE FOOD. WHAT BREED WAS YOUR PUPPY KELLY? OH ALSO TELL YOUR VET TO CALL ANIMAL POISON CONTROL AND PET POISON HELPLINE 1-800-213-6680
Kelly, If you are having the food tested independently and are willing to share the results, itchmo.com would be happy to know. There are a number of people beginning to test and share results. There is also some good advice on how to have testing done. With many labs, you have to ask for what you think might be in the food. Don Earl, who has filed a complaint against the FDA for not doing their job may have some good advice too. I sent him an email and he answered very quickly. Below is a link to their page on food testing. Good Luck
http://itchmoforums.com/pet-food-testing-b71.0/
Apparently, the FDA is now accepting calls to file complaints.
I just found this thread a few days ago after my two chihuahuas went into liver failure. My dogs have been eating Nutro Ultra Weight Management Dry Food for about a year. This may sound stupid, but I had no idea there were problems with it. I just bought the bag that poisoned them 6 weeks ago.
One dog is on the road to recovery, the other is handling it very badly. She is on a Pepcid type medicine, anti-vomiting, two antibiotics and milk thistle. She's not eating, so I'm feeding her babyfood with a syringe. Her breathing is shallow, she's trembling, drinking & urinating a lot. Can someone who has been through this please let me know if there is anything more I can do for her? My vet seems to have given up on her.
Thank you
Sara,
I am so sorry for Chihuahuas.
Given my ounce of experience I would suggest that you seek the advice of another DVM, or a Holistic DVM (Board Certified Only). I could email either my regular DVM or the Holistic DVM that formulates our food with your question. If you would like that let me know.
Being a holiday I don't know if anybody is in town or not but I could try.
After all of your suggestions pour in from this thread maybe you will put something together that sounds good to you that you can try. I am sure you will get responses from here, there are plenty of nice and caring people on this thread.
For your other dog that is coming around well. What are you feeding her? Definately watch the protein content, the food I distribute and some of the other better brands have a higher protein count. Dogs with kidney and/or liver issues/failure/damage shouldn't consume high amounts of protein. So don't just go out and buy a better food on your own talk with your vet if you haven't already.
I believe Purina makes a good prescription diet for dogs with liver and kidney's issues. My holistic vet likes the purina's prescription brand the best for overal nutrition.
My email is holisticpetmenu@yahoo.com, if nothing else I could forward your questions and try to help you. Meanwhile I will pray that both of your dogs recover well.
God Bless You!
To Sara,
That post above is from me, SHERRY....I accidently put your name in my slot..sorry!
Sherry,
Thanks for your kind words & advice. Lola made it through the night, but she still has no interest in food. Despite the extreme lethargy she still manages to spit the pills out over and over again! I'm feeding her organic babyfood (Turkey vegetable -- no onions) with a syringe. It's just hard too know how much to feed her since she hates every bite of it.
My other dog (Lily) has been eating home cooked meals -- steamed chicken with rice or potatoes, and whatever dog-safe veggies I have available. She seems very happy with it. After what both dogs have been through, I'm going to stick with cooking!
Hi Sara,Your welcome!I agree with the cooking for now and possibly later. But eventually you will need to supplement them for calcium and other vitamins and minerals that they are not getting from home cooked meals. That's another avenue for a later date...because even supplements can be scary depending on where they come from and what is in them. But home cooked is the safest for now. Especially the organic.. I like that!I know I will continue to pray for Lola and Lily. Keep us updated. For everybody, I copied yesterday's article off of Itchmo.com.....Now this is scary!
FDA’s Loophole In Testing Of Imported Food
Posted: 20 Nov 2007 07:00 AM CST
With all of the numerous recalls on human food, pet food, and other products, one would think that the FDA would not permit any loopholes to allow contaminated products into our food supply. But, five lab operators told USA Today that this is not true.
At Anresco Labs and other labs that test imported food, five lab operators said the FDA gets the favorable test results, but the negative test results are not sent to the FDA if importers tell the labs not to send them. At least 10% of the time, the lab finds contaminated shipments.
There is no regulation that requires labs to send all of their tests to the FDA. In 2004, the FDA proposed that they should get all of the results, both good and bad, but three years later, nothing has changed and no one has brought up the proposal again, and the FDA is still in the dark of the failed lab results.
David Eisenberg, chairman of Anresco Labs, said the FDA should have access to all of the lab results because this could put the public at risk and also forces lab to not say anything because they need to keep their clients. He said the current system protects the importer instead of the public.
One lab said they have even been threatened by lawsuits to not submit failed results to the FDA.
Since the FDA will reject food that has failed test results, some importers who get the negative results from one lab will hire another lab to test the food and get a passing result and give that to the FDA. From there, most likely, the FDA would approve the food to be sold in the US.
David Nelson, senior investigator for the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, testified during a food safety hearing, “We’ve heard that there are labs that don’t find products … ever to be out of compliance. And we’ve found labs that don’t report all test results.”
The FDA said they don’t have any evidence that importers are sneaking in contaminated food by not releasing failed results or going to another lab to get positive results.
David Acheson, FDA’s assistant commissioner of food safety, said by mid-2008, the FDA will have standards for imported food testing by labs and that labs will be accredited by an outside body.
One former FDA attorney who now works with companies on import regulations said, “The FDA hasn’t done the hard work of establishing standards. The lack of standards promotes an impression that (the labs) are out of control. But it’s not the labs’ fault. It’s really the FDA’s fault.”
Source: USA Today
Sara, I hope your little dogs are a little better today. Definitely find a holistic vet and don't give up. Below is a link to search by state. Most holistic vets have a VMD or DVM along with their certification. It must be hard getting pills into such a tiny dog. If she doesn't begin to improve, ask the vet to put her on IV antibiotics and she probably needs fluids too. She may have to be hospitalized. Nausea is keeping her from eating. If the antibiotics work, she'll begin eating again. Good luck. Keep us posted.
Sara,
My thoughts are with you, Lily and Lola! I hope she takes a positive turn. Best of luck at this dfficult time!
Sara,
Cathy has it pretty much covered with the holistic vets...I can't say enough that the the holistic vet that you choose must be Board Certified. If you are in Illinois, Indiana or even Florida I can recommend some good holistic vets. Or the holistic vet that I work with in Florida can help via email with some suggestions...again if you want help from her email me directly and I will get you in touch with her. HolisticPetMenu@yahoo.com.
Please give us an update on Lily and Lola. I have been worried about them since your original post.
Hi all,
Thank you for all the advice and well wishes. I wanted to post an update on my girls -- Lola & Lily. Lily seems 100% normal and is actually putting on weight. Lola's condition hasn't changed much in the last 10 days. For the most part she won't eat anything on her own and I'm still syringe feeding every couple hours. She is still vomiting at least once a day -- unfortunately her medicine usually comes back up, too.
I have a call in the Nutro but because of the holiday it's been hard to reach anyone. I'm also going to look into holistic vets (in New York) today.
Just a brief update....A few weeks ago I sent in a sample of the dog food to Nutro and received a phone call from them last night stating they had received it, were sending it out to labs, and giving me a case number. They also left a number for me to call if I had any questions in the meantime. I have also put in a call to the FDA, but we have been playing phone tag. I'll keep this site posted. Sara...how is Lola?
Sara, Where in NY? My holistic vet, Dr. Bicks is now in Florida but she used to live in NY She was head of the Veterinary Board in NYC. She is phenomenal. This is the vet that formulates the holistic pet food that I feed and distribute. Maybe if you give me a general location I can email Dr. Bicks and ask her for a good recommedation. Dr. Bicks still has many affiliates in NY.
I just stumbled upon this Justanswer.pet is a question and answer forum with 6 veterinarians on hand to answer questions 24/7. I have no idea if it is any good or not, I have not personally used it...Just for your FYI in case anybody needs it.
Sara,
Been thinking about Lola... please post. Are you all right? I'm here if you need to talk...
Cindy
More Nutro crap on November OASIS refusals:
http://www.fda.gov/ora/oasis/11/ora_oasis_i_72.htm States 235-8018025-7 1 1 Nutro Products Inc City Of Industry, CA 91744 NYK-DO 72BFA01 RECALLED PET FOOD 08-NOV-2007 POISONOUS United States 235-8018025-7 2 1 Nutro Products Inc City Of Industry, CA 91744 NYK-DO 72BFA05 PET FOOD 08-NOV-2007 POISONOUS United States 235-8018026-5 1 1 Nutro Products Inc City Of Industry, CA 91744 NYK-DO 72BFA05 RECALLED PET FOOD 08-NOV-2007 POISONOUS
Go to http://itchmoforums.com/news-recall-related/fda-oa to see information about refusals - especially jerky treats. Be careful about treats and chews.
Ok I stumbled on this forum because two weeks ago our dog got sick with diahreaa and thowing up. So we put her on a fast and fed her rice and boiled chicken and she got better. Then we left for a breif vacation and she got sick while we were gone and stayed sick. I thought about what could have changed and then I realized that the day before she got sick I had just opened a new bag of Nutro Max dry dog food. I had mixed it half and half with the remaining old dog food in her storage container.
When I realized this I searched FDA site and it wasn't recalled, then I ended up here. Shocked. Im going to take her off the dog food and see if she gets better. If she does I'll be posting some complaints for sure.
dog lover, it's amazing that all these months after the initial recalls, there are still pets becoming ill on this food that was never recalled. Good for you taking her off Nutro. I hope she bounces back.
I had 5 cats with hind limb ataxia, 34+ kittens born dead or died screaming in agony within 24-48 hours after birth, two breeding girls with uterine inertia, haemorrhage after a caesar, one girl had a seizure and I have first hand knowledge of a pet moggy cat, another indoor pet and 5 longhaired cats all staggering and wobbling after being fed Nutro dried cat food. Nutro are in denial, lied to my vet saying I was the only case in the world they knew of. We sent samples via their agent with their paperwork back to USA for testing and USA Customs destroyed the food.
So much injustice! So unfair. The NZ Manager lies through his teeth and has been caught out lying to me, to another owner and to my vet.
Why are pet food companies allowed to get away with poisoning our cats and dogs?
Greetings, everyone, I hope you are all taking your beloved pets off this nasty food. Sara, I'm still thinking about you and Lola and Lily..I sincerely hope you and the girls are OK...
I have to tell you, Group, that after a lot of agonizing food research, and it was all because I found this group, so I thank you for that, but I switched my 6 dogs from Nutro, to a product called Life's Abundance. I feel that my pets are doing really well.. no more throwing up, and their coats even look better..
Please consider getting your loved ones off the Nutro, no matter what you feed them. I tried about 3 other brands before I was totally off the Nutro. I called the Life's Abundance company to hear about what goes into their food and was satisfied with the answers I got. I know I sound like a salesperson but if you read my posts from a few months ago, I was uncertain, and very concerned about what to feed. I got feedback from others about some of my then-choices. I met someone here (Stephanie) who also uses L.A. and she had great success with her dog. I'm just trying to tell you there is a good product out there and they don't hide what they put in their food. What's nice is you can talk to an actual person--the person who makes this food. She is also a holistic vet.
I do wish everyone Happy Holidays and I hope more people can find this site and make informed choices. Its because of all of us who share a love for our pets that others may avoid harm coming to their pets. I know I owe you all not only my thanks but prayers to those who lost a pet, or still has a sick one. You are in my thoughts.
Warmest regards~
Hi Sherry, Cindy and everyone else who has been concerned for Lola. Very good news to report -- she is a true fighter and she made it through! It took about 3 weeks and there were many times I didn't think she'd would, but somehow she just kept getting better. Although she hasn't been back to the vet yet for a follow up blood test,its obvious she is going to be fine. Today she is as surly and fiesty as a 5-year old chihuahua should be, and I couldn't be happier.
Because of the holidays and all sorts of other things happening simultaneously, I haven't yet sent my food samples to Nutro but will post the results when I hear back.
Thank you all so much for your kind words and support, this forum helped me through an incredibly difficult time. Happy holidays to all!
Great news Sara. Truly Happy Holidays!
Sara, I have goose-bumps! I am soooo happy you wrote! Lots of hugs and kisses to your girls!!! Great news on Christmas eve.
Have a wonderful Holiday and Happy New Year!
Great news, Sara. What a wonderful Christmas present!
There are some updates on the website below. Nutro still causing problems.
http://www.consumeraffairs.com/pets/nutro.html
Just a tip I read. When using any dry, commercial pet food or treats, always check through a new bag when you open it for potential problems. Smell for and look for mold. Check to be sure there aren't any foreign looking objects in the food. Store food in a cool, dry place. Do not store food ini plastic containers.
Hope you all have a safe and Happy New Year.
Happy New Year!
Let us pray that we don't follow suit with another pet food recall.
There have been approximately 12 major pet food recalls in the last 11 years.
Some of the smaller recalls are not so widely publicized but thanks to Itchmo.com and some of the other valuable sites we can keep track of them. If you haven't signed up to receive Itchmo's recall news, you should!
Also watch the brands of pet food that mysteriously disappear from the shelve
Julie says:
3 years ago
You should file a complaint with the FDA. Go to the FDA website at www.fda.gov and go to the pet food recall section in the web page at the top right and then link to the consumer complaint section in the mid right of the web page. Find the state that you live in and contact the FDA to make a complaint. The FDA is obligated to take your information. It could be helpfull if something else is going on. You should contact Nutro at 1-800-833-5330 and make a complaint to them also. Good luck and I am glad to hear that Blue is better. Julie