Pet Owners Blame Nutro Dry Food For Their Pets’ Illnesses
In a ConsumerAffairs.com article, numerous pet owners are blaming Nutro dry dog food for their dogs’ illnesses or deaths. Owners all saw the same types of symptoms: diarrhea, vomiting, lethargy, excessive drinking, and lack of appetite. When pet owners contacted Nutro to tell them of the problem, Nutro representatives assured customers that Nutro dry food products are safe. ConsumerAffairs.com tried to contact Nutro but received no response. One pet owner said: “This food was supposed to be safe and it isn’t…it nearly killed our two dogs.â€
(Thanks Andy121106)
May 24th, 2007 at 12:25 pm
Maybe Nutro should have more than the rice protein tested independently… As we all know by now, nothing is making sense so how can Nutro be so certain if they have only tested the RPC?? With questions of cross-contamination just now coming to light…We’ll probably be reading here at Itchmo in a few days/weeks that these pet owners were right–that is if anyone can push Nutro to test. It seems the FDA has no intention or power to really take care of this horrid situation once and for all.
May 24th, 2007 at 12:31 pm
FDA RELEASE THE NAME OF THE 5TH TOXIN NOW.
May 24th, 2007 at 12:40 pm
This is for all who have mention their pet had problems with FF.
Maybe if we all post our compalint with Consumer Affairs it will get the same attention that the NUTRO dry is getting.
Any takers.
May 24th, 2007 at 12:51 pm
Only 1 conclusion to be drawn: Since these companies cannot be trusted and their products cannot be trusted.
Feeding commercial petfood after all that has been revealed…is trusting that a proven untrustworthy chain of conscienseless corporate thugs will not harm your pet.
What other conclusion can be drawn? I can’t see one.
May 24th, 2007 at 12:54 pm
Where are the stories from catowners who claim illness due to Nutro dry?
Why weren’t they included in the story?
If Nutro’s food is so pure, let’s see the detailed independent lab test results
May 24th, 2007 at 12:56 pm
From Itchmo’s article: “Nutro representatives assured customers that Nutro dry food products are safe”.
Hope the customers asked the Nuto representatives about their testing:
What tests are performed? Melamine? Cyromazine? Aminopterin? Cyanuric Acid?
Who performs the tests?
Can you fax me the test data from your last batch?
May 24th, 2007 at 1:13 pm
If you had read about the FDA checking the toothpaste and the Colgate-Palmolive company saying they did not import toothpaste into the US from China then why did I find this sight that says the Yushan Industrial. Co. in Guangzhou, China exports Colgate toothpaste!
http://products.ec21.com/manuf.....paste.html
And you can find all sorts of toothpaste companies from China and many companies that also sell calcium carbonate that they use in toothpaste.
go through the different pages and look for yourself.
oh yeah and on page 4 you will find Pet Select Pet Dental Care Kit which has the toothpast and the brush from Cutepet Inc. China..
look for yourself! I wonder about other companies!
I also seen that Closeup, colgate, aquafresh has a Panafro Marketing distributor in Africa. Of course this only means they get the toothpaste from some other country and they only distribute it and are a wholesale business.
May 24th, 2007 at 1:28 pm
4lgdfriend - I’m adding all the comments I can to my post on this - including those about the CAT food, just need to get permission from original posters first. I already have a couple posted, and will continue posting more as I get them…
(And until I get permission I’ll just link back to the original posts here at itchmo or wherever i found them…)
May 24th, 2007 at 1:46 pm
I noticed the dry Nutro has the menadione (CHEAP form of supplemental vitamin K) in it. That was removed from some dog foods. One in particular was the Life’s Abundance another “healthy” product. My dog consumed this product and was sick. I can not say if that is what did it to him but when I contacted Life’s Abundance, Dr Bicks assured me that the menadione was removed from their product. The bag I had at home said it wasn’t. Must not be so healthy if she had it eventually removed. Since menadione IS TOXIC, this is what could be making all those pups sick.
May 24th, 2007 at 1:49 pm
THANK you Itchmo for dedicating a thread to this article! Finally some coverage of where the nightmare began for my cat!! IF I had believed Nutro when they assured me the Nutro Max chicken flavor dry cat food (containing CORN gluten meal) was safe, she would have gotten sicker, perhaps died. She’s been off it a couple of months now (since day one of the wet food recall) and the improvement is beyond dramatic. All of her problems left when I took the Nutro dry completely out of her diet. She also had some itchy scabby spots in front of her ears that have resolved into perfect skin. She is full of energy, no more weak legs, no more “old lady look”, no more lying around looking exhausted, no more throwing food out of her bowl, no more extra water drinking, less urinating, no more vomiting bile. Kim, you still have permission to cross post anything I have said about Nutro here at Itchmo. She had been slowly developing these symptoms over a couple of months in addition to eating very little of the dry food all of a sudden after a bag bought in January. She had wet and/or human food 2x day in addition, but never ate any food that has been recalled. The symptoms began to improve as soon as I took away the Nutro dry food, before I changed any other food, and she dove into the new dry, very enthusiastic. I had really thought all that stuff was age related, but now I know it was NOT. THANK you Kim and Itchmo and every other site that has helped get this information out. Think what these companies would be getting away with without your help!!!!! I still feel guilty for not suspecting the food had changed, but how could I know, since it was the same food she had thrived on for years? She will never be eating it ever again, no matter what Nutro says.
May 24th, 2007 at 1:55 pm
Kim,
Did you find my post regarding Nutro Natural Chioce Senior Dry DFog Food?
My dog had symptoms similar to Helen’s cat. You may use my post. Please let me know if I need to post again. Where are you posting the comments youy find?
May 24th, 2007 at 1:58 pm
Can’t say I’m suprised. Remember that Nutro was the company that was slow to pull their pouches and put a big notice on their web site about how safe their dry food was. But when they were queried about their cans - they wouldn’t say boo. In fact their president had a posting on PetConnection claiming that those of us who were skeptical about the cans were slandering the company. Those cans were later recalled - they had been made in Canada with wheat gluten that was shipped there from the Kansas plant. I can only assume that they had reports of animals sickened by their canned food with those perfect cubes of melapoison. Never heard from the President again. Guess he forgot that the truth is an absolute protection against libel or slander.
Nutro lost my business at that point and I’m never going back. I wouldn’t trust Nutro to change my cats’ litter box let alone supply food for them.
May 24th, 2007 at 2:03 pm
I truly hope I don’t learn I’d been poisoning my dog with the Nutro Natural Choice Lamb & Rice kibble I’d been feeding her until the first Menu recall (even though her food hadn’t been recalled). She’d grown *so* reluctant to eat her food, ate a lot of grass, seemed depressed, drank a lot of water (which didn’t really seem suspicious at the time), but until I switched to Canidae — and I did that mostly as a matter of principle — I didn’t connect my dog’s symptoms to her food. Luckily, my girl seems okay, but I do worry that she’ll grow ill (Cancer? Kidney disease?) later on because of the food I fed her.
Anyway, I think we’ll eventually find that something is wrong with the Nutro dry, whether it’s melamine or not. I’ve stored several cups of the suspect food and the bag it came in, just in case…
May 24th, 2007 at 2:10 pm
I was feeding my pug nutro senior dry food before all this recall started. I like alot of people thought it was a good dog food. I remember telling my husband that he was drinking tons of water and I was worried about it. I dont know if this means anything or helps. Iam making home made for him now and he is fine. My younger mixed breed dog was on nutro max and he just stop wanting to eat. He seemed like he didnt feel well. I think I lucked out because the recall happened right about that time and I started feeding home made. At that time I never thought it could be the food. Now Iam not so sure.
May 24th, 2007 at 2:12 pm
PBL,
be sure and keep the samples away from the light.
May 24th, 2007 at 2:14 pm
I’ve been following the comments of owners with sick pets from dry Nutro food for over a month now:
http://hubpages.com/hub/PET_FO.....Y_DOG_FOOD
May 24th, 2007 at 2:19 pm
Wait. I wasnt feeding my younger dog nutro max I was feeding her the lamb and rice!! I forgot that I had changed her to the lamb and rice by nutro. I had changed her to the lamb and rice because I had noticed her stool wasnt looking good. I knew from experience that changing to lamb and rice will sometimes help that. So it was the nutro lamb and rice she was eating when she became ill not the nutro max.
May 24th, 2007 at 2:22 pm
Stay away from Monkfish….another product of China
http://www.fda.gov/oc/po/firmr.....05_07.html
May 24th, 2007 at 2:24 pm
Oh, I forgot the gagging, hacking, and vomiting yellow foam. Bloating. Occasional diarrhea. Lethargy.
Poor girl.
BTW, I’ve posted blog comments here and have also posted things in the forums. Feel free to copy and repost that info as you wish. Thanks!
May 24th, 2007 at 2:29 pm
I too have stored kibble from the bag of Nutro Brew ate from and became seriously ill. I don’t have the original bag as I transfer his food to an airtight container.
I do have the UPC from this bag and the previous 8 bags. I really noticed the change in him around last January. Counted it up to old age. Then the serious illness on March 6 . He woke up disorientated, with excessive thirst, so weak he layed by his water bowl for 2 days. His abdomen became swollen tight like a drum with fluid. His liver levels were high. The recovery started when I discontinued trying to feed him the Nutrro he kept spitting out. I hand fed him chicken, rice, and ground beef until he got his strength back and then switched to Canidae. He looks and acts like he is 3 dog years younger. Amazing change.
May 24th, 2007 at 2:47 pm
2CatMom, LET ER RIP!
May 24th, 2007 at 3:17 pm
Wow. I bought a bag of Nutro in March. I fed one bowl of it to the dogs. One of them vomited and I stopped giving it to them. I threw the bag out into the garage and left it. Now I am glad that I did.
May 24th, 2007 at 3:27 pm
Pit Bull Lover, re: “Oh, I forgot the gagging, hacking, and vomiting yellow foam.”
When my cat did this I thought it was a hairball that wouldn’t come up! Many hacking vomits and not a hairball to be found.
May 24th, 2007 at 3:40 pm
I believe this is the food given as samples at Pet Smart. Don’t get samples of anything, from anywhere, Im sure you all know that by now but still. We used to give it to our dogs for variety (the samples) not anymore.
May 24th, 2007 at 3:43 pm
I too forgot to mention Brew’s hacking , gagging and vomiting of yellow foam. I also forgot to mention my 3yr old Katrina rescue dog, Mona ,was on Nutro Natural Choice Adult Chicken and Rice with Oatmeal Formula which was suppose to be good for sensitive stomachs. She would throw up bile every couple of weeks. I never thought the dog food was the issue. She was switched to Canidae when Brew became seriously ill in early March. She has not thrown up bile in over 8 weeks.
May 24th, 2007 at 5:00 pm
We have the same concern over the dry nutro natural choice food. if you are interested in reading our story, please visit www.voy.com/211161/
May 24th, 2007 at 5:27 pm
Funny, I just received coupons in the mail today from Nutro for free bags of cat and dog food.
I fed this to my cats for years, and thought their puking was normal from hairballs and aging. Since I changed their food, we have very little vomiting going on here.
May 24th, 2007 at 5:48 pm
The “hairball” symptom can be a sign of urinary problems. About 18 months ago my male cat had apparent hairball problems, always wanted in, out, and I thought that was the cause. Eventually it escalated to not eating and when I took him to the vet it was urinary crystals/infection and he barely survived with IV treatment etc. He wouldn’t eat the vet Medical so I started raw/homemade which he eventually took to. He hasn’t had a “hairball” problem since. I got lazy and used cat food for a while, he started meowing funny and peeing in the wrong places again. I put him back on raw and he’s fine. If I had made him eat the Medical, he’d be pushing up daisies now, it was recalled this spring.
May 24th, 2007 at 6:30 pm
I fed Nutro Lamb & Rice dry to my dogs - for about two years. When the recall came out about Nutro’s wet foods, I started looking for a different dry food. I said to several friends “you just wait, if the ingredient is in their wet, it’ll show up eventually in their dry.” No matter whether it does or not, I don’t trust them as a company at this point. I am now feeding Canidae dry and Nature’s Variety canned. So far, so good. However, I really really wish that accutrace company would have a lower price for doing the testing - I’d love to have everything I’m feeding my dogs tested but I just cannot afford that much $. If they would offer a reduced rate, maybe they’d get even more customers. I do wish they’d publish a list of what they’ve tested and whether it came out neg or pos. Ah well.
May 24th, 2007 at 6:40 pm
Happened to both of mine, with all of the mentioned symptoms, except one ended up with a very bad seizure episode, and we stopped the Nutro dry immediately at that point (the recall for wet foods was within days of this).
The dogs stablized on home cooking, and all symptoms ceased. Blood tests still normal at this juncture; are retesting periodically to see if their kidneys stay healthy or if an impairment will show up in the near future.
They could have died. I don’t know why they were lucky enough to be spared. The food was Nutro Chicken, Rice & Oatmeal dry kibble.
May 24th, 2007 at 8:02 pm
My 6yr old sheltie was eating Nutro Natural Choice Lamb & Rice kibble when she died from kidney failure at the end of March this year.
May 24th, 2007 at 8:54 pm
Had similar trouble with Nutro Natural Choice Lamb and Rice immediately after opening a new bag in December.
May 24th, 2007 at 8:57 pm
We also had trouble with Nutro Natural Choice Lamb and Rice immediately after opening a new bag in December (vomit and loos stools). Still have bag.
May 24th, 2007 at 9:12 pm
My dog eats Nutro Natural Choice Lamb Meal & Rice Formula and loves it.
He has not had problems of any kind from the food.
May 24th, 2007 at 9:53 pm
poochmom, watch carefully for any unusual reaction to the next bag if you plan to stick with this food. My cat at Nutro Max for her whole life and a new bag started making her sick. When I took the Nutro food away she recovered.
May 25th, 2007 at 8:57 am
I have kept all bags of Nutro Natural Choice Lamb and Rice (opened), Chicken, Rice and Oatmeal (unopened) since January if we need them.
May 25th, 2007 at 9:02 am
TealCSMommy,
Just read your post and quickly went to check my bag of Life’s Abundance.
Didn’t see that vit K toxin menadione. When was that supposed to have been included and removed?
Life’s Abundance also contains catfish. I called Trilogy immediately about that when the catfish contamination was announced. I was assured by the girl who answered the phone that there is no problem with it because Dr. Jane personally inspects every batch.
Somehow, I just don’t feel assured about it now that you found out about the vit K, a toxin that shouldn’t have been in there in the first place, and it’s not good enough to be assured by the girl on the phone.
What else can you tell me? Did you take your dog off it?
May 25th, 2007 at 9:08 am
TCSMommy,
Did you ever notice the ad at the top of this page www.azhealthypet.com which is Trilogy/Life’s Abundance, and today it isn’t there?
May 25th, 2007 at 9:11 am
Poochmom,
I agree with Helen, watch carefully. Brew ate Nutro Natural Chioce Senior Dry Dog Food for 2.5 years and Mona, Nutro Natural Choice Adult Chicken and Rice with Oatmeal Formula for the 1.5 years we have had her.
Brews symptoms were subtle at first, which I attributed to old age. He is 11. Mona’s I attributed to adopting a Katrina stray (hence no history).
This past winter both were tossing bits of kibble out of their bowls, gagging and hacking but eating others. All I know is that when Brew became seriously ill on March 6 following eating from a new bag of Nutro dry, I discountinued feeding it and hand fed him so he would gain strength back. It wasn’t until the recalls started March 16 that I even thought he could be ill from his food. The vet said it was like Brew was poisoned. Both dogs are house dogs that go for walks on a leash. Brew and Mona have improved so much on another food. No more bile vomiting for Mona and her coat is much healthier looking. Brew is so alert, trots when we go for walks, coat healthier, good appetite, has regained muscle mass in his chest.
As pet parents we have to do what we think is right. Maybe just some batches of Nutro had a problem, maybe mold or another toxin. I don’t know. Based on what I have observed with Brew and Mona I will not go back to Nutro products. I think we all just need to be vigil and consider our pet’s food if they are showing a dislike for it. They may be sensing something we can not.
May 25th, 2007 at 10:07 am
2Catmom, do you know where that info was about Nutro saying we were slandering them when we had been complaining about the canned food before it finally got recalled? I would love to see that, I missed out on alot of stuff while we were grieving for our kitty.
May 25th, 2007 at 12:16 pm
Barbara,
One of our dogs just died on May 11 and she had similar symtoms that your dog had. You mentioned elevated liver levels…did he by chance also have a high white blood cell count?
Our dog became ill on May 6, Sunday…took her to the emergency center where they put her on fluids and two antibiotics. They didn’t think it was from the food as her kidney levels were good, but weren’t sure what was wrong. I purchased some raw to feed her as I was concerned about the food…our other dog was fine, but I was still concerned. It appeared that she was improving for the next three days, but by Thursday she was down again and was laying by the water bowl. I took her back to our regular vet and they took some more blood. The results showed things getting back to normal, except the white blood count was even higher now. She died the next day.
They thought it was cancer…a bleeding tumor. They said they wouldn’t know for sure without an ultrasound etc. Well, we didn’t get that far. Maybe it was cancer, but the symtoms you stated just sounded too familiar.
May 25th, 2007 at 1:05 pm
Janet,
I am so sorry to hear about your dog. They become such a part of your family. We thought for sure we were going to lose Brew.
The white cells being high weren’t mentioned when the vet called with Brew’s lab results. He said all looked good except the elevated liver levels. His urine was diluted. We confirmed again all the water he had been drinking. Blood was drawn and fluid from his swollen abdomen on a Saturday and sent to a lab. We received the results on Monday. I actually think Brew was on the mend by Monday. He had been off of Nutro for a week and was being feed cooked chicken breasts and ground beef. By Monday the abdominal swelling was going down. Based on the liver levels the vet said he was fightening some type of toxin. This all happened at the beginning of the food recalls.
May 25th, 2007 at 1:32 pm
I lost my 9 year old Border Collie back in Oct. 2006 (and it haunts me everyday)before this recall thing happened ..
due to what I believe was the Nutro Natural Choice Oatmeal dry for sensitive stomachs. This dog had been playful, running around and when I purchased a new bag and fed her the food she went downhill the next day… I took her to the vet and he asked me if this dog had gotten into any poison. She was an indoor dog only and I cqn only attribute her fast decline due to the food . Same thing as everyone else who seems to have a complaint..would not eat the food , retching , vomiting yellow bile, lathargic and then I noticed bruising under the skin. I called Nutro at the time and customer service said they had no complaints they did not seem concerned at all. The vet ran tests and catscan which showed fluid in her stomach and very anemic..
Very inconclusive . On her last few days ..she was extremely uncomfortable drinking alot of water and uneasy . I had taken her off the Nutro and had given her chicken and rice .
It was too late she had to be put to sleep. The bottom line for me is that she had been fed Nutro all her life and she always seemed to be retching and I not thinking anything of it due to the fact the vet said she may just have a sensitive stomach . I wish I had gone online and seen some of the complaints about Nutro food . Even though she had appeared healthy and fine before I purchased the last bag .. I just know there is something not right about that food and yes it could be she just got sick, but my instincts tell me it was the food . Everbody seems to have the exact same problems with it. I knowing what I do now will never purchase Nutro products again. I still am sick about losing my best friend and putting trust in the Dog food companies .
May 25th, 2007 at 1:46 pm
I posted my experience with my Shih Tzu getting sick on Nutro Max yesterday on the forum thread. I’ve also given my permission to Kim and anyone else who would like to use my comment, but what I feel needs to be done, and maybe Kim is doing it, is if we all go to the thread and post exactly what happened (giving permission for it to be used) then we will have all comments together and could do something with them???? As I said, maybe this is already in place but I wasn’t sure. Now this article today is really saying there a serious problem here. Too many sick dogs/cats and lots of food we pet parents don’t know what to do with. I still have my 2 25lbs bags!!!!!!! Let’s get together and maybe we can make a very loud statement.
May 25th, 2007 at 2:00 pm
Nutro states on their website that they have tested all of their products for melamine, and raw ingredients, as well as other toxins and bacteria.
I’ve fed Nutro dry for YEARS with no problems, and I’m sure they won’t be reshipping cans until they have been tested either.
I feed Natural Choice Lamb and Rice Senior, and Complete Care to my cats. No problems. Great coats, excellent health.
May 25th, 2007 at 2:10 pm
I posted about Nutro dry cat food “Lite” in the pink bag making my female cat sick and the 2 males and the outdoor feral colony refused to eat it. This bag of food was bought in Hermitage, PA in Feb. 2007 before the recall. As an update, one of the males became progressively more ill and was diagnosed with FUS, urinary crystals, and blockage on May 5. I now have a whopping vet bill to pay for that and a cat that I believe suffered unnecessarily, due to contaminated food. My 3 indoor cats had been fed Nutro weight mgm’t or indoor or whatever’s in the dark blue bag almost exclusively for 1 to 2 years. The other male also had urinary problems, pain, crystals, and infection approximately Jan. 2006. All 3 cats are strictly indoor cats. They have been off the Nutro brand and have been fed Dad’s and home-mades since April. Feel free to contact me for permission to use this or earlier posts. I am absolutely furious that the manufacturers have been so negligent and slow to test and/or recall foods that have later proven to be contaminated. I also work in manufacturing. There is no excuse for lack of prompt action on a suspected defective product. I believe that the melamine spiking has been happening for quite some time but the melamine additions recently increased to levels that caused immediate and severe damage.
May 25th, 2007 at 2:26 pm
Barbara,
Thanks for your post. Appreciate it.
I forgot to mention that we weren’t feeding Nutro. We had been feeding a “premium” brand before the recall, when both dogs developed a sudden aversion to the food. The male would go out and vomit shortly after eating and was having accidents in the house. Soon neither dog would eat the food. We switched to another “premium” brand…neither brand is on the recall list. I can’t say for certain that our dogs death was because of the food, but it sure makes you heartsick to think that it may be. It’s hard enough to lose them without thinking that you poisoned them. Not to mention that we still have another dog that we need to look out for.
May 25th, 2007 at 3:54 pm
Has anyone noticed that no how many people post they contacted the company to complain, they get the answer that there have been no complaints, therefore it is not our food??? If no one has complained, who have we been contacting??? How dare they lie about not getting complaints? WE have been complaining!
It sounds a whole lot like the FDA saying about melamine that since they don’t know WHAT the effects are on humans, that it is therefore safe for humans to consume. B***SH**!!!
May 25th, 2007 at 5:24 pm
We have four cats and a dog. Until the recalls they were all eating Nutro Max foods. Even after the recall we finished the bags because they weren’t on the list. When the recalls expanded we decided we didn’t trust those brands that outsourced to menu foods and switched to Newman’s Organic and now they’re eating Wellness foods.
All pets are OK. However…
Last year no illness at all. This year, one cat comes down will heart disease, cause unknown. Another cat has intestinal issues and needs wet food and stool softeners. Another cat developed a struvite crystal in his bladder and required surgery.
The vet says they’re not related to the pet food recalls, but then the vet also still recommends recalled food brands! I trusted the vet until I read all this. Now I am certain I made the right decision to switch the animals to human grade food, but I’m worried that’s not enough.
Needless to say, none of my pets (current pets or future pets) will ever eat brands on the recalled food lists again.
May 25th, 2007 at 5:26 pm
I’ve posted on other sites in the past, but since this is a dedicated thread, I’ll post here too. My four indoor cats were eating Nutro dry food–a mix of the regular Nutro Max chicken and Complete Care Senior for over a year before the recalls started. They loved the food. They also ate small amounts of Nutro Max Cat canned in the 3 oz. cans that were recalled. When the canned recalls came out, I began to feel uncomfortable with the dry food too and stopped feeding the dry foods a few days later. I have saved the remaining foods, stored in a sealed dark place in case they are ever needed for testing, and switched to another premium brand that has no recalls. So far (now more than 2 months later) all the cats have tested negative for kidney problems (they have had the in-depth tests) and have no symptoms of kidney issues. But one ten-year-old (Burmese mix) has developed an intermittent cardiac arrhytmia for no apparent reason in the year I was feeding Nutro foods, and is still in the middle of a work-up on this. I had noticed decreased energy in another cat in mid-December 2006, but she is the oldest and I thought it was related to aging.
Since I switched dry foods in March, I have seen dramatic improvement in the energy level and coats of all four cats, who range in age from five to eleven years. My Manx, who is a probable Hurricane Katrina survivor and has mild asthma, has had a further reduction in coughing. Both the Burmese mix and the Manx, who have always had increased eye secretions (like Persians do) have had a decrease in this problem since the food change also.
I paid top dollar to feed my cats what I thought was a good food. I will never buy another Nutro product again. I believe that Nutro food may have brought on my cat’s cardiac problems, which have no other explanation.
Read Nutro’s announcements carefully. They do not necessarily say what you think they are saying. They need to pull their dry products too.