Voluntary Dry Food Reports
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Report your pet’s death or illness now.
Editor’s Note: This story has been updated since the first posting.
Several days ago, we started reading reports of dry food possibly making pets sick, specifically Iams. We then asked our readers to provide their experience to us. Here’s what we found:
Number of pets covered: 134 (47 cats, 87 dogs)
Reported ARF (Acute Renal Failure): 24 (17%) 15 cats, 9 dogs
Cat Deaths: 20 | Cat Illnesses: 26
Dog Deaths: 9 | Dog Illnesses: 77
Since our report, one DRY food from Hills has been recalled so far.
We caution you against accepting this as the final word as these are self-reported numbers from parents who have been reading about other sick or dying pets. Given the caveats, the brands that really stood out were Iams, Nutro, and Science Diet. We expected quite a few Iams reports since the survey results from posts about sick pets who ate Iams, (read about Menu Foods’ exclusive contract with Iams) but the Nutro reports seemed to have come from nowhere. Of the 5 reported deaths parents linked to Nutro, 3 were from Acute Renal Failure. 3 ARF deaths were reportedly linked with Science Diet and 7 were linked with Iams. There may be legitimate reason why some brands are on this list, for example, Science Diet may be recommended by vets to particularly sick pets.
Recall resources: Detailed timeline & facts | Recalled Food List | Get recall alerts | More
Our numbers are not enough data to make any conclusive decision, but some correlations were highly troubling. We are highly in favor of a statistically correct and significant study of dry food-related problems. And we’d love to hear your thoughts in our comments.
Important note: If you feel that dry food is causing your pet to fall ill, please contact the FDA.
Number of Specific Cat Food Brand Reported: What to feed your cat
Iams: 17 (ARF: 5 dead, 1 sick)
Purina: 6 (ARF: 1 dead)
Science Diet: 5 (ARF: 3 dead)
Nutro: 4 (ARF: 1 dead, 1 sick)
Special Kitty: 3 (ARF: 1 dead, 2 sick)
Royal Canin: 1 (No ARF)
Number of Specific Dog Food Brand Reported: What to feed your dog
ARF reported:
Iams: 21 (ARF: 1 dead, 2 sick)
Nutro: 14 (ARF: 2 dead)
Ol’Roy: 5 (ARF: 1 dead)
Eukanuba: 2 (ARF: 1 sick)
No ARF reported:
Science Diet: 4
Pedigree: 2
Purina: 2
Authority: 1
Beneful: 1
Natural Balance: 1
Trader Joe’s: 1
(For emailed alerts about future recalls and other important news, sign up for our free Itchmo Pet Safety Alert.)Report your pet’s death or illness now.
April 23rd, 2007 at 3:04 pm
“Terry asked, Has anyone tried Timberwolf organics? I read their website and it sounds impressive. Appreciate any feed back.”
My pets were brought up solely on Purina products until one, my oldest, died suddenly with pet food symptoms (renal failure - 11 yr old dog), one got very sick and had to be monitored for liquid intake after eating wet Beneful Beef Stew mixed in with dry Purina, and is now on a second bout of antibiotics for his UTI (bloody urine - 6 yr old cat), and one had to be monitored for liquid intake after eating wet Beneful Beef Stew, also mixed in with dry Purina One (7 yr old dog).
Needless to say, I discontinued using Purina products very quickly. In a quandary, like most pet owners, I turned to the Internet and found this forum for advice on foods. With so many out there and especially not knowing anything about organic or Holistic foods, it was nearly impossible to pick one, so I narrowed it to three: Canidae, Eagle Pack and Timber Wolf.
About this same time, the rice gluten fiasco came to the forefront, and I was having my own suspicions about corn gluten and corn meal gluten in Purina One and in Purina’s Beneful, never mind wheat gluten in their subsidiary manufacturer, Delmonte’s wet Beneful.
Being who I am, I wanted to opt out of ALL foods with GLUTEN anything. I am sure no one would blame me, solely because my pets ate all of Purina’s products with gluten, and all three had showed some symptoms of FOOD POISONING. Notwithstanding, our beautiful, loving and faithful Shepherd, like so many beautiful, loving and faithful dogs and cats had unjustly died.
Anyway, because two of the foods contained gluten, not that they have been recalled to date, I chose Timber Wolf Ocean Blue for Dee, the 7 year old dog and Timber Wolf Serengeti for Buster, the 6 year old cat. Both dove into their bowls, no coaxing, no hesitation and no stomach or bowel irritation … nothing.
I bought the Ocean Blue for Dee for two reasons: He is overweight and I wanted to detoxify his system. So far this is working, Dee is satisfied with the amount he is receiving in his bowl, and actually does not completely eat the mealtime feedings, but leaves some behind. He no longer has foul smelling breath and his coat is back to its normal sheen, something I have not seen since I have been unable to find Brewers Yeast and Garlic Tablets at our local PetSmart.
So, I am happy and they are eating healthy, but the kids and I miss our Shepherd, Makenzie, terribly and Dee is still a little forlorn over losing his playmate and perhaps a little confused, as he still is trying to play with the cat!
April 23rd, 2007 at 6:27 pm
To Lisa M.
THANK YOU! She ate the Merrick out from under the fresh chicken sprinkled on top.
I think the variety in my cat’s diet may have saved her life. She has always had dry available and gets canned food 2x per day and a share of any meat I happen to cook or some canned low salt tuna. She is not overweight and had no health problems before the dry food incident. So when she was partially rejecting and getting sick from her dry (Nutro), she had other food to fall back on. She would have eaten more of the bad dry food if that was her entire diet. Since she will eat the Merrick, I can still give her variety without Fancy Feast. She can’t eat Sheba all the time (missing too many nutrients). She has the option of rejecting a food if she knows something is wrong with it that way. She is fussy fussy, so it is hard to tell, but I will now be more suspicious if she suddenly won’t eat something she has previously agreed to eat.
April 23rd, 2007 at 9:23 pm
Helen-glad to hear your cat liked the Merrick. They have a bunch of different flavors. My cats’ favorites are chicken pot pie, cowboy cookout and turducken. I love the ingredients in Spot’s Stew, looks great and made in a human plant, but my cats won’t go near it!! Spot’s Stew is made by Halo and they make dehydrated chicken, lamb & salmon treats that my cats absolutely love. I feed it to them almost daily. They are crazy for it. Checkout their website. I also think variety saved my cats lives, including my one cat who has had kidney disease (diagnosed five years ago). I every now and then fed them Nutro Gourmet Classics in the pouch, but like you I always keep dry food out (wellness) and feed them a varitey of different brand canned foods, as well as some homemade cooked, some raw meat. My kidney cat got really sick in 10/06-vomiting, diarrhea, wouldn’t eat. Vet thought she got into poison. I couldn’t imagine where she would have got into poison as I am fanatical about bringing any chemicals into the house. Little did I know I was feeding it to her. During that time, I was actually force feeding her Nutro!!! I picked that brand b/c she liked it the most. My pet store was sold out of the stuff, so I didn’t feed it for awhile. My cat fully recovered and then in March, I learn that Nutro is poisoned. I am convinced that Nutro made her sick back in October.
April 24th, 2007 at 6:34 am
I have rescues I feed and a colony that I feed. Well, I feed the survivors as many have died from the poison pet food. I was feeding the colony as they were hungry and I was trying to trap them to get them fixed. I’m not rch and had to buy what I could afford. As the number has dwindled I have upgraded the food but there are still close to 20 cats. The dry food I feed the “outsiders” is Purina Feline Favorites. I have 2 14 year old cats of my own and my female loves this food. A couple of my rescues like it also so I let them have their junk food.
Almost a week ago one of them started sneezing then anoher then another. I work graveyard from home and on Thurday morning I noticed one had thrown up. Next day again and the next day again. I pulled the Friskies since that is what was thrown up but I forgot there was some outside. Today I went outside and someone had thrown up. All 4 times it was Friskies. So now it’s all pulled. Today no one has sneezed and no one has thrown up.
I have an almost new 20 pound bag of cat food and I can think of a few people I would like to give it to for dinner. I have emailed Friskies so we shall see.
All I know is that this is how all this started for me last June. It was so sporadic that I just did not put it together at the time. I was overwhelmed and hindsight is 20/20 after all. I wanted to share this since it has not been recalled but it’s funny to me that I have pulled the food and not one is sneezing or thrwing up.
April 24th, 2007 at 1:52 pm
I read this site this morning at work and went home and took up my dogs food. They have been eating Hills Sience Diet dry food and when I read that a lady’s dog died from it, I decided to feed my dogs home cooking for at least the next six months. We dont know what is safe anymore and I for one do not believe any media hype from the pet food makers. We are talking about a billion dollar pet food business. In the end its all about money. Menu foods is still producing and consumers are still buying. A different pet food is added to the recall list every other day. My dogs are precious to me and I am just not going to take a chance. I cook fatty (the vet said not to use lean) hamburger meat, white or brown rice, a hard cooked egg chopped small, and crumple in three slices of hard white toast . The dogs love it and it doesnt cost that much. Put it in your freezer in small freezer bags and it keeps very well. My vet said to give a vitamin daily as well. I do that anyway. Please dont take a chance on all these pet foods. Our furry family members trust us to do what is best for them. You really cant compare an animal with a child although they are precious to us. Would you take a chance with a childs food? Me either.
April 24th, 2007 at 3:59 pm
To Anyone - Help! I need to know what the holistic remedies are! My dog is near death from sudden kidney failure and the vet seems to have given up. Anyone????????
April 24th, 2007 at 4:17 pm
Anne: Consult another vet quick? Humans get second opinions all the time, right? There may be a holistic vet in your area, who may possibly be of help?
April 24th, 2007 at 9:05 pm
Fed Purina Pro Plan to my pets for 20 years. Never had a problem. End of last year my dog suddenly got funny about eating her kibble, then in Nov/Dec. my cat started licking herself raw and chewing at her fur. I took her to the vet and after the second visit food allergies were suspected. I switched her and my dog to another brand altogether. No more itchy cat. I tried to contact Purina to report the problem, but the first time, unless it was about a recalled product, they wouldn’t take my info. I called a second time and got the same response. I then demanded to speak to a supervisor who then took down my information. I will never feed Purina again.
April 24th, 2007 at 9:05 pm
Helen - I have a cat who almost died 5 years ago from kidney failure. I would recommend lots of IV and Sub Q fluids immediately. I’m so sorry that you are going through this.
April 24th, 2007 at 9:06 pm
Sorry, meant to address my prior comments to Anne.
April 25th, 2007 at 1:07 am
I fed my dogs Purina One dry dog food and in November, within a few days of each other, my 2 beautiful babies were both being treated for kidney failure. Our vet could not explain it, as they had both been healthy. After multiple hospital visits and treatments, November 27th I lost my beautiful Rory. Early Christmas morning, my once strong Zaggy made his last visit to the emergency hospital. Now with the pet food recall, I fear they were victims of the food I fed them. I too will never feed Purina again!
April 25th, 2007 at 3:37 am
I NO LONGER WANT TO KNOW what commercial pet food is safe…I researched proper home cooked balanced meals for my 2 specific furbabies including supplements and fit for human consumption foods…Evidently most of the commercial pet food industry think pet-parents are too ignorant to learn and cook for our lil furry kids….I WILL NEVER BUY COMMERCIAL PET FOOD AGAIN —-EVER! ..and from what I hear, I’m not the only one who feels this way..
April 25th, 2007 at 7:13 am
I have fed my cats Natura’s Innova dry food for three years and I am very happy with it. I belong to a cat (and sometimes dog) rescue organization. All of us feel very safe using Innova. Since the recalls, they have a new website that is very informative regarding their ingredients. Hope this info helps someone.
April 25th, 2007 at 10:36 am
I too have a lot of confidence in Innova and am having good fortune with it. I hope no big monster buys them out, because then I would worry.
April 25th, 2007 at 5:17 pm
I too have switched to Innova. I was very impressed with the quality. My Dog took to it right away. They are privately owned and make their own dry foods. They are currently in the process of either building a canning facility or purchasing one (according to their website). Their canned products are currently being made by Menu foods. Innova said that their stuff is canned at the plants not involved in the recall, and that they have put additions safeguards in place.
April 25th, 2007 at 7:26 pm
Thanks, Ruth, for the kind sentiment. Sorry for your loss too. It is very difficult and I miss her terribly.
Just as an update, I DID file a report with the FDA on the food. Ironically, Royal Canin added dry dog food to the recall list last week — after both vets had told me that dry food wasn’t recalled. I suspect there are many recall additions in the future.
April 25th, 2007 at 9:58 pm
I just read that the FDA is starting to check the corn, soy glutens, proteins and all corn.
I am just waiting for IAM’s to come out with a recall for the dry food. They were so adamant and condesending about the dry food when I spoke with them.
And now look the FDA will check the corn.
They are going to need to do a lot of checking on food stuff as long as the U.S. keeps buying from China and other third world countries.
April 29th, 2007 at 2:04 am
my dog got sick in the begining of april he was eating puppy dry from IAMS
April 29th, 2007 at 1:00 pm
Ruth –
I never fed IAMS but I fed my 5 year old Pug Eukanuba prior to the recall, which I have since learned is just as bad. I switched 2 months ago to Blue Buffalo Chicken & Brown Rice Dry Food. Now, I know BB just recalled all their canned foods because ANI added rice protein concentrate to their recipe without their knowledge or consent. However, since BB’s Chicken & Brown Rice Dry Food has no corn, wheat, soy or other fillers in it, there won’t be any glutens present. Neither ANI nor Menu Foods manufacture this particular brand of BB. I contacted BB directly and later found information on the web to substantiate what they told me — this brand is manufactured by CJ Foods. Now I’m no authority, just a worried pet parent, and I’m not saying run out and buy BB because I said it’s good. All I can offer you is that my Pug, after being on it for 2 months, seems alot healthier. She used to have allergies and now no longer seems to be bothered by them. I don’t have 100% trust in any company anymore, but for now I’m staying with BB. Hope this information helps you, even if just a little.
April 29th, 2007 at 4:14 pm
My daughter switched to BB. too. I hope thats a safe one since recalls now seem to come out on a daily basis.
Her dogs don’t mind to eat BB. My pet didn’t want to eat IAM’s. I just thought she had become picky and spoiled. That was my fault for not listening to her. And now she is dead.
April 29th, 2007 at 5:33 pm
I have lost faith in the pet food industry. I can’t believe that after knowing the problems that pets were already having because of poor quality ingredience, they would do something like this. If they are not guilty of putting it in the food, then why is it taking so long for them to come forward. If they really care why haven’t they tested the food themself and reported to us. are they hopeing that maybe the amount that was put in will not have such a negitive result. Maybe they won’t have as much to recall. What if the amount that was put in the food was not as toxic. Where would it have ended. Maybe with children dying.
April 29th, 2007 at 5:42 pm
How much protein is in chicken by products? I have always wondered how some manufacters can get high protein when the first 5 ingredients are mostly corn. I thought corn is only 9% protein.
April 29th, 2007 at 6:29 pm
Mary: Don’t be fooled by protein content alone. “By products” are just that. They are the parts of an animal that are not edible, can’t be digested or absorbed such as bones, beaks, feet, feathers, some entrails, heads, etc. By products are not good for your pet. “Meal” is OK (unless it is by-product meal) for example chicken meal is dried ground chicken. Meal is dense with digestible protein. If you have a cat, corn and by-products cannot be digested by your cat, so they are not providing good nutrition.
April 30th, 2007 at 11:35 am
I fed my dog Nutro Natural Choice canned food exclusivly (had a tooth pulled so had to be on wet food for two weeks while healing), gravy type for two weeks. This was just weeks before the recall. I guess we were lucky as she had no problems with it. I still feed my dogs Nutro Natural Choice Chicken, Rice and Oatmeal and some canned Chicken and Rice (not gravy type) and they are doing just fine on it. Neither of these are on the recall list and neither have rice, corn, or wheat gluten in them.
May 1st, 2007 at 12:14 pm
Purina works for us. For several years now we’ve fed all of our cats Purina Cat Chow (for all ages). We’re on a farm and have 5 inside cats (1 is 17 yrs old now) and 14 outside cats. None of them have ever been sick other than occasional worms & 1 case of FeLV.
The cats also get Meow Mix pouch, Friskies pouch, Fancy Feast canned, and Whiskas Temptations treats. Everyone is still just fine.
The only problem we’ve ever had was a few yrs back when we tried switching to Special Kitty dry food. It gave every single cat diarhea, so we went back to Purina.
May 1st, 2007 at 12:29 pm
I am devastated. My 11 year old Sheltie became ill on April 15, 2007. After 4 days of treatment for dehydation because of his vomiting and diarhhea in the animal hospital, we were told that he was in accute renal failure and couldn’t be cured. I brought him home for one last night, but he was suffering and I held him on my lap while he was put to sleep. He was fed Nutro’s lamb and rice small bites (dry food) but I have become concerned because his illness and death were so sudden. I would like to know if that dog food is safe because I have 2 other Shelties that have been eating the same dog food.
May 1st, 2007 at 3:39 pm
Please read the article below. Melamine is actually added to animal feed in China ON PURPOSE(!) before it is imported to the U.S. for our pet food. It appears that the sole reason is to increase the nitrogen content of the feed, which is a bogus way to boost the protein value! Our food system is really screwed up. Now my cat Bugaboo has acute renal failure and I don’t know if he’s going to survive. I’m so angry and sad right now…
http://english.sina.com/china/.....11060.html
May 1st, 2007 at 5:38 pm
Kim: Get them off the Nutro.
May 2nd, 2007 at 3:19 pm
My cat ate Iams wet food (fish and salmon flakes) and was diagnosed with renal failure on March 17th. He is actually doing fairly well right now, tests have shown his levels are improved and he acts normally. I am making his food following the diet for cats with renal failure as outlined in Donald Stombeck’s book, “Home Prepared Dog and Cat Food Diets.”
Iams finally contacted me and said they will pay for all vet bills incurred thus far from the date of diagnosis through 4 months later. My concern is that while stabilized now, my cat could take a sudden turn for the worse in the future. So far Iams has not said anything about paying for future expenses beyond the 4 month mark. Has anyone heard about this? Also, has anyone joined a class action suit? If so, would taking payment from Iams now prevent one from joining a class action suit?
May 3rd, 2007 at 4:51 pm
I am feeding Hills S/D Light to my cats and have had no problems with it. I do have one question on the mighty dog food , they pulled the beef flavors but did not pull the ones in the multi can cases. They have the beef in them and it had the same contents as the ones pulled. How are they getting away with that? I used it to fill in for weight gain in my Red Bone. I took all I had back to Walmart. I also took back the Old Roy Bisquits in the small size since it also contained the wheat gluten as the big bisquits. They informed me that they weren’t recalled. I told them they are still made in the same place as the big and i would’nt take that chance. They finally gave me a refund, but i had to do a lot of arguing to get it. Walmart is out for the money, not for safety.
May 5th, 2007 at 1:41 am
A friend was feeding Blue Buffalo Adult Dog Food Lamb and Brown Rice. It contains Rice Protein Concentrate. She has been periodly throwing up since January.
Her dog became ill with blood in her urine this week. She was taken to the vet and diagnosed with a Kidney infection. Her protein values were elevated and lab report stated if a second test shows no improvement, consider Acute Renal Failure.
We are wondering if this food is contaminated? She is now on a different food and has stopped throwing up.
May 5th, 2007 at 12:11 pm
We have 2 Dalmatians, including a 3 year old female named Katrina and 8 year old male named Winston. Katrina was on Nutro Ultra 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 Wednesday 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 was only 3 years old, had never been sick a day in her life, and was always full of energy. 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 from leaking out of her blood vesels and entering 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 that they needed to be honest by telling us 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 the fluid buildup on body cavities 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 each time we took her outside that morning.
When we took Katrina back to the vet later that day, her Albumin levels now tested a bit on the high side at 2.9, while 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 had increased to 3.9, while her BUN and creatinine levels had returned to the high range of normal. The vet said that high Albumin levels were not as problematic as low levels.
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.
The following week, 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.
A week ago, we called Nutro and explained all of the above to them. They were polite and took all of our information. They said they would send us a mailer within a couple of weeks so that we can give them 4 cups of the Nutro Ultra Dry dog food, which is what we suspect caused the problem.
The long terms affects on Katrina’s health remain unclear. She still has 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 Ultra 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.
A couple of days ago we received the mailer from Nutro. The mailer states our customer I number and says that we will be notified upon received of any lab testing they complete. I’ll update this group when and if that happens.
We also contacted the FDA to report our concerns. Unfortunately, or fortunately in our case, they require certain symptoms to do any testing–one of them being death–so they are unable to help. However, they have our case on record now.
Best wishes to everyone else experiencing these problems.
David
May 5th, 2007 at 12:53 pm
David - thanks for taking the time to write such a detailed account of your experience. It really helps. I had a similar experience with my cat 5 years ago and she is still with me today (despite feeding her some of the poisoned food recently). I have been giving her daily Sub Q injections for 5 years and those fluids work wonders. I do not feed her the k/d diet-I personally feel the food is full of junk. I have her on a variety of high quality canned and dry cat food. I try to find brands that are lower in protein than others, but I do not not overly concern myself with protein levels. I’ve recently read that it is not so much about how much protein is in the food, but that the quality of the protein in the food is more important. Also, they say that foods high in phosporus are the foods to stay away from with cats/dogs with kidney disease. It appears that money is not a significant issue for you given the expense you have gone to save your dog, so I would recommend you check out the food on www.thehonestkitchen.com (Great food and my dogs love the stuff, we add human meat to it to make it even tastier-I should say meat made for human consumption, I don’t have a freezer full of bodies!!) Also, check out Spots Stew–I think the company even recommends their stuff for pets having kidney disease, better yet call them and they will be more than happy to talk to you and give you recommendations–www.halopets.com I truly believe that better nutrition made all the difference with my cat. Once I got her off the grocery store junk and then the k/d diet, her medical issues improved, like night and day. I truly hope your puppy continues to o well. Best of Luck.
May 7th, 2007 at 2:57 am
Hi, am new to this site,I have tried to read all of the posts… I currently have a very sick female (dog) and she also is a cancer survivor however now that I have read all of these things and thought about the past (former breeder) 9 out of 10 dogs that I have had have developed some form of cancer! I also have another bitch with Lymphoma which is under treatment at this time however,makes me wonder if that Nutro max that (back in the 80’s ) I had shipped to my doorstep as they did not have it in this area yet,was as good as it was supposed to be? I honestly thought that my animals were getting sick from the water here? I have used Eagle Pack Lamb and rice for about 8-9 yrs dry and canned and thought it was great??? A year ago Dec.,the first girl had a uti and pyometra after several months of antibiotics not helping it came down to spaying or losing her,so she was spayed. It seems she has never gotten over the uti as she is urinating blood alot and clots,vomiting,extremely thirsty etc..During this time she was also fed different dry foods to help her get her appettite back,given Nutro’s treats(Natrual choice) along with all of the other dogs. Well, I still have an unopened box as they started to refuse them,hadn’t had the chance to take them back to feed store yet when the recall started! I got to thinking about the different dry foods that she has been given in the last year, Nutro, Nautral choice, beneful, sams brand lamb and rice,pedigree Which I used to give my ,kennel dogs as well as cat food& several others…I have probably been making her more sick with all of these different foods (trying to get her to eat more dry kibble) I cooked her food for the first few years of her cancer tx,as she was in a study and on an experimental vaccine(gene therepy made from her own tumor) also homeopathic remedies. Now her tumor is totally gone and The two Universities that were involved in her treatment are in disbelief of her successful recovery…so I pray that she will not die from feeding her toxic food,after all we have been through? The other girl was not from this country and was raised on Eukanuba,pro plan and max also! She is now fighting the lymphoma… was always healthy until coming here (US) and getting a rabies shot to fly to shows….thats when her immunity started to go!! Allergies etc..I want to add that they both drink bottled water as cancer patients should not have any flouride or chlorine which both are in our water here…also out of stainless steel or glass only(no plastics or leaded china ,aluminum etc.. I was told by one of the professors(yrs ago) that if you can’t get your sick dog to eat offer them canned tuna fish…I do think that this is harder on their kidneys though? Also, one of the posts I read the person said that they were feeding their cat, dog food,this is a big no no…dogs can eat cat food but cats should not eat dog food (Not enough ash in it?) I feel for all of you that have lost your babies and pray that we are not among the ones that don’t make it. If anyone has had any problems with Eagle Pak pls let me know? I also feed some ferral cats and noticed they were throwing up and losing weight and no luster to their coats on strictly dry food and table scraps also the coons (that eat with the wild cats) have been looking pretty sruffy lately too, some have not come back??? This has got to stop! By the way a long time very successful breeder told me that Science Diet should not have Science in front of its name and that purina buys left over bakery goods bread etc.. and grinds it up bags twisty ties and all to add as a filler for their dry foods and I know that Iams and Eukanuba have Ethoxyquin in them and that is a known carcinogin! Thank you, for listening am very tired so my spelling etc is probably all off?? Am praying for good health to all Leona
May 12th, 2007 at 6:23 pm
David,
Please post back and let us know what you find out from Nutro. This is really important to a lot of us who have fed this food to our pets and have noticed a decline in their health.
May 14th, 2007 at 1:02 am
I had one cat of four that came down with the exact same symptoms. I took him to the vet (just in time) and he is still with us. He is only 3 Yrs, and all four are fed the same dry food.
I realize that pet food (some brands) may not be the highest quality….
but has anyone thought that this could possibly be some sort of pet illness that is simply co-incidental???
My heart goes out to those that have lost pets, and I remember the H*ll I went through when my 3 yr (my youngest) was sick and on the edge. But with the numbers and with the news that every day more and more foods are recalled, it just makes one wonder that maybe we aren’t just dealing with a pet-bourne virus of sorts. Has anyone researched this or run any sort of statistical analysis on this.
PS. as far as the posted statistics—– all samples are under 30 members per brand and that introduces errors in statistics such as outliers. It would be somewhat(not completely) more meaningful is all brands surveyed had at least 30 samples each.
May 16th, 2007 at 12:20 am
After having my dogs on Nutro Lamb and Rice for years, I decided to change brands. They have been throwing up bile –thought it was just because of their allergies, until the pet food recall! After weeks of emails and phone calls to Nutro, I still felt uneasy, so I switched. I did try to really research my options, even adding home cooking to their kibble as I eased them away from Nutro. I finally decided on Eagle Pack Holistic Lamb and Rice dry food. As I am reading the comments, I am starting to wonder if I have made the right decision. Does anyone have any input about this holistic dog food? Thanks for your help!
May 16th, 2007 at 3:03 am
To whom it may concern, I have two small Yorkshire Terriers. that are on Beneful dry dog food..
and Im wondering if this food is what has caused my dogs to be sick.
I have a male and a female. Named Mickey and Minnie. ages 2 and 3
These are the sympotms I did observe..they started out unusual thirst, frequent urination,..vomiting up food,vomiting up bile Yellowish stuff.vomiting up blood, lethargic, glassy nasty eyes., generally depressed behaviour, stomach upset (such as growling rumbling noises) blood in urine, peeing in unusual spots/ to not peeing at all. diarrhea, peeing a lot- to straining to pee- to not being able to pee at all.
I have been useing a syrige to get food and water down my male for days now.
I asked the vet to do a kidne funtion test,full; blood panel. and that turned out very low funtion.
april 4th peeing in unusual spots sick at their tummys.
On April 5th they both become very sick, throwing up, diarrhea, and throwing up blood, and straining to pee.
On 4/6/07 I took them both to the vets. He the vet only looked at Minnie saying she had an upset Tummy and
Gas. I said well what about the straining to pee, he said believe me its upset tummys and put them both on Lincocin tabs 100 mg one two times a day.
and gave them an injection and sent them home. Minnies cost for that visit was $ 207.10
He never even checked Mickey only weighed him. and I had to ask them to do that.
Mickeys cost was $113.05 included examination that he never got.
The meds seem to help them both a little while.
I started feeding them boiled chicken and rice.
than a few days later I
Then I put them back on the Beneiful
But Mickey seemed to start to get bad again.
so I took him back to the ER hospital. on 5/5/07
His bladder was so full where he could not pee.
Re-Examination
xrays survey reviews showed blockege of crystals.
Sedation
Baytril Tablets 22.7 mg
Canine s/d prescription diet
Total $162.65
They had to wash out his bladder he had crystals blocking and could not pee.
they sent him back home.
5/9/07
Mickey was getting even worse, straining to pee and crying and throwing up.
They washed him out again
Sedation
re-examination
Canine C/D presription diet
cost $ 46.57.
5/10/07 Mickey was very bad I rushed him back to the vet hospital.
He had Major Surgery
Kidney funtion test
Urinary calculi Analysis
Metacam 0.5mg/ml15 ml
Famotidine 40 MG
total cost $291.80
I asked that they do both of these test.
Kidney function tests are done to evaluate the ability of the kidneys to
function normally, this includes blood urea nitrogen (BUN) and cretnine
Witch came back very low.
urinary calcauli analysis we will have the nature of your pets crystals/stones analysed so we can make recommendations
on how to prevent their reoccurance.
I asked for this test to be done also/
5/12/07 Mickey cant eat, drink or even hold his head up or pee. throwing up all medication
called vet ,came in to pick up
Canine maint 5.5 oz canned
Endosorb Liquid
cost 8.70
May 13 Mickeys first bowl movent was like black tar.
was told to bring him back in. he couldnt eat, drink or hardly pee. was throwing up all meds.
May 14 Mickeys stoll looked much better, I had also took him off all meds but the acid stomach pills and the antibiotics
Thats when he started to drink on and off on his own. all the different meds was making him so sick.
May 15 Mickey is still being feed by syringe his food and water.
Later in the day, He started eating a little on his own and drinking. I had put him on nutri-cal 3 x’s a day and pedylite.
Mickey goes back on May 21 to get rechecked.
and hes still not well.
Minnie will be having these same test done with her.
she is still acting lethargic, glassy nasty eyes., generally depressed behaviour, stomach upset (such as growling rumbling noises)
and just walking with her head down,You can tell she just dont feel good.
We had made 5 trips to
Veterinary Hospital
Thats 20.00 dollars a trip =$100.00
vet bills = 829.87 so far
total $929.87and after all this my babies are still sick.
I have reported it to these numbers
1-866-895-2708
1800-551-7392
and left a report at Direct # to seniors @ 1-877-590=3068 on May 14, 2007
May 16 I will be calling the FDA Ohio 513-679-2700 ext 124
I have also kept the bags and foods in baggies in the freezer.
May 16th, 2007 at 8:49 pm
Does anyone feed their dogs and/or cats Nature’s Logic food? If so, please let me know how it is working out for you. Thanks.
May 17th, 2007 at 12:01 pm
momma 2. im sorry to hear about your pups. thats what i have been feeding my two little babies also but they seem fine. my male cat just went through the crystals in his ladder that he couldnt pass (actually 3rd time) and this past time he was in the vets for 9 days and i brought him home and wasnt doing good still and said he was already blocked again and it was going to be a constant problem so they advised me to put him down andmy vet bills were already over $1000 for kitty so it broke my heart but i di it. he was in so much pain. i dont know if it was the food he ate or why it happens but my heart is broke and i wish you luck with your pups
May 19th, 2007 at 12:55 am
Momma 2 and alison: I cannot begin to tell you how many times I have read a tragic story related to Beneful. Purina refuses to acknowledge anything wrong with this food, but too many times people report otherwise.
May 21st, 2007 at 10:43 am
I volunteer at an animal shelter, and we had a lot of donated canned food taking up shelf space so I decided to start feeding a little bit to each shelter cat every time I worked a shift. This was about a month or so before the first Menu Foods recall came out. There were a lot of different brands of canned food in our cupboard, and I just started with the one in the front, and gave some to each cat. So it wasn’t a very large amount they were getting from me, maybe 1/4 can every week. (Who knows how much from everybody else!)
About that same time, Sunkist, one of our shelter cats, started getting sick. he had Upper Respiratory like a lot of the others at that time, as it was going around. But as the other cats got better, he just got worse and worse. His UR symptoms disappeared, but he got weaker and weaker, stopped eating, drinking, urinating and defecating. He began having trouble walking. Throughout this, he was brought to three vet clinics. Twice he was left undiagnosed. The third immediately diagnosed him with ARF. But it was too late and he was put down. I still wonder if if it was the canned food I was giving him that killed him. We had around 75 cats at that time, and he was the only one who died. But one is too many! It haunts me that I may have killed him by giving him a treat! I am now afraid to give any canned foods at the shelter.
It is almost impossible to be sure we are not feeding contaminated food at the shelter. We get so many donations of canned foods and other treats, and each one now has to be checked against the huge lists of recalled foods. Shelters should be especially vigilant because people may not realize they are donating recalled products.
I also have three cats and two dogs at home. My cats buy whatever I grab at Wal-mart. Usually, Nine-lives, but sometimes Friskies. NEVER Special Kitty. (I use their litter, but don’t trust their food, never have). My dogs eat Purina adult dog chow. My one older dog seems to be slowing down and is more sluggish than usual, but he has ALWAYS been a lazy dog, so I can’t tell if it’s the food, or just his age and disposition. (I don’t trust any of the area vets around here, after seeing some of the “mistakes” they’ve made with shelter animals.) I am considering changing foods, but I don’t know to what???
I wanted to make sure that people knew about Sunkist, that even though he was “just a shelter cat”, he was special too and he should be counted.
We don’t have any samples of the food to send in, and don’t even know which food it was that may have killed him, as he got 4 or 5 brands before he died, and different varieties out of those brands.
We are trying hard at the shelter to screen our foods, and I don’t know that there’s much more we can do, other than trying to keep up with all the recalls.
My heart goes out to everyone who lost a pet.
IF ANYONE HEARS ANYTHING ABOUT PURINA DOG CHOW, FRISKIES, OR NINE-LIVES CAT CHOW, OR SCIENCE DIET C/D CAT CHOW, PLEASE EMAIL ME AT crazyjolson@gmail.com!!!
thank you.
May 21st, 2007 at 11:43 am
My email is crazyjolson@gmail.com not with all the exclamation points. Sorry for that, everybody.
May 21st, 2007 at 11:00 pm
The first week of April both of my cats became ill. We had recently opened a new bag of Hills Science Diet Sensitive Stomach, the same brand the cats had been eating for sometime. After a couple days of watching our cats conditions (vomiting, lethargy, apparent weight loss, etc.) worsen we made the trip to the Vet. After observation and blood and urine tests it was determined that both cats were in Acute Renal Failure. My male cat was in such poor condition at that point that the Vet recommended euthanizing him, which we ultimately did. My female cat was fairing a little better even though her diagnosis also found she was anemic as well. We started on a long regimen of IV’s and medications that continue to this day. She has recently shown signs of improvement but it has been costly both in a monetary and emotional sense.
Already being familiar with the pet food recall in the news I asked my Vet to order a Histopathology on my deceased cats internal organs so as to try and determine if he was poisoned. I also immediately contacted the FDA, which after me leaving numerous messages finally contacted me 10 days after my initial call. I also spoke with Hill’s, and to be honest I felt like they were really not very interested in my story. Hill’s ended up sending an application for me to request reimbursement for my Vet bills, even though my cats food was not and still to this day is not on the recall list. My deceased cats histopathology results came back and they did indicate poisoning. There was a crystalline feature in the kidneys that was indicative of this. At this point I contacted the FDA and Hill’s again to report the results. I asked Hill’s if they would like me to send them some of the cat food to test. To my amazement they declined and reitterated that I could ask for reimbursement for my Vet expenses. At this point I decided if I was going to find out what killed my cat I would have to do it myself. This I could not believe, because by this point in time we were about 6 weeks into this pet food crisis. I guess the experts already had everything figured out!
I sent a sample of the Hill’s Science Diet Sensitive Stomach formula food, from the bag my cats had been eating from when they became ill, to Accutrace in Arlington, Texas. For $144 they agreed to test for the suspected pet food toxins (Melamine, Cyanuric Acid, Aminopterin, etc.) as well as other common toxins to pets. I received a call from the Lab today with the results of their analysis. To my surprise they did not find any of the suspected pet food toxins. But they did find something that is very toxic to cats in the food, Acetaminophen. If you are not familiar, acetaminophen is a pain reliever, marketed under the most common name as Tylenol. A little research will tell you that it doesn’t take much of this stuff to poison a cat.
This is not a case of my cats got into a tylenol capsule that was dropped on the floor or someone came into my house and spiked my open bag of cat food. This is a case of a known toxin to cats coming packaged in a bag of cat food from the store.
This is my story to date. I just wanted to share with others because I truly believe there is more to this story than is being told. Don’t trust the FDA or the pet food manufacturer’s, they are just looking for a quick and convenient way to put this story to rest IMO. I will post again after more of my personal story unfolds. Best to all!
May 22nd, 2007 at 10:56 pm
My 4year old collie was on Nutro Lamb And Rice her whole life. I bought 4 bags of this food in early March because we were going on vacation the middle of the month. She started panting excessively, became extremely lethargic, was drinking tons of water .She vomited blood She was really sick. I took her to the vets several times and ended up with $800 worth of bills and no help for her. Then fortunately found a site that was exclusively for dogs that were getting sick and dying from Nutro. I immediately took her off the food and started making my own food. I heard that oatmeal helps draw the toxins out of the kidneys. I don’t know if this a proven remedy but I tried it with an egg. My breeder suggested to give her chicken broth also. After about 4 days she began to act like my 4 year old peppy dog and not like an old woman. I contacted Nutro, and of course they denied any problems with the food. But in the same breath they asked me to send a sample of the food. I doubt I will get any report of anything wrong. I also contacted the FDA and spoke with a very kind gentleman. He said there is thousand of reports on dogs getting sick and dying. He himself had removed his animals from the dry products. I am very fortunate that I had taken her off Nutro, I know she would have died if I hadn’t because she was that sick. I still have food from those original bags and I am waiting for the report from Nutro. I can also send samples to an independent lab. The pet food industry should be held responsible for the damage they have created and feel some remorse. It’s all about the mighty dollar for them. My sympathy goes to all pet owners who have lost a pet or are dealing with a sick one.
May 24th, 2007 at 12:07 am
I’ve been feeding my cats and dog this for about a month now …
Life’s Abundance Premium Health Food for Cats and for dogs too
link here …..
http://www.healthypetfoodforlife.com/
Chicken Meal, Fish Meal, Carrots, Apples, Spinach, Celery, Alfalfa Meal
Ground Brown Rice, Powerful Antioxidants, Live Probiotics, Chelated Minerals
NO Chemicals, NO Fillers, Nothing Artificial
NO Steroids
NO Hormones
NO By-Products
NO Artificial Colorings
NO Corn, Wheat, or Soy
NO Chemical Preservatives
* Powerful Antioxidants like Grapeseed Extract
* Pure Digestible Protein Sources
* Chelated Minerals for 40% better absorption
* Five Live Probiotics (friendly bacteria)
* Omega 3 Fatty Acids for a healthy skin and coat
* FRESH your food is never more than 6 weeks old
* Made in an APHIS certified USDA Plant
only one doesn’t like it cuz she is a pre Madonna lol …..
lil punk lol I still love her though
May 24th, 2007 at 2:33 pm
Steve M - I’m just now seeing your post. OMG! Acetominophen??!!
Do you have a copy of the results from Accutrace? Can you get them to Itchmo Admin? I’ll email them and let them know in case they missed your post too…
And, can I have your permission to re-post your comment over on my blog?
May 24th, 2007 at 5:38 pm
Now move along everyone, FDA says there is no new news so you are all supposed to cooperate now…….note that I am being sarcastic.
May 24th, 2007 at 7:14 pm
Cindy N
FYI - When you buy Life’s Abundance you are supporting Menu Foods. I’ve written to them about this and the reply was “We won’t change.”
May 25th, 2007 at 1:13 am
slt Says:
May 24th, 2007 at 7:14 pm
Cindy N
FYI - When you buy Life’s Abundance you are supporting Menu Foods. I’ve written to them about this and the reply was “We won’t change.â€
slt
Are you sure about this? When I contacted them about their product - they stated it was manufactured by a small company in Ohio, I believe and not by Menu and all ingredients were US sourced. It’s been awhile and I don’t remember it all.