Please read about the kittens

21 Comments »

1. I DON’T KNOW ABOUT OTHER PEOPLE, BUT I AM FEEDING MY DOGS A BALANCED MEAL OF HOMEMADE PET FOOD. ITS EASY TO DO. JUST FIGURE OUT WHAT IS HEALTHY AND FEED TO THEM.

   Comment by brenda | April 20, 2008

2. In Australia we have had major problems throughout 2007 with Nutro dried food. 19 cats of various breeds have been stricken with hind limb ataxia, wobbly, couldn’t walk without staggering or falling, some 50 approx kittens born dead or died screaming in agony, uterine inertia, haemorrhage after caesars, Mums not lactating and all they had in common was this food. The cats that ate 100% of this dried food were the worst affected of all. Thousands of dollars spent on vet bills and Nutro still refuse to admit it was their food. At one stage the NZ branch manager said “if we admit there was something wrong with the food and pay your vet bills would that satisfy you?” .. well that never happened and they did not recall any food and sold the rubbish batches off cheap for $2.50 Kg to unsuspecting owners. Last week I was told a rep from a different company said there was a toxic substance in their dried food the same as Nutro had but Nutro decided against a too expensive recall and just let it go. The last bit is heresay but confirms what we all suspect to be true.

   Comment by Valerie | April 20, 2008

3. I feed my dogs Eagle brand holistic dog food,but I buy my Jack Russell and my chihiahua the nutro max puppy drumsticks treats..Has there been any problem with them?

   Comment by Kim | April 21, 2008

4. I have been feeding Nutro for years, and at one time was a Demonstrator for the Company. A few months back all of my dogs became sick. I do a lot of rescue and rehabilitation, so at the moment I have eleven dogs. They were all vomiting and had severe diarrhea. I kept asking myself what was different, or changed in their life? The same answer over and over. Nothing! Nutro had been sold to MARS and even though the formula was not supposed to change for two years after the acquisition, it had to have. I switched food and all of my dogs are pretty much back to normal. I live in Iowa, so this problem is wide spread.

   Comment by Mary | April 27, 2008

5. Nutro has definitely changed their formula. Rumor has it that Nutro’s new parent company Mars discovered that Nutro’s ingredient label does match what is in the bag. This the real reason there is a product shortage.

   Comment by badfinger | May 3, 2008

6. Hello, I am a Pet Nutrition Specialist with Nutro and I have been hearing sporadic complaints from some customers in the pet specialty stores, most of them since Jan 08. I’ve seen the consumer affairs website and I’ve also contacted people up the chain to determine what is going on. I know that MARS bought us out last year in May 07. Supposedly nothing was supposed to change with the quality and safety of our foods. We dont’ use any ingredients from China or undocumented sources. Everything has to have a paper trail stating the source and where it came from. I don’t like some of the rumours I’m hearing, however, I’m frustrated with the lack of support these customers whose pets who have been afflicted have received from our company. Some have sent in samples to test the food and still have not heard results yet. I do know that it can take 6 weeks or longer to have this done. I’m so sorry for all the anguish and heartache not to mention vet bills that our customers have had to deal with. I was told that Nutro states they have not received complaints that are verifiable. I’m not satisfied with this answer and I asked for clarification. I have been a long term satisfied Nutro customer and that is why I work for this company until this past year, then I started to have some doubts. I’ve been so pleased with Nutro up until now. I would like to give them the benefit of the doubt but its getting harder when I see more and more posts from people who are having issues. For the lady who asked about Eagle Pack, I think that is a good choice. Read the ingredients and ask questions of any food you use now versus ours and ensure you are not backsliding on ingredients. Just a thought. Other brands I recommend are: Eagle Pack, Wellness, Professional, Blue Buffalo, Pro Plan Selects, Innova Evo, California Naturals, Natural Balance by Dick Van Patten,Merrick, Taste of the Wild, Life’s Abundance from Healthy Pet Net, Premium Edge, Chicken Soup for the Dog Lover’s Soul, etc. There are good foods out there, you might have to order them online but isn’t your pet worth it? Read the ingredients. Go to DogFoodAnalysis.com to see reviews on pet foods you are currently using versus Nutro. Of course balanced home made diets can be used as well.

   I wish everyone a healthy happy pet or pets.

   Best wishes,

   H.

   Comment by Helen | May 8, 2008

7. Theresa of Indianapolis IN (05/02/08)
   We had two Italian Greyhounds. Max we brought home in February 2004 as a puppy. Sophia we adopted in February of this year from the Italian Greyhound rescue society. Both were health and had never been sick. On Sunday April 27th Sophia vomited up a huge amount of food. It looked like everything she had eaten for the past two or three days all came up at once. She continued to vomit up liquid and bile into the early hours of Monday April 28th and became dizzy and almost appeared drunk. I got my 7 year old daughter on the school bus and then rushed Sophia to an emergency animal hospital (her regular vet was not open yet).

   By the time I got her there she was comatose and in kidney failure and had to be euthanized. I then had to rush home and get Max to the vet. He had began Vomiting at 2:30 am but, was not as ill as Sophia had been. When I got him to the vet she found elevated creatin and bun levels. She admistered an IV and retested latter in the evening on the 28th. The levels were still rising but, she said he may pull through. By the morning of the 29th he had blood in the whites of his eyes was vomiting aganin and showing signs of distress. We again had his blood checked and the levels were through the roof.

   She told us there is no hope he is in acute renal failure. We decide to euthanize to limit his suffering. We racked our brains thinking what could have happened. The vet said they were poisoned so we immediately thought maybe a neighbor. Then I began researching symptoms and discovered their symptoms resembled antifreeze poisoning but not entirely. There was no drooling, no convulsions or seizures.

   I then thought of their food that we had just started feeding then about three or four days before Nutro Max Natural Choice small bites lamb & rice. I started searching the internet and found the symptoms associated with last years poisonings and everthing fit. Sophia had in the past few days before becoming ill seemed very scared almost like sometimes she didn’t reconize people. Both dogs were excessively thirst emptying their water bowl repeatedly through out the day and drinking from the toilet.

   Both had several accidents which was not normail. Both dogs are now at the Purdue University animal science center in Indiana undergoing autopsys to find out the exact cause of death. We contacted the FDA and they said only testing could determine if it was in fact food related so we are now waiting to hear.

   Both are beloved pets are dead. we spent almost 1000.00 that did no good. We would have spent what ever it took to keep them alive if we could have.

   Comment by Theresa | May 10, 2008

8. 5/10/2008 Please help,is the Nutro dry and wet food that just purchased making 5 of my dogs ill.They are vomiting and having diarreah.I never fed them this before as they were getting tired of their other food so I switched.They are 2 and 3 yrs old and I never had this problem before

   Comment by Patti | May 10, 2008

9. Patti,

   What kind of the Nutro dry is it? Also if you still have it do not throw the bag out. What is the lot number and experation date?

   Theresa

   Comment by Theresa | May 10, 2008

10. It is the small bites nutro dry and the natural choice by nutro all varieties..I was contacted by Nutro and they are sending envelopes to send samples to them.I spoke with the vet yesterday and he said they did not have Giardia as he thought they might..Was stumped as to the cause but advised to switch foods..I mentioned I can all you sell here is Science Diet

    Comment by Patti | May 15, 2008

11. Also to add to this I started feeding them the Nurto dry and wet in march,2008,this is the third bag and set of cans I purchased and this is the one they all started to get sick on..They also started with the vomiting and drinking water.The diarreah started the next day and then the others followed,I was exhausted keeping up with all of them at once thank god they are doing better but only after medical test and shots to stop the vomiting and diarreh.I ahve contacted the FDA to no avail,Nutro did contact me and I pray they do test this.

    Comment by Patti | May 15, 2008

12. Where do you live? The FDA has already been to my house and collected samples and took a formal statment. Call the FDA in Iniana if needed and ask them who to contact.

    Theresa

    Comment by Theresa | May 15, 2008

13. I live in Saint Charles ILLinois,I have the product#’s on the dry and wet..The one can that I no longer have is the chicken&oatmeal..The dry is the Nutro Natural Choice small bites lite for overweight dogs.The #CAPFO0024,,,07:06..03..W03..HM,,,,,use by 20/july/2009,,,The wet ups 79105-31100,,use by oct0510 1224M2,,,Please let me know if this may match what you fed your dogs..Last night I had 1 dog go down paralyzed,he was still a little slow this morning and seems fine now.He had thrown up his food and also diarreah.

    Comment by Patti | May 16, 2008

14. Pati,

    Email me at memoriestodvd@hotmail.com. I will give you the mans name at the FDA that has been helping us and he can tell you who to call. Your use by date on your bag is like mine.

    Theresa

    Comment by Theresa | May 16, 2008

15. Patti,

    I also have some other info you will find interesting.

    Theresa

    Comment by Theresa | May 16, 2008

16. Theresa,I e-mailed you saturday,please let me know if you recv’d it..

    Comment by Patti | May 19, 2008

17. My 5 year old boxer has been increasingly ill over the past three months. She started off with diahrea and then drinking excessively and urinating a lot (many times having accidents in the house, which she doesn’t usually do). She has become increasingly lethargic and has started shivering. She has lost her appetite and has lost a ton of weight. She is negative for infection, stones, abdominal tumors, everything under the sun. The only thing positive was her ACTH stimulation test which showed a really high increase in stress hormones. She has just been put onto medicine for Cushings disease, since that is the only thing they can think of at this point, even though she would be a super atypical case of Cushings. I am wondering if this whole time that I have been trying to get her to eat her Nutro High Energy Dog food, i’ve been poisoning her. I certainly will treat her whatever the case may be, but want to make sure I am treating for the correct thing.

    I wanted to know if anyone else’s dog has experienced similar symptoms with their dog, and if the dog has improved off of the food. Also, I was wondering if anyone else had taken their dog to the vet’s and received any test results, that I should be looking out for. Thank you for all of your help, and I wish all your pets the best.

    Comment by Sandy | May 19, 2008

18. As a show breeder, I have been feeding Nutro Natural Choice Small Bites for about 15 years. I am now retired from showing, so only have one dog, five years old. He has NEVER had anything else to eat and HE IS FINE - no vomiting, no diarreah, no paralysis, etc.

    By the way, there is no such product as “Nutro MAX Natural Choice Lamb & Rice”. There is “Nutro MAX Natural” and There is “Nutro Natural Choice Lamb & Rice”.

    Comment by Dot | May 19, 2008

19. Well Dot, I guess your one of the lucky ones to not have to go through the pain of losing your animal and watch them suffer when not even the vets could figure it out.It sounds as if your a Rep for Nutro to have such a strong stance!! Did you have this opinion when Nutro was one of the recalled products in 2007 and DID KILL a lot of our precious PETS..Would you still back Nutro if your dog had gotten sick and blame something else,as I said I had 5 at one time get sick after 2 others suffered all after a new batch of Nutro.And I now argue with the company as to why when they promised to send envelopes so they could test the food only to e-mail me a rediculous statement about the quality of their food.I guess they forgot about all the deaths that were caused by their food..

    Comment by Patti | May 22, 2008

20. My sister found this website, thank God! My dog has been very ill lately, vomiting,urinating in the house (not like him at all) drinking alot of water as well. He’s been on Nutro Max for a few years now. After hearing about everyones stories I thought it must be the food. I started been making him boiled chicken and rice and he was back to normal. I then gave him one bowl of the nutro last night (thinking maybe he just was not feeling well because he does have allergies at this time of year) well he woke up this morning drinking alot of water, urinated in the house and vomiting. We are back to boiled chickend and rice and will not be buying Nutro ever again!! Thanks for your stories they have helped out greatly. Good luck to all and your furry family.

    Comment by Stacey | May 23, 2008

21. Like many others, I was previously a long-time user of Nutro. I raised two dogs on the small bites puppy. After they both turned a year old, I started to gradually mix in the adult small bites lamb and rice. They went through one small bag and the problems started when I bought the next bag - a 20 lb. of the small bites lamb and rice. The first thing I noticed was one of my dogs vomiting a yellow bile first thing in the morning. That day and the next, he was also shaking. After that, he started to eat grass, have terrible gas, then the vomiting and diarrhea. I took him off the food and gave him boiled rice with chicken or hamburger. He improved. Back on the Nutro - problems returned. Luckily, I did a web search and found that others were having the same exact problems. I called Nutro - they denied. I called the FDA - they said they don’t test for individual people, because they do testing on a regular basis. I didn’t bother sending the food to Nutro - I don’t believe for a minute that they would tell me if it was salmonella, e-coli, or some other toxin. I am sending the food to an indepdendent lab. I just want and need to know the truth for myself. IMO, there are just too many folks out there who have experienced the same type of symptoms for this to be anything other than a bonafide problem. My other two dogs escaped illness because they wouldn’t eat the food from the second bag. I thought they were just being picky! I am just so grateful that I found out about the problems before I had fed my dog enough food that it would have killed him. I am so sorry for all the poor people who have lost their beloved pets!

    Comment by Concerned Pet Mom | May 23, 2008