String of Illnesses Afflicts NUTRO-Fed Pets
Company insists its food is ‘100% safe’
By Lisa Wade McCormick
ConsumerAffairs.Com
April 18, 2008
A worrisome health trend among dogs and cats across the country has surfaced in the past few months. Scores of pets from California to South Carolina have experienced sudden and recurring bouts of diarrhea, vomiting, and other digestive problems.
Through an examination of reports submitted by readers, ConsumerAffairs.com has uncovered a common link among these pets: They all ate the same brand of food: NUTRO pet food.
In all of the cases we’ve examined, the animals’ conditions improved once their owners switched them to another brand of food. But the company insists its food is “100% safe” and veterinarians say there could be other causes for the pets’ illnesses.
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.
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.
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?
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.
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.
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.
My dog is sick now also if you know anything please help.
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.
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
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
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
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.
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
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.
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
Patti,
I also have some other info you will find interesting.
Theresa
Gave my dog nutro food and hes been sick for 7 days now. Do you known whats going on? Called nutro sending me refund thats not good enough. I hope he lives threw this. Please contact me.
Dee, you sound very upset and have every reason to be. PLEASE take your dog to the vet or animal hospital immediately. I personally would not chance it.
Theresa,I e-mailed you saturday,please let me know if you recv’d it..
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.
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”.
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..
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.
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!
my dog was in the hospital for a week on an iv and almost died from this food!!! he ate the dry lamb and rice food. i keep a sample for my self and i am getting it tested!! the vet is sure it was the food we are trying everything to keep him alive, after a week yesterday he finally started eating with out throwing it up!!
Where can you get the food tested? I just purchased a new bag of the Natural Choice for Sr. Large dogs on Saturday. We changed to Sr. because the regular Large Dog formula is now unavailable. On Wednesday, my dog vomitted several times, has diarhea, excessive thirst and is lethargic. I decided to check recall lists on a whim and was shocked to hear of your experiences on this website. My dog has used Nutro for over 7 years with no previous incidents. I don’t know if this is because we had to change formulas too quickly or if he is becoming ill.
I have 4 labs. They have all been raised on Nutro Large Breed Lamb & Rice. Since the manufacturing plant has changed, the Large Breed Lamb & Rice was no longer available. So, I switched to the regular Lamb & Rice. Almost immediately, I notice my 4 dogs who normally ran to eat….no longer did this. Instead…they picked at their food…eventually ate it out of hunger…and went on with their day. Unfortunately….I didn’t see the warning signs. I have continued to feed them this food for over 2 months…watching them NOT enjoy their food.
This past Tuesday, I heard about all the illnesses/deaths of dogs eating Nutro Foods. I was shocked & scared.
I immediately did my reasearch, not feeding my dogs that morning, and went to the store to buy a new food for them.
I don’t believe there will ever be a recall on Nutro dry dog food. But….I do believe there is definately something wrong with this food!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I do believe my wonderful labs were trying to tell me this.
I JUST WASN’T LISTENING!!!
I have switched my dogs “cold turkey” to another food. I will NOT donate all the Nutro I have left to a shelter. I will throw it out in the trash where it belongs.
Please, if you’re feeding your pets Nutro….ANY BLEND…get them off of it as soon as possible.
I have many friends who also feed their pets Nutro products.
They haven’t had a problem. OR HAVE THEY???
Our pets can’t speak to us. Try switching…and watch what happens. I did. And the difference in my dogs is amazing!!
(P.S. I’ve had no problems with diarhea or vomitting. But I have noticed a large difference in all 4 of my dogs happiness once I switched. Sooo glad I did this before they got sick!!!)
I have 2 dogs both who always eat nutro small bites lamb and rice. I just got a new bag, and the next day both dogs were violently ill, vomiting and had diahria and both were very hesitant to eat the food, but wiling to eat anything else
There is something wrong with the dog food. no question
tomorrow I am calling the food store and the manufacturer.
I used to feed Nutro in the early 90s. I am a lot wiser and more knowledgeable about food available for my dogs outside Petco/Pestmart. I find http://www.dogfoodproject.com and http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com to be very useful. You’ll find Nutro at the lower end of the scale. I now feed my lab products made by Natura (www.naturapet.com). Excellent products that you won’t find at petco or petsmart.
I will never again feed Nutro.
P.S. Additionally, I noticed that Nutro starts using soybean oil. Soy, like corn and wheat are not great for dogs.
Can you give me the name of someone at Nutro to test my dog food?
I have been feeding my dog Nutro Senior Lamb and RIce for years, she now gets sick anytime she eats any of the product. I have canged products and the problem is gone. I suspect this batch of NUtro and would like to see if it is contaminated.
For help in getting your food tested, contact Don Earl at
pfpsa.org/
Don works with pet owners and independent labs to have food tested.
Also, get help at http://www.itchmoforums.com/
Contact the pet food company, but DON’T give them all of your food. Pet food companies don’t solve the problem, they just cover it up.
Around March of 2008, I switched to Nutro Natural Choice. My dog, Bee was 13 years old. Her legs began to fail abrubtly, she developed dandruff and her energy was declining.
I made the unfortunate assumption that her age was catching up with her. She had a little arthritis prior to this.
By June her legs were giving out. Her dandruff was much worse and she was drinking tons of water. She seemed to be in discomfort, which I again thought was arthritis, so I gave her baby aspirin. I thought that she may be drinking water because of the heat. But as long as I’ve owned dogs, despite the heat, I’ve never thought that the dogs were drinking too much.
By July, she was easily disoriented, seemed confused and she could barely walk on any uncarpeted floor. She had very very little energy. Discomfort was increasing. Still drank tons of water and had really bad dandruff.
August 7th, I came home from work and she couldn’t stand up and had urinated on herself. Again, thinking it was age and arthritis, I made a vet appointment for Monday, Aug. 11. I thought we’d have a talk about arthritis and they would give her something for arthritic pain.
August 10th. She seemed to be extremely uncomfortable. Was breathing heavy and staring at me to help. So, I decided to take her to the emergency vet and see if they could give her something to help with the pain. They did blood panels, x-rays, and an ultra sound. What they discovered was severely elevated pancreatic levels. WHAT they did was put her on IV fluids for 2 days and didn’t allow any food or water. Her skin and coat began to improve immediately. However she was extremely weak.
When I got her home we tried to feed her chicken and rice and she ate very very little but still had excessive thirst. She got weaker and weaker. She could not stand on her own.
The vet thought this could be pancreatic cancer. Of course, it COULD be … but, after reading multitudes of similar complaints with Nutro products, now I’m wondering if it was the food. I’m now wondering if I had given her a couple more days, if she could have pulled through.
August 15th, me and my vet decided that it would be in her best interest to put her to sleep. She was still in distress, she couldn’t stand on her own and fell without my help, she wasn’t interested in food and her gums were very very pale.
I know this was the Nutro food. Especially after reading all that I have read tonight. She was an active, playful 13 year old, a smiling happy dog. I’m so sorry that I made some horrible and costly assumptions about her age.
She was my partner. What can we do to make this stop??
I have another dog. He’s around 3.. not sure exactly, but, he’s been on the same food and has been excessively thirsty and I think he looks swollen in the abdomen. I honestly haven’t checked the poop because they use a doggie door and I don’t usually follow them outside for that.
I am taking him to the vet on Monday and having him examined. I am switching foods today. I pray that he will be ok.
Thank you all for sharing your stories. Please spread the word.
BJ,
I’m so sorry you lost your 13 year old dog. Hope the young one will be OK.
Don Earl’s testing of Nutro revealed what appears to be high levels of zinc. Zinc toxicosis is consistent with some of the symptoms that are reported at Consumer Affairs. More work is ongoing.
See Don’s test results:
pfpsa.org/news.html
If anyone has had problems with Nutro, please post a complaint at Consumer Affairs. Click “complaint form” at top of page.
http://www.consumeraffairs.com/pets/nutro.html
If anyone has necropsy results, or knows of toxins in this food, please contact Itchmo Forums:
http://itchmoforums.com/your-problems-with-pet-food/new-consumer-affairscomnutro-article-t4525.345.html
My pit bull is sick since July 26-2018,give him nutro,he has diarrhes,lethargic ,had rashon belly,pink around eyes, fast panting then slows and speeds up again.I know its the food,hes a good eater and after the first bowl he would not eat that again.Called nutro sending me a refund.Giving him chicken and rice now still seems weak not himself.Please contact if you know anything.
PLEASE Dee, take him to the vet or emergency clinic immediately. Better safe …
I have just found this website that test and found that Nurto has extemely high levels of copper and zinc in their foods..Please go to pfpsa.org click on news and updates and keep handy this site
I purchased a case of canned “Nutro Max, Senior, Chicken & Rice Dinner”, (#2239M2 printed on the bottom of the can) around 9/5/08 at Petco on 2nd Street in El Cajon, CA.
I had taken my 5-year-old spayed female Australian Cattle Dog to her vet for a routine exam and annual shots on 9/3/08. My vet said my dog Shasta was over weight and needed to lose weight, he suggested a low-cal food. I bought a small bag of Pro-Plan dry “Weight Management” kibble and the Nutro food.
I mixed 1 1/4 cups of dry with 1/3 cup of Nutro and a little warm water and gave it to my dog twice at day – at 6am and 6pm. I fed this mixture for about 10 days.
Yesterday she developed extremely liquid stools, got to where she wouldn’t move, walk or come to me. When I insisted she come, she moved with great difficulty, unstable on her feet, very stiff legged, and wouldt drop down into a sphinx-like position and then again refuse to move.
By the time my 15-year-old had dragged her bed with her lying on it into the bedroom, her legs were sticking straight out – I was horrified that she was going to die.
We quickly dressed, rushed to the pet emergency facility where they put in an IV to rehydrate her, took blood samples, did an ultra sound blood pressure test, etc. All the test came back within normal ranges but NO answer as to what may be the problem.
She has had none of the above mentioned foods since yesterday, this morning I cooked up a big batch of white rice and boiled chicken breasts and have been feeding her small portions of rice, low-cal cottage cheese and minced chicken starting this morning at 6am.
She is getting better!!!
But … $325 for the pet emergency clinic which included medication she’s to take for 5 days. I’ll have to take her for another exam in 2-3 days at our regular vet and that will probably be around $75-$100.
Nutro – I’m afraid!!
DARLENE: we went through a nightmare with Nutro with our 30 cats and 4 dogs. Our oldest German Shepherd started acting like she had been drugged. Her back legs had been progressively getting weaker and we thought this was it for her. She could no longer get up without help, was very unsteady on her feet and would actually fall over. She and our 6 year old German Shepherd began eating alot of grass. We have another German Shepherd and a Pit bull. All four dogs were drinking excessive amounts of water, and frequent urination. This was on Nutro’s Large Breed. When we had them on Nutro Lamb and Rice, two had bloody stools and were vomiting so we had switched to the large breed thinking the lamb was too much for them. They were on meds and a bland diet and the minute we started them back on Nutro Lamb and Rice, they were sick again. SO we switched. At the same time this is all happening, our 30 cats were losing weight. We go to the vet on a monthly basis (with so many) for shots and yearly exams. The cat’s fur was dull, we found bloody stools in the litter pans, and vomit throughout the house on a daily basis. And the cats were losing their appetites. I found consumeraffairs.com and it hit home when I read many of the stories and symptoms. We switched to another brand immediately and the cats started eating like they were starving! The dogs stopped eating grass and within a few day our older Shepherd was no longer acting drugged! We switched on July 26th and she was running around with the other dogs within a couple weeks! She gets up now without any problem and has a bright look in her eyes again! Something in Nutro was poisoning ALL of our animals but she was the worst. I hope Shasta is bouncing back like our Tazz did!
I have not read all the comments, and after months of continuing grief, I happened upon the consumer affairs Nutro issue. Navy, my beloved baby had kidney failure. It probably started in April or May 2008. In hindsight, I realize that he started to urinate more. In July, he became ill. He is no longer on earth, and I miss him every moment. I feed Nutro. Another one of my dogs seems to now have diluted urine….a sign. Could Nutro have a small amount of something bad, and those that are more vulnerable, collapse first. Navy was only 3 1/2 years old, a mixed breed…not a high risk for kidney issues. The only thing that I really learned after specialists, is that his kidneys were a little small. That is not an answer. I asked for all help. Everyone was glad to charge money. What do I do?
If Valerie from the first post reads this, please go to cat-world forum and follow link to orijen cat food recall in australia. Our cats are suffering from ataxia caused by irradiation of food and we would really appreciate hearing about how your cats went long term and what recovery methods you used.
I had aquired a 6 month old fine Jack Russell Terrier summer of 2000. We bonded instantly and I’ve spent most of My time with Him over the last 8 years. I was told by the previous owner to feed Him a ‘good quality’ food, Nutro Lamb Meal and Rice Formula. Things went well until March of 2008 when He started to get ‘bad breath’ and was urinating in the house a lot. By the end of May Riley was slowing down, so I took Him to the Vet. She wanted a full set of tests, blood, urine, feces, results came back indicating kidney failure, so I was instructed by the Vet to put Him on a ‘Low Protien’ diet, ‘Medi-Cal Kidney Diet’. I also put Him on Kidney detoxifying Herbs during the month of July. By the end of October he wasn’t looking too bad, but he started to go downhill after that. By the first week of December he was pretty sick again, so it was off to the Vet once again. Renal Failure. He was IV’s and Meds until he died on the 27th. I attribute it to the Nutro ‘food’ His kidneys never did recover. Permantly damaged by whatever was in the Nutro ‘food’. A Jack Russell Terrier should live for at least 14 years and should not die of Renal Failure. Even the Vet should’ve told Me not to feed Him this toxic crap.
I received the test results from Nutro on our cat food Jan. 11, 2009 and not surprisingly the results were negative for Vomitoxins, Aflatoxins, Pesticides, Coliforms and Salmonella. This leaves me to conclude the high levels of copper and zinc as found in testing done by Pet Food Products Safety Alliance is what poisoned my animals.
I have followed the postings on sick and dying animals since my 30 cats (all inside), 3 German Shepherds and 1 Pit Bull all became very ill after switching to Nutro cat and dog food in November of 2007. By July 2008 we were experiencing weight loss, vomiting, bloody stools and dull and matted coats on the cats. The dogs were vomiting, diarrhea, excessive thirst, gorging on grass, frequent urination and our 12 year old German Shepherd was the worst. Our dogs were having accidents in the house that was totally out of character for them. We were in and out of the vet’s office trying to get a handle on what was going on.
It was brutal to watch her struggle to stand, weave back and forth once she was on her feet, then collapse..Struggle to stand again and then fall over..Her head shaking like she was drugged..the fear and helplessness in her eyes.we would put a towel underneath her belly to help her up..then lead her slowly down the hallway to the back door so she could go outside. And back in again to the kitchen and her dog bed where she would collapse from exhaustion.
Thankfully we soon discovered when the dogs went onto a bland diet, the symptoms all disappeared but quickly came back when we started them on Nutro food again. We pulled every one of our animals off that disgusting food.
Please read the results from Pet Food Products Safety Alliance. The people who have not experienced any problems with Nutro are very lucky! It’s not to say it won’t eventually happen. You’re dodging the bullet! But don’t come here and slam people for reporting what has happened to their pets! There are FAR too many reports to ignore there is a serious problem with this food.
PET FOOD PRODUCT SAFETY ALLIANCE DID TESTS ON TWO SAMPLES OF NUTRO FOOD AND POSTED ON AUGUST 14th, 2008. THE RESULTS WERE HIGH LEVELS OF COPPER AND ZINC. The symptoms are consistent with the majority of those reported by consumers suspecting problems believed to be associated with feeding Nutro dry dog food.
pfpsa.org/news.html
Here’s a link on zinc toxicity in dogs:
http://www.vet.uga.edu/vpp/clerk/Hardy/
Quote from PFPSA:
While Nutro may view a shiny coat as desirable on sick, dead or dying pets – whether well founded or not – the Pet Food Products Safety Alliance does not share that view!!
As with all species, cats have requirements for specific dietary nutrients. Certain nutrients, including many vitamins and amino acids, are degraded by the temperatures, pressures and chemical treatments used during manufacture, and hence must be added after manufacture to avoid nutritional deficiency.`
Be well