August 2008 - Pet Deaths; Pet Owners Suspect Nutro
August 6, 2008 by Gyvel Young © 2010
Filed under CONSUMER REPORTS, Pet Food Recalls, Regulating Pet Products, Unsafe Pet Food
Unexplained Pet Deaths
Nutro pet food has been blamed by consumers for the illnesses and deaths of their pets. The nationwide mystery is a puzzle to veterinary toxicologist, Dr. Steven Hansen, at the Poison Control Center for the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA).
“Unfortunately the cases are not consistent and appear to be anecdotal with no real definitive diagnostic findings,” Dr. Hansen stated in a Consumer Affairs interview. “Without any consistent trends in findings we can not do anything any further. This does appear to us to be a situation where bad things happen, but they are not likely food-related.”
However, a South Carolina veterinarian feels that Nutro may have contributed to the May 22 death of a dog in her care.
This veterinarian will be sending food samples to an independent lab to determine if her suspicions are correct.
This same veterinarian cautioned her local police chief against feeding Nutro the city’s K-9 unit.
Currently Consumer Affairs has received 150 complaints about Nutro, many of them longtime Nutro customers.
Pet Food Products Safety Alliance tested the Nuro food that two puppies in North Carolina ate before they died in June. The samples were tested for salmonella and e-coli. The results were negative.
According to Consumer Reports many pet owners across America including Hawaii and some in Italy reported that their pets suddenly developed severe digestive problems with bouts of vomiting and diarrhea. The symptoms stopped the moment pet owners switched pet foods.
Some animals succumbed to severe seizures and death. The one common link in all these reports was the pet food they consumed: Nutro.
And according to the article even former employees of Nutro confirmed that they heard similar complaints. Indeed some of these employees’ pets experienced the same types of problems. And when they reported their concerns to supervisors they were ignored. So they resigned.
Nutro states that their food is 100% safe.
It is important to note that back in August 28, 2007 the FDA blocked more than 100 Nutro Products—various styles and flavors of its dog and cat food —from entering the United States. This action was taken because the products appeared to contain poisonous substances and unsafe additives.
The questionable pet food included its Adult Turkey with Chicken Liver, Choice Complete Care Kitten Rich in Chicken with Liver, and Adult Large Breed Chicken & Rice.
The problem is Nutro’s labeling states that it is “Made in USA” but the reality is that it is not. It is made (as are most pet products) by outsourcing to other manufacturers such as Menu Foods. Ingredients for most pet foods sold in America are actually imported from foreign countries like China, where regulations against the use of harmful chemical additives do not exist.
Back then, Nutro stated that the products listed on the FDA’s Import Refusal Report are the ones affected by Menu Food’s massive recall in March of 2007 of melamine-tainted dog and cat food. It continued to state that all its melamine-tainted products have been removed from retail stores, warehouses, and distribution centers after menu recalled 60 million containers of contaminated pet food.
It can only be hoped, for the sake of innocent animals, that more tests will solve the mystery and put an end to the guessing game. Until then the mystery of the digestive/death/Nutro link remains a mystery.
August 18, 2008
Recent test results from Pet Food Products Safety Alliance indicate that Nutro may contain high levels of zinc.
Zinc toxiciosis is consistent with some of the reported symptoms.
See test results at:
http://www.pfpsa.org/news.html
Also, see comments at:
http://itchmoforums.com/index.php
Hello Homer,
Thank you for the update. I will include the two links to these web sites in the Nutro update and also in my links section. I certainly hope that these test results will shed some light on what is going on. And my final hope is that Nutro will take steps to remove the questionable dry dog food products from the store shelves.
Gyvel
[...] Nutro food were first reported by Consumer Affairs in June of 2008. As previously stated in the SecurePet blog Nutro has maintained their pet food is 100% safe. In response to these complaints the Pet Food [...]
Gyvel,
Thank you very much for picking up on the findings by the Pet Food Products Safety Alliance, and posting the story.
Homer
Hello again Homer,
You are so welcome. I will be posting this on the ASPCA board as well.
You know, I switched my dog over to the holistic Nutro believing it to be good and wise choice. However, I have since discovered that commercial pet food needs to be reviewed with great care. Best to purchase products produced in small batches from smaller companies. OR better yet, make your own!
So glad you and the Itchmo forums are keeping up with this. I have placed a link to the forum under Pet Food Recall Sources/Dog & Cat Forums.
Please keep me posted.
Thanks,
Gyvel
I had fed Nutro natural choice for over 10 years with no issues. In April 2008, my malamute and mal/shep mix, who had never had any health issues, both became critically ill within the same weekend. They had fevers of 105, and their liver/pancreatic levels were off the charts. The vets at the emergency clinic were stumped, only said the symptoms were consistant with poisoning. (They had absolutely no access to any poisons). My vet bills were over $2000. My 12-yr old girl died 2 days later, My 9-yr old recovered when I began cooking his own food, but has a permanant head-tilt from the neurological damage he suffered.
If you go to consumer affairs.com, there are dozens of similar stories, most taking place between March and July of this year. Nutro is denying any involvement whatsoever. Every time new evidence is released, (including recent proof of zinc/copper toxicity) they refute the evidence and issue a statement stating how safe their food is. I’ve talked to their customer service reps on multiple occasions. They read canned statements and lie to me about looking into my case. They want all the information I have sent to their legal department, and offer no other recourse.
Earlier in the year you could not find Nutro lamb and rice on the shelves. Nutro stated it was a ’supplier issue’. That is a lie. This was the same time as the poisonings.
More and more information will hopefully continue to come out. I believe this case will be as big as the 2007 case. Please don’t feed your dog Nutro! Even if it’s not every bag, it’s just not worth the risk!
Dear Lora,
My heart goes out to you for the loss of your sweet baby.
I am still working on information gathering on this issue. I have contacted our local vet to find out if she has encountered any problems similar to this, she stated that as of yet these problems have not been encountered in her practice.
My own dog was on Nutro Natural Choice Senior - in the silver bag - and she succumbed to multiple seizures. I have not idea if it was related to the food though. And since I did not have a toxicity test done on her it is impossible to tell if it was liver related. The fact that your vet states you dog had high liver/pancreatic levels is interesting since this is similar to other stories.
I hope that people will err on the side of caution and remove these products from their pet’s menu.
Thank you so much for sharing your experience,
Gyvel
My dog’s been eating Nutro for the past two years, now she refuses to touch it. Hmmm.
My neighbor’s dog has been eating science diet and royal. Last week she developed a vomiting fit and they took her to the vet. The dog has been with the vet for the past week with liver enzymes over 1000 (way off the chart). Not sure if she’ll make it.
Interesting that the FDA website is about a year out of date on the information posted regarding pet foods. Has it turned into a non issue with the FDA? I also note that when the pet food manufacturers change their packageing, that they issue new UPC codes for the ‘new’ product. However, if the FDA is relying on the UPC codes for posting the recall info, then that info automatically becomes non-referenceable.
Corona,
You have brought up some very valid points regarding the FDA and its practices. Indeed it is a mystery how they plan on tracking pet food when the UPC codes are changed by the manufacturer.
Please keep us posted on your neighbor’s dog. What specific brand of Hills Science and Royal has the dog been eating?
One more thing, please encourage your neighbor to hold on to the dog’s food and the packaging of the food. This becomes very important evidence since the food can be examined and sent to a lab for testing.
Thank you so much and my thoughts and hopes for a speedy recover are with your neighbor’s dog.
Gyvel