Nutro Food Problems

[Guest Alysmom]

Hi Grey Friends -

 

I just received a message this morning informing me that Nutro is having serious problems with their food. Over 1,300 complaints of illness or death!! See their Facebook page for more information. I have fed Nutro for years.... It scared me enough I went to the holistic petfood dealer in town and bought something else..... I made a comment on Facebook, Nutro commented back to me that the complaints were from a false allegation in 2009 but obviously, looking at the date of the posts, they are 2013. Also the Consumer Affairs page has comments on it.

 

Too scary to me - I won't take the chance. Just wanted to pass it on for whatever it is worth. I don't know the facts, but 1,300 complaints is a lot!!

 

Julie

Winnie's Mom

[juliemac]

My mom has fed her dog (non-grey) Nutro on the advice of her vet, and I asked her to switch when she started complaining about her dog throwing up daily. She didn't want to do anything against the advice of her vet, but she did tell her vet about what I had read about Nutro - and he told her that it was nonsense! Last month, Mom decided to try Fromm's, and the vomiting immediately stopped! Unfortunately, I can't get her to post her observations on Nutro's website.

[cleptogrey]

just checked their fb page...where is the post? i started a post last fall when nutro changed it's recipe...but my dd still serves it. so i would like to send her the link. did find some wierd consumer's blog, but it was not from the fda or the company. please share links- thanks

[Feisty49]

OMG. More problems. Damn. I feed Annie Nutro Venison. Will check it out before jumping to conclusions, though. Web sites are usually not taken down so if somebody Googled, for instance, Problems with Nutro Dog Food, they could easily get a hit from years ago, when there might have been a problem, and then the rumor starts though it's no longer true.

 

ETA: I just did a quick, 3-minute Google search and read, and found lots of hits for Nutro being recalled, all dating back to 2007 and 2009. I will do more research when I return from our Saturday M&G, but I'm leaning toward this is old news.

Edited March 9, 2013 by Feisty49

[Guest Alysmom]

http://www.consumeraffairs.com/pets/nutro.html Also comments were on Nutro's own Facebook page from people complaining about sick or dead dogs. The guy at the holistic petfood store was completely aware of the problem and said Nutro is a publicly-held company and he has toured the plant. He said they do not use human quality ingredients -- he said to beware of ALL publicly-traded companies as they will use the cheapest ingredients possible to keep the bottom line on costs low/profits high. "Chicken" is not all chicken.... he told me they use the discard/reject dead animals the FDA won't allow for human consumption. He said he actually watched a dead cow at a slaughterhouse that died before it was butchered be hauled into a truck to be taken to the "Purina" plant. (Just relaying what I was told)

 

I knew before this that many petfood companies do use the kill from the rendering plants... This is pretty much common knowledge. This can often contain euthanized animals from shelters. Horrible, but it is true. I didn't think Nutro did this kind of stuff, and I actually called their customer service line and asked about this before I put Winnie on it. They said absolutely not. BUT, they are saying they have "no new complaints" and this all goes back to 2007 when "false allegations" were made. Hmmmm, the comments I read all were dated 2013. That alone, makes me wonder if they tell the truth. I don't know anything for 100% positive, but there are people out there making claims, so I am not going to take any chances... Just my opinion.

[PrairieProf]

I know nothing about Nutro currently (I have seen some evidence of old stuff being recycled), but the idea of petfood companies using euthanized shelter animals has been thoroughly investigated and is a total myth.

 

Read something reliable like Nestle and Nesheim's "Feed Your Pet Right" for a reliable, researched, scientific study of practices and standards in pet food manufacture.

 

Really, the crap people think is true just because they read it online somewhere is more and more evident to me.

Edited March 9, 2013 by PrairieProf

[Guest Alysmom]

Wow - not sure what I did to deserve that -- but, I strongly suggest you read the link I provided. Insulting my intelligence was a bit out of line when I am only trying to help protect other animals. You will see, if you read it, that these complaints are new, not old. Also, I have owned livestock and am unfortunately quite familiar with the tales of slaughter houses/rendering plants. You can believe whatever you choose and think things never happen (or never have), and I will not imply that you are less than intelligent or believe anything you read.

 

Yikes.

[Hubcitypam]

I read the link you provided and think it is not very fact based, and as Prairie Prof said, seems to be very old news. I've never fed Nutro so I really don't have a dog in this hunt so to speak.

 

Yes, I'd belive that the drama queen guy saw a dead cow hauled into the slaughterhouse...that is what the 4-D meat greyhounds eat is - dead, diseased, dying, disabled. If it were toxic you wouldn't have high dollar greys winning million dollar stakes races. "Not fit for human compsumption" meat is deanatured with charcoal. In years past it was colored with the purple dye they used to use for the USDA stamp on consumer meats.

 

Merrick is a privately held company that just happens to have a rendering plant on the same site in Hereford where they produce $$$$$ food and Garth Merrick owns several dead stock pickup services.

[rschultz]

I feed nutro venison and didn't receive any recall info. I am on the notification list. I don't know what to believe now.

[Batmom]

The website is one that specializes in unsubstantiated posts by general internet users. If you look up any other food on that website, you'll find similar "information." If there's a problem with a pet food, you aren't going to find out about it there.

[Guest Alysmom]

Okay, sorry for the post. People are writing comments very recently (look at the dates) and saying that they individually had problems. There are over 1,300 of them.....

 

Enough said -- sorry I said anything at all. I for one will not take any chances with my animals safety. 1,300 is not like 1 or 2 and it is 1,300 recent comments.

 

I won't post any more. Not worth it.

 

Gee, thanks for the warning would have been nice and then disregard if you disagree....

[dixidoll]

Alysmom, I am with you on the Nutro. Was feeding it and had some problems. thought the dogs were off, just like we get sometimes. Read the same site and returned the bag and got a different brand. Yes, the dogs were better and our problems gone. They were having the same problems as the dogs on the site. They were not just off a day or 2. They were getting sick. I personally take note of things I read. Thank you for bringing it to the attention of some people. My vet read it when I told her and she was surprissed it was the same problems we were having.

[Guest Alysmom]

Dixidoll -- I am glad to hear your dogs problems went away and they are okay. I say an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure is very true. When you read down the very long number of complaints, some of the people were saying their problems became serious and irreversible. Certainly, it would be difficult to prove there was an absolute connection in each case, but when you mount them up in fairly high numbers and they are all so similar and all eating the same food - the conclusion you can draw is that the symptoms are likely food related. Chinese medicine draws almost all ailments back to digestive issues, and I think in the West we are coming to much the same conclusion. A good diet is very important, and a safe diet is manditory!! Thanks for sharing your experience with me. I for one, am relieved that I heard about this because it isn't worth the risk to me. Perhaps a recall may be made, but how many dogs have to be sick or die before they make that call?? I don't want mine to be one of the count.....

[beledi]

http://www.consumeraffairs.com/pets/nutro.html Just saw this and the posts were dated this year.

I quit buying Nutro when Mars took over.

[Guest barkdogs]

... honestly this is why I make my own food--I KNOW what's in it, and I pay about the same at the end of the day (maybe less!)

[Jimbuck]

Ugh. We just switched to Nutro last month and I really haven't noticed anything different about my GH. It appears that I might be looking for another brand sooner than later. Does anyone know if any Nutro recalls have taken place in 2013 so far? Also, at what point does a company have to make a public recall? Thanks for the info.

[Guest starbuck]

We've been feeding Nutro Max Lamb and Rice for over a year and haven't had any problems or received recall notifications (I receive their mailings/newsletters).

Edited March 18, 2013 by starbuck

[Guest RMarie]

We've also been feeding Nutro Venison and and Brown Rice for the last 4-6 months with no problems.

[Feisty49]

Annie too was on Nutro Venison with Brown Rice mixed with a bit of Iams in Green and a tablespoon of beet pulp to get good poos. About 2 weeks ago she turned her nose up by only eating what was obviously just enough to take away hunger pangs. This went on for 4 days. She wasn't sick and is not a picky eater so I thought it's either the Iams or Nutro, maybe it's time to try something new. She was transitioned to TOTW High Prairie in 3 days (I don't fool around) and loves it. With a tablespoon of beet pulp, her poos are great as well as much less in volume.

[Guest RMarie]

Annie too was on Nutro Venison with Brown Rice mixed with a bit of Iams in Green and a tablespoon of beet pulp to get good poos. About 2 weeks ago she turned her nose up by only eating what was obviously just enough to take away hunger pangs. This went on for 4 days. She wasn't sick and is not a picky eater so I thought it's either the Iams or Nutro, maybe it's time to try something new. She was transitioned to TOTW High Prairie in 3 days (I don't fool around) and loves it. With a tablespoon of beet pulp, her poos are great as well as much less in volume.

 

Minus the beet pulp, we feed the same mix. James is such a chow-hound that I think it would take a lot for him to turn his nose up at food (Note: food does not include leafy greens..hehe). Seeing as he's finishing his most recent course of antibiotics for a staph infection, I'm going to play his food situation by ear. If he starts not finishing his bowl, I'll know something's up.

 

Question: With feeding TOTW now, do you still mix in green bag?

[Feisty49]

Minus the beet pulp, we feed the same mix. James is such a chow-hound that I think it would take a lot for him to turn his nose up at food (Note: food does not include leafy greens..hehe). Seeing as he's finishing his most recent course of antibiotics for a staph infection, I'm going to play his food situation by ear. If he starts not finishing his bowl, I'll know something's up.

 

Question: With feeding TOTW now, do you still mix in green bag?

 

 

No, I'm not giving her any Iams Green Bag. If I think it's needed, I would not hesitate to go back to using it for part of her meals, but right now she's good. I'm going to eliminate the beet pulp too to see what happens.

[Guest starbuck]

Interestingly, we just opened a new bag of Nutro Max Lamb and Rice, and Starbuck has been throwing up the past few evenings. This obviously anecdotal at best, but we're taking her to the vet and switching food. It's also worth noting that our vet hasn't heard anything, official or otherwise, about Nutro being problematic, but they are going to look into it today.