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Cat Owners Bristle at NUTRO Denials

Cats sickened by recalled pet food; NUTRO denies responsibility

By Lisa Wade McCormick
ConsumerAffairs.com
Copyright 2009 © All Rights Reserved

June 3, 2009
Don’t tell Christina W. that NUTRO hasn’t received any complaints about the cat food the company recently pulled off the market. The Maryland woman and owner of five cats doesn’t believe that claim, which the pet food maker continues to tout on its Web site.

Christina says she put NUTRO on “official notice” Tuesday that one of the flavors of cat food included in its May 21 recall -- NUTRO Max Indoor Weight Control -- made her beloved cat, Jake, seriously ill.

“I called them this morning and told them first and foremost that if they didn’t have a recording machine on now, they should turn it on because I was making a formal complaint,” says Christina, who confirmed the dates and UPC codes on Jake’s food matched the ones included in the recall.

NUTRO recalled seven flavors of its NATURAL CHOICE COMPLETE CARE and NUTRO MAX dry cat foods, saying the products contained incorrect levels of zinc and potassium. The company blamed the problem on a production error by its U.S. premix supplier, Trouw Nutrition. One of the premixes contained excessive levels of zinc and low levels of potassium, NUTRO said. The second contained low levels of potassium.

Christina has no doubts that the problems with NUTRO’s recalled cat food played a significant role in Jake’s illness.

“He has eaten Nutro food for the past two years,” she says, adding her 13-year-old cat received a clean bill of health in March. “We were a week into a new bag (of NUTRO) when his illness became apparent.” Over the weekend, she says, Jake suddenly started having bouts of vomiting and diarrhea. He also became lethargic and dehydrated.

“I rushed him to the emergency vet (on Sunday), where he was diagnosed with elevated liver enzymes." On Monday, a sonogram revealed Jake had pancreatitis.

“He’s still in the hospital and in pain, and we’re waiting to see if his liver enzymes return to normal,” Christina says. “His prognosis is ‘okay’ -- as long as his liver and pancreas can recover. The poor thing has an IV stuck in his leg. His little arm is shaved. He’s already had to have blood drawn several times.”

"A horrible death"

Christina say it’s heart wrenching to see Jake in so much agony. “He howls and cries and bangs his head against the top of his cage,” she told us. “It’s a horrible thing to have a cat survive 13 years illness free (and then) to have him brought down by his own food.

“I’m furious, to say the least. I can’t convey enough how devastating this is to our family – both Jake’s illness and the concerns we have that any of the four others may might also follow in his spiraling health. And if Jake dies, furious isn’t even close to describing how I’ll feel.”

Christina isn’t the only pet owner who is convinced that NUTRO’s recalled dry cat foods caused their pets' illnesses. Some even believe the recalled foods contributed to their cats’ recent deaths.

They're grieving cat owners like Shira D. of Carson, California. “My cat is dead due to NUTRO Max,” she wrote us, adding the UPC codes on her cat's food match the ones included in the recall.

“My three-year-old healthy indoor cat, Angel, became ill on (Saturday) May 16, 2009, after beginning a new bag of NUTRO Max cat food. We took her to the vet on Monday where they had to do a blood transfusion on her.”

Angel’s health, however, continued to deteriorate. She died “a horrible death” a few days later.

“I will never forget the graphic images of her grasping for air,” Shira says. “I've never seen a perfectly healthy cat lose the ability to go to the bathroom in her litter box, lose her appetite, and lose her ability to play. She became extremely ill so suddenly after (eating from) the contaminated bag of NUTRO."

Elevated zinc levels

"The vet says that the infected catfood is the cause of death for Angel," Shira told us. "My vet contacted Nutro personally to notify them of those findings."

Shira also called NUTRO when Angel first became sick. "The company said it was sorry for my loss and they were willing to pay the vet fees if I could prove that they were at fault," Shira told us. "They also said that they doubted that the zinc levels would cause death in my cat and tried to assure me that it must have been something else."

“It sickens me to learn that (Angel’s) cat food -- that was supposed to provide her nutrition -- is the cause of her premature death. All we have are the memories and doctor bills, and agony that NUTRO has caused. This must stop. I don't wish for anyone to experience a loss of this kind,” she said.

Recall came too late

Neither does Thomas R. of Florida, who is certain that NUTRO’s Natural Choice Ocean Fish food -- one of the flavors included in the company’s recalled -- recently caused his cat’s kidneys to shut down. Thomas made the difficult decision to euthanize his cat, Fabio.

“That was devastating for my daughter,” he told us. “This was a two-year-old cat with no health problems. But the vet told us he had irreparable kidney damage. He had become sick and was unable to urinate.”

The following day, Thomas received an e-mail from PetSmart stating NUTRO had recalled the cat food that Fabio was eating.

“I would have never associated his illness with the food,” he says. “But after reading numerous stories of similar problems (on ConsumerAffairs.com) I now feel the food was the cause of his death. And here I was thinking I was buying a premium cat food.”

A cat owner in Ohio shares Thomas’ concerns. Althea A. of Cincinnati is worried that NUTRO’s recalled cat food may have contributed to the recent death of one of her felines.

“I switched my cats to NUTRO Max approximately six months ago,” she told us. “In recent weeks, one of my two cats had slight lethargy, but her appetite still seemed good. PetSmart sent me an email that I had purchased a recalled Nutro product and I discontinued use immediately.”

But tragedy struck less than a week later. “The lethargic cat passed away of a massive heart attack while at the vet's office.”

Similar cases

ConsumerAffairs.com has heard from other cat owners, who told us their otherwise healthy felines suddenly became sick after eating NUTRO’s recalled products. They say their cats have been losing weight, vomiting, and experiencing bouts of diarrhea. Those are the same symptoms that NUTRO warned cat owners who fed their pets the recalled food to monitor.

“We have been exclusively feeding our cat NUTRO Max Adult dry food for years,” says Monica, of Irvine, California. “Recently his hair began to fall out and he experienced severe weight loss.”

Her cat, she says, had also become weak, lethargic, and had signs of kidney failure. Monica is now convinced there’s a connection between her cat’s illness and NUTRO’s recalled food.

“After reading about the symptoms other pet owners have witnessed, it all makes sense,” says Monica, who learned her cat’s food was included in NUTRO’s recall when she received a postcard from PetCo. “I immediately switched his food and I can only hope that his health will improve over time.”

A New Jersey pet owner told us her cat is experiencing similar health problems. And she’s confirmed that his cat food is part of NUTRO’s recall.

“My cat has been eating Nutro Natural Choice for the past year and half,” says Paula S. of West New York, New Jersey. “About a month ago, he became gravely ill. He started vomiting and experiencing uncontrollable diarrhea with foul smelling bile. He also had a reduction in appetite, severe weight loss to the point that he is now severely dehydrated, and is also shedding.”

Paula now worries that her cat may not recover -- and neither will her checkbook.

“My cat went from weighing 12 pounds to now weighing 6 pound – and that happened in a month,” she says. “Not only has this been a very sad experience watching my cat fade away and suffer daily, it is -- and continues to be -- very costly. And I am nervous that one day I will come home to either him already passed away or face the fact that I will have to put him under because he's not getting better.

“Something should be done to compensate pet owners who have been affected with instances such as this.”

No response from NUTRO

ConsumerAffairs.com contacted NUTRO on Monday about these and other concerns we’ve heard from cat owners. The company did not respond to our inquiry. NUTRO, however, has publicly said that cat owners with questions about the recall should contact the company at 1-800-833-5330.

Meanwhile, ConsumerAffairs.com continues to hear from dog and cat owners across the country who say their pets became sick after eating various flavors of NUTRO pet food.

We now have more than 840 complaints from pet owners who have told us their dogs and cats experienced sudden and recurring bouts of diarrhea, vomiting, and other digestive problems after eating NUTRO's food. In nearly every case, pet owners say their animals’ conditions improved once they stopped feeding them NUTRO products.

Some pet owners, however, suspect NUTRO’s food played a role in their animals’ deaths. NUTRO denies the consumers’ complaints, saying its food is 100 percent safe and meets all federal guidelines.

Never again

Back in Maryland, cat owner Christina W. echoes the sentiments we’ve heard from pet owners nationwide.

“I will never feed NUTRO to my pets again,” she says. “It’s not in their best interest. I also want the company to take the food off the market until it’s safe. And I want them to pay for every single one of my vet bills. I will be out thousands of dollars and there is no guarantee that my cat is going to live.”

Read more ...

• Verbatim complaints and comments from consumers.
• Recall notice

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