Nutro Dog Food Reviews

Then our other dog started to show the same signs so we got really worried. My wife is a nurse so she started thinking about things that could be causing this and she came up with the idea to check about the dog food. When we looked it up, we found that other pet owners were having the same issues with their pets with the same symptoms. I showed all the write-ups to my vet and they were surprised to see all this written about Nutro. We stopped the Nutro and our one dog is on the road to recovering. However, our other dog is currently in the animal hospital on IV fluid and antibiotics. We hope she pulls through. I am calling Nutro on Monday to see what they say and I am also calling the FDA about this.

The next time I purchased a bag of Nutro in the Petsmart I go to, I talked to a Nutro rep and she stated that they sometimes "adjust" the formula to make a better product and maybe that's what caused her problem. After she got better, we put her on the Nutro Ultra Senior from our vet’s suggestion. She seemed to be better, but had a few more bouts of the pancreatitis and with UTIs. Back in July '08, she started urinating all over the place—something she's never done even as a puppy. We took her to the vet and she was diagnosed with another UTI and also had a lot of glucose in her urine, which the vet said may or may not be from the UTI—it was something to watch. So she took the meds and got better in about a week.

We then went away for a week’s vacation at the end of August. When we returned, I noticed she had lost weight—she was about 60 lbs. at the time. I made an appointment at the vet’s immediately and when they weighed her she had lost 10 lbs. in 4 weeks!! They retested her for diabetes and it was positive, so we started daily injections of insulin. She acted about 10 years younger. She would actually jump up to greet us when we would come home from work. It was tough getting her to eat before the shots in the morning before we went to work, but we managed knowing how much it was helping our girl.

Then on 11/15/08, things took a turn for the worse. DD was visiting and when we took Ripples outside, she was hesitant to go, which totally isn't her. She was always first out the door and running thru the field between my sister's house and mine. This time, she almost stumbled and acted like her legs or back were hurting her. I told my daughter I would have to make a vet’s appointment the following Monday—it was on a Saturday. That night, as I was fixing dinner, my son called me into the living room and said she wasn't acting right. He would snap his fingers in front of her face and she didn't even flinch. When I sat down on the floor with her, she picked her head up and looked at me and put her head back down. I fixed her a heat pack and placed it on her back, but I noticed she was having difficulty breathing. It was then I noticed her lower tummy was distended. Then I knew she had to be seen immediately.

We got our vet's answering service—it was after 7pm—and they directed us to an ER over an hour away. So on a very rainy, cold November night, we took her to the ER. The vet said that she was concerned about her tummy and that it might be a hemorrhage. It was then it started to sink in how serious this was. When she completed some tests and x-rays, she told us that she definitely had bleeding in her tummy from a tumor on her spleen and one was also found in one of her lungs. It was then we had the choice of emergency surgery to stop the bleeding and remove the spleen—which was most likely cancerous, or have her put down. At first we thought the surgery would help her and then we realized we would be doing it for us and not her. The vet said we made the right choice in putting her down, as she very likely would have suffered a great deal and with diabetes, she would very likely have many complications. She may not have made it thru the anesthesia. So with my arms around her neck, I had to say goodbye to my sweet girl. It was the hardest thing I've ever had to do.

After reading complaints on the internet and this site, I have no doubt that this is what my dog has been suffering from for the past 3 years. How can it be such a coincidence that so many animals have been eating the food also for years and all of a sudden be sickened or worse? I cannot believe that Nutro is not taking responsibility and saying that there isn't a problem. Yes, animals get sick every day and die every day, but what about all of the ones who are young? Why would they be dying for no apparent reason? The ER vet noted that she very seldom sees diabetes in dogs. So why would Ripples have contracted it if Nutro is such a "good, healthy" dog food? I hope that somehow, someone will get some answers from Nutro and they will own up to their responsibilities and stop the insane, needless suffering of animals all for the sake of not losing money!! My daughter who has a 5 year old boxer has already stopped the Nutro and is giving her dog "home-made" dog food. By the way, her Boxer has weak kidneys for 2 years or more now. Could it be from the Nutro?

The vet said the only time she saw numbers like Jackie's were in anti-freeze poisonings and wanted to know if Jackie had been exposed to anti-freeze. Jackie is the epitome of a house dog and never goes outside without being on a leash with one of her people. She is also a picky dog who doesn't mess with things in the house. The chances of her being exposed to any toxins are very small. I use all safe, pet-friendly cleaning agents in the house. She was admitted to the hospital and given IV fluids for 3 days and her labs returned to normal. She was sent home on a prescription diet and medications. After learning she had no intention of eating the prescribed food I started her on a home cooked diet and baby food.

It has now been a month, and she is doing wonderfully. The vet is amazed at how well she is doing as she said she has never seen a dog with such elevated BUN and Creatinine recover. I was unaware of the problems with Nutro pet foods until reading them here. The story of Sophie and Max sounds so much like Jackie's story. It makes me very suspicious of her food as the possible cause for her illness. She has not and will not receive anymore Nutro pet foods, nor will any of my other pets. If there is a problem with Nutro, I do hope it is discovered soon, before anymore pets must suffer and potentially die.

Kidney problems, some liver problems, and some intestinal problems wouldn't even be related would they, if the food was the common factor wouldn't it be only liver or only kidney, not one of each here and there. A string of illnesses would be more like 100 animals dying not less than a dozen. Many people have poisons and toxins all over their house. Many people don’t even realize they have them, forgot about them, or think they're stored safely. Neighbors poison neighbors’ animals every day across the country.

I'm a Nutro food supporter for the benefits I've seen over other brands and the health and quality of dogs the product has given me. I use 3 formulas of Nutro - lamb, chicken, and venison and never had any concerns or health problems. Many people don’t realize what their pets do when they're not around. Quit blaming a great food and find the real cause people - it probably involved YOU.

June to December 2008 both Cutter and Lilith experienced intermittent bouts of severe diarrhea. Each time we took them to the Vet who would promptly test their stools only to discover they were without pathogens. Given the severity of their condition antibiotics were given (Strongid, Panacur, Metronidazole, Clavamox) each time in conjunction with a soft diet of boiled chicken and rice, logically they recovered. In hind sight each time we started them back on Nutro they became symptomatic. December was worse than ever before because we could not make it to the Vet due to weather. This time was different in that we were and are blanketed in snow, eliminating any other possible contributing factors. They could not have gotten into anything on walks, the yard or anywhere else, they have been under close supervision (my lap).

Symptomatically they presented with severe lethargy, diarrhea, vomiting, dark brown urine, loss of appetite and pupillary dilatation. Serendipitous snow storms lead me to the internet to investigate possible causative agents and pet food recalls. When I found Consumeraffairs.com and read the stories we stopped feeding them Nutro. After switching to Iams within 18 hrs our dogs were on the road to recovery, 24 hrs and they were asymptomatic.

Some Facts: 1. Nutro’s parent company is now Mars (May 2007). 2. The FDA blocked more than 100 Nutro dog and cat food products from entering the United States in July 2007. 3. Mars has been on the FDA hit list most of 2008 for potential contamination with Salmonella. 4. The company also confirmed that it recently changed some of its formulas. MAX Dog and MAX Cat foods have been improved with the addition of more chicken and/or salmon, the company stated. (Both Salmon and Chicken harbor Salmonella).

On November 16th 2008, I had a major heart attack with 100 percent blockage of my entire Right Coronary Artery. This was a real JOLT! The rat appeared to be slightly dehydrated or mummified partially but still was not totally dry and did smell awful. It appeared to have been Processed to death...sort of crushed. The dog food is stored in my kitchen. We don't have a rat problem. There was no evidence to indicate the rat had chewed into the bag. I called the fed store. They immediately said they would replace the bag and that I should call Nutro. I did, Nutro thanked me, apologized, had me retrieve info from the bag, and said they are sending a voucher for another bag of my choice. I have not picked up a replacement bag.

My dog had bowel issues for 5-6 weeks and I wouldn't be surprised if there is other problems that will surface b/c of the incidence. I will likely have his kidneys checked to be sure they are still working properly. I've since contacted Nutro corporate and they are supposed to be sending me some food testing bags for the food that I saved from the bad batch. I requested this weeks ago and have not received anything yet. I am very disappointed with Nutro and the fact that they have not done anything to recall the products given the amount of complaints and similarity of the symptoms from dogs/cats eating this food. If you've had any luck with getting reimbursed or received information about the company identifying bad food, please let us know!

One week later another cat started open mouth breathing. Took her to the vet. Kept her in isolation, nebulized her many times per day, gave her antibiotics. No improvement. Had to euthanize her. Most likely heart chamber problems.

One month later a third cat had an ear infection. Cleared with antibiotics. Two weeks later she was losing her balance and had a head tilt. Took her to the vet and she had a tumor in her ear which subsequently spread to her neck and her breathing indicated it had gone to her lungs.

The common thread to losing 3 otherwise healthy cats in 2 months - Nutro Max. I called and was told there was no recall and no other complaints about the food. Heartbroken and thousands of dollars later I have lost my pets. Nutro denies any responsibility.

In September my Harlequin Dane became very sick. She began urinating excessively in the house, vomiting, still had diarrhea and overnight gained 9 pounds of fluid on her belly. I immediately took her to my vet, who then referred me to a specialist. I took her to the specialist the next day. He did X-rays, ultrasound, blood work, and drew fluid off of her belly to test. He put her on six different medications to control liver function, because her liver enzymes were through the roof, and medication to help relieve the fluid on her belly. He could not drain the fluid because it would of depleted her body of all its potassium, and electrolytes. I was told to bring her back in one week for a check. I gave her medication faithfully and continued to feed her a mix of Nutro and canned food to encourage her to eat. At first she ate the soft food from around the Nutro and left the dry food. The next day she would not eat at all and became anorexic within six days.

I took her back to the vet. She had lost weight, but had gained another 7 pounds of fluid on her belly. The vet drained approx. 10 pounds of fluid and sent her home hoping this would help with the medication. The next day (Saturday) she still would not eat, and fluid continued to drain from her belly. By that evening 7pm she started having bloody diarrhea. At 7:30pm she tried to get up and walk and her back legs went out from under her. She could not get herself up. I called my sister to come help me load her to go to the emergency vet. They got there at 7:55pm. She (Dottie) died at 8:03pm.

I never thought my dog food was the problem. Until I read these complaints with similar symptoms and outcomes. At the beginning of October, I switched all of my animals to a different food and they have all started eating like they used to. And they have all put back on the weight they lost. I cannot tell you how horrible I feel knowing I may have been feeding my animals a food that was making them sick and possibly caused one of my companions to die. Dottie was only six years old and full of life and energy. And in two weeks she went from full of energy to dead.

I am looking for a new vet. A vet that listens to the dog owner. I am as in-tune with my dog as I am with my children. I took my dog to a vet nutritionist specialist who formulated a diet for my pup's dietary needs and now she eats home-cooked food. I returned the balance of the bag to Pet Smart, was refunded but kept my proof of purchase and a portion of the food in a plastic bag just in case someone wanted to test it. I won't go back to any commercial dog food. I lost my 8 yr old lab mix April 2008. I believe she was also poisoned by her food. Pet owners, observe what your dogs are telling you by their actions. If they won't eat their food, maybe there is something wrong with it!! My family is so thankful we saved our pup from a sure death.

After four days at the vet, with IV's, a negative Lepto test, and multiple medications, he was sent home and seems to be doing much better. Bottom line? He became sick after eating Nutro. He got better after stopping eating Nutro. The tentative diagnosis of Leptospirosis was unfounded, and the only thing we can find that could be at fault is the food.

At this time we took our female dog home but she quickly worsened as the night went on. We took her back to the vet first thing on 11/21/08 and they hooked her to IV of fluids as well. Both dogs were given antibiotics, pain medication and raglan to stop the vomiting. We are positive that it was this bag of Nutro Natural Choice Lamb Meal & Rice dog food that made our dogs sick. As of now our dogs are home and are doing better but we are keeping an extremely close on them. We will never feed our dogs anything made by this horrible company and I hope that this story can help anyone else who is experiencing these problems.

I was shocked when I found this website with all these people who have had similar stories. Please spread the word so we can help save other animals and their owners from going through this. Please advise the place where you purchased the food as well, hopefully they will pull the product from their shelves. As advised by our vet, we are now feeding our dogs Science Diet ID dog food for at least a month. It is a bland dog food that will help ease their stomachs back into regular dog food.

Hips were x-rayed and normal. Paulus was put on antibiotics, steroid, and medication for his stomach for 4.5 months. We had to attend the vet for 3 months once per week for repeat blood tests, last one was on 19 November which showed that his results are back to normal. Having read all the information makes me wonder. I certainly will stop feeding my dog Nutro.

My husband googled 'Nutro complaints' and immediately found hundreds of complaints. We immediately began feeding them home cooked food, rice, chicken stock and now have added one thing a day, eggs and sweet potatoes. They have stopped vomiting and their stool is improving. We are researching what food to switch them to, but in the mean time will feed them home made food. According to research, this is not just Nutro, it's many so-called 'high quality' dog foods. This industry needs better regulation! We are replacing our downstairs carpet with hard flooring at approx. $3000 dollars from the vomiting. Our poor pups were being poisoned by their own food that was supposed to be good and healthy for them!

We nearly lost our dog as she was near death. We spent $120 on a vet visit to get blood work taken to find out about her extremely elevated liver enzymes and then spent $500 on an ultrasound and x-rays. We are now spending extra money on the Hill’s Science Diet and Marin supplements in hopes of getting her enzyme levels back in order.

I have concern for some of the other foods mentioned here -- Science Diet -- full of corn and chicken by-products (heads, feet and whatever!). And Blue Buff -- with those little black kernels -- life source bits. Where all the nutrition is supposed to be? People I know who fed that had their dogs spit those pieces out -- so basically they were paying high price -- for, well...nothing! I can't believe there is a whole site just for knocking one product.

One Sunday night when she vomited repeatedly and did not stop for more than 24 hours, we tried to figure out what would be creating such a problem. She was weak and did not eat or drink. Monday morning, we took her to the vet. Laura ran a series of tests, blood work and took X-rays. After 48 hours, she was still vomiting and weak. The kernel with the foreign material came to mind. We told the vet about it but she heard nothing of tainted food from Nutro since the moisture pouches sometime back. Our Vet gave her a shot to stop the vomiting and we started Roo on a prescription diet. She starting getting better by the fourth day and we returned the food to Petco.

People are losing their pets over this and Nutro/Mars refuse to pull the product? Mars just issued a recall on their cheap brands but they don't on the more expensive brands even though dogs are dying? If a company is aware that Dogs are getting ill and they are worried that it may cost them money to pull product, do you really think they care about what goes into your pet's food?

I will NEVER use or recommend this food again! I will make sure no matter what it takes that the public is very aware of how this company does business! My dogs are still recovering. I was lucky to have caught the problem early. If my dogs were not in the healthy state before they were poisoned, I don't think they would be here today. Mar's-Nutro, You have not only cost me thousands of dollars at the vet but you have lost my trust and respect for any of your products.

They had been on various Nutro dry dog foods since 1/07 with out incident. It was not until this past summer when I had purchased Nutro Max adult large breed that they began to show signs of illness. I spoke with Nicole at Nutro and she was very polite while I told her of our unfortunate losses. She is sending me testing bags (for samples of the Nutro Max) and paperwork (for the vet to fill out). At this point, obviously the damage has been done...we'll see how they respond after they do their testing. I just feel in my heart of hearts that it had to be their dog food. Nothing else seems to fit. I would hate for anyone else to have to go through what our family did. I want Nutro to recall their products until a more thorough investigation has been completed.

Thinking it was probably just something that he'd gotten into in the woods, I didn't really think too much about it until one morning, when he sat down in the middle of the path on our morning walk and began howling loudly in obvious pain. Because it was so unusual, I checked his heartbeat and it was very rapid. I thought he might have bloat, as our last dog which was also an English Setter almost died from it. After a few minutes, however, he was able to get up and slowly walk home. We took him to the Vet right away, but they couldn't find anything wrong with him, and while I thought about the changes in the food that I'd observed, I didn't do anything about it until about a week later, when the same symptoms developed, again after his morning feeding.

That's when I went online and discovered all of these complaints. Naturally, I contacted the store management right away, and they, in turn, contacted Nutro. The regional representative for Nutro got in touch with me right away and asked that I bring a sample of the food to the store for testing, which I did (at the same time that I purchased an entirely different brand of food). Since that time in early August, I have been in contact with the Consumer Services Dept. at Nutro, who conducted their own testing of the food (even though I had been assured by the regional rep that it would be done independently). Of course, they said that they couldn't find any problems, although they also failed to test for food-poisoning.

Being skeptical of their in-house testing process, I pressed for an independent lab to do further analysis. At first they didn't want to do it, and then they relented after I agreed to let them contact our Vet for information related to our visit last summer. Just last week, I received the so-called results, which consisted of a letter stating that both Salmonella and E-coli tests were negative, although they did not provide the actual laboratory name nor details of the analysis. To add insult to injury, they stated that they would not pay my claim for reimbursement, even though I'd never asked for any economic settlement other than whatever my Vet might charge for giving them the information about our dog's exam. Based on the MANY statements made by other individuals who have experienced problems with Nutro products in the recent past, it is my sincere belief that this company is purposely covering up this extremely serious situation in order to avoid liability. What a disgusting example of putting profit ahead of people and their pets!

I put him on that and confined him to the bathroom. The next night, upon my return from work, I arrived to find more crap on the floor! One or more of my other four cats was also sick. Within two weeks, this was all cleared up, and I chalked it up to a flu bug. Today, I was browsing online for Nutro products to order via the Internet, and I came across the myriad of stories on this website. Unbelievable. I am convinced that it was a bad bag of Nutro that sickened my kitties. It's a shame, because they absolutely love the taste, but I am switching brands immediately.

I can only pray that I have not caused them any damage by feeding this poison. I have found that there are many!! pet owners out there that have concerns with Nutro products causing health problems with their beloved family members. I feel that Nutro must be held accountable for their actions and knowingly producing and selling their poison to the public.

I woke the follow morning to a dog that died in his sleep. I heard him whimper once during the night and started to get up to go check on him, I then heard him lay back down so I went back to bed. I can now never forgive myself for not checking on him. If I had just known, just how sick he was. I would of done anything. Now it's too late. And after reading all these articles against Nutro I am fully convinced that it was the food. He had no known health problems and had all his regular vet visit were up to date. I am devastated and so mad. My family has lost a dear family member and a best friend to my 5 year old son. And to think that it may have been due to the food he ate, it is just awful.

I spent eight hundred dollars and did things I didn't even think I could do, like giving my poor cat fluids with a needle. Within two weeks, I had to have him euthanized. Then, I read in the newspaper a few weeks later that Nutro was one of the companies who were using that poison Chinese melamine in their food. I'm sure that was what killed my cat. He was only eleven years old, and in perfect health until he started eating that Nutro poison food.

Because he was a stray, the doctor said that she was sure it was FHIV or FELV. Tests for that and other things all came back negative. We have had him on Gastro/hypoallergenic food, wet and dry and he has done FANTASTIC. It was like a complete 360. It has seemed like he was almost instantly better. This cat has lived indoors since we have gotten him. He lives a stress free, cush life. We take him on supervised walks and I feed him Plain boiled fish from time to time.

We were referred to a specialist (AVS Specialists in Maitland, Fl) where she underwent another battery of tests, including blood, urine, x-rays, and ultrasounds--(1300.00 worth) all with normal results thus far. We have stopped the Nutro over 1 week ago, and she has improved greatly. I contacted a rep at Nutro to file a complaint. They have asked me to send them a sample of the food (I have also kept some for further testing, if necessary). They asked me to submit all my vet bills and findings, which I certainly will.

My dog has suffered greatly, and had had to endure many tests and some overnight stays. I am just grateful that she is so much better. I have spent approximately $2000.00 to get some answers, which I have not yet received. Willow is my child and this has caused my husband and I a great deal of emotional turmoil, and many sleepless nights, not to mention a house full of destroyed carpeting.

My dogs are healthier than ever since I took them off of dry dog food. No skin or digestive issues. Bulk chicken is actually CHEAPER than premium dog food without the junk fillers. I was fortunate that I stopped feeding as soon as I realized all dogs were sick and I have a pet care experience so my dogs were only sick about three days and recovered fully with home care & feeding strategies.

The vet ran additional pancreas tests, B12, cobalamin and folate and found that Harley has massive bacteria overgrowth. He also has a bacterial eye infection as well. Either the bags were contaminated during shipping or in the warehouse (Nutro said they had a bag issue) or the food was contaminated. All I fed was Nutro dry, canned, biscuits and snacks. All 5 dogs were diagnosed in February. If they were exposed to a bacteria, it would explain why all 5 dogs had normal, healthy exams the prior year. Bacteria can cause heart valve damage (which killed 3 of my dogs in June and July). My Pom also has heart valve damage. Harley's heart rate is very slow for a 2-yr-old lab. If your dog is eating a huge amount of grass, our vet said that is an indication that the dog needs more fiber due to an irritation in the small intestine. Your dog should be checked asap.

If I fed him chicken, cheese, baby carrots and dog treats and he ate all of these items hungrily (didn't run away or hide). If I mixed chicken in his wet Nutro, he would try to eat around the wet food and pick out the chicken. I thought he was being finicky but that wouldn't account for the lethargy, vomiting and loose stool. After $2,000 in vet bills and a month of an inconsistent and sometimes sad puppy, the only answer I had was well vomiting and diarrhea can be symptoms of many things (brilliant diagnosis). No one suggested it could be the food or food related. They scheduled me for full blood work-up and x-rays. I angrily declined and figured I would try to simply change the food and see what happened. I mixed chicken, rice, baby carrots and cottage cheese in food processor.

The dog waited anxiously at my feet instead of running away or hiding under the table. When the food was placed in front of him, he ate every last drop. I have done this for the past 3 days and the pup seems like his old self again..running around playing, energetic and no retching, vomiting or loose bowels. There seems to be only one logical conclusion to this. Something is wrong with the Nutro food and the only one who knew it was the dog. Certainly the vets were clueless. Anyway...my suggestion is to save yourself some $ if your dog exhibits these symptoms (as many of you seem to have experienced already); avoid the medications and expensive tests and attempt a change in food first. If this doesn't resolve the problem, then I'd seek a vet opinion. Just angry that the vets never even suggested that the food could be an issue.

Middle of the following week, he was back to normal, so we fed him some Nutro again mixed with the Eukanuba and he threw it up...back to the Eukanuba by itself. He seemed to be better by Saturday (10/25/08), so we attempted to blend the Nutro food back in with the Eukanuba again. The vomiting and loose stools were back within 12 hours.

It is hard for us to believe that it is the Nutro food. However, every indication leads us to believe that the Nutro food is the root cause of his illness. We are now looking to see how we can have the remaining food in the bag tested to verify our hypothesis. Meanwhile, our Golden looks very tired, is not interested in food, and will be heading to the Vet.

Shortly after Abby turned a year old she began experiencing severe GI problems, loose, bloody stools and severe vomiting. When the problems didn't subside after a day, we took her to the vet. When our vet asked us what we were feeding her, she immediately told us that the NUTRO was the problem. After a few hundred dollars in vet bills along with prescription medication, Abby has gotten better, but she still experiences a few lasting effects as the vet told us might happen. We were told that dogs that eat NUTRO from the time they're a puppy on have a much higher chance of continued GI problems throughout their lives. Abby can only have raw or holistic food now and we have to be careful what types of treats we feed her or she will become sick. This food is horrible, and the fact that it's continuing to be sold after so many known issues, needs to be reconsidered. Our dog would be much healthier today if we had never fed her NUTRO.

Unfortunately, he was actually having a urinary blockage from the food that kept him up all night, even though he was heavily drugged and should of been sleeping soundly. The following night, it got worse and took him back to the ER where he had to be sedated, a catheter put in and given fluids and antibiotics. They kept him overnight until we could take him to our normal vet for another day of tests and observation. The vet said the condition is caused by food with too high levels of magnesium and ash.

He is now on Prescription Hill's C/D formula wet food and doing great. We will probably keep him on it the rest of his life to be safe that this doesn't happen again with another company, claiming to have great ingredients. The worst part is, before I made the connection with Nutro's food and what happened, I gave the bag of food to a friend with a cat who ran out of food, since we couldn't use it anymore, and her cat ended up in the ER with a similar problem a couple weeks later! I feel guilty for giving it to her, but that just shows (along with tons of complaints online) that THIS FOOD IS NOT SAFE!

He was put on antibiotics, IV to reestablish fluids and sent home on a bland diet until vomiting & diarrhea subsides. Hopefully there has been no permanent damage. A follow-up visit to his regular vet in a few days will tell. It is truly unbelievable that Nutro (Menu Foods) continues to negate this enormous problem. Consumers need to be warned and this food needs to be pulled from the shelves. $750 later and continuous carpet cleaning, not to mention this poor dog's suffering, there is no doubt in my mind that Nutro is the culprit. He was on the Lamb/Rice formula. I have contacted the FDA to file a complaint. My heart goes out to those who have lost their precious pets.

Recently he began drinking water excessively and urinating in the house. He never did this. He had loose bloody stool last week so I gave him Parvoguard for this and Tripsy for his kidneys. Early Tuesday (Oct 14) morning he had Grand Mal epileptic seizures. This was the most painful thing I've ever had to see. He regained consciousness once then had several more cluster seizures. Even if I'd got him to emergency at 4 AM he'd never of made it. His heart could not take anymore. I made him comfortable but I knew he'd suffered brain damage after the first cluster seizure, and I have to say goodbye to my beautiful Boston Dooley. I stumbled upon this site and now I see things through new eyes. Here are known reasons for these seizures taken from website **. There's got to be way to stop this now.

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.

There is no way to know which dogs will be affected immediately and/or how long it will take for others to be affected. It's playing Russian roulette with your animals' lives by using Nutro.

After 3 days, we discontinued using the dog food and switched him to Science Diet ID. His symptoms cleared instantly once we changed his food. After 3 days on the science diet, we switched him and our new foster dog to Flint River Ranch Trout and Potato. We have never had any problems with the new food. We contacted Nutro and sent them a sample of the food. They told us that there was nothing wrong with the food and refused to reimburse us. We want Nutro dog food to have to take responsibility for their inferior and harmful pet products.

Not to mention, many dogs are affected with allergies to grains because they produce an alkaline environment in the dog and cat's body which can lead to yeast infections, urinary tract infections and other maladies. Be very careful going to a food with a lot of grain. Read your ingredient labels and not just the marketing on the package. READ THE INGREDIENT LABEL and READ THE GUARANTEED ANALYSIS. Many veterinarian recommended foods contain a huge amount of grain. And some of you have mentioned it on this page, Science Diet. Iams, Purina, Eukanuba and many other so called premium and grocery store pet foods have a lot of grain in it which can be contaminated by toxins. (pet Food recall 2007) Read the labels. If you want to know which foods to buy, go to DogFoodAnalysis.com and read the reviews of the foods that you feed your animal.

Pick foods in the four to six star rating. (4-6 Star) You will be selecting a higher quality of food. Most pet store foods are only 2 Stars YES! 2 Stars and lower! Its a shame. These companies use grains to boost the protein content of the food. Not a good idea. Do your research. I currently recommend a rotation diet which is grain free this diet was rated 5 and 6 stars by Dog Food Analysis.com. I know that higher quality dog food is more expensive and times are tough right now. But you will thank yourself in the long run because you will have to feed your dog less, the dog's coat will look better, less skin problems, less health problems and obesity. Which means less visits to the veterinarian.

Many of you care deeply about your animal family members. Make a commitment to keep your dog and cat on a healthier diet. I used to think Nutro was a healthier diet for years I promoted it. I was proven wrong this year and I'm upset. So for those of you switching back to a lower quality of pet food, or grocery store pet food think again. You are not doing your dogs or cats a favor. Dogs are primarily carnivores, but can be omnivores, cats are obligate carnivores. Feeding pet foods with a high grain content only leads to health problems, diabetes, and other issues. This also goes for dog treats too. Many dog treats on the market are not healthy for your animal, read those labels too and opt for corn free, wheat free and soy free treats. Your dog and cat will thank you. So will your wallet due to less veterinary bills.

After x-rays and quite extensive tests, the vet indicates that the most likely cause is salmonella. These are all indoor cats, so we couldn't figure out what was wrong! Then the vet called late in the evening and told us to stop the food. Unfortunately, it was too late for one of our poor cats. He basically became paralyzed, was having trouble breathing, and starting twitching all the time. We had to put him down yesterday... The other one is starting to bounce back but he is the younger male, and was always a strong cat. He is still gagging and vomiting after 4 days.

Curiously enough, the other 2 cats in the household didn't get sick. Now we know why, the girls didn't like the pouch food. They stuck to dry food (not Nutro). I just feel so guilty that I bought this food for them...

I am convinced that Nutro was contaminated prior to this year. We are lucky our dog suffered no permanent illness and didn't die. There is no question in my mind that it was his food that caused him to vomit. It's a good thing he has good vomit reflex. Pet owners need to be vigilant and exchange information. How can we find out what is really in our pet food?

My wife and I took her to the vet and they were able to find a urinary tract infection. She then got pneumonia and an intestinal infection. Her liver began to fail and she became extremely weak. She finally expired on the above date crushing us both. Beside her pain and suffering, we incurred an extremely high vet bill which made us feel that she had suffered for no reason. We were able to find the Nutro site with the complaints from other owners. Most of their dogs suffered as Sheila Mae did and we know the owners suffered as we did. I know that the company admits no culpability in these situations but, so much is the same in each event.

After a couple vet visits which they can find nothing wrong, they gave him some antibiotics and we have switched his food. After 2 days he is no longer lethargic, not frothing at the mouth, and will eat this different food. Stay away from Nutro as something has changed and they are not admitting it yet. I have written the company and am waiting for a response.

The day after my last report, my dog had to be put down due to illness so far gone. Her nervous system completely shut down and she was lifeless. I opted to have a necropsy performed to try and figure out the cause. I got the necropsy results back and she was diagnosed with an awful case of pancreatitis. The vet said it was one of the worst cases she'd ever seen. She said that some dogs develop this disease without real reasoning and that she couldn't say it was because of her Nutro dog food.

With 100's of cases that seem to be very similar to mine, I cant help but wonder how many companions will we lose before we figure out whats wrong with Nutro. I have given a large sample to my vet for testing and she is trying to find someone to test it. My hope is that we can figure it out soon. Until then, those people feeding their pets nutro should be VERY careful and switch food immediately if you see any signs of problems with the food. I wish I had found this sight sooner so I could have tried switching her food much earlier.

The vet ran tests for parasites and the tests were all negative. The dog went from 68-64 pounds in 10 days. The vet also ran a week long stool test-that too came back negative. This was a very scary time since my husband and I were leaving the country for a week and needed to have the dog stay with our neighbors.

I warned the neighbor about the problem and showed her all of the medicine and made a chart for when to give her the medicine. It was the neighbor who found the info that some other pet owners were having very loose stools with their animals because she could not believe how my dog had diarhea even on several meds. My neighbor bought a bag of natural dog food and the stool is returning to normal. I will consult the vet again this week.

I have two bags of Nutro that I can not use with my pet. This food has made my dog extremely sick with loose stools. I have been to the vet 3 times, have several bills including Xrays, tests for infections, parasites etc. My dog is very thin and still on two medications. It has been one month that I have been dealing with this and am extremely frustrated at the costs of over $700 and still have a dog that is not better!

The Nutro is going back because they have a 100% guarantee on the bag. I am also calling my state FDA rep. You can get yours at http://www.fda.gov/cvm/contactCVM.html .

Both bags we had of Nutro Natural Choice were labeled as 79105 20105 with this additional code LBA20-01 81185-01. One use by date was 27 Dec 2009 and the other was 18 Jan 2010.

It was only by chance that I was awake to watch the 11pm news out of Philadelphia, PA about a week ago. There was a report about Pedigree dog food making dogs sick. What struck me was that they were showing Nutro dog food (not the front of the bag, but you could tell it was Nutro). The next morning I looked up the news station's web-site & the report was about Pedigree not Nutro. I looked on-line just to be certain.

I read the stories here about what has been happening to Nutro fed dogs. I was horrified. I had just spent over $40 for a 40lb bag a couple of days prior to the newscast. I immediately threw away the Nutro & purchased another brand. Since last week, my GSD has done a 180. Her eyes are clear the cloudy film is gone, the bloodshot eyes are gone, she's playful, no vomitting & she wants to eat. I hope that someone finds out what is in Nutro that is making the dogs ill. I trusted Nutro, never again.

It was only by chance that I was up to watch the 11pm news out of Philadelphia, PA about a week ago. There was a report about Pedigree dog food making dogs sick. What struck me was that they were showing Nutro dog food (not the front of the bag, but you could tell it was Nutro). The next morning I looked up the news station's web-site & the report was about Pedigree not Nutro. I looked on line just to be certain & I read the stories here about what has been happening to Nutro fed dogs. I was horrified. I had just spent over $40 for a 40lb bag a couple of days prior to the news cast.

I immediately threw away the Nutro & purchased another brand. Since last week, my GSD has done a 180. Her eyes are clear the cloudy film is gone, the bloodshot eyes are gone, she's playful, no vomitting & she wants to eat.

I hope that someone finds out what is in Nutro that is making the dogs ill. I trusted Nutro, never again.

They should not be allowed to make any kind of food My dog might not make it this is my kid not just a dog Please do not sit back and let them do this to are family members i am not i will not stop till thier food is not sold any more Lets save a life tell everyone

Buddy is only one of my four dogs, my other dog is showing signs of losing weight and the other one is starting to throw up. Three out of four dogs getting sick seems very odd. Vet changed food and dog is slowing recovering.

He started to have Diahrea and became very lethargic. I took him and a sample of the food to my vet and after lab work and research the vet said that my Springer had 3 X's the amount of Bacteria in his stomach found thru a fecal test. I gave my vet some of the food that I have been feeding my dog and after doing some test confirmed that the only way he could have got sick was from the food. I have all the Vet's lab reports and lot # of the dog food. My springer is on Anti biotics and is doing much better. I have contacted Nutro and I am waiting for them to contact me.

My vet bill was over $260.00 which I hope they will cover

He is on an IV and had to stay over night. We don't know when we can pick him up and take him home. I called a friend who also had trouble with Nutro - this time the large breed puppy formula dry food. His dog vomited and had diarrhea but no blood.

What is going on with Nutro and why has nothing been on the news? Salty does not have a senstive stomach, he suffers from sensitive skin sometimes and was getting hot spots from swimming and that is the only reason why we tried the Sensitive Skin Nutro Lamb and Rice - now I feel that that sent him to the emergency room.

Salty has HGE and had to be admitted to the emergency room to have an IV with fluids for him. The first bill from last night totalled $735. We have to see what else needs to be done. The vet said it could easily total over $1,000.00.

Trust me, I am involved in many of dog clubs where people are feeding this and when I get through telling them about this they will no longer be buying this food. I have show dogs and travel a great deal with the dogs. What have [they] done to the dog food?. Why are all the animals getting sick?

Vet bills, sick dogs, gas bills going to and from the Vets with the sick dogs.

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.

Yesterday she developed very 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 don't drop down into a sphinx-like position and again refused 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, 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!!! I feel as though we caught this early hopefully before any permanent damage!

I spent 10 days back and forth at the vet spending over a $1000.00 trying to figure out what was going on. Their blood counts were way off and had the Vets stumped as to what it could be other than an infectious disease of some sort. Without getting online and reading other peoples compliants about Nutro Dog food (MAX MINI CHUNK) I would of never suspected it was the food. Both dogs have been eating the food for over 11years without any problems. And Nutro has no posting of any recalls or issues with their food.

So thank you to all the pet owners who have shared their stories. My heart breaks for those of you that actually lost a pet to this Dog food. Both my dogs for the time being are ok however I will be taking them in this week for more blood work and testing to be sure.

more than a $1000.00 in Vet Bills

They did not seem to want to eat as all her prior litters did. She had four puppies. One by one yeterday three died. One is just hanging on. Its a little girl that struggles to eat as all the others did. Yesterday Mia was shaking and crying as she could not help her babies. Last night as each one died she shook and cried and I sat next to her as she snuggled the dieing puppie untill it was gone. Mia has had three other litters and all were heathy.

This is a sad experiance for our Mia that loves to be a mom and is a great one. She just stares at me to help her and I can do nothing but love her up. She has not left them since five PM last night. I am giving her spoonfulls of food as she lays with the last one. This is so wrong not only due to the costs I have encured but the strss and sadness that Mia is feeling breaks my heart.

I have talked to the FDA and WILL keep pushing for answers. Please if anyone has issues going on with animal foods make a report to the FDA. It is the only way we will be able to stop this.

The two litters I shold have had would have brought about $7000.00 to our income. Then I have about $700.00 worth of vet bills and thrown away food and treats. Nutro should have to be respasable!

I immediately took her off the Nutro dog food, after learning that Nutro dog food has been found to have harmful chemicals in it. I thought the dog food problem had been taken care of after the big scare last year. Now I understand that more dogs are dying. Because we caught it so early, her prognosis is good.

What about other dogs? What is being done to prevent this, and why wasnt it taken care of last year when so many dogs died? I am one of a lucky few who caught it in time before any real damage was done. My dog is my life, lots of owners have the same love based realtionship with there dogs. I can't even begin to imagine what I would do without her in my life, and what those families who have lost there dogs are going through right now. Nutro needs to step up before more family members are lost.

The consequences? We have a huge vet bill to pay on a limited budget. We have a sick dog who is a mjor part of our family. We also have no faith in the dog food manufacturer, or in the system which is supposed to regulate such things. So what else is new?

What I'm wondering about though has to do with Cheryl's post concerning her findings on copper toxicity and its effect on connective tissue and associated problems. My dog's tumor developed by way of abnormal lymphoid cell growth encapsulated in connective tissue. Maybe this is purely coincidental, but it certainly makes me wonder. I will be asking my vet if there might be a correlation.

Economic damages? Approximately $2,400.00

Well two weeks ago I was running low and went to get some. I found out that they no longer make Nutro Max Cat Hairball formula but have replace it with Nutro Indoor Cat formula. I thought it was going to be ok because I have feed them this for years. Well it was not ok. My cats have diarrea, throwing up. So I took them to the vet, they asked what type of food I was feeding them and I told them. My vet told me to discontinue IMMEDIATLY. The company had been sold and they now use grocery store quality products which is VERY bad.

I had to pay over 1000.00 to get them healthy. I would not feed this food to my kids anymore let alone my cats. I have switched to Innova EVO and they have had NO problems. I hope this reaches people before it happends to them. Please take this food back now and invest in some decent food. I have contacted customer service but of course they are no help, they tried to offer me coupons!! Ha I told them to stuff it, I would NEVER feed them this crap again.

Vet bills of over 1000.00 to rescuse them from this crap food.

COPPER AND CONNECTIVE TISSUE

Copper is required for collagen formation. Copper deficiency is association with atherosclerosis and other cardiovascular conditions. Excess copper or biounavailable copper often cause connective tissue problems, interfering with the disulfide bonds in connective tissue. Symptoms may include stretch marks, tendon and ligament weakness, mitral valve prolapse, skin and hair problems and other conditions affecting connective tissue.

Along with eye problems, liver, kidney, and/or pancreas failure, CANCER, gastritis, diarrea and vomiting.

I called Nutro today and spoke to Sharon about this article and she said it's just a blog and is untrue. She also said Nutro has contacted EVERY PERSON who has filed a complaint. No one has contacted me from Nutro, period. She also said the food is fine, they are just experiencing a lamb shortage. (why isn't Science Diet, Eukanuba, Blue and Purina experiencing a lamb shortage?). My dogs were on the Senior Natural Choice Chicken/Rice, treats and biscuits.

How many dogs have to suffer and how many people who have handled this food and gotten sick, have to suffer? When will someone from the government step in?

Please read the article concerning zinc and copper toxicity from Pet Food Safety Alliance. Share it with everyone you know.

3 dead dogs, thousands of dollars in vet expenses, another dog who also has mitral valve prolapse not expected to survive, cremation expenses. HEARTACHE!

I have had him on Natural Balance Sweet Potato & Venison just over a month and his feet, ears and eyes have cleared up, the vomiting stopped and his **** is solid and he has twice as much energy

Thank you for posting these complaints. I contacted Nutro last year following the pet food recall and they assured me that they had the highest quality standards in the industry. I want to know how I can help prevent other pets from being poisoned by Nutro.

Then around the beginning of Aug I bought a new bag (same food just a new bag) and within 12 hours both dogs had severed diarrhea and vomitting.

I didnt think it was the food at first. But what else could it have been they hadnt had anything different but a new bag. I stopped them on it and the diarrhea and vomitting stopped. I changed them to a new food California Natural Chix and Rice and they have done excellent on it. Its been about 2 weeks now and no problems.

However, I still had some Nutro treats laying around the house and my husband accidentally gave the dogs the Nutro treats and within a few hours the diarrhea started again w/ both dogs.

That just proves to me that it MUST be the Nutro. I am so disappointed in this company. Luckily I did my research and found California Natural and I will stick w/ that.

My moms dog was on Nutro Natural Choice Large breed senior and after hearing my story and then reading all the complaints she switched her dog to Wellness Senior.

$2000 in vet bills.

Gave him pepto and after 4 days came home and put him on Merrick and he stopped having diarreha and the vomitting stopped. I feed 10 dogs and I am not willing to take any chances. I will not be feeding this product to them again. And I have heard a valid rumor that since Pedigree has taken over Nutro that, they failed to find a Lamb supplier, so no thank you Pedigree, I will not be feeding your New product ever again. I will miss you Nutro, not pedigree. See ya.

But what concerns me the most, is that one of my dogs has started having seizures. She's had at least 5 in the last 2 months. There may have been more, but I work during the day, and no one is home to witness them. This dog is now 21 months old, and has been eating Nutro large breed since she was 4 months old. Has any one else had dogs that have developed seizures using Nutro products? I'm wondering if they happened to get a bad batch of that corn gluten that was causing issues a few months ago with some of the other dog food companies??? I will be switching her food TODAY to a grain free food, to see if that might be the issue. And will probably switch the other dogs too (as soon as I take out a small mortgage on the house to pay the extra expense.lol)

Puppies have also started to have watery stools. which were all solid and just fine before the nutro. the two adults that have gone into the puppy pen have also became ill, coats looking bad, and not wanting to do anything, not even play which they love.

HUGE vet bill to follow to check all the puppies out and testing to make sure there has been no damage to them, change of food, raw diet to clear everything out bad.

We purchased this food around the end of June 2008. He slowly lost interest in playing, eating and wanted to only be outside. The morning we found him sitting on the wet grass very early in the morning, we decided something was very wrong. Our Vet bill is over $600.00 with an unknown diagnosis. His liver functions were also messed up as others have stated. Most of the complaints have been related to dogs and I was wondering if others have had their cats affected. Nutro needs to fess up!

Diarrhea, vet bills, medication, and much worrying has resulted from the use of this food.

I have spent $600 in vet bills for the UTIs before I made the connection that it could be the food.

We recently adopted a new puppy to add to our household of 2 dogs. I worked at an animal hospital for a short while during this holidays and this puppy came very sick, was almost euthanized, but the hospital staff agreed to foster her and she eventually became ours.

She was on Nutro Large Breed Puppy. Around April/May 2008 (the same timeline I've seen with others on this site) she started getting diarrhea and drinking water non-stop leading to accidents and real housebreaking issues.

We switched her to the Chicken, Oatmeal, and Rice that our other girls are on since it is for sensitive stomachs. The problems were solved for a while.

With the next food purchse (about a month ago) all three of our girls started having diarrhea and increased thirst. We are having ocnstant accidents and we are getting up several times in the night to take them out to have diarrhea.

I have switched to Innova EVO and expect that everything will rememdy itself given the change. Thank GOD I didn't lose on of my pets over this as I have heard that others have.

2 very ill dogs - throwing up, diarrhea, wetting all over the place, and not feeling well at all.

After 10 days of very little to no eating, we took him to the Vet. Our cat has edema in all of his legs. They took all kinds of tests and blood work and can't figure out what's wrong with him. Could it be the cat food?

Of course we thought first of an illness and not of the food. Even with medication from the vet, the stool was still super soft. At some point we considered the food and did some research. I found many disturbing articles on the Internet, which fit to the time and date that Nutro was run by the new owner Mars Petcare ( the ones who produce Pedigree and Whiskas). Then I thought, maybe the outside looks still like Nutro but the ingredients might have chanced. And surprise!

The small list of ingredients from the original Nutro Adult Large Breed: Dried chicken meat, ground rice, corn gluten, rice barn, wheat flour, poultry fat, beet pulp, sunflower oil, potassium chloride, dried egg product, dried kelp

reads now like this:

Chicken Meal, Ground Rice, Rice Flour, Corn Gluten Meal, Wheat Flour, Rice Bran, Poultry Fat (preserved with mixed Tocopherols, a source of Vitamin E), Dried Plain Beet Pulp, Soybean Oil (preserved with mixed Tocopherols, a source of Vitamin E), Natural Flavors, Sunflower Oil (preserved with mixed Tocopherols, a source of Vitamin E), Potassium Chloride, Choline Chloride, Dried Egg Product, Lecithin, Dried Kelp, Vitamin E Supplement, Ferrous Sulfate, Zinc Sulfate, Zinc Proteinate, Taurine, Biotin, Ascorbic Acid (source of Vitamin C), Manganese Proteinate, Glucosamine Hydrochloride, Manganous Oxide, Chondroitin Sulfate, Niacin Supplement, Calcium Pantothenate, Copper Sulfate, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Vitamin A Supplement, Copper Proteinate, Sodium Selenite, Riboflavin Supplement (source of Vitamin B2), Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Thiamine Mononitrate (source of Vitamin B1), Vitamin D3 Supplement, Menadione Sodium Bisulfite Complex (source of Vitamin K activity), Calcium Iodate, Folic Acid.

I'd fed them both the new bag for approximately 2 days and noticed they both developed diarrhea. I didn't really consider the food as the source of the upset stomach so I continued feeding them the food for a few more days. Then my Bassett hound started throwing up and they both still had the diarrhea. I went to the pet store and inquired as to whether there had been any problems reported with the food. I was told no not lately however about a year ago Nutro recalled a batch but they didn't know why.

I purchased a soft lamb/rice combo since that always seemed to help my animals when they had stomach issues. Within 5 days they were both doing great so I went back to the Nutro Max and within 1 day they were ill again. I switched there food at that point because I knew without a doubt it was the Nutro Max doing this to them.

I contacted Nutro Max by email and 2 weeks later still had not received a response so I called them on their 800 #. I spoke with a rep who said they had not received any complaints but they definitely wanted to test it to make sure there were no issues. She told me she would send me a container via UPS and to put approximately 4 cups of the food in it and send it back. I've yet to receive this container and it's now August.

I was lucky and it only cost me the original bag of food, diarrhea medication & some canned food. Others have lost their pets over this matter and for that I'm so sad. I wish someone would put a stop to the sell of this companys dog food. With all the complaints I've read about this brand I do not understand how they can still be allowed to sell the product. You can tell me all day long that the food was tested and there appeared to be no problems but that's hog wash as far as I'm concerned.

Why are they telling people no reports of problems have been received but now Im reading all these stories about complaints being filed prior to my experience? They are obviously hiding something and dont seem to be very concerned in fixing it. Too many people have reported similar symptoms with their dogs and so many have even lost their pets to this horrible issue. Our pets are like family members and the loss is so painful. Please if you are using this food ---don't feed it to your dog anymore!!

This would pass until he ate again the following day but the lethargy continues. Both dogs have lost weight.

The response I received when I called Nutro Max was very professional, supportive & helpful in telling me what to do with digestive upset (had to remind her I've had dogs all my life and knew all she was saying), to take my dogs to the vet and have them tested for worms, etc.

I told her if it was one dog I could see but both dogs have the same symptoms, both dogs are doing the identical thing, both dogs are eating the same thing and it just seems strange that with this bag of food the problems started. There was nothing new added except for this bag. I gave her the lot number, etc. (Used by 02 Dec 2009 and then under that 19:35 2B A 4 LP) just in case she gets other reports of same symptoms.

I asked if they had received any other complaints or problems and she said no. With the scare last year and ensuing problems, with the knowledge that people are greedy, corporate execs are greedy, denials are rampant (I had Science Diet deny any problems with their canned food which was recalled), even our gov't treats our trusted companions as though they were an ipod, or a set of dishes (personal property), I have little trust in the food we give our pets. Having said that, I also understand that this could just be a bad bag that was possibly left outside on a pallet in the hot sun, or something.

Were it just a problem with one dog, or if it happened just once or twice, I would say OK something else is going on but this is recurrent, with both dogs at the same time, after they eat, and by the 10th time, I realized OK, it's got to be the food. And I still think it's just a bad bag. So, I'm tossing the balance save for a few kibbles to put in a plastic bag in the freezer, just in case. With the other people writing in with their dogs experiencing the same identical symptoms, something is askew. Is Nutro Max keeping quiet when they know something or is it just coincidence? Not sure what I will feed my dogs next but have a day to think about it and will discuss with my vet.

Consequences for me were the discomfort for my dog, coming home to a crate with diarrhea, cleaning the crate and the dog, and my concern that there was something else wrong. I decided not to take the dog to the vet until I tried another food. But, the Nutro Adult food was the only variable and the diarrhea happened within 2 days. Petsmart refunded my money for the dog food.

Before my last post I was preparing to take my 13 year old dog, Sadie, to the vet for incontinence. She was also pretty lethargic and drinking excessively, but I attributed those things to the Summer heat. She ended up being diagnosed with struvite crystals in her urine and put on Proin for the incontinence. The vet did say the crystals are caused by a pet's diet.

Sadie had eaten nothing but Nutro dry food and treats for several years and six months ago she had a normal urinalysis report. I usually fed her the Nutro Senior Natural Choice Lamb & Rice. If the store was out of that I'd purchase one of Nutro's other varieties. Treat-wise she ate Nutro Chops. The vet recommended the Hill's Science Diet prescription food to resolve the urine crystals, but I told her I'm not a fan of anything Science Diet. I asked if I might try Blue Buffalo food instead since they are now selling it at Petsmart and I'd heard it was really good stuff. She said that would be just fine and that she is a big fan of Blue Buffalo having seen amazing changes in pets fed that brand.

I have since switched to BB for all my pets and they are doing great! Wow! I didn't realize how much ALL of them were sleeping before when they were eating Nutro. Well, I sure have some happy, energetic pets now!

I'm supposed to take Sadie back to the vet for another urinalysis to see if the urine crystals are still present. I have a hunch they aren't, but we will see. She is doing great now and no longer acting or looking like an old dog. The last couple of weeks she's fallen in love with all of her toys again and I hadn't seen her play like this for a very long time! I do miss the smaller stools the Nutro provided though. The cat stools are about the same, but the dogs are parting with some pretty sizeable landmines.

I do hope Nutro will come around and take a very hard look at the changes they have made in their foods. It's sad to see a very good brand go down the drain, and much worse than that, to see pets harmed or killed because of their ingredient revisions and/or negligence. If my dog hadn't been diagnosed with the crystals I still probably would have switched foods because of the lack of concern they seem to be showing to pet owners as reported here. Nutro is playing with fire when they downplay the consumer's distrust in their products. Even if the food went back to being as it was before, who here could ever really trust them or like them again?

I will NOT be buying this GARBAGE again!! I cannot believe that they market this stuff as being good for your puppy and it makes them sick or can kill them.

I will go back to making their dog food--you CANNOT trust these people. They only care about profit NOT pets.

The damages that have been incurred are a very sick dog that prior to eating this crap was very active and healthy. Now she cowers in her crate and cannot hold her bowels.

As I understand it, Nutro/MenuFoods is not doing a thing about this. I tried without success contacting Petsmart and Petco. Apparently, they say the food is flying off the shelves - well, all I can say is people have got to somehow find out what Nutro is doing! Even contacted the owner of a small pet store in my area, and he is not doing anything either.

I have spent hours and hours on the internet learning everything I can about dog food. I think what I am giving my dogs now is a good food - Natures'Variety - Prairie. I found an awesome website that is put out by a lady that is not trying to sell a book, or dog food. She is seriously interested in educating people about dog food. She does some consultations, but I really think her main purpose is to educate! The site is dogfoodproject.com

Please go to this site - it is really interesting what she has to say. The foods you think are safe are not necessarily the best. She has a very interesting story about Science Diet. Also, I found another site iamscruelty.com - it is so sad!, I cried. What Iams/Eukaneuba is doing to live dogs w/o anethesia is horrifying! Please, please, tell all you know about the bad Nutro and check out this site. I still feel so bad for all these people and their 4 legged babies, it is so unnecessesary!

The next day, we took him to our vets and they admitted him for the weekend. By Monday night he came home, and was on Prescription food, so he was fine. He stayed on that for about a week. When he returned to his regular food, he was eating Science Diet mature without any wet food.

Within the last few days I started giving him a small amount of the Nutro wet topping, and he started acting strangely again. Yesterday it looked like he was shivering - his bottom jaw was shaking. Today, the same thing. Then, another dog, who has always had the wet Nutro, started urinating every 20 minutes. She has had cystitis before, and it looks like it has returned. I decided to give her some blueberries, and yoghurt, and finally, she seemed better. My Nutro cans are gone, and I'm not buying anymore. I've switched to Halo, which is an all-natural food and I'm not going back to that GMO garbage they sell in the stores. You should do the same.

I called Pet Co. right away to warn them that they should remove that food from their shelves and he asked me if I still had the bag.... I said yes and he wanted me to bring it in and swap it for another brand... I am so sure... the second that I gave them that bag every big of evidence that I had would disappear- he was very persistent that I bring him in the bag today to get my money back. I'll eat the $45... I am not getting rid of the bag in hopes that someone can help all of us.

I have an 18 month little girl that loves my dog to death... he sleeps in her bed sometimes and they are so close- if anything would have happened to him she would have been devastated. I cried and cried when I realized how sick he was and I felt so terrible that I was the one giving him what was making him so sick!!!! THIS IS RIDICULOUS!!!! WHAT IS GOING ON HERE!!!!

Get this horrible food off of the shelves and start saving our pets!!!! What is it going to take???

I'm drafting a letter to the Nutro manufactures, PetsMart, and PetCo.... it wont be very nice.

Now she is sratching all over her body with paws and her teeth.She vomited about four times now in three days . She is going the vet tomorrow and I will find out what they think.I did phone Nutro and they ask if they sent me a container would I send a 2 cup sample of the food...and they would get back to me on what they found . The young lady said others on this site have not to the vet or called them and told them of their concerns...Well I am she is my baby.......

I rushed her to vet & she was hospitized 4 days. Medical treatment went from 06/04/08 through 07/25/08. After long range of teatment and test, we still don't know what caused this. I suspect after reading the previous reports on Nutro, the very same food I had purchased where dogs have died & sick, I feel the food could be the the cause.

She is now on Science Diet I/D canned Prescription Diet along with R/D dry food. She is doing very well but we are being so careful and still afraid to go back to old Nurto food. I would like to have this food tested and still have the whole 20 lb. bag except the small amount I fed Sasha before she got sick. We love her very much and were so afraid that she wasn't going to make it. Our vet of many years spent many trying days trying to save her.

Just as added note, Sasha had just been to vet for her annual checkup on May 12, 2008 and given clean bill of health. Her illness started June 4th.

I have all vet bills which total to $887.52. The 20 lb. bag of Nutro approx. $25.00. Made approx. 10 trips to vet during illness @ 15 miles per trip.

Then I poured the Nutro light over the outmeal to see if it was just the dog food that perhaps not mixing caused her stomach to react. I poured the lite over the top and she ate from there and seemed fine. Once the top was eaten, later that night I went back and noticed my Chocolate lab (8) years old at the bottom which contained the oatmeal variety. Within 1 hour he was moaning and growning, I thought he was vomiting only to find out it was called regurgitation since the food was coming out in a cylinder like form where I almost thought it was ****. In large quantites this was coming out of his mouth every half hour or so. Then he drank some liquid and that purged immediately. There was no contractions to push the food out, the food and water never made it into his stomach.

I took my dog in to the vet that next morning since his belly still hurt and the grunting had been going on all night every few seconds. Once the tests were run, the elevated liver enzymes was one of the main concerns, the kidneys were not doing well either. Xrays were taken, blood work was done-- the whole work-up was performed. Still after 3 days, 7 bags of fluid, antibiotics--we had to take him home. The bill was over 1250.00 --

He has been home for 2 days now and still has orange runny **** and last night he seemed happy but he would have some problems walking on the wood floor. He was sliding his hind legs. This morning he could not walk at all on the floor and his hind legs do not seem to function well. I read another posting above where their dog did the same. Their dog pulled through and all symptoms are gone. I would like to know how long the hind legs will be like this?

I want to take the dog food back and yes I replaced Nutro with Eukanuba but neither dog would eat that. I am going to buy Science Diet tomorrow. If I take back the dog food-most people don't believe its the food and I am afraid that perhaps returned food would be shared with the animals at that facility since they have pets there for adoption. I will contact Nutro on this but not certain returning the food would not be given to another animal. Please someone tell me this is only temporary due to the dog food and not a stroke which due to his age I am fearing. The posting above has given me hope that this just needs to run its course.

1,250.00 plus now my dog can't hardly walk without assistance.

He's been very sick. Something must be wrong with their food.

I came across this site after looking to see if I could find Nutro cheaper on the internet rather than from my local pet shop and was absoultley stunned to read this... I thought I was feeding her the most natural and best food for her turned out I was sooo wrong. I felt sick and couldnt help but sit here and sob for all you who have lost your best friends/babies I couldnt beleive that I may have been killing my own baby!!

So I went to my pet shop and asked them what to do and the woman was whispering that Nutro had been taken over and was being made in Europe instead of US and that they had changed some ingredients that dont state exactly what they are, she also told me that she and other people who worked there had always fed nutro but now they too had changed onto Pro Plan or others as they had lost faith in Nutro even though they have no dea about this site?! I find it absoultley devastating and am so glad I found this site before it was too late for my baby (just hope it hasnt done too much damaged already)

These companies need to be sorted out I am disgusted to find they do NOTHING about it, it's all about there pockets I just hope enough people stumble across this site the same way I have done!! My heart really goes out to everyone i am so sorry for your loses or near loses. PLEASE STOP FEEDING NUTRO

After reading the article from Cheryl of Ogden, UT dated 8/12/08, concerning salmonella infection/poisoning concerning dogs & humans & recalls from Pedigree who is owned my M&M Mars, like Nutro. After reading this I contacted my physician about my own health. In the last year I have lost 40 lbs due to diarrhea and kidney infections with no explaination. I have been in the hospital and they can't determine the problem.

Since I have switched my dogs from the Nutro food I have gained 25lbs and haven't had diarrhea or kidney problems. I always mix the dog food in the dog bowls with my hands. I didn't put 2 and 2 together until I read Cheryl's letter. I was so worried about my dogs but I was more concerned about my own health. My recent Ultrasound should everything back to normal! Coincedence? I don't think so!

Medical bills on myself, vet bills on 15 dogs, loss of my beloved dog. And denial of a major corporation

I wanted to add an update to the nightmare we went through with all of our animals. To reiterate, we have 30 rescued cats (20 feral) and 4 dogs. Our cats are all inside cats - our dogs are in a fenced in back yard with no possible contaminants. Tazz, one of our German Shepherds, will be 12 in November. She was fine when we switched to Nutro last fall. She did have some arthritis started that basically bothered her in rainy weather. It wasn't until early summer 2008 that we started seeing her legs become weaker.

July is when we saw her steadily go down hill. She acted confused, couldn't get up without help, would stumble and fall and need help to walk through the house. We would wrap a towel under her belly and bring it up on both sides of her so we could support her as she walked. We bought area carpets to help her with traction on some of the floors. We all were devastated that age was taking its toll on our beloved Tazz. It was obvious her legs were giving out and we worried that winter in NH would be too much for her. We had Rimadyl for those rainy days and started to give it to her more frequently. It didn't help. We knew we had to talk to our vet but we were all afraid. Sadly, we assumed it was age related.

A friend emailed me that she had read some disturbing stories about Nutro on www.consumeraffairs.com. I logged on and started reading. When I read the stories about other dogs with the same symptoms, it gave me chills. We didn't want to get our hopes up because it seemed unlikely this was what was happening to Tazz. Too much to hope for. BUT the stories and symptoms of other animals were too much of a coincidence so I immediately took all our Nutro back and bought Eukanuba. I still have cat food that I planned on throwing out. Now I want to have it tested if I can find out where and how to do this. I desperately want answers and want this serious problem dealt with. We were one of the lucky ones but we're still worried about any residual damage with all of our pets.

As I stated in my last letter, the symptoms are gone from EVERYONE! As I sit here and write this I can't help the tears that are filling my eyes because Tazz has recovered back to the point where she might be a little stiff on a rainy day! She's playing with the other dogs, running around the back yard, slower like a senior citizen but she's not falling, she's not disorientated, she doesn't need help getting up and she's got that bright look in her eyes once again! She was dying! If we hadn't taken heed of the stories that many are blowing off - we would have lost our beloved Tazz. We no longer feel we're on borrowed time with Tazz. We feel strongly with the way she's acting now that she's going to be with us at least several more years! That's a far cry from thinking we would be putting her down this fall!

http://www.fda.com

Rockville, Maryland 20857

I have the largest bag of that kind and I am now slowly changing foods. When the change is complete, I will dispose of the Nutro food no matter what is left in the bag. I need piece of mind and leaving Nutros will give it to me. Also, per my previous complaint. I still haven't heard from the Nutros Rep about the different size, color, ordor, of the previous food, Nutros Large Breed Adult.

Nutros I hear, is owned by Mars. I believe they make candy bars. Have you heard of a complaint about different size, color and smelly candy bars? I haven't. Because of the strange food in my first complaint, I had total blood work done on both dogs. Checking Liver, Kidneys etc. Yes there is a hefty price to pay for the tests, however, the tests were normal. Thank goodness. Good bye Nutros.

Pets with Salmonella infections may be lethargic and have diarrhea or bloody diarrhea, fever, and vomiting. Some pets will have only decreased appetite, fever and abdominal pain. Animals can be carriers with no visible symptoms and potentially infect other animals or humans. If your pet has consumed the recalled product and has these symptoms, please contact your veterinarian.

Coincidence? These are the same symptoms many of our pets have experienced, (and many have died from), and now we are told it can affect humans?

I want answers from M&M Mars/Nutro, now!

Somehow I bumped into this website last week, noticed the posts and immediately stopped feeding our dogs Nutro. My husband returned a large bag to PetSmart and the PetSmart manager told him that the negative stories regarding Nutro were just rumors and that they (PetSmart) could hardly keep it stocked on the shelves. He obtained a refund and we switched to Avoderm. I am hoping for the best.

Regardless of the fact that Nutro and PetSmart will not admit to a problem, the Nutro postings of other dog/cat parents is enough for me to boycott this product forever. My heart goes out to all of those people who have lost their furry children.

I will be calling the vet right away in the morning. This is a dog that has not ever had a problum befor. Then I picked up Mia the other femal and she also feels smaller than she was last night when I was scratching her belly. I want answers from Nurto!!!!!

We take very good care of our beloved pets and I am now very conceared as to what the food dod to make one of the femals for sure loose her puppies. This is simply wrong that Nuto is not working with us to solve the issue. How many more dogs have to have problums befor something is done? I will keep you posted o Mia our other femal.

I want answers!!!!!!!

I sent an e-mail to Petsmart and spoke w/someone at Petco in their customer service dept. as I could not find anyone to write to. Apparently, Nutro is not giving any help to the poor victims of all of these problems. I thought if I was able to get some big pet food companies to stop carrying their food, it would hit Nutro where it hurt the most - in their pockets! Which apparently is all they are concerned about - they are obviously not concerned about the well being of our animals.

I took my unused bag of Nutro back to Petco and got a refund. I don't want my babies to suffer like these others have. I am now using Nature's Variety (Prairie). A little more difficult to find, but let's face it - these animals are like our family. Like our children to most of us reading this site. I hope people continue to find out about this site and continue to send their complaints to Nutro - also keep telling the pet food stores about these problems. If enough people complain, surely, eventually something is bound to get resolved.

I am a pet sitter and have told every client that I have not to use Nutro EVER. Also, told my vet today about this site and all the problems people were having. Wellness and Natural Balance are now carried by Petco. They are 2 good foods that should be easy enough to get. I am so sorry for all the families that lost pets, but mostly sorry for all the dogs that had to die a needless death and suffer needless pain and suffering. This company must be STOPPED!

Within 3 days of starting my yellow lab on the bag of Natural Choice she began throwing up the dog food then vomitting clear flem and started urinating throughout my home which she had never done. Within a few days she appeared back to her normal self but continued with loose stools. Five days later she started to refuse to eat, was drinking water constantly and vomitting dark brown flem. I called my vet on 8/8 who advised me to hold her food and water and I was to take her in the following morning if she was not better.

I woke up on 8/9 at 7 a.m. to her vomitting up nothing but blood. I immediately took her to my vet where she again vomitted blood. The vet ran bloodwork on her which came back a little low on the liver test but otherwise fine and her urine test came back fine as well. Since she was lathargic, had lost 8 pounds in 3 days, was vomitting blood and could not hold liquid or food down, my vet kept her and put her on an IV, gave her an antibiotic injection and an injection to help ease the vomitting. As of tonight Nicki is still at the vet's office - the vet states she is doing a little better and has begn to drink water but he is waiting to start her on solid food - wants to take it slow.

Before I took her to the vet I got on the internet to see if Nutro had any recalls out recently I was not aware of. This was a truly healthy dog and for her to just go down so quickly makes no sense to me. I found no recall information but was shocked to find information on consumer affairs website that other pet owners in other states have had near identical cases with their dogs whom also had eaten Nutro Natural Choice lamb & rice. I'm sorry, but I find it really hard to believe that this is only a coincidence.

I printed off the information and took it with me to my vet so he could run the necessary tests and he agreed that it would be good idea to stop feeding Nutro so I have changed to a veterinarian brand he suggested for both of my dogs. My puppy at home had only showed signs of extreme thirst but has now returned to normal. I cannot believe that no one at Nutro is looking into this further! I am outraged at the ignorance Nutro is showing to their customers!

I have been a customer for 7 years and have always spoken highly of Nutro dog products until now. I am going to talk with my vet tomorrow regarding sending the dog food in for testing. I find it sad that the animals have to suffer or die because Nutro wants to possibly avoid another recall.

Emotional upset over the sudden illness and severity of Nicki and the impending veterinarian expenses. We do not yet know since she has not been released from the vet if she will have any long term side effects due to this or if she will resume to normal. At this time it is not certain.

If your pet is sick and you suspect the food, call the company. Have the food tested, and if you don't trust the company then have it tested yourself. It would be crazy for a pet food company to intentionally ignore complaints on their products, since it is their reputation on the line and chances are, they actually care about the animals that they are feeding.

I switched her and the 2 pups to Nutro chicken and rice lrg breed mainly because all the lamb and rice products were off the shelves. They seemed to eat okay but had occasional throwing up and diarrhea. In june about the 20th the dogs wouldn't eat unless I put can in it and even then they would eat around the dry. by mind july all 3 dogs had diarrhea, vomiiting at least 5 out of 7 days. I was giving them flaygl from the vet and that would only stop the diarhea temporarily then when the meds stopped it would come back. The dogs would go over and smell the food and walk away and seemed very legthargic,especially after eating the food they would sleep most of the day.

One day, mid july I opened a new bag and the kibble looked different, it was smaller,darker and had little black pepper like particles in it, I still had a little dry in the bin so I grabbed a kibble and compared...very different.We were going camping so we had to take the dogs with that food, The dogs ate very little all weekend and they continued with the diarrhea. One dog had blood in the stool.When I got home I talked to a friend about it and she said she read some complaints about dogs getting ill on nutro. She sent it to me and I found that my dogs had the same symptoms as the other dogs did. My dogs are 3.5 yr,and two 6 months olds. I immediatly changed them to a different premium food only bought in independent stores by Merrick. let me tell you we noticed an immediate positive change, they love the food and their energy is very high. They had some diarrhea from the switch and it has since past,

Now I don't have to worry about getting them ill or them dying on us like those poor other dogs and their owners. I will never use anything from Nutro again.I really wish that Nutro would pull all the food from the shelves and test it! I didn't get any real answer from Nutro customer service or upper management over this.The only thing nutro said is that all these reports are made up from ex disgruntled employees, I can guarantee you I am NOT! I wish they would just come clean and be honest about what is going on. My 3 dogs got very ill while eating the food and when I took them off and onto another food they got immediately better, no illness anymore.

While looking over this website (actually was just looking for Nutro coupons and this website popped up) -- it just hit me like a ton of bricks that my male Beagle Newt who has been acting weird for months has been refusing to eat his food now for about 2-3 mths (just got 2 new bags two wks ago); the female Beagle Pixie eats everything that is put in front of her with no problem (she has a stuffy nose pretty much of the time so her sniffer isn't that great, runny eyes, rash on belly - allergies). So what have I been doing since Newt refuses to eat his food I'm mixing other foods (carrots, peanut butter, ground beef, rice, chicken, etc) in with the dry kibbles to get him to eat; he's been drinking excessive amounts of water (just figured the weather has been very humid here), and eating tons of grass when he's outside (jokingly say he looks like a cow grazing); not much energy for a 3 yr old beagle (would say how lazy he is).

Makes me sick to think that Newt knows something isn't right with his food and there I am doctoring it up so he'll eat it. For this past week I've been cooking chicken/rice for them. Researching all the dog food out there and I believe I've found a replacement. After taking the beagles off the Nutro their energy level, excitement at their feeding times has returned. The urinating in the house, eating grass, and drinking excess amounts of water has since stopped. I hope that there is no permanent damage to my pups. After reading everyone's horror stories my heart goes out to all those that still have sick pets or have lost them.

Cleaning rugs from accidents, Vet says just to keep an eye on dogs and see if any of their symtons improve after taking them off the Nutro & Royal Canin

I bought a bag of Eukanuba Naturally Wild an all 8 of my Poms chowed down and then drank water for the first time in the two weeks we had the new bag. We defanatly saw a differance in energy in all but Nemo. The part that has me so up tight is that we have two femals that are expecting litters in the next three weeks. I want some answers!!! How can this keep happening and why is Nutro not helping here!!!!

We are not sure at this point. Are hope is that the two litters of puppies will be ok.

I have heard from the reps that there are changes in the food and packaging. What's the big deal with admitting it? I just want to know how the process was changed so I can figure out what harmed my little 8 pound Miniature Pinscher so we don't let it happen again. Guessing games are not fun when we are playing with lives. There is no need to tell the innocent people on this site that what happened to their dogs is not real. Until you have had a dog as sick as some of our dogs have been, don't throw stones.

It started to worry me when we took a couple cats in that didn't need to lose weight and they, too, had lost a couple pounds. We also had several cats that were losing the shine to their fur. And our cats were no longer were running to the food bowls when it was feeding time. I found I was throwing food out at the end of the day because they just weren't eating it! Well, amazingly, the cats acted like starving strays when I switched to Eukanuba! No more bloody stool in the litter pans, fur shiny again, and Nemo is eating like he hasn't eaten in months! He's already filling out!

The problem with our cats and dogs is we were seeing different symptoms in them that appeared to be other conditions so we didn't connect it to the food. Max, our Pit Bull, was very ill for 2 weeks after we tried Nutro's Lamb and Rice. Our vet said it was gastritis caused by something he got into and we put him on meds and boiled hamburg and rice. When we started the Nutro Lamb again, he immediately started with vomiting and diarrhea. We took Max off the food thinking he just couldn't handle the lamb. The other dogs were fine so we didn't realize it was the food until Tazz, our German Shepherd, became very sick after Max recovered.

We switched to Eukanuba dog food. The first night after changing food - Kaiser slept all night instead of whining and pacing! Tazz is brighter and though she's stiff when she gets up, she's not acting drunk! Max is having normal stools! Jada has stopped eating grass! AND they're drinking normal amounts of water now - not guzzling water like they were dying of thirst. No more vomiting, no more diarrhea, fur is shiny again. When there is weight loss in EVERY animal in a household, then something is wrong! We've been off Nutro for two weeks and every symptom we were seeing is GONE! I thank God we switched before we lost any of our precious babies! It breaks my heart to read these stories of lost pets. Something is wrong and we all need answers!

In the evening we gave him the food again and he again threw the food up.We had a small amount of the old bag of food, which we compared to the new bag and found a difference in kibble size, color and smell. Upon inspection of the new bag , we found that someone has taken a black permanent marker , and crossed out, the 'made in the usa' that was found on the old bag located on the bottom left hand corner of the proof of purchase portion of the label.

This food made my dog sick. I will be going to petsmart tomorrow(which is where my Wife purchased this bag of food off of a nearly empty rack) ,and I will be looking for some answers about where this food came from and who altered the label.

My dog continues to be lethargic,has had bloody stools,and has an elevated temperature. He will be going to the vet today for an evaluation .

July second of 2008 I went to pet smart to ask about her shedding. Which she is a chihuahua/terrier so she's small. The gentle man recommended NATURAL CHOICE lamb and rice and only this. I told the person she was on 2 cans of dog food a day plus kibble and bits, he said slowly take her off of that and just give her this product with the kibble then just feed her natural choice i said ok!! took it home and slowly took her off. 2 cans plus kibble and natural choice to one can and the kibble and natural choice to just the natural choice. Not until about 3 weeks later did she start acting weird as before when I rescued her.

She became skittish she peed everywhere and pooped INSIDE!! when she is very house trained she would scratch and jump up near the back door to let us know she needed to go outside. It became a concern when her urine was yellow and orange like. This was starting to worry me. Before the natural choice she weighed at least 22 lbs now she looks as if she's 10 or less her ribs are showing when she was filling out, she cant walk she falls over when she tries to walk.

Its heart breaking it really is and to look at my dog right now to only think any day she's gonna die makes me angry, upset, and depressed. I want this product off the SHELVES NOW!!!! everyone on here along with me did and do not deserve this heartache and the childish acts they are doing only make me more angry we all need to take a stand and do something ASAP!!! If any one would like to talk about anything with us please feel free to do so...thanks to everyone who wrote a review on here an HONEST review while pet smart only has 5/5 ratings and reviews for this product!

Your arguments for other causes are comical. Allergies, bedding, toys, or a new bowl dont cause the combination of maladies (food poisoning, acute kidney failure, diarrhea, vomiting, weight loss, etc.) that have been reported here. This forum spreading panic - are you kidding???? 9/11 spread panic, Pearl Harbor spread panic, Orson Wellss radio broadcast of War of the Worlds spread panic, the Salem Witch Trials spread hysteria, the collapse of Wall Street in 1929 spread panic, the Bubonic Plague spread panic, Attila and Hun and Genghis Khan spread panic, Joe McCarthy spread panic. You know what spreads panic? Its the fear of the unknown, the lack of reliable information, and a feeling of helplessness. People sharing information and their personal experiences is spreading relief, and its spreading knowledge. People know that others are going through the same feelings, emotions, and problems.

And I loved the way you attacked this site because it is a DOT COM. Then you go on to praise The Whole Dog Journal (which Im sure is a fine publication) and lo and behold their site too is a DOT COM. I know my nose is not as good as a dogs, but I believe I smell a hasty generalization with a dash of hypocrisy in your comments.

I believe it is fair to question the validity of your involvement. I find it curious that a disinterested third party who ostensibly has no connection to Nutro would be so vehement and venomous about the posts on this site. Perhaps you are working in some capacity for or on behalf of Nutro. What association (other than a consumer) with Nutro do you have? Fess up!

I do agree with you that people should think for themselves. People - read information on pet foods and their ingredients, bacteria, acute kidney failure, intestinal problems, diarrhea, vomiting, weight loss, dehydration, lethargy, lack of appetite, and other problems you see posted here over and over and over again. Go to Nutros web site. Search the net, ask your vet, go to the library, and mull things over. Find out why our dogs are getting sick; find out why our dogs are dying; and post your conclusions here for all (including Eppie) to see.

I was considering putting her down if she remains uncomfortable, and while searching treatments ran across this forum on Nutro. I have two dogs, both of which have been eating Nutro since the pet food scare. I'm wondering if it influenced the liver issues in my sheltie now. I do know I purchased new food (dry and canned) last week, when my sheltie's bladder issues started. She threw up her food this morning, and after reading this I just fed her chicken and rice, which is staying down. I will keep her on it for a few days and see how she does.

I cannot believe this is the first I've heard of the Nutro problems.

My sheltie went into the hospital dehydrated last Nov., liver problems, too, and treatment came to $2000. Problems from the recent purchase of Nutro include two vet visits, bloodwork, x-rays and antibiotics, costing $447. I will be throwing away a large bag of Nutro Lamb and Rice Small Bites, along with 14 cans of Lamb and Rice and Herring and Sweet Potato, costing app. $65.

Two weeks later the other two eating Nutro also got really ill. This was on and off for weeks! We were getting close to the bottom of the bag and started to switch to a better quality food. Once switched we had no more epsiodes. Now reading all of this I know it had to be the Nutro Natural Choice Lamb and Rice formula! It was slowly poisoning my fur babies!! I combed through my yard looking for some explanation, started to think maybe someone threw something over my fence! I was so worried that i wouldnt be able to find what it was. And it was me feeding them this food! I am getting the paper work from the vet and then contacting Nutro.

We finally ran into a rep from another company whos food we are using now on our other dog who was very very very concerned and helpful she told us about this website and to check it out so we took our dog to the vet and she was so far in to kidney, liver and major organ failure we had to put her to sleep they stated it looked like she could have been poisoned this all started within a week AFTER we started with the initial nutro food I would rather feed old roy to my dog!

My dog died she was a rescued mutt but we loved her anyway [Nutro] should be ashamed

I also, notice the site ends in a DOT COM Not GOV or ORG, which would seem to have more creedence to the absurd claims. If any of you have REALLY done any looking around, and not just buy into all this Nutro hate, you'd see it IS a good food. The Whole Dog Journal (specializing in NATIRAL pet food, training, etc) In the February 2008 issues, sites NUTRO as one of the top 12 BEST FOODS! The other brands, Science Diet (Made with chicken by products and corn, IAMS--LOTS of corn--And Eukanuba--Don't even want to talk about that one) didn't even make the list---

I am beginging to believe the validity of the claims on this site shoukd be questioned...where are the OFFICAL findings? Perhoas, this site was actually started by a Nutro competitor???? Please use your own brains, and look outside this box----there are MANY more cases of POSITOVE Effects of Nutro, than there are Negative---You just have to learn to look at more than one source, for your information.

My reputation has been affected due to my recommendation of this food, expensive vet bills paid by my clients, worry and alternate medicines that have also been costly.

We noticed first thing in the morning that our Aussie was acting completely out of it. Disorientated, wobbly etc. Like she was on meds the Vet would give her as she is scared of thunder storms.

If your reading this - you love your pet and you know when something is wrong.

Anyway - as it was 5am and the Vet would not be open until 9am. I googled and found this wonderful site which was full of valuable information.

Immediately I cleaned and rinsed her water dish. We boiled a plain chicken breast and 1/2 cup of white rise. Rinsed in cold water so it was not hot and cut it up into small easily digested chunks to get something into her stomach. She is 9 years old.

She ate, but was not herself.

Got to the Vet at 11am. Vet told us we did the right thing getting some food and water into her and agreed something was up. I handed the vet the medical info from this website (thank you people) about liver enzymes being elevated and blood work etc.

GUESS WHAT? YEP same thing, same thing!

We got her home and continued the boiled chicken breast and white rice for two days, switched to a different brand of dog food.

Our dog received a shot of an antibiotic which she ended up having an allergic reaction to (her lips swelled up) so back we went to the vet and she got another shot (steroid) to bring that down.

After a couple more days, she is back to her old self.

Our dog was on Nutro for the past 4 years, the active dog mix, and like the others I noticed the different color etc of the food.

We went back to Science Diet and now after 10 days, she is back to her normal active self.

To recap: New Bag of Nutro, noticed for about 5-7 days she was lethargic and not her usual self. We wrote this off to it being hot Chicago Midwest heat in the summer.

All of a sudden she acted like she was disorientated and out of it.

Actions: Stopped feeding her the Nutro. Got good food and water into her immediately and then got to the Vet.

Remember, do not use or donate the food as it will just start again. This wide of a problem, across this many breeds is not some isolated issue.

I am keeping my vet bills and the food so when this breaks wide and large I have recourse.

Bottom line, I wonder if the executives at Nutro feed their pets this food after reading these posts.

We returned a bag to Petsmart, and they exchanged it for a new bag. Within a week, I had to take all three to the vet for throwing up bile, diareah, and thought they had eaten cat poo, however, they are never out without me to watch them potty, and are brought back inside. The vet gave them a shot to stop the vomiting and diareah, told me to feed rice and chicken I cooked, and they got better. After putting them back on Nutro, within a week, there was some throwing up of bile again, and white foamy matter, and lots of soft, runny ****.

They are young dogs and usually play, chasing each other at night, and that had stopped. Their coat quality had gone down tremendously. It had become fuzzy, knotted, and so difficult to groom, that I did puppy cuts on all three because the matting and tangling was so bad. They have had beautiful healthy coats until the past few months. Two of our maltese puppies did not gain weight as they should. I pushed them with over 3/8 cup daily and all I could do was clean ****, their weight and filling out was not happening. Their hair got so matted and tangled, I had to cut theirs into short puppy cuts also. The tearing on all of them was terrible. My teacup had black guncky stuff all around her eyes, on her face, and dark staining around her mouth. All the others were staining like we'd never seen before.

I had to do something, so I changed them to Purina Pro Plan, and within three days, they were playing and chasing again. The ***** were firm and they only went once a day (with Nutro it was sometimes three times daily and lots of it). They have been on Purina Pro Plan for four weeks now, and the staining and tearing has dramatically improved, no more black guncky stuff, their coat quality is remarkably better, not the tangling and matting, and the small puppies have gained a pound and I'm feeding them a less than the Nutro, which had been just running thru them.

I'm not happy with the corn in Purina, and one has developed an allergy to it, with rubbing her face, licking her paws, and changed her to Purina Turkey & Barley, however, after two wks., she's scratching her skin and it is very pink, and I think the barley is a problem also. Grains can cause lots of allergy problems. I'm researching to get a safe food now, and will change her soon.

I am going to keep journals on the foods, and I will be able to recognize sooner when there is a problem with the foods. Dog Food is a nightmare now, requiring so much research and still hard to determine what is safe. I KNOW Nutro caused these problems with my dogs, as I used it for three years without problems, and then three months ago, many things happened to all of the dogs here in my home, which some are mine, and some we will place in homes soon, but ALL had problems with Nutro food.

The older lab who is 4 refused to eat the food, while the 2 1/2 year old seemed fine. I thought the older dog was being fussy so I made him eat the food, however after the first mouthful he coughed it up. He waited a moment and ate the rest with no other issues with that bowl. The coughing up happened again at other times. I thought he swallowed to much at one time. Once again, the other dog was fine.

I took the older dog to the Vet thinking he had a cracked tooth or something because of his refusal to eat. His teeth were fine. After the first bag was gone and half way through the second bag, I decided to purchase a smaller bag and compare the food. There was a remarkable difference in color and no odor.

While at Petco I saw a Nutro rep and told her my story and showed her the differences in the food. She agreed they were different and she would bring it up at their next meeting. I gave her samples and my e-mail address and she said she would contact me with the outcome. I haven't heard anything yet. I changed to Nutro ultra premium and the dogs are waiting in line to eat, so to speak. After seeing this website. I will immediately make an effort to get them off of Nutro all together. The time frame that all this happened was approx. June and July 2008.

At this time I see no damage from the different food.

I started cooking for him to encourage him to eat and then looked into the Nutro site which led me to this consumer complaint area. Never did I even consider that his illness was a result of his food. I immediately went to PetSmart and replaced his food with Hill's. Within a week his health started to improve. The diarrehea stopped and he began eating again. Now after several weeks on a diet of home cooked chicken and Hill's kibble he is looking like a different dog. His coat is once again shiny and the shedding has subsided almost completely.

We have spent $1,000 diagnosing the cancer and have not as yet taken him in for another biopsy but the tumors have disappeared and and once again he LOOKS and acts healthy. He does not look like a dog with cancer. I am convinced after reading other pet owner's stories that he was being poisened by his food. I have no proof but his immedate improvement after removing him from his Nutro food tells me there must be a connection.

It is a very sad day today. As most of you may know Newport has not ben feeling well for the last couple of weeks. Blood tests last week confirmed that something serious was wrong. After further blood tests xrays, and needle biopsy's. It was confirmed early this week Newpee had a tumor-growth that had taken over most of the left side of his belly. Surgery was contemplated but with less than a 10 % chance of success. Cortney and I made the right loving decision to put him to sleep. Newport's long time Vet Chuck came over to the house. Newport went to sleep peacefully in his bed in Bruce, Cortney and Joey's arms at 3pm Wednesday afternoon. We buried him on Cortney's family's farm later that day below a nice shady tree.

We have seen 5 vets and every one of them have said it is impossible for all 4 dogs to be diagnosed with the same heart ailment at the same time without there being an environmental cause. Whether the Nutro had Salmonella poisoning, mold or ethylene glycol, I can't say. I can't say that the bags themselves weren't exposed to some sort of toxin.

What I do know is this: I have 3 dead dogs, and I'm going to lose my 4th within the next few weeks. We were feeding Nutro N/C Senior, (in the silver bags), Nutro treats and biscuits. I was an area trainer and pet nutrition specialist for Nutro from 6/04 to 4/08. I am not making up stories to make Nutro look bad. (Which is what Nutro tells me every time I call). All 4 dogs had a normal vet exam last year, all 4 were diagnosed with mitral valve prolapse in this year.

Every person who has experienced the loss of a pet due while eating Nutro food, snacks or biscuits, or if their pet became sick while eating Nutro food, treats or biscuits, please call and file a complaint with the FDA today! The FDA cannot open up an investigation until more people come forward. Be prepared to give them your information and your Vet's information. Tell everyone you know who has experienced a problem to call.

Utah, Colorado and Wyoming residents call 303-236-3044. For the number in your area, look under FDA.Gov

Around the end of June, 2008 the dogs ate some contaminated dog food. (They were just over 1 year old at this time). Nutro Max Adult for Large Breed. This dog food could have been expired, contaminated at the factory or contaminated in route to the store. Nonetheless, it was still contaminated by the time the puppies put it in their mouth. They ate the first bag and so my parents bought another bag.

Four days went by and the pups stopped eating. Duke had a LARGE amount of diarreah. They still didn't want to eat or drink. They beacame VERY tired and no longer wanted to swim or play. A few more days went by and Lily started vomitting bile, so we took her to the vet. Duke came along too because he wasn't too far behind Lily in sickness. They were admitted to vet and then transferred to a vet hospital because they were so bad. Their blood was filled with toxins. Lily had to have a blood transfusion and fluids, Duke was just put on fluids. This continued for the next three days.

They got to come home July 7th because their vital signs were better. Only the next day they failed rapidly. They wouldn't eat, drink or play. We put every type of food in front of them and they still wouldn't eat. No fluids, no food, no good! Back to the hospital. They were admitted again. They were given fluids again, but everytime after we took them off fluids they failed rapidly. The kidneys were releasing toxins into their bodies and they were filled with toxins.

We continued to keep them on fluids, bags and bags of fluids. They lost 8-10 pounds from not being able to eat. The muscles were tired, the body was fatigued and the levels of toxins in the body was too high. Neither one of them could walk they were so tired. They were falling down as if they were old and brittle senior dogs. We had to put them to sleep and send them to doggie heaven. This is by far the saddest thing I have ever experienced.

We fed them food that was bad for them, we were telling them to eat and the food we put in front of them was killing them. It must be hard to be a vet and have patients that don't talk or can't tell you what is hurtting or how something feels. Duke and Lily would just stare off into space after they ate this food...they would stare into the cabinet looking at food, but not wanting to eat anything. We tried not only hand feeding them, but would physically open their mouth, put dog food on the roof of their mouth and hold it shut until they swallowed the food. The muscles, tissues and organs failed to fight off the horrible contamination of the dog food.

My parents spent over $8000 in vet costs trying to save their babies. Nothing worked. My parents didn't find this site until AFTER everything happend. This has happend before? WOW, that makes me even more enraged. It doesn't help the saddness I feel or my broken heart, however, please let others you know who's dog eats Nutro to switch to a different brand.

Two of the best puppies in the world have died.

The vet said the infection started in the GI tract, and he did not see any signs melamine poising. Nutro boasts that the FDA tests for melamine were negative. I suggest tests be done for bacteria, viruses, and parasites. I am looking into having tests done. Additionally, there was a growth on her spleen the size of a softball. When I asked him how long the growth could have been there, he said a week or two at the most.

He could not say for certain how the she got the septicemia and DIC. One way to contact it is from an open wound like a animal bite. But he ruled that out because if she had been bitten there would have been a large swelling on her body where the bite occurred. There was no swelling on her body. Nor were there any internal injuries. He could not say it was the food that caused her death, but he could not rule it out. But whatever it was started when we started feeding her Nutro.

He urged me to contact the FDA, which I have already done. I also have contacted Nutro and they requested proof of purchase with UPC, four cups of the dry dog food, vet diagnosis, vet bills, lab work, and Alis medical records. I am sending those items today. I am also sending a consumer complaint to the Indiana Attorney General.

As far as I know my pets are OK, although one of my dogs is scheduled to see the vet tomorrow due to worsening and recent incontinence, excessive water consumption, and she is sleeping excessively and not wanting to be outdoors very long. Until I read these posts I have assumed these symptoms are merely due to her being a 13 year-old female who isn't tolerating the heat very well and is losing bladder control because she is older. I could be right and I sure hope I am, but we will see what the vet says.

Regardless, I'm sad to say I won't be purchasing Nutro again any time soon and I'm angry that they are not showing concern or potential accountability. In the future it will be very hard for me to trust that their products are safe or that they even care if they are safe or not.