Nutro Dog Food Reviews

I previously posted my concerns about Nutro. At that time, my dog, Buddy, was very ill and I was told that he had Diabetes and may have to endure insulin shots for the rest of his life. I was very willing to do so and educated myself on this procedure. Well, my poor little Buddy died on New Year's Eve, after five days of intense veterinary care. Buddy was 8 yrs old and had eaten Nutro products his whole life. Lamb and Rice (the light green bag) seemed to be his favorite. He was a very happy and healthy dog right up to the last couple of days, before I took him to the Vet.

It has been 5 months now since I last posted my complaint regarding Nutro Natural Choice Lamb & Rice formula (08/11/08). I wanted to give an update that Nicki, our 8-year-old Yellow Lab, has recovered and is doing great. All of her symptoms have disappeared since I have switched her to a non-commercial brand of dog food - iVet which can only be purchased through a veterinarian. I am careful to check labels on any treats or rawhides and only feed All Natural treats or 100% rawhide - I have learned through other websites to stay away from ANY animal by-products or animal digest which is reported not to be healthy for your pets. I also will not purchase any commercial dog food at the stores due to the ingredients above.

I fed my beloved Jack Russell Terrier, Riley, Nutro Lamb Meal & Rice Formula for 8 years. The vet had actually suggested it. In March of 2008, he started getting "Bad breath", drinking water excessively and peeing in the house excessively. By early June, he was getting lethargic so I took him to the vet where he was diagnosed with kidney failure. The vet immediately switched his diet and gave him about 2 years to live. He hung on until December but he was getting skinny and lethargic again so I took him back to the vet. - Kidney failure, end stage. The kidneys had been permanently damaged and were in a degenerative state. They put him on IV fluids where he lasted 4 days then died. He has been at 3 different vets - nothing they could do. He was only 8 1/2 years old.

I just started feeding Nutro to my brand new 6-wk-old puppy and w/in a few days, he started losing weight, vomiting and having severely watery stools. He was also shaking a lot and became a lot less active. I took him off Nutro this morning but now he is so sick he is refusing to eat or drink,. I have been giving him electrolyte drinks through a medicine dropper. If he is not better, we will be going to the vet tomorrow. I have fed Nutro to an Akita that I used to have for years and have always endorsed their products. Not anymore, I was a naysayer to all these complaints about Nutro and now have learned a tough lesson. Don't risk letting dogs get sick just because a co. has a good reputation and a positive track record. This food made my puppy sick I have no doubt.

My dog, after switching her food to Nutro Natural Choice Herring Meal Rice and Potato, got extremely ill. I am currently seeking medical attention for her. I live with my daughter and her 4 dogs are starting to experience the same problems. I am alarming people especially based on the consumer complaints that I have viewed that this dog food can be deadly. I will pursue further legal action if death occurs in my or my daughter's dogs.

My dog also suddenly died after eating Nutro Lamb and Rice. I contacted the FDA and it is under investigation. I recently received an email about the Swiffer WetJet and how it is reportedly the cause to several Antifreeze like related deaths. My Vet initially assumed that my dog, Snowman's death was due to antifreeze poisoning. That is impossible but maybe the antifreeze like molecule in the WetJet has something to do with it?? Did any of the people that thought Nutro was the cause of their dog's death use the WetJet?? Here the e-mail I received about the Wet Jet:

For anyone still feeding your animals this product, you are crazy. Yes, household chemicals can poison animals and surroundings can affect animals. My dog and cats almost died from eating this food. Both went into liver failure within days of being on this food. Two animals, two different species, same food = same health issues. No problems before Nutro and thankfully nothing happened that couldn't be reversed. So you can call of these people lemmings, but I'd rather be a lemming and have a healthy pet than be a bigot and take a chance with a dead animal. Good luck to you. If you're feeding Nutro, you'll need it. And for the person who said they get all of their ingredients from the USA, you need to check your facts. They get rice, wheat and cornmeal from overseas.

I had been feeding my 9-year old Pharaoh Hound, Sultan, Nutro lamb and rice dog food pretty much all of his life. In June 2008, the lamb and rice dental formula disappeared from the shelves of our local Petland store. When I inquired when that formula would be available, I was told by the Petland manager that Nutro was having bagging problems and they didn't know when that formula would be available. I took the Nutro Max lamb and rice formula as a replacement, which my dog initially refused to eat. I found this unusual, since he never turns down food. I coaxed him to eat it, to our demise.

My husband and I adopted a 20 lb, 7-year old female Cocker Spaniel in October 2008. At her previous home, she was eating Natural Balance. On the advice of PetSmart, we slowly switched her food to Nutro Max Mini Chunk. At first, she seemed to adjust well. However, after 2 weeks, she started vomiting, usually in the middle of the night or early morning. Some days, the vomit was solid matter; other days, it was just liquid. After researching Nutro, I discovered many other cases of dogs getting sick. I switched her to Iams Mature Small Dog food (purple bag) and the vomiting hasn't happened since. I feel that we dodged a major health crisis and I hope others can be so lucky with their beloved dogs.

I agree with Brian. My pets have been on Nutro for years... I haven't had to have them to the vet for anything other than a routine well visit. Household chemicals - swifter, mops, carpet fumes, dust, poor storage, are all issues which may harm your pet. You take your dog outside for a walk, don't you? (At least I HOPE you do) There may have been a parked car, with a leakage - rock salt on the ground from the winter weather... so many reasons. My fear is that someone read these posts, assume a change in the food will be a CURE and not realize there is an underlying issue. Do you really think there is some conspiracy, whereby if Nutro really was causing illness, the FDA would still keep it on the market?

We switched to Nutro Large Breed Adult for my 2 dogs right before Xmas. When I came back from being away, I found that my dogs were not eating and would just lie around. Then they both started vomiting. At first, I thought they were just not feeling well and it would pass but then one of my dogs got really bad. She stopped moving around and just stayed in her bed and stopped drinking and when she went to the bathroom, it was a black bloody mucous. Then she stopped drinking as well. I took her to the vet and they ran blood work and found nothing. She had lost 10 pounds in almost a week. We put her on meds but nothing worked.

Our sweet 9 year old shelter dog, Ripples, was a mixed breed. We got her as a 5-month old puppy from a local shelter. I worked at a feed store and Nutro was recommended. So for 9 years, she was a "Nutro" dog. She seemed to thrive on the Lamb Meal and Rice Formula for about the first 5 years. Then she got a severe case of itchy skin that got so bad, she was losing her fur. We tried a lot of different kinds of baths, oils, etc. Shortly after it started clearing up, she was diagnosed with acute pancreatitis. She took antibiotics and it seemed to be better with a diet of boiled chicken, hamburger, rice or potatoes.

My husband and I have used Nutro for 5 years (Large Breed Adult) and our labs have flourished. They are doing very well on the food. The recall was for WET dog food. Many different brands were recalled, Nutro also, but when checked, they did not get the offending ingredient from China (where the bad ingredient was made and sold to American plants such as Alpo, Purina, etc). Check the facts. All of Nutro's ingredients come from the USA.

I have been feeding my Rat Terrier, Jackie O, the Nutro Ultra Senior canned dog food for the last year. In mid-November of 2008, she stopped eating her food, became very lethargic and was acting depressed. She was very weak and shook constantly. She also took on a terrible, foul smell to her body and especially her breath. Jackie had been to the vet in early Oct. for her yearly physical and was deemed in excellent health at that time. I took her the vet the next day. Her blood work came back with extreme kidney failure.

I wanted to say I've been using Nutro Natural Choice for 7 years with 6 of my dogs, all living and healthy. Actually healthier than most dogs I see. Any other food I try causes vomiting, diarrhea, and major irritation of the skin (which is the first sign of trouble with your dog). Nutro has made my dogs extremely healthy, active, and energetic. Isolated cases of poisoning of animals are not contributed to food. If it were the Nutro, my Amstaffs (which are extremely sensitive dogs) and the millions of millions of other Nutro users would not have pets left. Solid Gold, Science Diet (which my dogs smell and barely eat), Iams, and Natural Balance all negatively affect my dogs. Nutro does not. A well-known quality pet food company that takes pride in their food would never let tainted food make it out of their warehouses.

I just want to pass along this information about my cats and how they reacted to a specific cat food, Nutro. One acted skittish and the other vomited a number of times. I finally looked online to see if any cats had an affliction with this type of cat food and found, yes, they have. I discontinued feeding Nutro and am back with Purina for the time being with no problems. The last bout my cat had was really scary. So I pass this along and recommend to discourage anyone from using this brand. I noticed some folks apparently had worse endings to their stories.

NUTRO DOG FOOD!!! My 7 year old Golden Retriever ended up getting extremely ill on 12/26/2008. We took him to the vet and he ended up staying overnight getting pumped full of fluids after vomiting all day. He had x-rays, blood taken, etc. He was sent home the next day, due to the vet finding nothing wrong. Once again on 12/29/2008, he started vomiting again. This time he ended up going to an emergency hospital where they did an ultrasound, blood tests, pumped him full of fluids, gave him special pills to prevent the vomiting, and did multiple other tests. He was finally discharged today, 12/31/2008, and hopefully he is on the road to recovery. After all of these tests, the vets could not find anything wrong with him. No obstruction, no cancer, nothing! He was eating NUTRO weight maintenance food for large breeds. We believe it is his food that is making him so ill! I would think after all of the dogs getting ill and dying from this food that somebody would do something to pull this crap off the shelves!!!

The dog food that I use, Nutro Max Mini chunk, has made both of my dogs very ill. I stopped feeding them the food and they are doing better but Nutro insists that there is nothing wrong with the food. They are not responding to my complaint and they need to do something about this.

I recently switched my dog's food to Nutro Large Breed Puppy and within a week or so he began vomiting and would not eat. Because he is a Lab and 10 months old, the vet initially thought he might have an obstruction. Of course there was no obstruction and there was no explanation of why he was acting the way he was. Looking at him, you would think he was a very old dog on his death bed. He was very lethargic, wouldn't eat or drink and was vomiting. Finally after a week of no food, 4 X-rays, blood work, and numerous IVs he is doing much better. Still no cause. The only thing that he has had exposure to is the new dog food. It looks as though there is a major problem with this dog food.

I got Chops (treats) from Nutro the last month and our poodle start with stomach noises and acid reflux. We stop the small biscuits after 2 weeks, he was ok. On the 24th (christmas night) he received a new box for Nutro, but this time for SENSITIVE STOMACH treats. (We thought he have a problem.) Immediately he start AGAIN !!! with the same problem. I call the company today. They never heard the problem with the biscuits!!! Today I went to Petsmart with the new box and the old ones (I still have with me just in case some laboratories want to check them.) Our Poodle 6 years old, he's been eating Nutro Small bites lamb rice for years without a problem, but I noticed his urine smell and look more yellow than normal.. but nothing more. My concerned is he can develop kidney or bladder problems. I called his vet and they want to check him. I hope this information could help and prevent more people.

I have been feeding my 8-yr old Min Pin Nutro Natural Choice dog food his whole life. I ignored the vomiting, diarrhea and excessive thirst for weeks. Now my dog has been diagnosed with Diabetes. I believe something has changed with the production of this dog food. Perhaps some sort of tainting has occurred. Is there any accountability from this company? My dog will have to be on insulin the rest of his life. The vet bills as of today are just over $800, with more bills to come. Beside the money, my dog's life has been considerably challenged. I too must now alter my schedule to provide the needed care for my dog, including insulin shots and a special diet - which I can assure you will not include any Nutro products. Where is the responsible action from Nutro to prevent this from happening to other dogs?

We recently adopted a terrier-chihuahua mix, 2 years old. His foster mom has been feeding him Nutro food. She told us to do the same, so we bought him Nutro pet food as well as biscuits. He's been on the food, 1/2 cup twice a day, and one biscuit or two a day, as a treat, and he's started vomiting, both solid and a more liquid vomit, and having bowel problems.

Why did the Nutro sales staff pull every bag of Natural Choice cat food off of the shelves in Utah Petco stores the past couple of days? Is there something wrong with the food?

Cutter and Lilith are two of our four children, 3 year old and 1 year old Schipperkes. In December 2008 we nearly lost both of them to what I now suspect to be a poisoning of unknown origin contained within their dog food; Nutro Natural Choice High Energy High Protein Formula, 40lb Bag, 7910520305, Best if Used By 15JAN2010. This is our story: We have two cats and have used Nutro Products all 8 years of their lives without incident. Because of their success we started our dogs on the aforementioned food, again without incident. Our pets are indoor animals and their time outside is supervised which includes daily walks of 3-5 miles.

Over the past week, our 18 month Boston Terrier has had mild to now serious hives. Our vet believes these are related to tainted dog food which we had been originally feeding her Nutro Chicken and Rice. We went over the past weekend to get more since we were out and ended up going with Nutro Max Small Bites. This gave her a mild condition and we followed up with a visit to the vet. He said to put her on some Benadryl and switch back to the regular chicken and rice formula. Well this gave her even more serious skin irritations. First on her back with small bumps under raised hair, and now on her head and stomach!! This has cost us almost $500 in Vet visits alone in the past week and a half including medications for one bump that started to look like a staph infection because she itched it so hard it became an open wound. As of now, we are keeping up with the Benadryl and going to switch her to a Science Diet recommended from the vet. I plan on returning the second bag of tainted food. I also think it is interesting to see other complaints from local Massachusetts towns in the past few weeks that are pretty similar to our complaints... Way to go NUTRO! NOT!!

Our chocolate lab, Lucy, has been eating nutro food since she was a puppy. About two months ago we switched her to nutro large breed weight management, because she started getting too heavy. On December 14 she had loose stools and was throwing up. She was very lethargic and wouldn't eat. The next day she seemed to be getting better and started eating so we cancelled the appointment with the vet. On December 17, she seemed much worse so we took her to the vet to find that she had something wrong with her liver. We had an appointment for December 18th to have the excess fluid removed and see what else needed to be done. She didn't make it through the night. I wish I had read more about the food we had her on earlier, she might have been able to pull through.

I have a Beautiful Black border Collie named BoBo. I had been feeding him Nutro Choice Lamb and Rice for 1 year 4 months. Initially he thrived and his coat looked great, but then problems developed. He started losing hair, vomiting nearly everyday. I called our vet who said it sounds like a food allergy, I did the boiled burger and brown rice routine for a week. Then I bought a bag of Nutro choice Venison and Brown Rice for sensitive stomachs and skin. I began weening him off the lamb and rice by mixing in the Venison and brown rice. This took about a week with no noticeable improvement. As winter grew nearer in Pennsylvania, I watched in awe as my dog lost even more hair. I purchased a supplement of oils and nutrients to mix with the food in hope that would settle and calm his skin and stomach. I always scoop the food from the bag with my hand as per suggested by Ceasar **. When the Venison bag was a little more than 1/4 full I scooped in with my hand as I always do and digging into the bag came up with a DEAD RAT! This was on December 9th 2008.

My dog has been drooling since I switched her to this food 7 to 10 days ago. Also seems somewhat lethargic, and her fur seems to be falling out more. I also have been having achy joints in past week. (I use dishwasher for pet bowls) Any connection to dog food? Please let me know of any similar complaints.

I see many negative reports on Nutro pet foods, pets dying and such. I just wanted to say, I have 9 cats and 3 dogs that have been fed Nutro indoor cat formula/venison dog food for five years. All 12 pets are in wonderful health.

I just started serving my 4 yr.old Pointer-mix dog a combo of Science Diet Lite (30 lbs) and Nutro Venison Dry for Sensitive Stomach and Skin. (5 lbs) She appeared to take it well for the month. Just 3 days ago I bought a new bag of the Nutro again. (20 lbs) Everything was fine. Last night a treat I mixed in 1 package of the Turkey wet meal. Within 24 hrs. my poor dog has been vomiting for over 6 hrs. I am not sure if it's the new dry food or the wet turkey package. But it is out of my house forever! I will be returning it to the PetSmart first thing tomorrow am. Right after I take my dog to the vet!

I bought a bag of Nutro Natural Choice Senior Dry Dog Food food a few days before Thanksgiving 2008. My dog has been eating this food for years. But within a day, she started having extreme diarrhea and I had to take her to the vet. Originally I didn't think it was the food. They did a fecal check and it came up negative. In the meantime, they switched her to a Lo Res (Eukanuba). She cleared up, but not totally. But the Vet then said it was ok to start switching her back to her regular food. I was suppose to begin mixing both foods together and switch her back over the course of a few days. However, the diarrhea came back almost immediately. Also my other dog finished up the leftovers that the first dog left behind and then she started almost immediately having diarrhea. So that is when I suspected the food. I took the full bag to PetCo from where I got it and told the manager. She said she would report it and gave me a full refund of the food. But the vet bills ... How do I get reimbursed for the vet bills? Since I had to take both of them to the emergency vet care today?

I have fed my 2 American Bulldogs Nutro Adult Dry Dog Food for almost 9 months and before that they ate Nutro Natural Choice Large Breed Puppy Food (they are 21 months old). I brought home a brand new bag of Nutro 5 days ago. Today is the 5th day that my dog has been vomiting since I opened and fed her from the new bag. My other American Bulldog has had large hives all over her body for the past 5 days. I have been researching Nutro on the internet and now see many stories about problems with the Nutro Food. I am switching to a new dog food today. I have talked to the store manager at Petland and he said he has never had a complaint, but he will talk to the Nutro Rep tomorrow to see if they have had complaints.

My 1 1/2 old Weimaraner had been eating Nutro Lamb and Rice food since he was old enough to chew. We never had any problems until one day he started vomiting and having explosive diarrhea. Within a couple of days he started having blood in the mucous-filled stool and then he was basically just passing blood. He was very lethargic. We took him to the vet and after a couple of visits and pricey tests, there were no conclusive results. The vet suggested an allergy to the food which didn't really make sense given the severity of his symptoms. We tried giving him chicken broth and white rice which he would eat but every time we tried to give him the Nutro, he wouldn't eat it. It gave us an idea that there might be something wrong with the food so we switched him to the Science Diet ID food that the vet has suggested. Our dog acted like he had been starved, ate this food ravenously. Within days his stools were solid and he gained the energy that most young Weimaraners should have.

Both of my dogs have been extremely sick after eating Nutro natural choice small puppy bites, chicken meal, rice & oatmeal formula. They have had severe vomiting and constant runny stools as well as felling very bad. Both dogs have had to be hospitalized for almost a week.

We have been feeding our two boxers Nutro for years. October 15, 2008 we had to have our last dog put down. I now believe it was from the Nutro Senior dog food she was eating. I still have a full bag in the laundry room. She had explosive diarrhea, vomiting and excessive thirst. She lost 6 lbs in just two weeks. Wouldn't eat and very lethargic. I ended up making her home cooked meals which she just picked at. We thought she was just old (10) although she was just fine two weeks prior. She had a benign tumor that the vet thought caused her problem. I believe because of her age and the fact that we had no idea it was her food, she just couldn't recover.

I had been feeding my cats Nutro Max dry cat food for the past 25 years. Last August one of my cats starting urinating outside the box so I took her to the vet. Within one month, she couldn't walk or eat and I had to euthanize her. Renal failure.

I began feeding my dogs Nutro Natural Choice in 2001 and had been very please with the product. However in August 2008 my dogs began snubbing their noses at their food and not eating. I did not think it was the food as they did not all do this at one time. I had at that time 3 Great Danes and 3 Labs, and 2 cats. I continued to feed all of my animals Nutro thinking this was an exceptional product even though the price continued to increase. In late August, I noticed all of my animals began eating grass excessively and had diarrhea. I thought they were eating something out of the yard causing this. I continued to feed them their normal diet of Nutro and they continued to eat only a moderate amount of it before walking away from it.

I had been buying Nutro Ultra Large Breed Puppy food for my 4 mo old lab/southern cur puppy since June 2008. I noticed in July that she wasn't eating her 3 meals. In beginning of August she was 6 mos old, I cut her back to 2 meals a day but she still wasn't eating the food. I had to doctor it with table scraps to entice her to eat. By the end of the month she became very ill, lethargic, drinking as much water as she could get and then urinating uncontrollably. After several vet visits she was diagnosed with possible diabetes inspidus. They still had to do more tests, my bills were already over $800. I asked if it could possibly be her dog food. I was told by 2 vets, twice, that it was highly unlikely. By mid-Sept 2008, I took matters into my own hands and took her off the dog food. Within 1 feeding she perked up. By 3 feedings she was dancing around my kitchen. (She is a high energy dog and I had actually forgotten how much energy she had before the dog food made her ill). I almost got the impression that the vet was not happy with my diagnosis of poisoned dog food. Their continued tests would have cost me another $1000+.

We had, for some time, been mixing a small pouch of wet food in with our dogs dry food to add some oils to his food for his skin and coat (which were very dry when we got him). Recently, we switched the pouches to Nutro from the other brand he'd been eating. After eating only TWO pouches of Nutro brand food, he began vomiting, acting lethargic, not eating, having bladder incontinence, etc. We rushed him to the vet who initially thought it might be leptospirosis, but those tests came back negative. His liver values were off the charts as far as our vet could test on site (ordinary levels were under 100, his values were over 2,000 and when the lab tests came back from the off-site lab, the value was 5,500).

We used to feed our 2 boxers Nutro Natural Choice dog food for years and about a year or so ago we switched their food. Out of old habit, which turned out to be a huge mistake, I went into Petco and picked up a bag of Nutro Natural Choice Lamb Meal & Rice Dog food. We started feeding this food to our two dogs on 11/8/08. On 11/15/08 we noticed our male dog having an extreme case of diarrhea. A few days later we noticed our female dog having diarrhea as well, but not nearly as bad as our male dog. By 11/19/08 our male dog was so sick he had completely stopped eating and drinking. Our female dog was vomiting and not keeping any food down. She also wasn't drinking anything. We took both dogs to the vet first thing on 11/20/08 and our male dog was admitted to the vet for an overnight stay. They ran some blood tests and he was diagnosed with dehydration and he had developed Pancreatitis from the infection.

I heard good things about Nutro food for my dog, a yellow lab. I went out and got a 40 lb bag of Nutro large breed puppy food. When I began to wean him from his normal food to the Nutro he had explosive diarrhea. I only gave him the Nutro 3 times with the same effect each time. The last time I gave him a very small amount of Nutro mixed with his normal food and had the same results. That's when I went online and researched and found many people had the same issues with Nutro, sometimes far worse. I have had my pup since he was 9 weeks old and he has never pooped in the house, he did twice when I gave him Nutro. Now he is back on his regular Eukanuba and is fine.

My dogs quit eating and had vomiting and diarrhea. I had them on antibiotics and as soon as I quit the antibiotics their problems returned especially their loose stools. So after 15 years of feeding Nutro Max Puppy I changed them to Eukanuba and their poops firmed up and they started eating again. I own 12 Chihuahuas and two of them are still picking at their new food. I was told by PetSmart that Nutro had changed their formula. I returned one of the bags when I figured out what was causing the problems.

I began feeding my 3 dogs Nutro natural choice chicken and rice formula 9/07. By summer of 2008, all 3 dogs began having problems. The symptoms included loose stools, bloat, urinary incontinence, thirst, hot spots, very sore peds on 1 dog's feet and 1 dog (our youngest) suffered several seizures. Approx. 10 days ago, we changed food and already all 3 dogs appear so far to be doing much better. I am sure that something with this food has changed because in the beginning we were very happy with this product.

Been feeding my Labrador Nutro Max for years. No problems. In fact, the only time my dog has had problems is when I've fed him something else, like Purina One. Great product in my experience. Hard to believe all of these other reports.

By coincidence I came across this website - was looking for Nutro dog food to order through the web - and started to read all the horrific stories. Here is ours. My Doberman now 4 years old is being fed with Nutro since we got him (3 months old). Never any health problems until this July '08 when I noticed blood blotches in his inner thighs. First I thought he had run through nettles and got burned by them. As he was limping at the time I decided to get his hips x-rayed for which he had to be sedated, for which the vet had to undertake blood tests, only then to find out that his platelet reading was near zero. Poor Paulus at that time was full of blood blotches - mainly gums, inner thighs, his whole back, and his ears.

After feeding Nutro Natural Choice dog food to my 2 dogs, they both were sick with vomiting, diarrhea, and dehydration. My Black Lab was sick 11-05-08. My Terrier was sick 11-19-08. Both had 3 nights stays at my vet's office with treatment of electrolytes, Reglan, Tagamet, and B-12 complex. Both are at home now.

We began feeding our two dogs Nutro Natural Choice Dog Food in August 08 per the recommendation of our veterinarian. He claimed it would help our labrador retriever with his yearly skin allergies. It is now mid-November 08 and last Friday, both of our dogs began vomiting and having diarrhea and not eating. At first, we thought it was just the lab, but observed our small terrier mix vomiting as well and realized it was both dogs. We thought it could only be a couple of things, viral, something found and eaten in the yard/trash, or their food.

We have fed Nutro dog food products to our dogs for years. We have always been happy and satisfied with the product and never had any problems with it until recently. One morning, we woke up and our dog was extremely sick. She was vomiting, had no appetite, rested on her elbows with her bottom in the air like she was stretching, as if she had a stomach ache. So we took her to the vet immediately, she was diagnosed with severe pancreatitis and is in recovery right now with a rice and cottage cheese diet. Now at this point we had no suspicions of Nutro causing the problem, until our friend's dog died and was diagnosed with pancreatitis around the same time our dog was diagnosed. We asked what dog food he fed - He said Nutro, same as us. He is also located less than 45 minutes from us. Too ironic. So we looked on the internet and found this site with several other of the exact same cases. Now we are convinced it is the food. All of these cases are too coincidental. It is quite possible they could all be all linked to Nutro. Her pancreatitis was not due to a viral infection because she had just finished a course of antibiotics for an injury on her leg.

My dog has became severely ill when she was eating Nutro Natural Choice Lamb and Rice Adult Food. My dog became deathly ill with symptoms including weight loss (over 10% of body weight in 2 weeks), excessive thirst, incontinence and vomiting. She was unbelievably ill. We took her to the vet and had blood work taken and found that her liver enzymes were extremely elevated. We followed with an ultrasound and x-rays as well. We switched her diet and within days she was feeling better than she ever has. We thought she was a finicky eater but it just turns out that the food made her sick. We were so upset to search the web and find out that so many pet owners have experienced the same issues.

Is this a site, dedicated to just Nutro Bashing? Or can good things be mentioned about it as well? I have used Nutro for dog and cat for 5 years. I have not had to take either of them to the vet for anything other than a well visit.

WE have been feeding our Weimaraner, Roo, Nutro foods since she was a pup without any problems until Sept. 2008. I purchased a large bag of Lamb and Rice at Petco. She ate several cups from the bag. Then one day we found a kernel of food with a piece of white foreign particle (looks like plastic) twisted out of one end of a kernel. We saved the kernel and thought little of it at the time. Meanwhile, Roo vomited early morning a few times a week and we all thought it was related to her enjoying a snack of tomatoes and cucumbers from the family garden during the day, that she so enjoyed.

NUTRO IS MARS!!!! Please watch your beloved pets if they eat Nutro. We have four Golden Retrievers all under the age of 5. They were all in fantastic shape and I always feed my dogs Nutro Natural Choice Lamb and Rice or Chicken and Oatmeal dry dog food. I almost lost all my dogs within the same month. Their coats went from velvet to straw almost overnight! None of the dogs or the puppy would touch the food. When they did eat the food, they were so sick I had to run them to the Animal Urgent Clinic and give them IVs and immediate care. The local Rescue facility in Illinois had the same problem. I have contacted Nutro and have not received any response. I have also contacted Petco and Petsmart about the problems. The employee at Petco told me that the Nutro Rep was at another location and would check out the complaint. Once again, no response.

Both our Brittany Spaniels became severely ill and died after being switched to Nutro Max adult large breed dry dog food. They suffered anorexia, vomiting, incontinence, excessive thirst, seizures, lethargy and kidney failure. The vet said it could be anti freeze poisoning, however many of their symptoms did not coincide with anti freeze toxicity. Anti freeze poisoning is a quicker death, my dogs lingered having bad and good days for weeks. They both had to be euthanized....first our eldest dog, then 3 weeks later our youngest. It never dawned on me that their food could be to blame.

My dog, Jasper, is an otherwise healthy 3-year-old English Setter, who had been fed Nutro Large Breed Lamb & Rice since shortly after he came to us in May 2006. I didn't notice any problems until this past spring, when the food went out of production, and we switched to the Natural Choice Lamb & Rice formula at the suggestion of our local pet food store. For a month or two, there seemed to be no ramifications from the change, until I noticed a change in the color/consistency of the kibble. Shortly thereafter, our dog began having runny stools, and he started eating a lot of grass and vomiting.

I've been feeding my cats Nutro Natural Choice for years. A few months ago, my kitten, Dexter, now seven months old, started vomiting and having diarrhea uncontrollably. It was so bad that I came home one night to find 10 piles of puke and excrement all across the floor... It was a minefield. The whole house smelled like bile. I had to steam the carpet, as well. I took Dexter to the vet the next day, and he figured that he must have caught a virus or something. He suggested Hill's ID for a while.

Our beloved pet dog, Josey, a female spayed Lab mix, SUDDENLY developed vomiting, bloody diarrhea, weakness in her hind legs, blindness, and lethargy a week ago. We took her to the vet, and he suspects kidney failure. Due to her age, (10) he said to take her home, love and comfort her, and bring her back when we decide to euthanize her. In his opinion, there is no treatment for her. She went from a very young-acting, smart, energetic, large-appetite, housebroken dog to one that cannot drink enough water, has urinated huge puddles of totally clear, odorless urine, has vomited when trying to eat anything, will not touch her Nutro food or even smell it, which she ate voraciously after we switched her over to it upon the advice of friends this past summer. She has not eaten in a week, and we are basically just waiting for her to die. We are totally heartbroken.

The food that we purchased for our 2 dogs (Nutro Natural Choice Chicken Meal, Rice and Oatmeal Formula), the same stuff we have bought them for over a year, had started to affect them in a bad way - Vomiting and diarrhea. After researching on the internet and finding the Consumer Affairs website, I decided that the most logical and least expensive thing to do was to replace their food with a different brand. Lo and behold, it has now been two weeks on the new food (Purina Pro Select Salmon and Brown Rice) and all of the symptoms are gone. The dogs are more vibrant and happy, and they have stopped trying to eat the grass when they go outside. No vomiting or diarrhea.

We just read your story on Nutro-brand dog food and can report the same issues with our seven year-old Jack Russell Terrier. She has never eaten another brand, but recently developed severe stomach irritation, vomiting, diarrhea, uncontrollable urges to go, drinking excessively, and ultimately lost 25% of her body weight. After reading this story, we switched her to another brand and the symptoms disappeared. We are very concerned and disappointed with Nutro, and understand that some varieties have been linked to the Chinese melamine scandal.

Two years ago I lost my 10 year old Brittany Spaniel, Chance, to liver cancer. I had been feeding him Nutro dry dog foods for about 7 years. The more I research this product the more I think it may have been the reason he died a terrible death way too young. I now have 2 Brittany's and they to have been on Nutro. I am changing their food today and will NEVER feed another pet any Nutro product! They also will be going to the vet to have full tests done to try to find out if there has been any damage to their liver, kidneys or digestive systems.

My 3 year old Bernese Mtn. dog has eaten Nutro Natural Choice dog food, the Chicken meal, rice and oatmeal dry food for the last 3 years. Three days ago he refused to eat the food and the next day I’m guessing out of hunger ate his dinner. He started throwing up shortly there after. He vomited 4 times, and acted very dizzy. He had some loose bowels earlier in the day but I didn't think much of it at the time. I went to bed that night knowing that if the dog got worse I would take him to the vet first thing in the morning or the emergency clinic if necessary overnight.

In May of this year, I adopted two older dogs, a Shepherd and a corgi mix. They were both great eaters and loved their Nutro. This is the only food they were fed since I got them in May 2008. The were only fed senior kibble mixed with Nutro senior wet food. On the third day, after opening a new bag of kibble, Emily (the shepherd) refused her food. I was quite alarmed, since she has never seemed anything less then happy with her food. I made an appointment for the vet later that afternoon. When I came home early from work to take her in, she seemed fine so I didn't take her in. I did decide to check on-line for any problem with the Nutro - imagine my surprise when I check on-line on Oct 29! I was shocked and immediately went to the pet shop and got something different. My dogs have not had one single kibble of Nutro since and never will - they seem to be doing well now.

I had two cats. I used to split a small can of Nutro cat food between them along with their dry food every morning. One cat would eat the canned food, one would not. After a few months, the cat that ate the canned food stopped eating altogether. I took him to the vet, who said his kidneys were now twice the size than they were before, and tried everything to help him.

Jinx is a 10 year old great dane bull mastiff female. She has always been a healthy 95 lb. dog until about Sept. /08. Oct.17/08 she started with a lot of mucous filled bowel movements. Later that day she started bleeding heavily and more diarrhea. The vet put her on 2 different kinds of antibiotics. We took her off her Nutro Pro senior dog food on the advice of our vet. We put her on a rice and beef burger diet for 4 days then put her back on her dog food. She improved while on rice and beef diet and then became sick again after going back to the Nutro Pro. The test results came back and the white blood cell count was twice as high as normal indicating severe infection. The dog is back on a burger and rice diet which is helping to gain her weight back and she is steadily improving.

I have been buying my large cat Nutro max- gourmet Salmon for about 3 years. He has always seemed healthy and we've only given him this food since we have owned him, we got him when he was 2. At the beginning of the summer, the cat lost his winter coat, and shaved off a few of his winter pounds. When the fall came, I noticed he was not putting weight or fur back on. I started to carefully watch his bowel movements, they were infrequent. For one day, he had bloody stools. The vet informed me that it sounded like bad food because his appetite was not the same. At this time, I had just bought a new bag of food, and nutro had changed their packaging. Instead of using Egg protein or whatever, they changed to cranberries. I informed my vet of this, and she told me to fast him for 24 hours, slowly weaning him on rice and nutro. This seemed fine, the cat did wonderfully with the rice, but picked at his food. I brought him directly to the vet, he opened his mouth and there was a large sore in his mouth.

I believe my dog may have gotten sick from a tainted bag of Nutro Naturals Chicken and Rice Formula. I've fed him the food for 2 years without incident. But about 4 weeks ago my little guy started throwing up. It started off just once to twice a week, but soon he wasn't able to hold food down at all and became very fatigued. I took him to the vet, who discovered some tenderness in his belly. He suspected pancreatitis. All blood work came back normal (aside from signs of dehydration). Then x-ray proved there was no obstruction. $800 in vet bills later, vomiting continued without explanation, so I withheld food for 24 hours, then switched him to I/D prescription diet wet food (a very bland diet). Within a day or two he was back to his old self! In retrospect, this all started when I bought a new 20lb bag of Nutro Naturals. So I Googled it and found all these complaints!! I've since switched him to HealthWise dry dog food and he's doing MUCH better. I have no proof it was the food, but given the evidence here and with my own experience, I really suspect it was.

My great Dane (nearly 3 years old) has been fed Nutro brand dog food (different types-- age related) since the day I brought her home 2 1/2 years ago. Recently, within the past 4-6 months, she has not been eating well, had begun to vomit (undigested food, even 12-14 hours later!) and have loose stool. She also developed a ravenous appetite for grass. 2 weeks ago, she also developed a high fever. We recently had her at our vet, who did a range of blood work, and could not make a diagnosis.

Last April 08 I bought a new bag of Nutro Natural Choice Small Bites. Within a couple of days of feeding 3 dogs the 20 pound dog began to vomit repeatedly. A day later my 35 and 55 pound dog also began to vomit. I immediately took away the Nutro food as that was the only thing I could find that all three dogs had been exposed to. I had noticed prior to that incident that my largest dog was throwing up stomach acid before he and the small dog ended up vomiting. I have since been feeding my young dogs a raw diet of chicken, brown rice and a small amount of greens and a bit of apple cider vinegar, and my elderly dog gets cooked chicken and green veggies as she is 16 and can't eat bones.

New information concerning my 2-yr-old Yellow Lab, with pancreatits, diarrhea, vomiting, pigment change and massive weight loss. Found vet #6 who believed my dog's symptoms are food related and went above and beyond to find another vet who specializes in animal internal medicine and a hematologist. All of these doctors agree that 5 dogs with heart disease, pancreatitis, eye problems, elevated liver enzymes, bladder enzymes and ate grass like they were cows, had to be fed a food that was contaminated.

I have been feeding my 11 month old Yorkie Nutro Max wet and dry food for the past few months. Beginning September he began to only eat about 1/2 to 1/4 of his food. Occasionally he would vomit about 12 hours after eating and sometimes have loose stools. Eventually, When I would get his food out of the cupboard he began to actually run away or hide under the kitchen table. Expensive trips to the vet yielded ZERO information. All blood tests and fecal tests were negative and he did not have any foreign items in his stomach. He was noted as dehydrated and possibly a few extra bacteria in his stool and I was given antibiotics. More time went on and he was very inconsistent, eating sometimes and not others, lethargic, sleeping alone in the corner, still only eating very small amounts of Nutro, vomiting here and there.

We have been using Nutro Natural Choice Lamb Meal and Rice Formula for years. On 10/13/08, I purchased a new bag and opened it later that week. That Friday, our Golden became very sick - both vomiting and loose stools. Not thinking that it was food related, we fed him dinner that night and he threw it up. We then switched his food to a Eukanuba canned chicken and rice formula thinking that would be easier on his stomach.

When we adopted our dog, Abby from a rescue. she was 12 weeks old. Almost immediately we knew we wanted to feed that would be a higher quality dog food. As most labs experience, she had skin allergies from corn and other by products that were associated with low end dog foods. We researched and after talking with a NUTRO representative, felt fairly reassured that NUTRO was the best deal for our money. Shortly after Abby began have small digestive issues if she was given a treat or anything other than her normal diet food. We bought her NUTRO Chicken and Rice for sensitive stomachs. The problem however continued.

In October 2005, we went to Mud Bay pet store to buy our 5-year-old cat some new cat food. We ended up getting Nutro Natural Choice food because it claimed to have good ingredients. After only a few days of feeding him the new food, we came home to him in extreme pain. He was hissing, holding one leg awkwardly and making terrible noises that made us think he had injured himself while we were at work. We ended up taking him to the ER where he was misdiagnosed as having dislocated or hurt his knee, given injections of Ketofen and Buprenex and sent home to sleep.

We have fed our puppy Nutro Natural Choice Small Bites Chicken, Rice, & Oatmeal since we got him 4 months ago. He always did well with it until recently. Since I opened a new bag last week, he has experienced vomiting and loose stools, and is always eating grass and leaves. I wondered if it was his food, and now that I have read these complaints I know it is because of the similar symptoms.

For the past few months, my 3 year old golden retriever had suddenly been having bouts with vomiting and diarrhea, lethargy and just plain old malaise; he definitely wasn't himself. Just like everyone else who has complained, I assumed he'd ingested some type of foreign matter. He has been on Nutro dog food for 3 years so naturally I didn't give a thought to his food. Until I did some research online. Voila! I changed his food and for a few days he was fine - until yesterday when it was apparent there was a serious problem. I took him into emergency last night. His hemoglobin levels were off the charts both high mass and low volume), he was dehydrated and creatinine (exhibiting kidney function) was also high.

None of the complaints about Nutro have ever been verified. There is nothing wrong with Nutro Dog Food. I've used it for years with my 5 dogs, and so are many of our adopters, with excellent results. These unfortunate people who have lost their pets, lost them due to illnesses not related to the dog food.

I was feeding my cats Nutro and 2 got sick. After switching the dry food but mixing the Nutro to get them use to a different brand, I finally stopped feeding the dry Nutro, and still had a few cans left which they also ate. I decided to not feed anymore Nutro. One cat got better but the other cat I had to take to the vet. She was diagnosed with Kidney failure. Strange thing was that she was just at the vet a few months back and she was healthy? Her kidneys were fine before she ate the Nutro. She ended up passing away. I am so angry because we lost her and a year ago we lost 2 kitties to the tainted food problem of 2007 and kidney failure! I do not trust anyone anymore. I lost my best friends and they never did anything but give so much love to me and my kids. They were the only ones there for us. Why would the pet food companies kill them? I hope God does something about this.

My dog suffered seizures from eating their Nutro Natural Weight Management dog food. No one suspected the dog food and this has cost me big $$$ in vet bills and prescriptions (phenobarbital and potassium bromide). Not to mention that we do not know the long-time effect that this will have on her.

Our 4-year-old dog is dying. She started a few months ago with loss of energy. When her back legs started collapsing on walks, we took her to the vet who ran a number of lab tests. All her levels were bad. The day after the vet visit, I realized it must be her Nutro large breed dog food. This site confirmed my suspicions. We immediately stopped feeding her Nutro, but it's been over a week since she has eaten anything on her own. I've tried everything but she just spits it out. We are now putting peanut butter in her mouth for some nutrition. If she has a BM, it is loose. The vet gave her antibiotics for her kidneys. She vomited daily while on these. I hoped her appetite would return after finishing her medicine; it hasn't. If she doesn't start eating soon she will starve to death. I don't want to put her down, but I don't want her to suffer. I keep hoping for a miracle.

My Boston terrier died yesterday after a progressive decline in health. He had been on a raw diet until October of last year. He lost weight at first then he lost interest in his favorite toys, and playing, going on walks or car rides. He was an alpha male in the house and turned into a weak unsure dog. He started having some small seizures in July and back and forth visits to the vet with no explanation, I could kick myself that it did not realize it could be the dog food.

Our dog had been throwing up for about a month until we finally realized it was the food after seeing on the news that the Nutro canned food was being recalled. Although our dog eats the dry food, it must be contaminated as well. At first we thought that the throwing up was due to NSAIDs that we had to put him on for arthritis, but after we stopped them for a week and he was still throwing up, we switched his food to boiled chicken and rice. The vomiting stopped so we gave him his Nutro dry food again and the vomiting started up again. The vet was no help and we only realized it when we heard about the recall of the wet food and did a web search and found this site (and others) that it must be Nutro dry food. He ate the healthy joints with glucosamine kind. I have contacted Nutro, let my vet know about it and the FDA. Hopefully someone investigates this soon.

We are in the middle of dealing with our 9-yr old Cocker Spaniel who stopped eating his Nutro food and was throwing up and had diarrhea. He had been completely healthy before this incident. He has eaten Nutro his whole life. The vet discovered that he had extremely elevated liver enzymes and after x-rays and numerous lab tests and an ultrasound, he is being treated for acute pancreatitis. We have spent hundreds of dollars on regular lab tests as well as clotting tests because these were irregular also. Altogether, we have spent about $1,500.00. His food has been changed to a low fat diet. He will be retested in a week and I will follow up this report but I was alarmed to see all the reports on Nutro. We had stopped his food and he ate the new food we gave him so we put him back on the Nutro and he got sick again. Now that he is on the low fat diet and antibiotics, he acts like his old self. I hope no permanent damage has been done to him. Please keep me informed if you discover any new information. I will update you, also.

I switched my cat to Nutro Natural dry cat food about two weeks ago, and have only put a few morsels a day with her previous food. She has thrown up four times since. My Aunt's cat was severely sick recently, throwing up, diarrhea, and lethargic, and she has been feeding her cat the same food. Something is wrong with this food, as my cat has NEVER gotten sick from switching food.

PET FOOD PRODUCT SAFETY ALLIANCE DID TESTS ON TWO SAMPLES OF NUTRO FOOD AND POSTED ON AUGUST 14th, 2008. THE RESULTS WERE HIGH LEVELS OF COPPER AND ZINC. The symptoms are consistent with the majority of those reported by consumers suspecting problems believed to be associated with feeding Nutro dry dog food.

Nothing. Our 19 lb. Westie has been on Nutro Max Beef Meal & Rice for years and never suffered ANY of the described symptoms. He is now on Nutro Max Senior variety of kibble and loves it. He's a healthy 8.5 years old...active...playful... Something doesn't add up here. If the food is contaminated, it should affect all dogs similarly.

I have left a couple of messages on here about losing my 3 dogs to mitral valve prolapse, pancreatitis and adrenal insufficiency. My 4th dog, a 6 year old pom, is losing the battle to mitral valve. After the news of the possible zinc and copper poisoning in Nutro dog food, I took my 2 year old yellow lab in for a physical. I took him to a specialist who had not treated by other 4 dogs. Sure enough, the lab work and tests shows heart problems and was positive for pancreatitis! He has lost 25 lbs, the pigment in his ears and belly has turned black and the vet said he looks like an old man. He is dying. I was feeding him Nutro Max large breed puppy then Max large breed adult (purple), Nutro cans, biscuits and treats. I have had my home checked for mold, bacteria and carbon monoxide and nothing was found. I also had my cats and birds checked, and they are fine. My husband, daughter, grandson and I all had physicals and we are fine. The only thing all 5 dogs had in common was the Nutro dry food, cans, treats and biscuits.

My 7 year old rottie, Cagney likes Nutro dog food. She has been eating it without any problem for the last 4 months. I opened a new bag last Thursday. I started feeding it to her Friday morning. By Sunday, she started having explosive diarrhea. Since then, she has no control of her bowels and is going to the bathroom in the house 1-2 times a day. I also noticed she wasn't eating all her food. I thought it was because she wasn't feeling good. It didn't worry me too much. Yesterday, I realized she didn't eat at all. I called our local pet store to see if they heard similar stories. They did! They said they have been trying to get people to switch to a different brand of dog food. Yet, it wasn't mentioned to me when I bought a new bag of food. Cags has a vet appt. tomorrow morning. I hope Cagney isn't as bad off as some of the other dogs I have been reading about.

Purchased a bag of Nutro lamb and rice meal for HEALTHY 3 year old Standard Poodle. Developed severe vomiting of bile and loose stools along with being very sleepy and a bad odor from her breath. She wouldn't touch the food after that so I made up white rice and boiled chicken since she wouldn't eat the Nutro (this went on for 6 days). After not eating the Nutro, she became better almost immediately. I have since switched to Canidae Chicken and Rice Formula and have not had any problems at all. I will not consider feeding Nutro ever again to a pet. Pay a little more money for better food and you will save in the end on vet bills and possibly a beloved pet's life!

Nothing happened with our food yet. Our cats have been on Nutro for about 3 months now and their fur is just like silk and we recently got a collie and put him on Nutro also. An animal Nutritionist told us about it and we are trying it. Hopefully we don't have any problems with it. If we do, it will definitely end up on this complaint list. I can't believe all the complaints! I wish I would have read them before we switched to Nutro.

Opened new 20 lb bag of Nutro Natural Choice Large Breed Adult. My dog did not want to eat it at first. She has been throwing-up and just not herself. This all started about 1 week after I started a new bag. She has not had any major illnesses. She has always been a healthy dog. She is 9 years old and very active. Now all of a sudden she seems ill. Please check out the DRY dog food from this CO. I have been using it for years. Never had a problem before. Please help. exp date 11/24/09. LBA20-01. 80891-01. Proof of Purchase # **. Thank You

We purchased Nutro Lamb and Rice dry dog food in January of 2007. Our cocker spaniel became very ill after eating the food. He vomited and had very loose and bloody stool. Our poor dog, Dawson, felt awful. He was lethargic and ashamed that he couldn't control his bowels. We were scared and frustrated. Financially, we had to spend money on dog food and vet visits. Physically, our carpets were damaged and we had to hire someone to come and clean our carpets twice.

I've been keeping track of the posts on this website. I'm still horrified that our pets are still getting sick off of Nutro Pet Foods. I'm even more aghast that Nutro still claims it's food is safe and not the culprit but I'm not shocked or surprised either. They ignored me when I first reported complaints back in March and April. But can I say something to help those of you pondering which food is better? First things first, get your dog off of Nutro or your cat. Then do your research. First of all when you switch foods, switch to a food that has a low amount of grains or grain free. Grains like wheat gluten, wheat, corn, corn gluten, rice gluten, barley, etc can be contaminated with chemicals and other toxins.

We have been feeding Nutro and Nutro Max pouch food to our cats for at least 6 months. The 3 boys really loved it. One male started urinating all over the house about 4 months ago. The vets couldn't figure out what was wrong. We eventually had to keep him outdoors, and the coyotes got him... The 2 other boys just got sick very violently 4 days ago. They started being lethargic and vomiting. One had a little bit of blood with the vomit.

Our wheaten terrier is now five. Until this year he threw up his food regularly though he seemed to be healthy otherwise. Veterinary tests found nothing. Then we read about the melamine poisoning and our pet food store, after not receiving Nutro products for a while, said he was told that Nutro had changed its formula. Our dog has not thrown up this year.

My dog, Sheila Mae, WAS a healthy and vibrant and beautiful Rott who was four years old when she died on September 23, 2008. I began feeding her Nutro dog food about three months prior as it was recommended by other people who told me it was high quality food. Initially, I was very satisfied with its performance but, noticed when it became Nutro Max, it had a different smell and consistency. I did not become concerned until approximately a month ago. She began having runny stools, became lethargic and refused to eat at all.

Death of my dog after getting sick from eating Nutro Natural Choice for Seniors.

My two-year-old Shih-Tzu has been on Nutro for a few months now, and not until recently was I able to put two and two together. At first, he refused to eat the food or ate very rarely. I began feeding him soft food from the vet because he was having soft stools and began bleeding from the anus. He was checked by the vet, nothing abnormal, but still would only touch the Nutro Lamb & Rice when mixed with soft food. He has a tendency to vomit for no apparent reason though his stools have returned to normal. I will be switching his food immediately.

My wife and I had both of our cats on Nutro for the past two years. First our cat who was eating Nutro indoor cat food in the brown bag all of a sudden started throwing up, got diarrhea and was lethargic. After many visits to the vet, he was found to having liver damage going towards liver failure. After 1500 dollars in vet fees and antibiotics, we switched his food and he has made almost a 100% recovery. Now my dog, who has ate Nutro since he was a puppy, 2 years now, has started vomiting, frothing at the mouth, diarrhea, and won't eat the Nutro.

I have been feeding my mini-dachshund Portabello Nutro foods since I got him in March of 2008. As of yet no problems have occurred but after reading about these other dogs and cats neither my dog or two cats will ever eat this food again. My heart goes out to everyone that has lost their beloved pet or shall I say family member. Thank you for putting this out there. You all have truly saved my Portabello's life.

I have been feeding my dog Nutro Natural Choice Weight Management for large breeds for over 2 yrs. However since July 2008, I noticed my dog weakening, 1st difficulty rising, tiring easily & lethargic. In September 2008, he was having trouble swallowing. I began mixing his food with water. He began vomiting. There were numerous visits to the Vet, test were done, blood, Diabetes, Myasthenia Gravis, Addison's Disease - nothing abnormal. We were referred to a Neurologist, where an EMG & spinal tap was done. He was kept overnight at the neurologists & consequently not fed Nutro. He seemed like his old self. Initially I thought it might be the anesthetic. The next day he would not eat the nutro. That's when it occurred to me it might be the food so I purchased some Science Diet chicken & rice, which he ate & is doing well. I have spent over $3000, to determine what the problem was & it appears to be the food.

Update: My initial report on Nutro two months back unfortunately had a very bad ending. My golden retriever puppy got very ill after eating nutro natural choice puppy food.

I bought the Nutro Natural Choice Senior since I felt like my dog was getting older and would benefit from the ingredients that would help her joints. She is almost 9 and has never had any digestive problems at all, however, within 24 hours of feeding her the Nutro Natural Choice Senior, her stool became very soft and not formed at all. I called the vet and the vet said buy her the Nutro Lamb and Rice. She had eaten the regular Nutro before and had not had any problems, however, her stool now got worse instead of better. After it turned to diarhea, I took the dog to the vet.

We switched our 1 1/2 year old lab mix to Nutro Natural Choice Large Breed Adult in late August 2008. In the second week of September she started having explosive diarrhea, was vomiting, and stopped eating her dry food and began to try to scavenge off our plates. We took her to the vet who thought perhaps this was brought on by some salmon she nabbed in a flash. We have been diligent in keeping table food out of her reach. She is still avoiding her dog food, but when she does eat, she drinks A LOT. She is also vomiting just about daily, sometimes twice. I have been suspecting the food after last year's recalls and the recent melamine reports related to baby formula etc. in Asia and the South Pacific. After reading all of the submissions here, I am more suspect.

My 8 yr old german shepherd had been sickly the past 1 year or so (not wanting to eat her food, always vomitting, bloodshot eyes, clouding of eyes, not playful). The past 4 yrs she's been on Nutro (blue bag with GSD on front). I had noticed that sometimes the kibble was small cylinder shaped and at other large rounded disk shaped. I didn't really think too much about it. All I knew is that Petco said Nutro is good & Petco has an on-going promotion for all their dog foods where they give 1 bag free after you purchase 10 bags. This was my 3rd/4th year.

My 8 yr old german shepherd had been sickly the past 1 year or so (not wanting to eat her food, always vomitting, bloodshot eyes, clouding of eyes, not playful). The past 4 yrs she's been on Nutro (blue bag with GSD on front). I had noticed that sometimes the kibble was small cylinder shaped and at other large rounded disk shaped.

I very sick of what they are doing to are Animals ,and yes some thing is very wrong the pet products and the pet food. I work at a Pet store and i see this all the time now that i have read all this.This just confirm it .I am right do not trust them or Banfield pet hospital they own Mars which make thier Nutro products.If you go to Banfield complaint are they working together?My dog is now very sick and in the hospital he was on Nutro Natural Choice Venison and rice my dog was smart and stopped eating when he did he has lost a lot of weight and trying to treat him 12 shots a day

My Dog Buddy became extremely ill and diangosed with Pancretitis this past week (vet hospitalization and costs $1800) This is most recent with latest bag of Nutro Ultra Holistic Senior. Buddy has been on this product since a puppy but never had these problems prior. The most recent bag of Nutro's purchased seems to be the cause.

I told her about these sites and after looking at them decided to change his food, I spoke with her today, she was calling to thank me for showing her these reports including the one from Consumer reports about Nutro, her dog was doing much better and the symptoms he was experencing before had vanished after the change, she was able to get a full refund for the price of the food, but this poor dog and im afraid many others suffered greatly, I hope everyone can be informed about this problem, its pretty clear theres a serious problem with this food.

I have been feeding Nutro dog food to my Springer for almost over a year. On the 11th of September I bought a new bag of Nutro Max Adult dog food and When I opened the bag it did not smell right. I fed it to my Springer and aproximately 8 days later he got sick.

Update on Salty - we picked up Salty from the emergency room vet last night (9/21) and while we were waiting to talk to the vet a woman brought in her Rottweiler. She told the receptionist that her dog had been vomiting blood and had bloody diarrhea. I waited until she had checked in and went over to ask what food she was feeding her dog. She told me that he always eats Nutro Lamb and Rice Dry food. This has been enough evidence for me. Nutro is not responding to our emails - please call the FDA, call the news stations.

My 3 1/2 year old very healthy Great Preynees, Salty, was rushed to the emergency room last night bloody diarrhea. He first had diarrhea, then he vomited. He never had a problem with his stomach - ever. He then went out again about two hours later only to have bloody diarrhea. We immediately took him to the emergency vet and they diagnosed him with HGE and said it could be diet related. We recently switched him to Nutro Sensitive Skin Lamb and RIce dry food (within the past two months). He has never had trouble before.

I have been using Nutro Natural Choice, Lamb Meal & Rice Formula, Small Bites for over 7 years. Now all of a sudden my dog has diarrhea and vomiting. Nutro will not take the calls when I call. Vets offices have been receiving all kinds of mail about dogs being sick from Nutro Natural Choice, Lamb & Rice. I have the Proof of Purchase code.

I switched my cocker spaniel to Nutro Lamb and Rice and she continues to have loose stools. I'm concerned that there is a problem with this food, since she was doing fine with Duck and Rice, though quite a bit more expensive. As I tried again to re-introduce the Nutro lamb and rice she again had loose stools. Now I have 40 lbs of dog food that is suspect.

I purchased a case of canned "Nutro Max, Senior, Check & Rice Dinner" around 9/5/08 at Petco on 2nd Street in El Cajon, CA.

I switched my 10 mth old GS to Nutro Natural Choice Large Breed Puppy food on a recommendation that it was a good quality food. After starting the second bag we noticed all three of our dogs with diarrhea, one with puddles of blood, and my puppy became very lethargic, wouldn't eat and lost 8 lbs. I switched her to a hamburger and oatmeal diet and she gained weight and became her bouncy self again. In the meantime the other dogs stopped having problems as well. In addition, a hymalayan cat who was munching on the dog food also had diarrhea. He is now much better as well. I haven't tried to give them more of the Nutro food as I'm not about to experiment on my animals and I am just using the facts to theorize the food is bad. We've switched to another food and all are doing well now.

As she has always been a finicky eater I never put 2 and 2 together. After reading the letters on your site I am more inclined to believe it was the food rather than coccedia(sp).As I have a new litter I will not be putting the pups on Nutro products and I'm researching a new food for the adult dogs.

My Toy poodles Bailey and Shelby both came down with a mysterious illiness, and behavioral problems of urinating in the house ******* in the house, which I began to think was behavioral even though they have been amazing dogs for over 11 years. Then Bailey became very ill with diarreaha, vomiting and I knew something terrible was wrong.

Tonight as I was feeding my dogs their normal food Nutro Lamb and Rice, which they have eatten for 3 years now, I noticed a peice of blue rubber. I of course made sure that they didn't have any in what they are eatting but after reading this website I wish I would have went to the store and bought a different brand of dog food. I only have one problem my female can't eat anything with corn, or chicken... She throws up everytime. Before I came to this site I emailed Nutro. I'll let you all know if they respond.

I am withdrawing my complaint below as the loose stools were found to be something else and cured with appropriate treatment. I feel that at this time I am unable to further make a choice on this food.

I have been feeding my 2 Chihuahua's Nutro Natural Choice Small Bites. The last several weeks they have had severe diarrhea. Per vet instructions I began feeding them rice with cottage cheese and some ground beef and had them on medication. The vet said to slowly introduce their regular food back as they get better. Every time I've tried to do this the diarrhea gets worse. I finally decided to do some research and found the article on your website that pet illness and death have been connected to Nutro pet foods. I wanted to report this incident.

My doggie has been eating this for 6 years and now effective the last bag i purchased 07/08 he is suffering from constant diarreah. When i take it away he is fine.

Please, everyone, contact the FDA and poison control, give this information to your vets. I would also like to hear from anyone who has had any of these symptoms personally, as well. I have been experiencing medical problems that cannot be explained and they are very similiar to those mentioned here. I am very curious to know if handling the bags, the food and then my pets, is making me sick right along with them.

Well here is an update, ,Mia my pomeranian had the puppies. We thought she would abort them as our other pom did. From the beginning it was cler that Mia had to have sensed that something was wrong.

Because Nutro dog food was recommended to me as one of the best by my pet store, I decided to put my four-year old female dog on it. She has been eating it for about a year. Today I took her to the vet after finding blood in her urine and she was diagnosed with an acute urinary tract infection. Her tests also showed the possibility of kidney stones. Besides blood in her urine, her symptoms include vomiting and very strong smelling urine. She has always been extremely healthy and has never exhibited these symptoms before.

I board dogs, last week, one Papillion and three Chinese Cresteds came in with new bag of Nutro Small Bites Lamb and Rice. Opened bag, upon first feeding, dogs were reluctant to eat. One dog vomited that night and the next two nights. All dogs refused to eat and were lethargic, after consuming the food. They readily ate other kibble bits offered or treats. I switched them to another food four days later and they ate ravenously, and recovered. One of the Papillions that usually comes along is in the animal hospital with recently diagnosed cancer of the ureters,kidney; unoperable.

I posted previously to let you know that my dog, Sadie, had been diagnosed with struvite crystals in her urine. I switched her to Blue Buffalo for several weeks after that diagnosis and on her follow-up urinalysis (done Friday before last), no crystals were found. The Blue Buffalo worked! My vet then did an ultrasound to see if any stones had formed from the crystals. Fortunately there were none, BUT during the ultrasound, it was discovered that Sadie had a huge mass on her spleen! Subsequent x-rays revealed a softball-sized tumor. Last Tuesday, Sadie's spleen and the attached tumor were surgically removed. Today we received the pathology report which stated that Sadie had a grade II, fibrous histiocytoma. It is a relatively uncommon tumor in dogs and at grade II, it is considered benign (Yay!)

I have been feeding my cats Nutro products for many years. I reserched this food as I do most products and decided that this was the best food I could afford for a quality food. Not so anymore. Ever since they sold there company there products have really taken a dump. I used to feed my cats Nutro Max Hairball formula. I always buy the 16# bags when they are on sale so I usally have enough to last a couple of months.

I lost 3 dogs to mitral valve prolapse in June and July. 5 vets and the FDA said it had to be from an outside source. I read the article today about Zinc and Copper toxicity in the Nutro food, (see Pet Food Safety Alliance report). When I googled copper toxicity this is what it says:

After we purchased our last bag of nutro lamb and rice dog food in july OUr dogs spent the next 3 weeks very ill dehydrated, vomiting diarrhea all of the same symptoms that all the other people complained of, We also took our dog to the vet who put them medicationt to stop the diarrhea, iv fluids for the dehydration and told us to feed them rice and cottage cheese and yogurt, after about a week they greatly improved i started to give them the nutro and they got sick again. they just finally have formed stool and a new dog food

After reading all these complaints I have a 4 yr old Boxer who has been on Nutro Lamb & Rice since a puppy just until recently as he has had red infected paws, infected ears and very bloodshot eyes which started about a yr ago, he has had some incidents of vomiting and at times would just look at his food and not eat it, I took him to the vet several times but my vet just kept saying it was some kind of allergy but she did not understand why he would vomit and drink alot of water and not eat which was not like him, I thought maybe he just had the doggie flu but after reading these complaints I am starting to put two and two together thinking it was the food.

The vet found no parasites or fever, and decided that Pip must have eaten something that did not agree with her. She prescribed an antibiotic and a powder to be mixed with rice (or other food) which she would take for 5 days. Pip was very tired and did not have much of an appetite, but the diarrhea stopped. After 4 days, I thought Pip was fully recovered and began to feed the Nutro again. Immediate diarrhea and lethargy. I went online and searched for problems with Nutro and was appalled to see so many pets had exactly the same experience. I will never feed a Nutro product again, and will spread the word to as many other pet lovers as I can.

I have two dogs a 2 year old Weimaraner/Shar Pei mix and a 1 year old English Springer Spaniel. My 2 year old has always had allergies to wheat, beef, and gluten. I had a hard time find a food for him until 02/2008. I bought him Nutro Natural Choice Chix, Rice and Oatmeal. It worked! His stomach problems subsided and so I switched their food to it.

PET FOOD PRODUCT SAFETY ALLIANCE DID TESTS ON TWO SAMPLES OF NUTRO FOOD AND POSTED ON AUGUST 14th, 2008. THE RESULTS WERE HIGH LEVELS OF COPPER AND ZINC. The symptoms are consistent with the majority of those reported by consumers suspecting problems believed to be associated with feeding Nutro dry dog food.

I spent $2000 in vet bills for 'toxicity' in my dog causing liver enzymes that were 'off the charts'. I've had my dog on Nutro Natural Choice his whole life and he's an indoor dog and there's no way he got into anything else. I reported this to Nutro since I'm convinced it was the food. They had me send a sample and called my vet and they were supposed to call me back but hae not. I still have 1/2 the bag of dog food that I'm saving in case it needs to be tested further.

As soon as I made the switch George's appetite improved dramatically. He went from maybe eating a third of his food at a time, to cleaning his bowl! I feel very fortunate that I was able to make the switch before any of my dogs became ill, and my heart goes out to all the people who have posted on this site.

I have been feeding my 8 yr old Golden Retriever Nutro Natural Choice Large Breed Senior dog food for 2 years. She has been eatting Nutro since she was a puppy. After the last bag I bought, she started throwing up and now stares at me when I put the food in front of her and will not eat it. I bought a bag of different food which she devoured. She has also been drinking a lot of water. I also have a 4 yr old Shetland Sheepdog who also eats Nutro and she has been having UTI issues. She too has been removed from Nutro Food.

We have been feeding our dogs Nutro Choice for almost 2 years now and hadn't had any trouble until now. For this brand I noticed in the bag before the nuggets have changed to smaller and darker. Then this last bag they were bigger and tan nuggets. With this new bag within 4 days my dog had diarrhea, bad and still has it today. My thought was this 'new' nugget was the issue and finding this site proved me right. Needless to say he will be off this food now.

I have been feeding Nutro lamb and rice Natural choice for years. I recently purchased a small bag of nutro lamb and rice and took it with me out of town to a dog show. It was kept in a bin, and in the motel room the entire time. My schipperke, got very ill, vomitting, diarreha and forturnately I did a ton of research years ago before I made the switch to Nutro.

I have been feeding Nutro Large Breed Adult for many years. I also feed Nutro Natural Lite food to a couple of the older, less active dogs. I have noticed in the last few months that they sometimes don't eat like they usually do. They have days where they turn up their noses at the food.

I have a litter of puppie swho are being weaned to solids and have been given Canidae moist for two meals a day and free fed NUTRO small bites puppy during the day. they were fine until I added the Nutro to their diet. now they dry heave and vomit, coats are dull. puppies are just plain not healthy looking, local vet says all is fine with the first pup we took in on friday. And now Saturday more are felling ill and vet says all ok, but the only thing they have all had is the Nutro.

This is an update regarding our cat, Timothy. After 2 weeks of refusing to eat, we finally had to have our cat put to sleep. Thinking back, this illness all began after purchasing a bag of Nutro Natural Choice Complete Care Weight Management. He had been previously eating Nutro cat food with no problems. From the very beginning, he didn't want to eat the food. He would only eat a little (and this big boy loved to eat) or we would catch him eating the dogs food all of the time. I never made a connection that the food might be bad.

I talked about it in detail on my 7/14/08 edition of my show. Im not going to repeat here what I said, because its similar to everyone's story. All I will say now, and arrest me if you want, is that unless someone holds Nutro accountable for their [mistakes], I will. Ive had it with thousands of complaints and broken hearts here. And it seems that all Consumer Affairs does it make people post as a way to vent. I dont vent. I retaliate.

My pet started Nutro Natural Choice High Protien Large Breed formula June of 2008. I purchased a second bag in August of 2008 and after about two more weeks of the food he began to have uncontrollable diarrhea. This has happened to many other people, and in some cases it has caused death. This food should be removed from the market.

We have been feeding our German Shepherds Nutro Natural Choice with Glucosamine and Natural Choice Large Breed Puppy Formula. Since purchasing our latest bags in July, our 5 month old puppy has been vomiting after eating and our 18 month old has had diarrhea. Additionally, and I'm not certain if its related or not, the 5 month old female has had chronic UTIs since we brought her home (and subsequently feeding her Nutro Puppy food).

We have been feeding Nutro for about four years. I went online today to see about finding a new pet food due to the problems we have been experiencing. Once I read some of the complaints on this website I had to add my experience to the bunch.

Purchased Nutro Max Adult dog food. Within a few days of feeding to our purebred cocker spaniel and to our shepherd/lab dog - both started with diarrhea, needing to go outside a lot, and then vomiting. We thought they had gotten into something outside. My husband thought something was going on with the food. They've never gotten sick from food. The cocker spaniel (who eats everything!) would not even touch the food after just a few days. The cocker spaniel has been the worse-listless/lethargic - wanting to lay in the bushes outside. He pants a lot and seems out of it. The larger dog seems to have recovered better. Fed both dogs a different brand of dog food this morning. The cocker spaniel ate and shortly after - threw up all the food. Something is wrong!

Our cat was started on Nutro Natural Choice Complete Care Weight Management cat food recently. He seemed to not like the food and slowly ate less and less. He began vomiting and wanting to be outside all of the time. He stopped playing and stopped getting on our laps.

I just read all the reports about Nutro's pet food. Made a similar experience. My dogs got Nutro for more than 12 years. Now it's removed from the market in Germany due to a Merger, as Nutro was bought by Mars Petcare. This seems effecting the quality of the product. I had never any problem with the old Nutro. Since its impossible to buy in Germany these days, I got a brand new bag Nutro Adult Large Breed from the actual US production. I read that Nutro plans to produce not only in the US but also in a plant in Hungary for the European market. I started feeding the new bag of Nutro Adult Large Breed and first time in its life my dogs got diarrhea!

After reading many, many articles on experiences others had with Nutro dog food I felt compelled to share my story as well. Around the April/May 2008 time period I purchased a new bag of the Nutro Max dog food. I'd already bought & fed 2 bags of the food to my Bassett hound and he appeared to be doing very well on it. Since it has glucosemine in it I decided to transition my older golden to the food as well.

This is an update from my 08/12/08 post. Since we've switched our two dogs from Nutro Max Senior dry food to Avaderm baked dry food, the dogs have improved tremendously. No excessive thirst, grass eating or runny stools. Hooray! We will continue to home cook their main meals of rice with human-grade beef or chicken breast. I urge everyone to inform their friends, co-workers, relatives, veternarians, etc. of the horrible and sometimes fatal consequences of feeding your pets Nutro Max and if they have any doubt, please refer them to the Consumer Affairs website.

Been feeding both my dobies Rambo & Rusty, Nutro Max Large Breed Senior for years and was quite happy with it. A few weeks ago I purchased another 35 lb bag. I did not really notice anything unusual for the first week but started noticing that their intake was less. And there were days when they would not eat at all. Rambo would smell it and walk away. He did the same thing with the Science Diet canned food last year that was in fact tainted. He was fine while Rusty, who kept eating it until I suspected a problem with the food, now has a kidney disorder. Rusty would eat anything but even his appetite now has decreased and he is very lethargic as well and two hours after he eats, he has loose, watery stools and the next day he is nauseous.