Sudden Deaths of Dogs Prompts Consumer Affairs Investigation

Recently there has been another series of reports about mysterious illness and death in dogs – this time claims are from people who have pets that ate Nutro pet food. Scores of other pet owners have been reporting that their animals became ill while eating Nutro products, then recovered when they were switched to another brand. The report is listed on the Consumer Affairs website in an article written by Lisa Wade McCormick. As of June 23, 2008, the recent illnesses and deaths in many pets that have eaten Nutro continues to remain mystery.

Peternity.com wishes to offer condolences to these families, and continues to offer and provide grief support, pet memorial services, and products like pet urns, pet memorial stones and statues, pet portrait art and pet keepsake boxes.

According to an analysis of the complains that have come in to ConsumerAffairs.com, at least six dogs have died since April - two Italian Greyhounds in Indiana, a Beagle and Whippet mix in Pennsylvania, two German Shepherd puppies in North Carolina, and a Texas-based Doberman Pinscher.

Nutro has been discounting the reports, stating that they are isolated and unconfirmed and that it is not a safety or quality issue, continues to defend its products and says the food is 100 percent safe.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) investigated the April 2008 deaths of two dogs from Indiana, and tested samples of the Nutro food that those dogs ate. No toxins were found. But many dog owners all say their pets were in good health and are convinced that Nutro's food is somehow connected to their animals' deaths, while others believe their dogs and cats have recently become sick after eating the company's food.

Pet owners across the country, including longtime Nutro customers, claim they no longer feel safe feeding this brand of food to their pets. One pet owner in Indianapolis had two healthy greyhounds that died within days after eating Nutro's Natural Choice Small Bites Lamb and Rice food. They had purchased it for the first time in April 2008, and within four or five days, both of the dogs were urinating everywhere, and died.

Other signs if illness included vomiting, acting dizzy and skittish. One of her greyhounds had an unusual smell before she died, and she was vomiting up liquid and bile. By the time the owner took her female dog to the emergency animal hospital, she was comatose, in kidney failure, and had to be euthanized.

Next, her three-year-old Italian greyhound male had started to experience the same problems. When she got him to the vet there were elevated creatinine and BUN (blood urea nitrogen) levels. After an IV was administered and retested later in the evening on the 28th. By the next morning, the dog had blood in the whites of his eyes and was vomiting again. Ultimately, his kidneys failed. He went into renal failure and had to be euthanized. The vet suspected antifreeze poisoning, but the owner didn't have antifreeze anywhere around their home.

She and her family also contacted both Nutro and the FDA, who immediately investigated the dogs' deaths. The FDA investigator took samples of the dog owner’s Nutro food and had it tested for several contaminants, including melamine, aflatoxins, and ethylene glycol. That's a chemical in antifreeze. The tests did not find any toxins in the food.

The autopsy results on the dogs and the tests run on their kidney tissues did reveal high levels of ethylene glycol in their systems, which indicated the dogs' deaths were consistent with antifreeze poisoning.  

In Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, a ten-year-old Beagle and Whippet mix dog died on May 30th and the owner suspected Nutro's Lamb and Rice food. She had noticed that the bag looked like it had little white bugs all over it, and when she picked up the food, it was like a granular substance.

Once her dog became sick, he threw up and was breathing heavy. She took her pet to the vet, who couldn't find anything except an elevated white count, a low red blood count, indicating he was anemic, and the fact that the dog had a temperature. The dog was taken off of Nutro food and fed hamburger and rice for several weeks, until he got better. Once the owner slowly reintroduced the Nutro dog food to him, his condition worsened again. His weight went from 26 pounds to 18 pounds. He was skin and bones. He was lethargic. He became so weak he could no longer walk outside. He died in his sleep on May 30th.

Another grieving pet owner in North Carolina lost two puppies from the same litter of seven. The healthy six-week-old German Shepherds had similar symptoms as the other dogs that died after eating Nutro's food; vomiting, diarrhea, and they were lethargic.

During the Consumer Affair’s investigation, they found scores of pets -- primarily dogs -- continued to become seriously ill after eating Nutro's food, and this includes the fact that some dogs overseas are now experiencing similar health problems after eating Nutro's food.

One former pet nutrition specialist for Nutro said she had noticed at least 20 people in the last six months who said their pets were having problems with Nutro's food -- dogs and cats were vomiting, they were lethargic, had diarrhea, and were drinking lots of water.

The former employee, who asked not to be identified, reported those complaints to her boss, which fell on deaf ears.

The Consumer Affairs team contacted Nutro about the complaints and a company spokesperson, who has since resigned, directed them to Nutro's Web site, and also recently posted this information:

"All NUTRO products are 100 percent safe and conform to the standards set by the FDA, USDA, and AAFCO," the Web site states. "NUTRO pet foods undergo rigorous quality assurance testing, beginning with raw ingredients and ending with testing all finished products. This includes testing to confirm that no melamine, mold toxins, or pathogenic bacteria are detected in any NUTRO pet foods."

The company said the complaints we've received are "isolated reports of inaccurate information posted online.

Again Peternity.com wishes to offer condolences to anyone who has experienced the death of their pet due to the recent issue with Nutro pet foods. In addition to grief support, pet memorial services, and products like unique pet urns, pet memorial stones and statues, pet portrait art and pet keepsake boxes, Peternity.com is offering the following discount code for 15 percent off for the next year to anyone who has lost their pet – in exchange for your story. Simply enter NUT15 on the billing info page in the Peternity.com shopping cart; then email your story to colleen@peternity.com.

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