Nutro - The Story Continues

[5CatMom]

Nutro recalled some dry cat food on May 21, 2009 (just prior the the Memorial Day holiday), but the story continues.

Here's a May 26, 2009 article from Consumer Affairs:

During the FDA’s visit to her home, Cheryl says the agents told her Ember’s death was a “high priority.” The agents said they were rushing Ember’s health records and lab results to the FDA’s veterinarian in Maryland -- and promised to immediately test the Dalmatian’s food.

“The FDA agents seemed extremely upset that Ember died,” Cheryl says, adding the agents planned to also test the bag that Ember’s food came in. “They did not look happy. When they opened the bag of her food, they did not want to touch it and said it smelled like petroleum.

http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/2009/05/nutro_foia06.html


Reference:

http://www.fda.gov/oc/po/firmrecalls/nutro05_09.html

[5CatMom]

Here's a brief recall history for Effem/Mars/Nutro:


March 2004 - Pedigree Recalled in Asia http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0WDP/is_2004_March_15/ai_114410165/

Reference:
Cathy Brown article - 2004 Recall was due to melamine/cyanuric acid
http://jvdi.org/cgi/content/full/19/5/525

March 2007 - Cat Food Recall
http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/petfoodrecall/brand_list.cfm?brand=Nutro%20Products&pet=Cat
http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/petfoodrecall/brand_list.cfm?brand=Nutro%20Natural%20Choice&pet=Cat
http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/petfoodrecall/brand_list.cfm?brand=Nutro%20Max%20Gourmet%20Classics&pet=Cat
http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/petfoodrecall/brand_list.cfm?brand=Nutro%20Max%20Cat%20Gourmet%20Classics&pet=Cat

August 2007 - Red Flannel & Krasdale Dog Food Recalled due to Potential Salmonella
http://www.fda.gov/oc/po/firmrecalls/mars208_07.html

August 2008 - Pedigree Recalled due to Potential Salmonella
http://www.fda.gov/oc/po/firmrecalls/marspetcare08_08.html

September 2008 - Everson, PA Plant Contaminated with Salmonella, Dry Food Recalled
http://www.fda.gov/oc/po/firmrecalls/marspetcare09_08.html

Reference:
http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/584489_print

October 2008 - Special Kitty Recall (Potential Salmonella)
http://www.fda.gov/oc/po/firmrecalls/mars10_08.html

April/May 2009 - Greenies Recall
http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/2009/05/nutro_greenies.html
http://www.thefreelibrary.com/NUTRO+Pulls+Greenies+Dental+Chews+from+Supermarkets-a01611860931

May 2009 - Nutro Dry Cat Food Recall (Excess Zinc, Deficient Potassium)
http://www.fda.gov/oc/po/firmrecalls/nutro05_09.html

References:
Hundreds of Consumers Complain About Nutro
http://www.consumeraffairs.com/pets/nutro.html

EPA Not Interested in Melamine Residue
http://www.epa.gov/fedrgstr/EPA-PEST/1999/September/Day-15/p24047.htm

PFPSA Tests Food
http://www.pfpsa.org/news.html
http://www.pfpsa.org/nutro1.pdf
http://www.pfpsa.org/nutro2.pdf

High Levels of Zinc and Copper in Nutro Products?
http://www.petfoodindustry.com/ViewContent.aspx?id=22724

[Bonkers]

  Today I spoke with the lady who works the adoption center at my local PetSmart. It seems the sales rep for Nutro was in the other day and she wanted to obtain some info from him about the recall. He told her that it was only one type of food from one batch. She then asked "then why are all those different foods stacked up in the back of the store?" He did not respond. She then proceeded to ask why the food was recalled. His reply was that he did not know.  I could not believe that this is how he answered. Is it because they are trying to keep it as quiet as possible? And/or is it that their employees just don't care....

[5CatMom]

Effem/Mars/Nutro seems to be a real mess.

All that Quality stuff that's on their website - No way are they doing what they say.

If they were, they wouldn't have so many issues with the food, IMHO.

It's pitiful, really.

[GreyGhost]

They have had more problems than I can ever imagine a food to have. I honestly can't believe people still feed this garbage.

I'll have to go do some asking around.

[Bonkers]

  There are new reports of cats allegedly becoming ill from consuming Nutro cat food posted on Consumer Affairs website.  http://www.consumeraffairs.com/pets/nutro.html

[Perseus]

It's completely disgusting evil that Nutro won't recall the dog foods causing all these problems, too.

[5CatMom]

Just a thought,

If anyone sees reports of sick cats on other forums, and it's NOT Nutro, maybe raise the red flag, OK?

We know how "inbred" the pet food industry is, so might be helpful to keep the eyeballs wide open.

Saw the new complaints on Consumer Affairs. 

"No complaints" my foot  .

[5CatMom]

Just learned from someone:

More info from Nutro about the problem with the food:

In a given bag of food (my bag shows 200 mg/kg) that the zinc level (in my particular bag) may be EITHER too high or too low.

Rep wouldn't tell me HOW high, or HOW low - proprietary, you know.

I told her owners need to know, so they can tell vets.  May save time, and therefore lives.

Knowing a bit about how things can go "blooey" with processes, that means that:

1)  Zinc level is too low, something else is too high
2)  Zinc level is too high, something else is too low
3)  Zinc level is too low, other stuff is OK
4)  Zinc level is too high, other stuff is OK

So, vets may be seeing all sorts of weird symptoms.  Don't know - I'm no vet expert.

Hope this helps pet owners/vets know what testing to do.

[Bonkers]

  There are new reports of cats allegedly becoming ill from consuming Nutro cat food posted on Consumer Affairs website.  http://www.consumeraffairs.com/pets/nutro.html

As of today, June 2 2009, there are more cats reported ill and another has died allegedly from eating the recalled food.

[Bonkers]

  There are also numerous reports of cats becoming ill from eating Nutro posted on catsters blog.
 
http://blogs.catster.com/the-cats-meow-a-cat-and-kitten-blog/cat-food-recall-nutro/2009/05/21/

[Bonkers]

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

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

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

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

"Elevated zinc levels"

"Test results revealed Angel had elevated levels of zinc in her tissues."

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

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


Read more: "Cat Owners Bristle at NUTRO Denials, Delays" - http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/2009/06/nutro_foia07.html#ixzz0HPaR8TOS&A

[5CatMom]

Has anyone contacted the FTC about this?

[Bonkers]

Daniel of Toronto, ON June 16, 2009

  "My cat has been vomitting for the past 3 days. He's in terrible pain (he has never ever been sick before). I told the vet all I fed him was nutro. Now I see this recall and realize the food I'm feeding him has an expiry of June 2010. IT'S THE NUTRO CAT FOOD MAKING HIM SICK. They wanted to admist my cat to intensive care at 2400 for the first 24 hours and 600 per day thereafter. I could not afford to do that. I paid 500 and now my cat is here at home vomitting and very sick. This is ridiculous. Nutro has to be held responsible."

http://www.consumeraffairs.com/pets/nutro.html#ixzz0HhYbW

[Bonkers]

  Debi of Escondido, CA July 2, 2009


   "We have been feeding our two 8 year old Maine Coons cats Nutro for many years. They both became sick around the same time the recall came out. They were vomiting yellow stuff, explosive bloody diarrhea and one had anemia. After taking the boys off the food they recovered."

Shannon of Boise, ID July 2, 2009

 
  "After feeding my cats Nutro Max Cat Indoor Weight Control she developed liver failure. She is a 6 yr old healthy cat that weighed almost 11 lbs. She lost 4 lbs in a month, vomitting, strange howling, irritation, and turned yellow on her skin. I quit the food immediately. The vet advised a new dry cat food, and then feed her wet food with droplets of milk thistle. After 2 months she came out of it. She still has another month or so to stay on the milk thistle mix. My vet is a professor of epidemology also."



http://www.consumeraffairs.com/pets/nutro.html#ixzz0KFuiVYNl&D