Nutro - The Story Continues

[raggiesrule]

OK I'm confused is this another of those PFC recalls where they put a tiny, hard to find recall notice on their site and fail to let retails know to pull products that are making pets seriously ill/killing them? So we continue to have people not knowing about the recall buying the product and killing/maiming their pets by feeding it?

How the hell can our governments continue to let this happen?

Jo

[Bonkers]

Robin of Minneapolis, MN July 10, 2009


"My cat got very sick from eating the reacalled Nutro cat food. I have been working with their Insurance Company, but they said that they would not cover all of my vet bills unless I had a written document from my vet stating that the illness was due specifically to the food. Even though they have all of the test results including the test that shows his Zinc levels at 1.9 (which according to my vet is way above normal range of 0.5 to 0.9). I have also asked them to cover the cost of another check-up in 3 months to see if there has been any residual damage. They do not agree to this."



http://www.consumeraffairs.com/pets/nutro.html#ixzz0KtjAtpDb&D



  I suppose now they can no longer claim that they have had no reports of ill effects from pets eating their cwappy food......

[Bonkers]

   As we know, Nutro really did a crappy job of getting the word out concerning the recalled cat food. As of yesterday there is a new complaint posted at Consumer Affairs concerning a cat that was fed the toxic food.

Joanne of Mountain Top, PA July 17, 2009


"I have a 6.5 year old female cat who has been fed Nutro Natural Choice Cat Food since we adopted her as a kitten. @ weeks ago she began acting funny by not eating and isolating herself. This quickly led to vomiting, diarrhea, lethargy and loss of appetite completly. We have had her to the vet, and she has just returned home after being hospitalized.


We have missed days of work and spent hundreds of dollars trying to make her well. She has all the symptoms of zinc poisoning, but we were unaware of the recall of Nutro cat food. I was feeding my cat poison, and did not know. She is still very sick, and we hope she will survive. We could not afford to keep her at the hospital any longer, so we are trying to handle this at home. We were devastated when I went to the internet tonight and found out about the recall! I have read many posts of similar stories, but on the Nutro website they claim they are not aware of any animal getting sick. That just can not be true".



Read more: http://consumeraffairs.com/pets/nutro.html#ixzz0LfOSuAPS

[Bonkers]

   As I had stated on another thread, Nutro did a crappy job at getting the word out about the recalled cat food as there are still people who have not heard about the recall and are still feeding their cats the tainted food.  

  The latest complaint on Consumer Affairs is from a lady who fed the recalled food  to her cats, one of which ultimately passed away from a chronic liver condition. She goes on to say and I quote;

  "The New York State wildlife pathologist Dr. Ward Stone has tested my recalled food for me. Nutro says that the highest level of zinc in a recalled bag is 550mg. My food was tested in two samples and came out at over 1800mg and 1900mg! There is no doubt in my mind what happened to my cat that passed away. I am over 1100 in vet bills right now and we have lost our beloved blue-point siamese one year old cat".


     http://consumeraffairs.com/pets/nutro.html


  A local TV station in New York also did a report on her story.

     
    http://www.cbs6albany.com/news/cat-1265172-levels-zinc.html

[The Cats Mother]

  As I had stated on another thread, Nutro did a crappy job at getting the word out about the recalled cat food as there are still people who have not heard about the recall and are still feeding their cats the tainted food.  

  The latest complaint on Consumer Affairs is from a lady who fed the recalled food  to her cats, one of which ultimately passed away from a chronic liver condition. She goes on to say and I quote;

  "The New York State wildlife pathologist Dr. Ward Stone has tested my recalled food for me. Nutro says that the highest level of zinc in a recalled bag is 550mg. My food was tested in two samples and came out at over 1800mg and 1900mg! There is no doubt in my mind what happened to my cat that passed away. I am over 1100 in vet bills right now and we have lost our beloved blue-point siamese one year old cat".


     http://consumeraffairs.com/pets/nutro.html


  A local TV station in New York also did a report on her story.

     
    http://www.cbs6albany.com/news/cat-1265172-levels-zinc.html

Oh dear I do so feel for this woman. Blue point Siamese are particularly dear to my heart as well. Isn't this just what keeps happening though? No regulation of the industry, no mandated recalls, no forced publicity of recalls, people who don't know about it just keep buying and feeding their pets the same stuff... it's just what happened in Australia and I was one of those people and others even after me were feeding too, unawares.

This is an industry out of control and threatening to implode on itself unless regulation is brought in, in both our countries, if not worldwide. At least our government are meeting and talking about it. The lobbying must continue, it should be worldwide to protect all animals and give them the same status as humans since for so many pet owners their pets are substitute family/children and if not are still that important.

Sorry to digress off topic a little but it's part of the problem I think.

[Bonkers]

  So true CM.  Untill these companies actually care about what goes into their foods, this is a situation that will continue to plague the industry and adversely affect our pets.

  I must say that there is some chatter from among those who specialize in pet nutrition that that homecooking or raw is the answer. But unfortunately in our busy world there are many who just cannot commit to this full time. Others recommend purchasing pet food brands that are not owned by large conglomerates, in hopes that family owned companies will be less likely to compromise quality for reaping larger profits.

  I am terribly saddened that really not much has changed here in the US since the recalls of 2007 and I do not know what more it is going to take for change to occur so that we may be ensured that the food we feed our dear pets is safe.

 

[The Cats Mother]

 So true CM.  Untill these companies actually care about what goes into their foods, this is a situation that will continue to plague the industry and adversely affect our pets.

  I must say that there is some chatter from among those who specialize in pet nutrition that that homecooking or raw is the answer. But unfortunately in our busy world there are many who just cannot commit to this full time. Others recommend purchasing pet food brands that are not owned by large conglomerates, in hopes that family owned companies will be less likely to compromise quality for reaping larger profits.


  I am terribly saddened that really not much has changed here in the US since the recalls of 2007 and I do not know what more it is going to take for change to occur so that we may be ensured that the food we feed our dear pets is safe.

 

Thanks for your reply Bonkers. Yes I do my own homecooking and feed some raw also. I have even started baking some cat treats. Unfortunately, and I don't want to sound like a broken record here, I did buy a brand that was a family owned company brand and not owned by a large conglomerate and look where that got us. I now have a partially paralysed, incontinent cat.
It is time consuming preparing ones own food but I don't have a human family to look after as well and I cook from scratch mostly for myself. For me, being a committed vegetarian, handling the food is a bit of an issue (tongs, gloves etc! lol) and if they were human carnivores I would not be choosing them as housemates but cats are different 

[5CatMom]

Complaints from dog and cat owners continue.

Tammy of Hoffman Estates, IL lost one of her labs, but the remaining one survived. Tammy called Nutro and learned of a formula change.

Tammy writes, "After speaking with Nutro yesterday, it seems that approximately 10 months ago, they changed formula from all beef to all chicken and for some strange reason (?) they are now in the process of switching all the US plants back to all beef. The Canadian plants will remain all chicken. This just seems kind of odd that all of a sudden, the formula is changing again."

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

While it's not uncommon for a pet food company to alter the formula a bit, a change from one protein source (beef) to another (chicken) seems extreme, IMO.


Changing subjects, from Nutro's formula change to Nutro's recall (which may, or may not, be related), the FDA's 261 page Enforcement Report for August 12, 2009 (finally) includes the Nutro recall notice:


RECALLS AND FIELD CORRECTIONS: VETERINARY - CLASS II
___________________________________
PRODUCT
1) Custom Mix Natural Max Cat Trace Mineral Premix; Net Weight 22.7 kg, 50 lb. bags; for further manufacturing use only; Nutro Code: 237047, Recall # V-253-2009;
2) Custom Mix Max Cat IND AD Chicken Base Mix; Net Weight 22.7 kg, 50 lb. bags; for further manufacturing use only; Nutro Code: 236621, Recall # V-254-2009
CODE
1) Lot #’s 1534521 through 1606708;
2) Lot #’s 1540966 through 1589684
RECALLING FIRM/MANUFACTURER
Trouw Nutrition USA, LLC, Highland, IL, by telephone on May 19, 2009. Firm initiated recall is ongoing.
REASON
The premix has high zinc levels and lower potassium levels than expected. The base mix has lower potassium levels than expected.
VOLUME OF PRODUCT IN COMMERCE
98,499.24 kg
DISTRIBUTION
CA, TN

http://www.fda.gov/downloads/Safety/.../UCM177134.pdf



You can suscribe to FDA recall notices. Go to http://www.fda.gov/Safety/Recalls/default.htm, click on the little red envelope and follow the instructions.

You'll be amazed at what shows up in your email!

[Bonkers]

Nutro introduces stricter checks, reintroduces recalled products

"Nutro has reintroduced its dry cat food after the voluntary recall in May, according to a news report."

"The company said its food-safety program now had stricter quality checks for suppliers and extensive testing of inbound raw materials and finished products. It has also reportedly enhanced the ingredient quality."


http://petfoodindustry.com/ViewNews.aspx?id=25730#Scene_1