WARNING: Purina pet food has started making pets ill

[stoney321]

Originally posted by boosette at WARNING: Purina pet food has started making pets ill

Originally posted by issendai at WARNING: Purina pet food has started making pets ill

My coworker John told me that his cat was seriously ill--throwing up, lethargic, refusing food, dropping weight. The previously healthy 6-year-old, 15-pound cat had lost a third of her body weight over the last few months. The vet couldn't find anything wrong with her. Blood tests were clean, and she didn't have any known illnesses. Yet she was a few days from organ failure.

That was a week ago. She's fine now. The solution was... to stop feeding her Purina cat food.

When John told me that, and said that friends of his had the same problem with their cats and Purina cat food, I looked into it. Holy shit. Take a look at the consumer complaints about Purina cat and dog food. This exact same problem has been an issue with Purina pet foods since 2007, but since this summer, the rate of complaints has picked up drastically. People who previously had to problems with Purina are reporting issues. Comment after comment sounds the same:

I've been feeding my three cats Fancy Feast canned food Chopped Grill Feast for many years. They have always devoured their meal and licked the plates clean. Last week, I noticed they did not want to eat much and went from plate to plate, ate a little. Next day, none of them would eat it. I kept trying new cans. What they did eat made them vomit and one cat was lethargic for days. I refuse to buy any more of this food. It's very scary. I don't know what is wrong with the food, but I fear it has toxins in it. I switched to another brand and the cats are fine now. Did anyone else experience this?

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My dogs have been eating Purina Dog Chow (green bag) for about four years. They used to eat only Iams, but due to financial issues, we had to go with a cheaper brand. The last bag I purchased was about a week and a half ago. My 14 years old Labrador has vomited about 5-6 times and my German Shepherd has vomited about 4 times. Something is wrong with this food! The food has a kind of metallic smell to it. It just does not smell right. I'm taking it back to the pet store. I am changing my dogs' food, it's just not worth taking the chance to save a few dollars.

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We purchased a large bag of Purina One Salmon dry cat food to give to a needy pet owner. She emailed us a couple of days later ,to say that there were maggots, lots of them with what looked to be like strands or webs with more dead gnats or flies, pieces of web in the food and "shells" of gnats or flies in the bag. Cats would not eat much of the food and, fortunately, they did not get sick. The store had noticed this problem in other bags and was willing to swap out.

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I purchased a 34 lb bag of Purina One Smartblend dog food every three to four weeks for my two Labradors. The last bag I purchased seemed fine until I noticed a new infestation of little black bugs. Upon further inspection through the contents of the bag, I noticed clusters of white "eggs" adhered to quite a bit of the food. Some of these clusters contained larvae in the process of hatching. I immediately threw out the remaining contents of the bag but did save samples for my vet.

We went out of town last weekend and had friends dog sit for us. We originally attributed their lethargy and random vomiting to separation anxiety. Although they are doing better, I am still concerned and will be watching them closely. As stated, I saved samples of the infested dog food for our vet in the event that anything results from this issue.

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I recently switched to the Friskies Poultry Variety pack (32 cans) that says it must be used by August 2013 (12281789 09:31 lo61237) sku (050000454242). I have 5 cats and feeding them this food, I noticed some of them throwing up. There's nothing in it but liquids, no hair ball, no food, nothing. My cats range from 8 weeks to 13 years old.

[ETA that this is from Boos I switched my own cats to Purina a couple of months ago, and their coats look so much better than they did on the old brand of cat food... but Buffy has started vomiting stomach liquids. Purina and Fancy Feast are off the menu. Permanently.

I have no idea why this isn't news. But if you're feeding your pets any Purina brand, please don't wait for media confirmation that something is going on. Stop feeding your pets Purina immediately.

[Note from Me, Stoney] OH MY GOD. Sally Derg has had...intestinal issues for the past few days. I switched her to Purina One. GUESS WHAT I AM GETTING RID OF RIGHT NOW, oh I am so sorry Sally Derg!!! :(

Comments

[turnonmyheels.livejournal.com]

I wonder if this could be what set off Magz's problems? Hmmm. We're on prescription food now specially for UTI issues.

[stoney321.livejournal.com]

I used to feed everyone Iams, but they have questionable testing practices. SO BACK TO THE DRAWING BOARD. Hope Kitty has been acting lethargic lately, and I realized the wet food I give her is Purina. CRAP. Everyone's getting brown rice and chicken today and tomorrow until I can find a new food. =/

I AM SORRY FUR BABIES, I DIDN'T KNOW.

[turnonmyheels.livejournal.com]

Poor babies. All the poor babies everywhere! Thankfully, Magz likes her prescription food. It turns out she doesn't dislike dry food, she disliked Iams.

::head desk::

Hope all your babies feel better after chicken and rice!!

[no-detective.livejournal.com]

AUGH WHAT THE ACTUAL HELL.

Thanks for boosting the signal. Brb, throwing away everything Purina-made.

[ldybastet.livejournal.com]

Thank you for the warning! Have sent this on to a friend whose cat vomited liquids just the other day... and it turns out she'd just switched cat over to Purina One...

[kuzu-no-ha.livejournal.com]

Wellness is a good brand. I have switched everyone over to Wellness or Wellness core. There was also a notice about chicken jerky dog treats recently!
I love wellness because thy use meat that is graded for human consumption, plus lacking in the grains that was making everyone sad and itchy.

[kita0610.livejournal.com]

The ETA isn't from me, it's from Boos.

This kind of thing makes ME sick.

[kita0610.livejournal.com]

Science Diet?

[kwritten.livejournal.com]

I HIGHLY suggest "Taste of the Wild" - I've never heard anything but good reviews and my animals love it.

[stoney321.livejournal.com]

Science diet - the cats loved it, Sally didn't. I'm going to look at Wellness (or just stick to cooking meats and rice for her, with some veggies tossed in. It's a hassle, but I feel TERRIBLE.)

[stoney321.livejournal.com]

I'm going to check that out TODAY, thank you!!

[stoney321.livejournal.com]

OMG, ME, TOO.

D:

(And thanks for your boost, too!!)

[stoney321.livejournal.com]

THAT IS WHAT MY CATS HAVE BEEN ON. Smudge threw up immediately following breakfast today, I assumed it was from gnawing on one of the plants. (I have cat grass for them.)

WELL, MAYBE NOT. :(

[stoney321.livejournal.com]

Oh, okay, I thought it was YOUR Buffy and was HEARTSICK. Fixing!

[stoney321.livejournal.com]

If I can find it, DONE. Thank you for the rec!

[kita0610.livejournal.com]

No, thankfully!! <33

[kwritten.livejournal.com]

My roomie was having problems with her dog never eating - she was always having to mix in wet food just to get him to eat. Last night he MUNCHED DOWN on the "Taste of the Wild" and so she looked it up - apparently it's super cheap on Amazon + free shipping.

[stoney321.livejournal.com]

THANK YOU!! I'm sure anyone reading through comments will glad to hear this, too.

[chantal87.livejournal.com]

Gads! Ted & Dottie have only eaten Purina One. No reported sickness yet. I'm changing their food immediately. Thanks for the heads up.

[tabaqui]

Gaaaaah. Have only fed the dog 'A Taste of the Wild' all meat dog food, and recently switched the cats to the cat food of the same brand. Looks like not a moment too soon, either!

[kwritten.livejournal.com]

Dogs are people, too. /nods

[fishwithfeet.livejournal.com]

Odd, that's... really odd. I've been using Purina One for a while now. We use the urinary tract health one for our two cats and haven't had problems yet. I'll keep an eye out :/

[zyrya]

In 2007 lots of pet food was recalled because it was contaminated with melamine. It was bunches of brands, including Purina, as the contamination originated in vegetable protein extracts.

Globalisation gone bad.

[shannon-f-r.livejournal.com]

My cats really like Nature's Variety Instinct Rabbit Food. Cats are true carnivores and are really not supposed to eat the dry stuff, but they also refuse to eat the wet, because they're dumb. The Instinct stuff is, according to my vet, the closest thing you can get to pure protein no grain goodness in a commercial dry cat food. They still occasionally barf because they eat things they shouldn't and they're assholes, but it's never the cat food that comes up.

[phaeba.livejournal.com]

Thank you for the heads-up - I've got a few friends who use that :(

We buy Natural Balance for our dogs and cats. It's not cheap but they love it and their coats are amazingly soft.