Do any forum readers PERSONALLY have problems with Nutro Food??

[Joe Z]

With all the negative comments about Nutro food on consumeraffairs.com, I'm wondering if any readers on this forum have had problems with the food.

[Arlo]

Hello, Joe Z.

I thought long and hard about answering this post.  If I sound ugly, it is not directed at you.

I absolutely, totally despise this company. If they were the only pet food company, and I could no longer do home-made, I'd put out the mousetraps rather than buy their product. They brought customer dis-service to a new low.

Many of us here at Itchmo's watched pets suffer horrible, painful, lingering deaths, and then were treated like crap by this company.  "Lie and Deny" seems to be their motto.  I kept records (e-mails, letters, tapes of phone calls, etc) so I have back-up for my opinion.  I informed them on the phone that I was taping and either they didn't care or just didn't believe me. One moron had the nerve to tell me that no one ran up vet bills like that, they just euthanized their pet and got a new one!!!

We keep up on the consumeraffairs.com reports, and we see that Nutro hasn't changed at all.  It's still "lie and deny." I think you will find few if any people here went back to Nutro after the recall.  That company is the poster boy for everything wrong with the pet food industry.

So, to answer your question, no, I haven't had any trouble because I wouldn't spend a damned dime on that crap they call product.

[lesliek]

Don't know if this counts as personal, my neighbor 2 houses over did. Her older lab has been on it for years with a lot of scratching of ears & licking paws & other minor health problems.They got a younger dog & tried her on it & she had severe stomach problems & wouldn't eat it. Now they have the younger 1 on Wellness & the older 1 on a mix of that with the Nutro,because everything else caused diarhea no matter how slow they transitioned the change. Chase [the older 1] had the runs for 7 weeks.

[kittylyda]

I don't know if this is the kind of thing you want to hear, but Nutro Natural Choice is what poisoned my cats during the recalls and we are still dealing with health issues related to that.

Also, I have clients (I'm a pet sitter) that are currently feeding their cats Nutro dry food and they consistantly have runny stools and vomiting.

[catmom5]

Nutro is what put CJ into ARF so there is no way that I would even consider using this food or any food connected with this company. CJ continues with serious health issues and will have a shortened lifespan as a result.
catmom5

[Carol]

I may be wrong  but I do not think any forum members here use Nutro....

and since someone here actually tried to question whether their food may have made her cat sick in December 2006--I don't think I would ever try any Nutro product....

quote from Sandi K on "Why We Keep Getting Beat by the Industries"

Carol, well I had also contacted the PFC at the same time in Dec 2006 and sent off samples to them in Jan 2007 and yep, did get the food is fine "cwap" from them.  We had also requested copies of the lab reports to prove they tested it, never got those either......One of the universities said they would test it but only as part of a class for their students which wouldnt begin until months later, too late by then.  Another said they would prefer a diagnosis in our cat before they would test so they could know where to begin, well that wasnt possible because at that time, no one knew what was wrong with her.  Another univ said they would test it but only for bacteria, they didnt have the equipment for toxin testing....I had thought about letting them know later that she died and that her brand food was officially recalled on April 12th 2007, but then thought what was the point.  Perhaps some of them looked back when they heard about the recalls and remembered our request, I dont know.   

By the way, the food she was eating was Nutro Max Cat California Chicken Supreme.  I also called them first in Dec just to ask if they had had any formula changes.  They said no so I went on my not-so-merry way trying to figure out why she was acting funny about her food and getting sick.... 

[catbird]

Joe Z--what is your reason for collecting this information?  I am a tad suspicious when someone comes from out of the blue asking a question like this.

[sharky]

No problems here till they added in soybean oil which Gigi is allergic.... the beet pulp in the cat turned out to be a allergen to kitty ... all are no grain in my house  now ...

[Joe Z]

Thanks to all who have responded so far!!


To Catbird:  First - I had used Nutro for years for three of our dogs and it seemed to be a good product.  I had encouraged quite a few people to switch to Nutro over the years from the supermarket brands they had been using.  I had switched off Nutro about a year before the recall -not because of problems with the food but because I still wanted a better food (I now feed my pups Karma, Natural Planet Organics and Brandon Farms Organics Canned).

Second: I publish a small doggie newsletter and have been alerting our readers to the possible dangers of Nutro based on the consumeraffairs letters.

Third:  I've be scouring the net and other forums for other reports on Nutro but have not found anything negative other than folks referring to the consumeraffairs website.  So I was wondering - if the food REALLY is as bad as the reports, why isn't it showing up on other websites?   I should add that I have been disgusted with the response from Nutro.

Four:  I asked on this forum because I know that the participants are intelligent and care deeply about their animals (I've been reading the forum for quite a long time but have not participated).

Finally:  I'm very disappointed with Nutro right now (and actually feel betrayed by them ) and want to get to the truth of what is happening.  I've already advised my friends and readers to switch from Nutro  -- but I don't want to damn a company without more info.

Hope this allays your suspicions -- you'll find I'll always respond honestly and openly to any other concerns you may have!

[catbird]

Thanks for the background on what you plan to do with the info, Joe Z.

I don't think you'll find many people here still using Nutro, as has been said above.

Nutro is the food I blame for sickening one of my cats, causing digestive problems that appear to be forever, and permanently damaging another, when fed from Dec 2005 to March 2007 recalls.  I would not touch it if it were the last pet food on the planet--I'd snare sparrows and trap mice first.  Hope that answers your question.

[lesliek]

I think part of the reason for the problems only being posted in 1-2 places is that there aren't many places to post it. Here,thepetfoodlist forums & consumer affairs.

[Carol]

Joe Z - you may have seen the post a while back from a newbie named trout about a Nutro manufacturing plant in California being closed due to salmonella----he or she even came back on and posted they had "insider info" but they never came back---here's that post:

might be nothing  ::)but then again might be something !  I had sent a message to trout to get in touch with consumer affairs as they might get more info than we could--   Maybe you could get some info on this too!

Carol
ps--welcome aboard


http://itchmoforums.com/your-problems-with-pet-food/nutro-foods-t4414.0.html

[Arlo]

Joe, I found that posting anything negative about Nutro on certain websites gets you death threats on a bad day and ridicule on a good day.  I would guess most of us who have complaints have figured out where a post will get a fair hearing.

[catbird]

To add to what Arlo has said, there are some so-called forums that actually remove negative posts about foods.  Many of us here have witnessed it on other sites.

[JessiesGirl]

I mean absolutely no disrespect to anyone who has had issues with a Nutro food. It's clear that many have and the endings of those trials sometimes resulted in the loss of a family member.

But I have not had any issue. I put my 6 mo old rescue dog on Nutro Naturals Lamb & Rice Puppy dry until she reached a year, and then on Nutro Natural Lamb & Rice Adult dry for the next 4.5 years. She's been healthy , happy and had a glowing coat.  But I am very concerned about the sale of the company and am planning to change her food when we get closer to the end of our current Nutro supply. We're going to try a switch to Canidae ALS.