IMPORTANT - BENEFUL dog food

[Piccolo's mom]

Hi all. Please read if you feed your baby Beneful dog food. This is the posting from another group I belong to :

I would never feed my dogs this type of Purina food...however, if you know of someone who does, please inform them of this information. As always, please also check to see if this is indeed an actual issue. Note that this email originated in the US.


Beneful Dog Food is Suspected of Causing Sickness and Deaths
DoggyBling.com

HEALTH ALERT! .....

Discontinue use of Beneful until this is resolved!

Multiple Reports We have received multiple reports of dogs becoming sick or dying after eating Beneful dog food. The first reports were placed in our new forum and was overlooked by DoggyBling.com staff until we received direct emails last week and then another today.
After speaking on the phone with the lady who emailed us today, we feel that there is sufficient cause for alarm. Dog lovers make a lot of effort to take good care of their dogs and will want to know if they are feeding them something that could be harmful. Most of the
alerts by email, forum and phone cited Beneful dog food that was purchased at Wal Mart around Christmas of 2006.

We spoke with Terri Culp at Beneful this morning and were assured that they are aware of the situation and are researching the problem. We assured them that this won't go away and we would be alerting our email base of the problem and posting a news item on our site. We also told her that DoggyBling.com visitors and dog lovers everywhere would be evaluating the way the Purina Corporation (Parent to Beneful) handles the potential crisis.

Symptoms
The symptoms reported have been very similar. The reported symptoms include some or all of the following: General weakness or sluggishness, glazed eyes, not interested in food or water, white gums, lack of control of bodily functions. Some of the callers reported dogs that have died and others say they had gotten sick but had recovered. I am inserting the first forum post about a dog that became sick, but didn't die.

A week be fore Christmas we bought a bag of Beneful dog food at Wal-Mart, DeFuniak Springs, FL. On 12/23 I noticed a tan mold like growth on the dog food. Our 14 year old Dalmatian mix had been getting weaker by the day and by 12/24 she was near death. Glazed eyes, couldn't stand, eat, drink or control her functions. Her gums were white. We had to carry her to the yard and hold her up so she could go. The only thing she would eat was ham and turkey scraps. I spoke with a microbiologist and she said the mold growing in the dog food was toxic. It took a week for Sparky to regain her strength. I did
notify the manufacturer of Beneful, they were very sorry and are sending coupons. Said it was a rare happening.

Beneful's Website

Notify us if your dog has had symptoms after using Beneful

We are going to stay on top of this situation and would like to know if your dog has had any of the symptoms listed above after eating Beneful. If so, please send an email to ric@doggybling.com or give us a call at 904-430-0260. Either way, please pass this email
and information to dog lovers who may be feeding this food to their dog.

DoggyBling.com http://www.doggybling.com

UPDATES:
Updates and Beneful's response and precautionary action will be listed in our news section. We know Purina will take this seriously and will not want to tarnish their company's positive reputation.

News Item about Beneful
http://www.doggybling.com/newsartic le.php?id= 1070

[genie]

Thank you so much...my golden retriever eats beneful.

[Rudys Mom]

Oh My Gosh, "Thank You " so much for posting that. My husband insisted on buying Rudy a bag of Beneful Puppy Dog food. He's been eating it now for about a week. Rudy was and still is on a mixture or Iams Puppy, and this Beneful. Rudy was getting picky and not eating his Iams/Eukenuba mixture so my husband saw Beneful at the grocery store, and bought it for him. I told him about the other foods that you guys on here feed your Yorkies and he thought this would be ok, as he put it, "It looks like it has vegetables in it ". Ugh........... I printed this out and am going to show it to him tonight.
"Thanks" again so much for the information.

Rudys Mom (Dawn)

[Siara28]

Wow, that is scary!!!
I ran into another article, and it seems the main link here is WALMART!!!

http://www.itemonline.com/local/loca...yword=topstory

Maybe the warehouses kept them in too warm of conditions before transporting them to stores??

[JESSY_RN2B]

How awful! I DO know of someone who feeds Beneful..........will let her know.

Thanks!!

[MissiesMommy]

Beneful is one of the worst brands of dog food out there as far as nutritional adequecy. No dog should be on it, regardless of reported deaths and such, IMO.

[miamymia]

Thank you very much for your information, I have to let my friend know just in case she buys them

[sweetr72]

My boykin eats Purina One....but its just the Beneful they are having trouble with right?

Dawn

[Pink Poodle]

I bought my poodle beneful, slowly added it to his diet he became sick, very sick as evidenced by 1 or 2 emesis episodes followed by vomiting all night long and all the next day. I stopped giving it to him and he stopped vomiting. My husband, totally unaware of the problem gave it to him about 3 or 4 days later and we had more emesis, of a significant amount. We threw it out!