Wellness Old Mother Hubbard Pet Food law suit announced (9/3/09)

[Zanders' mom]

I am bummed to see this pet law suit. I had done so much reading before I settled on wellness . My 3 also like the honest kitchen, I mix turkey meat and they gobble it all up. The one thing that turns me off about it is that Lexie my smallest baby, tends to have too many bms, she has gone from 2 a day to 3-4 .

I may try the natures variety, I had Zander and Jazzie on it in 2007, I took them off of it when they both started with reverse sneezing, probably an ingredient in the food. Perhaps this time may be better.

The higher volume of boogers in their eyes could also be due to a reaction to an ingredient in the food ...

Thanks for the informative thread.

[YorkichonBella]

I really appreciate you sharing this news about Wellness. I am also very disheartened about the news because I alternate between Wellness Small Breed & NB Small Bites. I hate to keep changing her food when she's been doing so well. Thank goodness, she likes the NB.

A few days ago I was in Petco to buy more food and a few varieties of Wellness canned was on clearance for $1.00. I was really concerned about why & what was going on. I mean if anything was wrong with it, they should not be allowed to sell?

[Sandysbabies]

I took mine off Welliness sometime ago because of rumors of it not being up to par. But even if you read the ingrediants on the food or talk to the company (which I have done) you can't believe it. I don't know what to do. Ours have always had the very best foods (we thought) and treats, but, when you find out they are no better than Kibbles & Bits, that makes me really upset. Mine are on Inovia and Evo. Both dry and wet. Now, I don't even know if thats good for them, with the high protein count. I have lost one to diabetes and one to cancer. They drink filtered water. They get better care than I take care of my self. lol!!! What oh what is the answer??????? It makes me sick to think I might be feeding them something soooooo gross.

[inabowbina]

i used to feed wellness but my dogs would poop like 4-5 times a day. and it was really soft. it was my first try at getting better food for my dogs i really don't think wellness has that great of ingredients. All we can do is try to feed them the best just like we try to feed ourselves the best. its never perfect.

[ambocken]

I have been unable to find very many foods that do not contain a "meal" of some kind. Even natures variety and innova contain "meal" in their ingredients somewhere.

One that we have tried is Halo. It seems to have quality ingredients and ours enjoy it.

[BanditSocks2]

Wow! That's scary! I've been feeding wellness with no adverse reactions, and from what I've read meat meals were fine, it was just by-products that weren't. I emailed that lady from the first link, and I'll post what she says about the quality of meat in the Wellness when she replies.

[orlnurse]

I have continued to feed Max Wellness until further documentation is presented. I plan on buying Wellness Core next time though. Max had eye boogers with Wellness but I started giving him water from a Brita water pitcher instead of from the faucet. The eye boogers have decreased tremendously!

[valentine92]

I am still feeding my 2 wellness dog food. How many people here switched foods because of this? Who is still keeping their dogs on wellness?

[Sharly4]

I never fed mine wellness. My friend fed hers that and also fed merricks as well. Her dogs always started out great on those foods then after about 6 months or so started to get sick. They got sick on Merricks and got sick on Wellness. So she switched to Royal Canin for Yorkies. I myself used to feed Eukanuba for about 15 years then I a employee at my local Petsmart said that they condone animal testing and such. I put my foot down and then started feeding Nutro Max. For about a year I fed Nutro Max and then I started looking for something more wholesome. I found Authority Harvest Baked. I liked it but the kibble was so big. They ate that for about 3 mos. Till I found Chicken Soup for the Dog Lovers soul. I found that my Pug who was never really gasey was always gasey now! I read the ingred. It had chicken as the first ingred. That meant that it was weighed and measured wet. Then after the cooking process actually turned out to be less b/c it dehydrates and weighs less and then the other ingred. end up being more. So on one of my visits to the local dogshow I found Canidae. It was way more healthier. Chicken Meal is the first ingred. that meant that it was weighed dehydrated already. So when it's cooked it still weighs the same. So listed as the first ingred. it still is the most in there. So therefore healthier. They have been on it for a year and no problems!!

[orlnurse]

Originally Posted by orlnurse

I have continued to feed Max Wellness until further documentation is presented. I plan on buying Wellness Core next time though. Max had eye boogers with Wellness but I started giving him water from a Brita water pitcher instead of from the faucet. The eye boogers have decreased tremendously!

I've tried the Wellness Core (it got 6 out of 6 stars on the petfoodanalysis.com website). Max's stools are really soft now and the kibble seems really crunchy. He seems to have a hard time chewing it although he seems to really like it. I'm going to switch to Orijen next and see how he does on that.

[danjr68]

My two where on the Wellness Super 5 Mix but didn't like it.We have them on Evo now.

[Zanders' mom]

I switched from the Wellness to Innova, all 3 are doing good so far. PTL

[_Chrissy_]

Max can not eat Wellness food.
He gets softer poops and eye boogers really bad.
I changed him over to Nature's Variety Prairie Lamb & Oatmeal and the problems are gone! ice firm stools and no goobers (just a bit of staining- 100% better).

[luvsathena]

Does anyone know what EXACTLY is the allegation against wellness?

[_Chrissy_]

Originally Posted by luvsathena

Does anyone know what EXACTLY is the allegation against wellness?

From the complaint: “Defendants have been knowingly and systematically defrauding hundreds of thousands of California consumers by marketing their dry pet food products by falsely representing that the products: (1) contain no animal by-products; (2) are “human grade”; (3) “are the same quality you would feed to your own family.” These claims are manifestly false and misleading.”

“In reality, Defendants’ product contain “chicken meal” and other animal meal – which consists of law quality poultry meat, poultry skin, bones, -- and may include feathers, internal organs, and other viscera. Chicken meal is never suitable for human consumption. Thus, the purchasers of these products have paid a significant premium believing that they are feeding their pets the same quality food that they would feed their family, when in reality they are receiving rendering plant by-products that could never be fed to humans.”"