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No recall, but worries about Blue Buffalo?

VIN News

Quote:

Veterinarians are trying to discern whether roughly a dozen dogs testing positive for hypercalcemia and consuming the same high-end diet is merely coincidence or a problem with the pet food in question.

The reports have cropped up on the Veterinary Information Network (VIN), an online community for the profession and parent of the VIN News Service. In message board discussions, veterinarians have revealed cases of hypercalcemia secondary to vitamin D toxicosis occurring in dogs that eat a single brand of dry pet food: Blue Buffalo Wilderness Diet, chicken flavor. In each of the cases, veterinarians report that dogs’ conditions have improved after switching brands.

So far, nothing concrete has identified a causal relationship between the food and illnesses in dogs. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), while reportedly alerted to adverse events tied to the food, has not prompted a recall, though the VIN News Service has been unable to reach officials with the regulatory agency directly.

Officials with Wilton, Conn.-based Blue Buffalo report that “tens of thousands of dollars” and hundreds of hours have been spent analyzing various batches of dog food, including samples from bags directly linked to specific cases of dogs testing positive for hypercalcemia and vitamin D toxicity.

Richard MacLean, vice president of business affairs, says one thing is certain: Test results thus far have shown nothing unusual about the product’s formulation; amounts of calcium and vitamin D, in particular, are within the company’s specifications and well below levels that might be considered toxic. The company’s focus has been on Blue Buffalo Wilderness Chicken Recipe, manufactured in April 2010 with a best-used-by date of July 2011. Vitamin D toxicity, or hypervitaminosis D, induces bone loss and abnormally high serum calcium levels, which could result in kidney stones and the calcification of organs like the heart and kidneys if left untreated.

“We really do take very seriously our commitment to providing health nutrition to pets,” MacLean says. “From the moment this issue came up, we are looking to find out if this is something we can do something about.”

Dr. Joy Mueller, a veterinarian in Santa Rosa, Calif., says the condition isn’t one that an owner will likely miss.

Recently, her two-year-old Australian shepherd became lethargic, releasing copious amounts of extremely dilute urine throughout her house and drinking large amounts of water. Heeding the red flags, she tested the dog’s blood and noted elevated calcium levels and a low platelet count. Hypercalcemia is often associated with kidney cancer and lymphoma.

Yet after ruling out possible problems with kidney function, Mueller turned to the Blue Buffalo Wilderness chicken and turkey flavored dry food that the dog had been eating for two weeks and changed brands.

The result was dramatic; the dog's condition improved within 24 hours.

Mueller came to the association between the food and her dog’s condition independently of the VIN discussions on the topic, though she did not test her dog for elevated levels of vitamin D and cannot be certain that toxic levels of it prompted the animal's illness. Still, she e-mailed the VIN News Service last Friday to spread the word about her findings to other veterinarians.

Reflecting on the turn of events, she says: “Vitamin D toxicosis was not my first thought. Various types of cancer including kidney cancer were the big rule outs. I wasn’t thinking food until I switched him.”

Uh oh. :(

Good post.

ok i feed BB not Wilderness but Lifestages Chicken and Oatmeal small breed puppy... Should I get her off this? would you?

I contacted Blue Buffalo via email and I will see if I get a reponse. I would like to know what the company is telling its consumers.... I am very sad... I really like Blue Buffalo and she has done wonderful on it. I don't want to jump the gun she is not even on that particular kind but If ALL of their products are not safe who is to say it couldn't happen again somewhere down the line to something else...

Thanks for posting and I will be watching this thread. My girls do so well on Blue Buffalo, so sad to read this. I guess I will take a wait and see attitude with this information.

oh no! we just switched to blue a couple weeks ago, but it is life protection chicken and brown rice. thanks so much for posting this, i will be checking back for more info!

btw... does anyone know if this could trigger a case of pancreatitis?

Good post!!!! Prince does well on Blue Buff, but thankfully, he has never had Blue Buffalo Wilderness Diet, chicken flavor. He has been eating the low-cal one for about 6 months, or more.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Princes mom (Post 3266070)

Good post!!!! Prince does well on Blue Buff, but thankfully, he has never had Blue Buffalo Wilderness Diet, chicken flavor. He has been eating the low-cal one for about 6 months, or more.

is he eating the Longevity Line?

Quote:

Originally Posted by LuvTaycieGirl (Post 3266134)

is he eating the Longevity Line?

No, this is the one Prince uses...

Blue Buffalo - Healthy Weight All Natural Dog Food

Prince's vet said that he is not over-weight, but my husband and I decided to try to keep him as leen as possible (we're still working on it.) We only give this at night when Prince wants a mid-night snack, or for breakfast.

That looks good! I am the same way, of course Taycie is a puppy and she needs to grow but I was so curious about the Longevity line because it is designed for maintaining weight they even have a puppy formula... I was thinking of trying it....

BLUE Longevity – Healthy All Natural Dog Food

Quote:

Originally Posted by LuvTaycieGirl (Post 3266161)

Sounds great! The good thing about Blue Buff is that you can always return it to your place of purchase if you are not satisfied with it.
I hope your baby likes it.:droolin:

Cody is on the Blue Buffalo Life Protection Chicken and Brown Rice for puppies. Is it only the Wilderness that is in question or all Blue Buffalo?

Quote:

Originally Posted by CruiserCody (Post 3266347)

Cody is on the Blue Buffalo Life Protection Chicken and Brown Rice for puppies. Is it only the Wilderness that is in question or all Blue Buffalo?

I think only the Blue Buffalo Wilderness Diet, chicken flavor.

Quote:

Originally Posted by CruiserCody (Post 3266347)

Cody is on the Blue Buffalo Life Protection Chicken and Brown Rice for puppies. Is it only the Wilderness that is in question or all Blue Buffalo?

I believe so. And honestly, I still think Blue Buffalo is a good food. It sounds like they are doing everything in their power to find out what exactly is wrong, etc. So I wouldn't fret too much. But I thought it was interesting and needed to be put out there.. in case any ones Yorkies on here starting showing some of those symptoms and were eating BB. I feed their canned food a lot of times.

Excellent post:thumbup:
Thanks for posting the thread, and the link. The article was definitely interesting. I know that Vitamin D toxicity is one of the primary triggers for hypercalcemia.
The two products which mainly contribute to this are fish oils, added to foods, and rat poison which contains cholecalciferol. This form of vitamin D3, causes an increase in the calcium level such that mineralization occurs in the kidneys, blood vessels, stomach and sometimes the lungs, thereby killing the animal. I am curious as to how many cases have been reported, and whether the issues arouse from a particular batch of food?

If you come across anymore inforamtion Brit, please post.