Purina's Beneful dog food killing dogs, no recall

[Britster]

http://www.examiner.com/article/purina-s-beneful-dog-food-killing-dogs-nationwide-no-recall-issued-by-fda?fb_action_ids=515110285186564&fb_action_types= og.likes&fb_source=other_multiline&action_object_m ap={%22515110285186564%22%3A394739263949622}&actio n_type_map={%22515110285186564%22%3A%22og.likes%22 }&action_ref_map

Interesting article.

For those of us with pets, often they are members of the family. Their care and health are important to us and when something goes wrong it can be devastating. If you care about your canine pet, this is a must read.
Quite recently, my dog became very ill on more than one occasion. After the second time, I began researching the food because that was the only thing he had eaten.
Beneful dog food is a popular brand. Unfortunately over the last two to three months, pet owners have seen their dogs become ill after eating this food, based on reports on the Consumer Affairs website. Some pets are more sensitive than others, and their symptoms can include any of the following, sometimes more than one:
View slideshow: Beneful dog food
Vomiting
Diarrhea
Excessive water drinking
Lethargy
Weight loss
Seizures
Bloat (this is life threatening to a dog)
Kidney failure
Liver failure
Death
Although Beneful comes in several types of food from puppy, to active and healthy weight, it appears the problem is broader than one type of food. Reports have included Beneful's Healthy Radiance, Healthy Weight, and Playful Life, while other reports did not indicate what type of Beneful was fed.
Some owners said immediately upon feeding for the first time, the dog became sick. Other owners said that overtime the dog became sicker. Some people just switched to Beneful for the first time because it is a softer kibble and noticed an immediate problem. Either way, one common thread in the reports was the anguish for having bought this food that injured or killed their beloved pets.
Veterinarians have reported bacterial infections, liver and kidney failure and high toxins in pets that have been brought in related to Beneful dog food illnesses.
This problem is not in a single region but across the country. The number of reported cases, mainly from October 2012 through January 2013, has been increasing and currently there are 220 incidents listed on the consumer affairs site alone. With pets dying after eating this food, the following questions must be asked.
Is Purina turning a blind eye to what their Beneful product is doing?
Why has there been no recall or statement issued by the FDA?
How many injuries and deaths must there be before someone takes some action?
The FDA has three levels of recall.
The recall is made by the firm’s own initiative.
The FDA makes a request to recall.
The FDA orders a recall under statutory authority.
The FDA website was updated as of December 31, 2012, and with just about every other pet food available listed on the site, there is blatantly no mention of either Purina or Beneful.


n 2007, Purina dog food was identified for dog fatalities after an autopsy revealed aflatoxins in the food and the ASPCA became involved. Aflatoxins are known to be found in moldy grains, like the corn that would be in the dog food. At that time, there was a large recall. In 2005 100 dogs died for the same reason prompting another recall of a different brand of food.
At this time, there has been no indication that the ASPCA is investigating these 220 incidents. It is apparently up to us, the pet owners to take some action so that other pet owners, who may be unaware of this crime, don’t have to go through this devastating experience.
Here is how you can help. You can post this news article or even a note to the following social networking sites:
Warn your friends on Facebook
Tell your followers on Twitter
Inform your Google +circles
Push the agencies that can do something to get involved by contacting the following organizations:
The ASPCA
The FDA
At minimum, inform your friends and fellow pet owners to be very careful on what they feed and check the recall lists.

[Britster]

Sorry for the messed up link.

Purina's Beneful dog food killing dogs nationwide; No recall issued by FDA (Photos) - San Diego Top News | Examiner.com

I realize you have to take consumeraffair reports with a grain of salt... but I think it's quite scary how many complaints are being put in there! And with their chicken jerky taking sooo long to be recalled, after killing dogs, I wouldn't be surprised about this one either. While some brands of Purina aren't bad at all, IMO, Beneful is the worst of the worst. I'm just glad word is spreading around to general pet owners who wouldn't know any better.

[Lil Sis]

wow... my sil just lost her dog to liver failure..guess what she fed him? yelp..

I told her not to, but people do what they want to do. The vet said it was liver cancer so who knows the real cause.

Thank you for the information. I will post on my face book too

[Lovetodream88]

This is what I was afraid of when they did not care about there waggin train chicken jerky that they probably don't care about there dog food either. This is sad.

[jmmx3]

I fed Roxie beneful for the first few years after I got her and I am convinced that's why she's so fat! She CANNOT lose the weight now. I advise everyone against that food.

[rubymoon2072]

i thankfully do not feed them this garbage. i realize some are on budgets but at 20 bucks for a bag of good dog food where i know what all the ingredients are its worth the extra in my opinion. my rents only feed their dog table scraps and this junk. when i try to explain to them they go into old folk mode and tell me this is it has been done for years...blah blah blah..but their dog is fat and he always has a looser stool. i cannot get through to them i think i will print this. thank you for sharing.

[Britster]

Jackson has had his share of 'sharing' other dogs food. We visit other peoples homes and he's had tastes of their Iams and Eukanuba and whatnot. Nothing has ever upset his stomach as much as about 1/4 cup of Beneful did... he looked sooo bloated to me all the sudden, and was gassy, and then threw it right up. That's when I figured it had to be pretty horrid for him to react like so. I'm sure a lot of dogs do fine and dandy on it, but obviously a lot of others don't! I am just glad the issue is becoming more known.

[Maximo]

Another product that I didn't know was in the Purina family.

I don't think people realize that you don't have to spend a fortune for good food. In fact, I just looked it up and a 5-pound bag at WalMart is slightly more than I pay for Fromm. Beneful is no bargain.

[Jacksmom052709]

Thanks for posting Britster and letting us know - I only feed good food to our dogs and actually recently switched our cats over to Blue Buffalo food so they are all eating good these days (I joke saying they eat better than us ) Scary knowing that these big corporations just don't care.

[Britster]

Originally Posted by Maximo

Another product that I didn't know was in the Purina family.

I don't think people realize that you don't have to spend a fortune for good food. In fact, I just looked it up and a 5-pound bag at WalMart is slightly more than I pay for Fromm. Beneful is no bargain.

Agree!

You can get a 15 bag of Fromm Classics for $20! Or their 33lb bag for $37! From a top notch company with a great reputation...

Other price friendly foods that come from a great plant and a great company would be Annamaet, Dr Tims, Earthborn, Precise, etc.

[Britster]

Originally Posted by Jacksmom052709

Thanks for posting Britster and letting us know - I only feed good food to our dogs and actually recently switched our cats over to Blue Buffalo food so they are all eating good these days (I joke saying they eat better than us ) Scary knowing that these big corporations just don't care.

Don't feel safe with the majority of "small companies" either though...

I've learned quite a few 'holistic' companies aren't all that trustworthy either.

[MikaTallulah]

Nestle Purina does not care its pet food is killing animals!

[Yorkiemom1]

My cousin feeds the Beneful dinners in the small plastic containers....I wonder if this is included in the recall.........I feed nothing but RC...so this does not have immediate concern for me....but I sure feel horrible for all the people out there feeding dog food that they think is helping their dogs, and it is actually killing them....so sad.....if anyone knows about the Beneful in the plstic containers being part of the recall, please let me know so I can try to warn my cousin....

[Clyde_Dexter]

Clyde has been going to visit a friend of mine home for awhile now because she is thinking about getting a small dog and wanted to see what it was like. I sent him over to her house with a bag of Blue Buffalo to keep at her house during the month of December. He visited her house three times a week for the entire month of December. When he returned to me for the last time he did not return with the bag of Blue Buffalo (which I thought was odd because those bags last him a lot longer).

She has a larger older dog that is good with all dogs. I didn't know what she was feeding him.

During the month of December ... Clyde had THREE life threatening seizures and was constantly throwing up and had soft stool. I couldn't figure out why the increase in seizures. The vet couldn't figure it out either. Dexter wasn't having this reaction (he stayed home with me). Clyde is an epileptic, so we thought that perhaps his epilepsy was just getting worse. Generally he only had one seizure every three-six months. I thought it was strange that now that Clyde is staying home with me again he has not had any seizures and has not thrown up and he doesn't have soft diarrhea stool anymore.

After reading this article I called up my friend and asked her what she feeds her dog.
You've probably guessed it already ... Her dog eats Beneful. When I confronted her about it, I asked why on earth she would feed my dog baneful when I sent him there with Blue Buffalo, to which she admitted .... Her dog ate Clyde's bag of Blue Buffalo the first two days that Clyde was there and she just figured it wouldn't hurt Clyde to eat the Beneful.


I'm starting to think that maybe the food caused the increase in seizures. Her dog is always lethargic ... but we always assumed it was due to old age ... but now I think it is the food! I'm calling her right now to tell her to take her dog off of that food.


I will admit ... I often have purchased food for my dogs that was convenient for me, but since I have become a member of YT I realize the true importance of feeding your dog healthier food ... and that there is a reason as to why one bag of dog food cost $5 why another cost $20. I understand that some owners are on a budget, but there are foods in the middle of being cheap/deadly & extremely expensive. I've recently started buying my dogs Blue Buffalo food. It might be a little more expensive, but like some people have said ... the extra price is worth knowing that what I'm feeding my dogs shouldn't be harmful to them.


Also, after reading this thread I noticed that someone was suggesting that Blue Buffalo isn't necessarily a safe dog food?? Is this true?? If so what should I switch them to ....

[Yorkiemom1]

I wish there was some way we could research and come up with a "cheap dog food".....Iams, Science Diet, whatever....something that is less expensive for people out there that just can not afford to spend large amounts of money for speciality dog foods....I HATE that Purina is screwing up so badly...it is something that has been around for many years and people have fed it to ther dogs for years and nothing happened to those dogs....I am 64....from the time I was 6 years old and had my very first little puppy, a tiny cocker spaniel baby someone threw over our fence in a paper sack....we fed that baby Purina puppy chow, softened with warm cows milk....imagine all the rules broken here!!....and that little puppy did fine, growing into a happy old lady, eating Purina Dog Chow....that ios all we knew, Purina Dog Chow...that and later, Gravy Train...dont even know who put that out....but I never had a dog die of all these organ failures....my God what is happening????!!!!! I feel sorry for people that love their dogs and want a pet, and just are trying to feed something they are sure HAS to be good because it has been around for "hundreds" of years....if we could come up with a good cheap food that financially challenged people could fall back on....now THAT would be a super service YT could get a Gold Trophy for. I am not talking about grain free, or gluten free, or soy free....I am just talking about TOXIN free food!