*In Memory of Cathy's English Springer Spaniel* -- Nutro Natural Choice Dog Food Recall Message Board

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Date Posted: 13:29:00 05/19/07 Sat
Author: Letter Received / Posted By Board Owner
Subject: *In Memory of Cathy's English Springer Spaniel*

Below is a letter I sent to Nutro after my dog died. I also sent a letter to Concord Pet Foods, the local pet food store where I purchased the food. Unfortunately, I have not had a response from either source. I have also made numerous calls to the FDA and have not received a response. I still cry every day, I miss him so much. It's just such a waste of a life. My guy looked alot like James, who won Westminster this year. He was a little too tall for show and that's why I had the privilege of having him as my best friend for six years. I hope that anyone reading comments from this website stops buying this food and any other brands made by Nutro and Mars. I'm sorry for any of you who are experiencing what I went through over the last year. Don't let your vet or anyone else tell you that it's not the food because it hasn't been recalled. Each week, more foods are recalled. Once the sale to Mars goes through - all liability will be gone. Mars will acquire only the assets of the company. The venture capitalists who purchased Nutro will walk away with millions. What a sad country we live in to allow this to happen.

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letter to Nutro:

On April 11, 2007, my English Springer Spaniel died from renal failure. He had turned six years old on April 9. We had been feeding him Nutro Natural Choice Lamb Meal and Rice for several years.

When I spoke on the phone with your representative, I told him that my dog had become ill last August. However, after going over his medical records, this illness began in March, 2006. As you can see from the attached records, each time he became ill, the vet suspected Lyme disease and put him on fluids and/or antibiotics, then boiled chicken and rice for several weeks. Each time, he seemed to bounce back. The diagnosis was never conclusive as Lyme is hard to detect once a pet has been infected. Hunter initially had Lyme disease in 2003. Although it has been known to cause renal failure, that normally only happens with older dogs with immune compromised systems.

At the beginning of December, he began refusing food and urinated in his bed. The vet believed it was a urinary tract infection and prescribed Clavamox. At that time, his creatinine was 3.4. He also prescribed a six-week course of Doxycycline as a precautionary measure. By the beginning of January, his bloodwork had improved only slightly and an ultrasound showed �something� in his kidneys. A cystoscopy revealed that his creatinine level had shot up to 6.7. We were then referred to a specialist who performed numerous tests and diagnosed chronic renal failure. He was put on a number of medications and Eukaneuba k/d food. He improved somewhat, but I had to hand feed him morning and night, outside while I sang to him. On the Thursday before Easter, he just stopped eating and refused medicine. He just couldn�t fight any longer.

When this ordeal began and even after the recall of the wet food, I never imagined it had anything to do with the food. However, I gave the remaining half bag of Nutro food to my vet since he was on k/d food. He mixed some of it with dry food for one of his dogs and told me that she had �uncontrolled, violent diarrhea for three days and has now developed hot spots�. She�s 11 years old and had never had a problem like this before. He gave me the label from the bag and told me to contact Nutro. As I think back, there were numerous times over the past year that my dog had diarrhea and I stopped feeding Nutro and fed him boiled chicken and rice for several weeks until his stomach straightened out. Each time, he bounced back.

On April 12, I called Nutro to place a complaint. I was transferred to an answering machine and left the required information. After several days, I called again and was again transferred to an answering machine. I also sent email asking that they contact me. Finally, my call was returned on April 22. I was asked to explain my complaint and then asked a number of questions regarding his health and what other foods we fed him.

When I asked if Nutro was planning a recall this week, I was assured that their food was safe and told that �every once in a while a bad batch might go out�. He also suggested that the supplier could have stored the product improperly and caused a problem with mold.

It doesn�t matter to me whether it was rice, wheat, or corn gluten or mold, my beautiful, active dog is dead because of contaminated food. There are a number of websites where people have been posting information about their pets becoming ill. Many of them are eating Nutro dry food. This cannot be just a coincidence.

The enclosed files will show you that over the past year, I spent almost $5,000 on vet bills. I can�t begin to explain the guilt I feel for feeding him poisoned food. He trusted me to take care of him and I failed. I trusted your company to provide quality food for my dog and you failed.

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Replies:

Our poodle dies -- Sylvia Evans, 11:06:05 04/20/12 Fri
Re: *In Memory of Cathy's English Springer Spaniel* -- Stefanie, 19:02:55 01/29/13 Tue
- Vets -- Board Owner, 16:32:09 04/08/13 Mon
Re: *In Memory of Cathy's English Springer Spaniel* -- FeFeSquared, 13:16:43 01/30/13 Wed