Reports of pet illness and death from eating Nutro pet foods

The following Consumer Affairs website was sent to me from a concerned pet owner – and after reading the very recent reports of pets getting sick and dying with the similar connection being Nutro Pet Foods – I thought it was necessary to share this with you.
Here is the link to read all the Nutro reports…

http://www.consumeraffairs.com/pets/nutro.html

The Consumer Affairs website also has postings from a few other pet food lines – but Nutro seems to be the food line that has the most recent and frequent listings. Here is the website’s list of problem pet foods and pet service businesses…

http://www.consumeraffairs.com/pets/pet_care_and_supplies.htm

I don’t have any clue as to why pets are getting sick – we will have to wait this out to see if an official recall is announced or further testing gives us any information. If you or someone you know feeds Nutro products I would urge you to read these recent reports and watch your pets carefully.

Now, one of the posted Nutro complaints mentioned that the Nutro Representative told a pet owner the food could have been contaminated in shipping and storing. This is a topic I have not talked much about in the past, but it seems to be necessary now. Please know, my intentions are not to scare you – it is my intention to help you understand and learn.

The best pet food manufacturer is at the mercy of distributors once the food leaves their plant. First off, imagine a pet food manufacturer…imagine all the different ingredients, their storage before processing, and the warehousing of the food after processing. And think about pest control. Insect and rodent control is a tremendous task to safely protect the integrity of the pet food. And that concern continues to be an important issue until the pet food arrives in your home. I would assume that most pet food manufacturers are very aware of how to safely protect the ingredients and the pet foods while they are in their plant – however, once the pet food leaves their plant, all control is lost over their products.

Pallets of newly manufactured pet food is shipped to Walmart, Target, Petsmart, Petco, and so on warehousing. And while the manufacturer might have stored their products in properly pest controlled warehousing – keeping all chemicals well away from ingredients and finished pet foods, Walmart, Target, and other warehousing might not take the extra precautions to keep potentially dangerous pest control chemicals away from the pet foods. I’ve spoken with several pet product distributors over the years and been to several warehouses – and some of the stories I’ve heard are not encouraging. From pet food sitting in storage in a trailer in the parking lot for months to pest control chemicals being used inside and adjacent to pet foods – it all depends on the integrity of the distributor.

When you purchase your pet’s food, one more thing to add to your pet food ‘to do’ list – is examine the bag. Don’t purchase foods that have any damage to the packaging or with stains on the packaging. When you open the bag, smell it – does it smell the same as the last bag you opened? If anything smells differently, don’t feed it to your pet and return it to the store. If the kibble looks different – a different color or texture to the kibble, return it.

While I think instances of pet food contamination in warehousing is rare – we really don’t know for sure. However, since the recall last year my best guess would be that everyone – manufacturers, distributors, and retailers – are more aware of the disastrous results that could happen from someone being careless. And I have to believe that most are very careful.

Please, keep sending me any news you hear to share with other pet owners.

Wishing you and your pet the best,

Susan Thixton

Truth About Pet Food

Petsumer Report

www.TruthAboutPetFood.com

More articles on pet foods and pet treats can be found here: http://www.TruthAboutPetFood.com/PawsClub.html

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