For dog owners

[bright.ton42]

A recent lawsuit filed against Nestle Purina PetCare Company is claiming that one of the company's most popular dog food brands contains toxins that are poisoning and even killing people's pets.

The lawsuit, filed in California federal court earlier this month by pet owner Frank Lucido, alleges that thousands of dogs have become ill or died as a result of eating Beneful dry kibble dog food.

Lucido and his family owned three dogs — a four-year-old German Shepherd, an eight-year-old English Bulldog and an 11-year-old Labrador — and began feeding the pets Beneful exclusively beginning in late December or early January,

By the end of January all three of the dogs became ill and the English Bulldog eventually died, according to the suit. A post-mortem examination revealed signs of internal bleeding in the dog's stomach and lesions on his liver. Similar symptoms were found in Lucido's German Shepherd, who became violently ill before the bulldog's death. A veterinary exam of the dog also showed signs of internal bleeding and liver malfunction "consistent with poisoning," the lawsuit said. Lucido's two remaining dogs remain in veterinary care, his lawyer said.......

Lucido's story is similar to more than 3,000 complaints consumers have made online of dogs becoming ill and in some cases dying after eating Beneful kibble style dog foods, according to the complaint. The consistent symptoms reported include stomach internal bleeding, malfunction or failure of the liver, vomiting, diarrhea and weight loss.

The lawsuit claims toxins in Beneful are to blame, listing propylene glycol and mycotoxins as possibly harmful substances in the dog food.

More ......

http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/lawsuit-claims-purinas-beneful-poisoning-killing-dogs-n312176

I'll be watching this with interest. 

[opmania]

I meant exactly what I said

It is only my opinion

that you can tell your dogs health by its poop

[vicr3000]

Ok, thanks

Agree, very much so.

[creative*crisis]

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@opmania wrote:

this is only my opinion

no scientific evidence to back it up

I believe you can monitor the health of your dog by their poop

as people they should not be continously constipated or loose

and if its green or brightly colored there is something amiss

some food have excessive dyes that come through

why there is a need to put dyes in any food is cause for suspision

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I agree with you.

The other thing I've noticed is with healthy dogs their poop has very little smell.

[justpolls]

As a kid, I think Purina was all we fed our animals(which after googling I found out manufactures Supercoat as well). A few months back, I decided to do some research on the different pet foods available in the supermarket and was shocked to find that all but two were rated only one star out of five. It's basically like giving your pets McDonalds every day. I was kind of surprised they all had such low ratings.  The other two(one of which I switched to) were rated three and three and a half stars.

I would still like to find an affordable five star food, but for the time being I'm glad I found the one she's on. I mix it up with a canned food by the same brand and she seems to love it....although after reading this thread I'm thinking I may go back to preparing fresh food for her and getting rid of the manufactured food altogether. Sometimes I look at her food and think I wouldn't want to eat that, so why am I giving it to her? On the same note, I don't want to do her a disservice by shorting her on any essential vitamins she may be getting from the food. Maybe that's just commercial brainwashing though. Who knows.  Anyway....I'm definitely going to do more research on what natural foods I can feed her that will give her a better quality of life.  

Regarding bones for your dogs....I was always told that you should only give them marrow and knuckle bones because they're the only ones that won't splinter and cause intestinal problems. 

[vicr3000]

"marrow and knuckle bones"

Supposedly, although the central part of a marrow bone will splinter if dropped.

[justpolls]

Good to know....is that when they are raw as well? Or just the cooked ones?

[vicr3000]

Don't cook them, give them raw. In fact don't give cooked bones at all is the rule.

I wouldn't worry, I dropped a couple once when cutting them up and fractured one.

The likelihood of a dog doing it is probably zero. In 21 years of having dogs I have yet to see her splinter one.

We are talking Beef bones her, above.

I know roo thigh bones are a lot more "fragile" so to speak, they will splinter

when dry but I stopped using them.

[***super_nova***]

Dogs have a very strong acid in their stomach; they can digest bones and all sort of things.  I also give my dogs bones, but they are harder and harder to come by.  Not so long ago butcher would give me all the bones I wanted for free, now the only way to get them is in Woolworth for $7/kg wrapped in plastic and is called "soup bones".  😞   

The reason I only buy "human consumption grade" meat for my dogs is that I would not trust pet meat, it always has strange chemical smell, and who knows  what the animal died of.  I used to feed them mixture of hearts, tongues, little bit of livers & kidneys, chicken necks and hearts, and tripe from butchers.  But it is also much more difficult to find; when I come across some I fill my freezer.  But on the whole the kibble makes life so much easier.  Although I agree, it is basically rendered abattoir refuse made into a meat meal, with vitamins added.  Like eating nothing but white bread and taking handful of vitamin supplements.  And all the manufacturers get their ingredients pretty much from the same place; that is why when the Chinese added Melamine some 200 separate products, made by just about all of the pet food manufacturers in USA, were on the recall list.  Fortunately, these bad batches had no time to reach Australia when it all came to light.

[vicr3000]

super

We have an independent butcher, big, prics cheap, they sell them for $2.50 each, they even cut them up for you for free !!!

Not sure of your area, where you live.

Must be one somewhere near you ?

Do you have an Abbatoir near you ?

Or a farmer ?

[***super_nova***]

No abattoir, and no farms, and only one butcher shop in the produce market, and he does now and then have bones; the last time I got some was before Christmas.  But on the bright side, when I find some I always buy them all, and there is still one in my freezer, I think. 

When I moved here some 18 years ago there was a butcher in out tiny shopping centre, and several in surrounding suburbs.  Now  there are some in the big shopping centres, but they get their meat pretty much cut up, and rarely have bones. 

We actually get our meat from "Farmer Dan", and there are some bones, but not enough.

http://www.thefarmersmarket.com.au/