In the past two weeks, here are the complaints tweeted directly from consumers to pet food manufacturers. Beneful wins hands down with the most complaints of sick pets.
A list of Beneful tweets (Twitter) was sent to me by one of you great consumers out there. Over the past couple of weeks, below are tweets sent to Beneful from consumers reporting sick pets…
April 7: @Sally_Heenan “If anyone who reads this is still feeding their dogs @Beneful please stop! My dog has Cushing’s Disease. All he ate was that horrible food.”
April 6: @AnitaMendoza10 “@Purina @Beneful When will you admit the issues with food? My dog was gravely ill on you food.”
April 4: @mitchheenan “@Beneful Thanks for making my dogs sick, 100% safe to feed, more like 100% safe to leave on the shelf.”
April 3: @LesBecca “@Beneful how do we get our money back for all of these beneful products we have? We shouldnt have to worry about our dogs’ safety.”
April 2: @tacotakeover “@PetSmart @Beneful y’all have some explaining to do as far as why my dogs food looks like this…??? pic.twitter.com/4yWM8eRUlv”
April 2: @kylie_heenan “huge s/o to @Beneful for making disease-causing dog food which now has both of my puppies severely ill and at the vet. you are disgusting.”
April 2: @Sally_Heenan “Thanks for two sick dogs @Beneful. I will never buy another @Purina product ever ever again. You are heartless.”
March 31: @Killa_Kronos “You and your XXX food got my dog sick and I don’t know if he’s going to make it.. @Beneful”
March 26: @Whistle2MyTweet “@Beneful your food killed my puppy.”
In the last two weeks – with Twitter alone – Beneful received 7 complaints of sick or dead pets directly from consumers.
So I wondered, in the same time frame, how many complaints other brands received on Twitter.
Wellness: No reports of sick pets, reports of smell, moths, and no coupons.
April 4: @sbarthes “@wellnesspetfood Did you change the recipe of the Core Kitten Formula ? In this new lot they smell and look awkward” pic.twitter.com/gpuDUukoAV
April 7: @Anietzerck “Did a lot of research. Wanted quality dog food! Settled on @wellnesspetfood. First batch invested with moths?! Now trying @Nutro”
April 7: @NYRangers_7 “@wellnesspetfood Can you DM me please? Prob with coupons not printing…..”
Blue Buffalo: Two possible reports of sick pets, report of maggots, misinformation of recall history, and an error in food content (little kibble, lots of Life Source Bits).
April 2: @zerena_hoofs “Just opened a bag off @BlueBuffalo I purchased from San Carlos PetSmart two days ago and MAGGOTS???? HELP!! pic.twitter.com/f0SUztgiPt“
April 1: @CraftyGal65 “Does anyone know if there has been a recall on @bluebuffalo foods?”
April 2: Blue Buffalo response: “@CraftyGal65 Hi there — there has not been a recall since our voluntary recall in 2007. Are your pups having any issues with Blue?”
Opps. This is an error. Blue Buffalo forgot about their recall in 2010.
April 1: @TOWTRUCKROBERT “@bluebuffalo helloGrace our family dog has skin allergies does certain items in the blue buffalo food cause this let us know.THX. corn?rice?”
March 29: @yohojojo85 “@bluebuffalo opened a bag of wilderness duck and this is what it looks like. What to do pic.twitter.com/PcCOhVhW1r
The picture this consumer provided: (for consumers unaware, Blue Buffalo includes Lifesource Bits in their pet food – which are small black pellets. This picture appears to contain almost all black bits with little kibble. Click Here to see from Blue Buffalo website picture of this pet food with Lifesource Bits.)
March 27: No tweet was posted, but this is the response Blue Buffalo provided to this consumer: “@Ry_Fy Hi got your DM but can’t reply unless you follow us. Sorry to hear of pup’s issue, would like to put you in touch w/ Customer Team.”
Nutrish: One report of sick pet.
April 8: @indiebizchicks “I bought @Nutrish for my cat…. She puked it up and then refused to eat any more of it… It was a gross day.”
Royal Canin: No reports of sick pet, one report of maggots.
April 3: @Veronica_P0well “@RoyalCanin my dogs food is full of maggots this is a brand new 50lb bag!!! pic.twitter.com/v1Qswi9iuq“
Pedigree: Two reports of dead pets, one report of plastic in treat.
April 5: @RShadowsHeart “@PedigreeUS I hope you all live in miserable living hell a knowing you a did this pic.twitter.com/Yuzfq0KpAp“
April 6: No tweet was posted but this is the reply from Pedigree: “@Alberto27287586 We’re so sorry to hear about the loss of your dog & we’d like to learn more.”
March 28: @mbrantley10 “@PedigreeUS – please tell me what the plastic-like ingredient is in your #MarroBone dog treats? pic.twitter.com/frcT1MYtt5“
Should you want to see the Tweets sent to your pet food manufacturer, it’s easy. Find their page on Twitter – then click on “Tweets & replies”. When you see a suspect Tweet (such as ‘We are sorry for your loss’), click on ‘View conversation’ just below that tweet.
Wishing you and your pet(s) the best,
Susan Thixton
Pet Food Safety Advocate
Author Buyer Beware, Co-Author Dinner PAWsible
TruthaboutPetFood.com
Association for Truth in Pet Food
What’s in Your Pet’s Food?
Is your dog or cat eating risk ingredients? Chinese imports? Petsumer Report tells the ‘rest of the story’ on over 3000 cat foods, dog foods, and pet treats. 30 Day Satisfaction Guarantee. www.PetsumerReport.com
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Susan’s List of trusted pet foods. Click Here
Have you read Buyer Beware? Click Here
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Hannie
April 9, 2015 at 3:21 pm
I wanted to throw this in just as a point of interest. I fed Wellness Core for a very long time (I home cook but I do mix in a little dry & I constantly rotate between the few that I trust). I hadn’t tried it in a long time since it was sold but I decided to try a bag. My dog started to scratch. The ingredients looked the same so I called them. I knew what they’d say but I called anyway. Nope, haven’t changed a thing. So then I tried the Core light or whatever it’s called. Same thing. She went into scratching fits in the first couple of days. So I called again. Same story: nope, we didn’t change a thing. So that bag went back as well. Buyer beware: there is no truth in labeling in the pet food industry. Once a company is sold, chances are they are going to do whatever it takes to boost profits. Why change the list of ingredients if you don’t have to……..
Kathryn
April 9, 2015 at 3:49 pm
Playing devils Advocate here but people can ‘tweet’, Face Book, e-mail, send up smoke signals or use carrier pigeons until they are blue in the face – – but without verified documentation from their Vet, a returned bag to the POP (point of purchase), pictures and more pictures, lot numbers, exp. dates, from the product they are not accomplishing anything except perhaps making themselves feel better for having ‘Vented’.
More vets need to look for ‘food’ induced illnesses/conditions w/o just assuming intestinal parasites, virus/bacteria, foreign matter, etc. — this is one time they need to look for the Zebras- and be willing to follow up their findings with a letter to the FDA, the Manufacturer and all other responsible parties.
Laura
April 9, 2015 at 4:31 pm
I’m pretty sure somewhere on this site Susan has an article stating that the consumer should NOT take the food back to where they bought it. They need to send it to the FDA or wherever, to get it tested or at least prevent one more excuse the FDA will come up with to hold the manufacturer as harmless as possible. Even if they’re honestly misinformed, it can really get to me when people recommend pet food shoppers return the food to the store. Nothing will be accomplished by doing that.
Susan Thixton
April 9, 2015 at 6:39 pm
You are right Laura – if a consumer suspects a food made their pet sick, never return the food for a refund. No investigation will take place without product to test. Here is that link: https://truthaboutpetfood.com/report-it-please/
Terri janson
April 9, 2015 at 6:08 pm
It’s SO unblieveable!!!!! I’m sick to my stomach
Peter
April 10, 2015 at 6:07 am
The photo of the BB dry food is truly horrific. BB postures the “LifeSource bits” as a major selling point. The company describes the pellets as cold-processed concentrated vitamins (and that seems to make sense, from what we’ve learned through TAPF). What if a customer didn’t understand the proper proportions? I would think a dog fed by an ignorant consumer could be badly injured or killed by the food pictured above.
Ellie
April 11, 2015 at 2:48 pm
You have to feel sorry for the uninformed consumer. They are left out there with no one to turn to. Their vet probably is totally sold on commercial pet foods and they certainly are not going to get help from the manufacturer.
crystal mascarenas
November 28, 2015 at 2:15 am
This morning I opened up a bag of blue buffalo that looked exactly like the picture above I knew it wasn’t right as I have been using blue for 1.5 years and it has never looked this way, and of course blue buffalo is closed for the holiday weekend so I won’t be able to get ahold of anyone until Monday.