MSU researchers link pet food, dog illnesses nationwide
MSU Press Release – A team of researchers at Michigan State University has discovered a group of illnesses reported in dogs across the country is linked to a specific brand of dog food from the Blue Buffalo Co. Veterinarians from across the country recently began sending samples from dogs with elevated levels of calcium in their blood to MSU’s Diagnostic Center for Population and Animal Health, director Carole Bolin said. The sick dogs had increased thirst and urination, and some of them also suffered weight loss, loss of appetite and signs of kidney damage. Endocrinologists with the Diagnostic Center, a service unit of the College of Veterinary Medicine, soon noticed the pattern and found a common factor: All 16 dogs whose samples were tested had very high levels of vitamin D in their blood and were fed a diet of Blue Buffalo’s Wilderness Chicken Recipe. The diagnostic center is cooperating with the Michigan Department of Agriculture and the Food and Drug Administration on an investigation into the brand, Bolin said.
“The only reason we were able to identify the pattern is because of the vast national resource our center has become,” said Bolin, who added her lab performs more than 1.3 million tests a year. “Because of our nationwide reach and expertise, we were able to discover this and notify the proper authorities.”
It is routine for veterinarians across the country to contact the center for specialized testing to explore the causes of clinical conditions. In this specific case, all the dogs were found to have very high levels of vitamin D in their serum, a quite unusual finding. Endocrinologist Kent Refsal picked up on the pattern of cases and began to investigate. The affected dogs ranged in age from 8 months to 8 years. There were three mixed-breed dogs and 13 purebred dogs. The samples originated from eight states: Michigan, Texas, Colorado, Wisconsin, California, Illinois, North Dakota and Utah. In addition to the testing, there was either a brief written history and/or communication with the referring veterinarian to discuss the possible sources of excess vitamin D. Dogs seem to recover when the diet is changed, Bolin said, and there have not been any reported deaths related to the diet.
For additional information for veterinarians, please refer to this document: Hypervitaminosis D
Julie, Thank you SO much for this article!
I will be passing this along to every dog person I know!
When I finally find a grain-free kibbles that Lindy likes, why does it have to be “Blue Buffalo’s Wilderness Chicken” of all kibbles???????
I guess it’s time to search again….Thanks Julie!
Try the Orijen kibble varieties. 80%/20% or 75%/25% (meat/veg no grains). This is a really clean food!
Thanks Karen. I’ll compare Orijen to Fromm Gold.
Orijen is somewhat over the top with protein contents. I would prefer to scale back & stay in the middle range.
The Fromm’s “Gold” varieties (Large puppy and Large regular) contain oatmeal, barley, and brown rice.
The Fromm’s “Beef Fritttata” and ” Surf & Turf” are grain free and “All Life Stages”.
You may find these articles very interesting about the myths of high protein that are on the Orijen site.
“Myths of High Protein”: By Dr. Bov’ee School of Vet Medicine at Univ. of Pen. and others on this site: http://www.championpetfoods.com/library/ and
http://files.championpetfoods.com/ORIJEN_White_Paper.pdf The whole paper is very educational, but page 26 gets down to the “nitty gritty”
Happy reading! 🙂
I just finished a bag last month of Wilderness Duck Formula. I actually switched my dogs to Fromm Gold and all of them are loving it, even my picky little Chihuahua.
Lorie, I have my dogs on Fromm Gold. Tried Sojo’s and everyone was scratching. Batman’s litter was on Royal Canin GSD puppy formula so before Batman arrived I picked up a bag. It didn’t say GSD formula, but had a picture of a GSD puppy on it. Wrong stuff – it was their Large Breed formula. I looked up the ingredients and the large breed was so heavy in corn & wheat and corn/wheat meal that I never opened the bag. The Batling is also eating Fromm Gold.
Blue Buffalo is pushed very heavily around here. Tried a sample bag a long time ago and Kayla would not touch the stuff!
Yes Carole, I like the Fromm very well, it’s not cheap, but the ingredients are great, the kibble size is good for my large and small dogs and most importantly, they LOVE it. It got very high ratings on Dogfood.com ‘s analysis page as well.
Lorie & Carole,
Looking online for Fromm Gold, there are quite a few varieties for adult & Puppy food. Can you recommend the specific type that you use for both adult & puppies?
Also, do you buy yours locally or online? I do not have a local vendor so I’ll have to check it online.
Orly, I just bought the regular Fromm Gold, it’s a black bag with Gold lettering, I bought it where I buy my hay, it was 43.99 for 35 pounds, I don’t know if they have a puppy food, I’m sure they do. I’ll check out their website for you.
Yes, Orly, they have a Puppy Gold Large Breed.
Thanks Lorie.
Now, isn’t it amazing that I have been paying approx. $50 for a 24 lbs Blue Wilderness bag while I can get the a 35 lbs Fromm Gold bag for $40-something?
Not only will I be switching to a better brand, I’ll end up paying less.
I make some calls to our local feed stores tomorrow to see if any carry this brand.
Thanks for all the info!
Yikes, I picked up a 6 lb bag of the stuff two weeks ago for Nikko. I wanted to try him on it before incorporating it into his diet. Luckily, I just gave him a cup a day with his usual. He wouldn’t eat it alone, just mixed in. That should have told me something! Smart dog. I’ve thrown the last lb left out. On to the next dog food diet change experiment. Thank you Julie for staying on top of things and warning us!
Stories like this are pretty scary. There just don’t seem to be many safe dog food brands out there – Orijen and the Honest Kitchen being exceptions to the rule.
I remember when Natura products were thought of as above reproach. I fed Evo for years…..
yes I remember Jaime. It seems they start out great and then go down hill from there.
I have been feeding Nutrisource Super Performance for about 15 months now and am incredibly pleased with it. My dogs carry great coat, nice weight and good, solid poops (and any of us with more than a few dogs know how incredibly important this is!!). Plus, the Super Performance comes in 40# bags. You can go to http://www.nutrisourcedogfood.com and research the ingredients for yourself.
Right now we have Max on Wellness Core, he loves it, I just hope it doesn’t end up like Blue Buffalo.
I’ll stick to a raw diet with a little grain free kibble for treats.
Me too. Sade got a hold of a sample bag of Royal Canine Puppy that was in the garage from Canada and ate it. She thought this was soooo special. I figured it wouldn’t hurt her so I let her eat it and just skipped her dinner. I had forgotten what kibble poops look like!
Here is another thing about dog and cat foods that pet parents don’t usually know about…….”product pulls”!!!!
11/28/11: Thanks to Price Chopper and Susan Thixton, it’s reported that three Iams Dog and Cat foods (listed below) tested with “elevated aflatoxin levels”… Iam’s stated that “this was a “product pull” not a “customer recall”, and then made the Price Chopper remove it from the site! Iams said it was “posted erroneously” since it wasn’t a recall, just a pull. JUST A PULL???? We really DON’T realize everything that goes on behind the scenes in the pet food industry!!!
A product pull/silent recall is when a pet food manufacturer discovers a problem with a food – which could be serious or could be something insignificant – and in turn the pet food manufacturer alerts retail outlets to ‘pull’ the product from store shelves and return to the manufacturer.
Aflatoxins are “commonly found in corn, peanuts, cottonseed, milk, and tree nuts. After ingestion, aflatoxins are absorbed and carried to the liver via the circulatory system. They are then converted by the liver into toxic reactive epoxides which bind covalently to intracellular macromolecules such as DNA, RNA and protein enzymes, resulting in damage to liver cells. In addition to their hepatotoxic properties, aflatoxins are also carcinogenic. Mycotoxin contamination in pet food poses a serious health threat to pets.” From “Mycotoxins and the pet food industry: Toxicological evidence and risk assessment” by Herman J. Boermans and Maxwell C.K. Leung.
Iams Lamb Meal with Rice Dog Food
UPC 1901403735
Lot Number 12794177J4
Size 15 lbs.
Iams Original with Chicken Cat Food
UPC 1901403915
Lot Number 12794177D3
Size 6.8 lbs.
Iams Original with Chicken Cat Food
UPC 1901410504
Lot Number 12794177I5
Size 4 lbs.
Irene and rtsallie,
Are you making your own raw meals or purchasing the ready made or both? I’ve seen recipes for home made and I’ve seen the BARF patties, and Oma’s Pride, etc. that can be purchased.
Hi Kristen,
I’ve been feeding raw for about 17 years and the best homemade COMPLETE diet out there is Dr. Karen Becker’s (recommended by Whole Dog Journal) “Real Food For Healthy Dogs and Cats” (EDITION #3). You can get it on Amazon. It takes a few tries to get the hang of it, but it’s not hard at all! Otherwise here are the names of a few good ones, but watch the fat content. Try not to go above 10%.
• Aunt Jeni’s (has great veggie rotation, rabbit, and goat) – http://www.auntjeni.com available in some retail stores or on line.
• Bravo (also components) – http://www.bravorawdiet.com
• Northwest Naturals – http://www.nw-naturals.net
• **Steve’s Real Food for Pets – http://www.stevesrealfood.com
• **Darwin’s: specializes in direct shipping to your home: these foods are not found in retail stores, they are shipped direct from the manufacturer only. A simple meat and veggie diet formula offered in both free-range ingredients and regular human-edible (grocery store level) ingredients. http://www.darwinspet.com/
• Companion Natural Pet Foods has changed its name to Fresh Is Best, Inc.: meat and veggie diets made with great attention to detail, variety in vegetables, and a wide range of choices. All human edible ingredients. Also available in retail stores: http://www.freshisbestinc.com/about-us
Hope this helps! 🙂
@Karen Murray
This is fantastic information! Thank you!
You are most welcome!
Please feel free to contact me with any questions you might have about
Dr. Becker’s book or the in’s and out’s of raw feeding! 🙂
Karen, do you follow Dr. B’s vitamin and mineral supplement recipe? If so, have you noticed a difference? I’m willing to do it, but there are quite a lot of ingredients, and I’m not sure how long a batch will last with a GSD.
Hi JK,
Yes, I do follow her recipe and rotate something else in every month or so (for a couple of weeks), just for variety, as Dr. B likes to rotate everything! 🙂 It’s really not hard to make at all. You just need a coffee grinder and a small holed strainer. It takes about 10 minuets to make. When you make the single vitamin recipe, it will last for approx. 50 pounds of food when you are feeding a homemade raw diet. You dose them according to how many cups of raw food they eat per day (see page 146 in her 3rd edition book). For instance, Doogan eats 2-1/8th cups of homemade meat/veg mix 2 times per day, so he gets 1/2 teaspoon + 1/32nd of a teaspoon. You would also add calcium separately according to how many cups of food a dog eats per feeding.
If you choose to feed a commercial prepared diet, it may already have vitamins/minerals in them, so you would have to take that into account. I love the mix! And along with the oils she recommends, both of our dogs coats are great. People always say that they have never felt a GSD with such a soft coats! So I guess it’s working! 🙂 Let me know if you decide to order the vitamins and I’ll give you the exact product numbers to order from Lucky Vitamins to make it easier for you. I usually get enough to make a double batch. It’s very inexpensive!