Nutro Pouches...Oxidization Problems???

xocats

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I have a serious question about....
Nutro Natural Choice Complete Care Weight Management Pouches.
http://www.nutroproducts.com/nccatpcweight.asp

Both of my cats have been happily eating these pouches as a daily snack for over a year.
For about the past 3 weeks I have noticed small black spots on pieces
of the food, that were not there in the past.
I became concerned that the black spots could be a flaw in the food, that could make my cats ill.

Monday (7-03) I called Nutro about the black spots.
I was told by customer service that the company thinks that during the manufacturing process...
to much oxygen is getting into the pouches, causing minerals in the food to oxidize.
I was told the spots were not dangerous to my cats and that the company is attempting to resolve the problem as quickly as possible.
The customer rep. could not tell me how I could identify which pouches were contaminated before I opened them.

I really need more information ....

Help please.
 

sharky

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Personally I take anti oxidants so I dont oxidize.. I would call back and see if you just got a bad rep/// Remeber you can take them back for a refund
 
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xocats

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I am glad that you don't rust.


I am a bit surprised that the company did not recall the food or at the very least make an announcement about what was going on.
My girl has a very sensitive tummy. Changing food is not an easy thing plus both kitties love their pouches.
Tomorrow...I will call the company again and see if I can find out how to identify the contaminated pouches.
It will be interesting to see if other member has experienced the same problem.
 

white cat lover

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Hmmm....I feed Nutro kitten & adult pouches & haven't seen anything. At least, I don't think I've seen anything. I will be sure to check the food carefully when I open it.

I too do not want to have to change foods. Twitch only eats chunks in gravy, so Nutro is about my only option.
 

jcat

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I don't like the sound of that, Lei, and I've never encountered it. Is there a batch/lot/charge number on the pouches that you could try to avoid?
 
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xocats

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When I asked the company if I could identify the problem pouches by batch, sell by or lot #...I was told no.


Dexter & Sadie both eat the Nutro CC WT. Mgmt. Dry also.
We have not had a problem with that food.

The only pouches that I have seen are the Weight Management Pouches ....
I don't know is this is a problem with the others.

I e-mailed Nutro this morning to request more info.
I will update when I know more.
Hopefully this will be resolved quickly.
 

white cat lover

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I just opened a Natural Choice Complete Care Adult Turkey & Liver Formula Chucnks in Gravy pouch & found little black spots on it.
I purchased these pouches about 3 weeks ago, & I haven't opened any of them but this one yet.
 
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xocats

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That's it....the little black spots.


Please call Nutro and see if you can get more info about this.
You can in their phone # from the Nutro link I posted or PM me & I will give you their phone #.

I am not comfortable with this at all.
 

consumerkitty

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I fed April Joy Nutro pouches for several months and didn't have a problem. Then she developed a wicked intestinal infection and I didn't think it was from the pouches. A few days into her antibiotic treatments I opened a pouch and it was clearly contaminated (the liquid was thick like it had been exposed to air for a long time). I picked up another pouch and liquid came out before I opened it.

I can't say with 100% certainty that the pouches are what caused her to get sick but I don't know what else it could have been. I really like Nutro products but I won't chance it with pouches again (even pouches from a different company).
 

white cat lover

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I called them & let the phone ring about a zillion times....no answer! I am going to send a slightly angry e-mail to them. I WANT to know what's going on!! No screwing around with me. I feed wayyyyy too much Nutro to not find out what's going on & if they don't want to give me a straight answer, then they'll lose ALL my business! Humph!

This is the e-mail I am sending:
I noticed today that I am seeing spots on my Nutro Natural Choice Complete Care Indoor Adult Turkey & Liver formula pouches. I am very concerned & for the moment not feeding any Nutro products to my cats or dogs. I would like to know what exactly the "spots" I saw are & if they are any harm to my pets. I currently have 4 dozen Nutro pouches(kitten & adult) & would like to know if all of the pouches are affected. Thank-you.
 

jlphilli

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That is not good. What makes me concerned the most is that they *think* they know what is going on
If they are oxidizing too much, etc, that means they are spoiling! Spoiled food= not good. They really should recall it.
 
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xocats

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I just got off of the phone with Nutro customer service again.

This time I was told that they cannot definitively tell me what the problem is until they see the spots.
They will send a mailer for me to send back 3 unopened pouches so they can have independent labs do a chemical analysis on the contents.
I will be contacted by Nutro with the results.
This will take a few weeks.

He said that there have been problems with black spots in their canned food in the past but had not heard about their pouches yet.
Unfortunately that is not what I was told last Monday.

Will the black spots make our cats sick immediately?
Probably not... but are they doing damage to our cats????

The customer service rep. did agree that it is definitely preferable to feed non-oxidized minerals to a pet rather than oxidized minerals.

I do not think that Nutro would intentionally harm our pets but I am not sure that they are being up-front with us about this issue.

Please...if you find these spots, call Nutro and let the store where you buy your food know.
I hope Nutro fixes this fast....Dexter & Sadie love the pouches.
 

techiegirl

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I feed Nutro and noticed that too a month or so ago.
It was almost like pepper or something! I haven't seen any in awhile, so I am not sure if it was a particular flavor or what.
Let us know what you find out.
 
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xocats

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I think that this is a relatively recent problem with their pouches.
If I hear more I will update here.
 

jlphilli

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I still think they should recall just in case any cats react badly to it.....I would hate to see any cats harmed b/c of this.
 

crt

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Now this is not good. I feed both of my cats Nutro pouches and canned, but Kabou is the one who eats it most. She became sick with diarrhea about 3 weeks ago and we still haven't determined the cause. She has been on two separate antibiotics, 20 days total, trying to clear it up. I'm going to open a pouch or two tonight. If I find black spots, I will call them. Thanks for posting this!
 

babyharley

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I'm just now seeing this thread.

I went to Petsmart the other day and got Davidson 2 cans of Nutro Max for kittens, he loves them (warmed up), but I haven't seen any of the black spots that you were saying - would they be in the kitten cans?

I'm definately going to double check very carefully next time I feed him. I was so excited too - that Davidson liked it, how dissapointing!!
 

ckatz

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This is so strange. I opened a pouch of Nutro Oceanfish and Shrimp and it had gone bad. Horrible smell, no black spots. The rest of the case seemed ok. I brought this about 2 weeks ago.

Cynthia
 

moggiegirl

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That does it! They screwed up. They screwed up before. I once had a vet told me that Nutro is on his black list because he got a number of dogs with heart disease in his clinic that were on Nutro. He told me this 3 years ago. For a while I gave Nutro the benefit of the doubt because I think many pet food companies have at one time or another made errors and fixed those errors. I thought, well hopefully now that they solved that problem Nutro is one of the best. I was feeding Max Cat 3 years ago and was told that although it's been a horrible food for a number of dogs, cats have done very well on it. Now I'm afraid with this black spot in the pouches issue I just don't trust the company anymore. I will never buy a Nutro product every again. I need to go with a company that is committed to quality control. Iams does have by-products which a lot of people are against but they receive high ratings from the American Institute of Baking and have a good reputation for maintaining the quality and safety of their foods. Sorry but when these stories come up and are true, it scares me.
 

sharky

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Originally Posted by moggiegirl

That does it! They screwed up. They screwed up before. I once had a vet told me that Nutro is on his black list because he got a number of dogs with heart disease in his clinic that were on Nutro. He told me this 3 years ago. For a while I gave Nutro the benefit of the doubt because I think many pet food companies have at one time or another made errors and fixed those errors. I thought, well hopefully now that they solved that problem Nutro is one of the best. I was feeding Max Cat 3 years ago and was told that although it's been a horrible food for a number of dogs, cats have done very well on it. Now I'm afraid with this black spot in the pouches issue I just don't trust the company anymore. I will never buy a Nutro product every again. I need to go with a company that is committed to quality control. Iams does have by-products which a lot of people are against but they receive high ratings from the American Institute of Baking and have a good reputation for maintaining the quality and safety of their foods. Sorry but when these stories come up and are true, it scares me.
I will note some issues with many companies.. but Iams is one of the worst as an offender ...
I actually feed alot of raw and homeade cause all companies have issues...
 
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