Behavior Problems associated with Nutro? - Page 1

I have a 4 year old female German Shepherd and over the past three months she has become both lethargic as well as skittish and irritable toward people and other dogs. I have been feeding her Nutra Natrual but the kibble has been looking different the past few bags. She has been eating grass and vomiting every so often and has had loose stools. Could the behavior problems come from her not feeling well because of the food and could anyone give me a suggestion for another food to feed her. She is both a service dog and a therapy dog and this type of behavior is just not acceptable besides being totally out of character for my usually happy girl. I would appreciate any input.

I look very forward to hearing what people have to say here...

I am NO expert at all, at all... but it sounds like you may be on the right track in regards to why she is not behaving regularly... now if you can just figure out if it's the food or something else.....

Good luck, best regards,

Jacob

RevKathy,

I could say gradually switch food and see if it improve's, but he behavior you describe sound's like more than just bad food.

My dog's eat grass and throw's it up, all dog's do.  I don't have a reasonable explaination for it.

A dog may be irritable because something hurt's inside.   I would see a vet at least to try to find any internal problem's.

Every stool doesn't have to be perfect also, it can change with the amount of water the dog take's in and the amount of activity a dog has. 

My best advice is gradually change feed first.  So much is going on these day's with contamination, everywhere you look.

Feed dry and if you are adding anything to it keep it simple.   It will be easier to pin point a problem if you keep thing's simple.

Brent.

I do not like the irritable, vomiting, loose stools, the lethargic is not a good sign for three months,  please see your vet.

For God's sake change the food!  If the food has looked different for the last few bags, then something's up.

I fed Nutro Natural Choice for years to my GSD's and had no problems.  Then the whole food recall came out, so I was regularly checking the web for updates.  Then came the time when the store shelves at Petsmart started becoming bare with Nutro foods and then stayed that way for months.  I started looking into it online and found press releases regarding Nutro food that was being rejected.  I also found web sites where owners were talking about how their dogs were eating Nutro foods and dying suddenly.  Their dog was fine and a few months later was dead.  That was enough for me to switch them entirely.  I don't won't to risk my dogs' health.

I feed my dogs Blue Buffalo brand foods and they're in great health with great coats.  I thank God that I didn't wind up with any bags that were tainted, but feeding Nutro is like rolling the dice.  Other owners talked about seeing differences in how the food looked, but fed their dogs the food and they ended up dying.  Don't put your dog at risk.  Stop feeding what you're feeding, try another good quality food and see if things improve right away.

Take it with a grain of salt:

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

MomofBeckett is correct, get that dog off the food and now. Who cares if right or wrong! Get to to vet have a blood pannel for kidneys and liver damage.

Signs of a Thyroid problem.   Have your vet run a full panel with a TSH.  Dogs that present -

slow heart rate, disinterested, lethargic, gi troubles etc...........sometime have a thyroid problem.......just an idea........more medical that food related.

I am ASTOUNDED that when a dog shows some sort of problem every one misses the obvious. The FIRST thing to do in such a situation where this has been going on for some time is to see a good vet. There could be a variety of issues affecting the dog, all the way from thyroid to pancreatitis, to some sort of intestinal parasite or or or or.....

Once you rule out the most likely medical causes, then go ahead and look at food, but I am willing to bet money it is NOT the food and the dog is ill.

I agree that the dog should be taken to the vet if the problem is severe, but with all the bad press and upset owners regarding Nutro foods, the very first course of action would be to change what the dog is ingesting on a daily basis and see if that helps.  Hopefully this is something that can resolve itself.