Dozens of pet owners have posted reports on social media about their dogs and cats getting sick after eating Purina Pro Plan pet food.
As of January 4, 2024, the public Facebook group, Saving Pets One Pet @ One Hourreceived 197 anecdotal reports of sick animals, including 151 dogs and 46 cats.
Fifty one (51) animals died.
What pet owners are reporting
The following is a small sampling of the stories posted on Saving Pets One Pet @ One Hour in the past month.
I have 5 sick dogs on the Purina pro plan. Severe diarrhea and dehydration. One dog was hospitalized on Friday and then another today which makes me think this is the one to feed. My 2 raw fed dogs are perfect. Purina Pro plan adult.
posted on January 2, 2024
We feed Purina Pro Plan to our 3 rottweilers. One lost an entire litter of puppies and is awaiting an official PLE diagnosis. Surgery for biopsies in 2 weeks. Severe diarrhea, vomiting and loss of waste where devastating for us and our girl.
posted on January 3, 2024
I want to share my story of Gracie Lou, a 12 year old pit bull boxer with the spirit of a 3 year old puppy.
We were almost out of his food on Christmas Eve so I ran to the local grocery store and picked up a bag of purina lamb and rice adult. She doesn’t usually eat purina, I actually just grabbed whatever (It was Christmas Eve, there was a LOT going on).
We fed him some chicken and brown rice on Christmas Eve and Christmas morning with his last meal.
Christmas Day around 4:30 he had his first bowl of puree. After 2-3 hours she had her first seizure. He has no health problems except arthritis. He has NEVER had a seizure. He runs around all day, playing with his toys, being the perfectly normal crazy self he always is. Naturally we were scared and had no idea what was going on. We journaled everything and watched him like a hawk all night and he was finally back to almost normal in the wee hours of 12/26.
On 12/26 around 4:30 he had another bowl of purina and literally 2-3 hours later had his second seizure. We rushed him to the emergency vet in Annapolis and without an MRI we wouldn’t know if it was a brain tumor or not. We can’t afford an MRI right now. We also took the doctor’s word for it saying it’s age and these things happen. The dr said the labs looked fine (not sure what they were testing for) and that there was nothing else to rule it out they would treat him for epilepsy due to a possible brain tumor and he would have to take medication for for the rest of his life. They gave us seizure medicine and sent us on our way.
excerpt from a longer story posted on December 30, 2023
Where is the smoke?
In at least one instance, Purina offered to cover the pet owner’s veterinary bills.
So since finding Trinity I have been in contact with Purina. The only change since his ultrasound and bloodwork last November was a change in diet I made from Purina Brightminds to Sensitive skin and stomach Salmon Senior.
I read a post here about some dogs also having eating seizures but the adult version.
Last week Purina asked me for all the information about Trinity, my vets and copies of my vet bills.
Today they called me to verify all the information. I was told they were sending a check to cover my vet bills and food reimbursement coupons. They did not say yes that there was a problem with the particular food but were very nice and offered all help. They also said any future vet bills at Trinity I may submit they will cover.
posted on December 28, 2023
What does the FDA do?
The FDA is aware of reports of pet illnesses and is in the process of reviewing those reports.
In response to our request for comment, we received the following statement:
“We encourage pet owners or their veterinarians to submit reports of illness or other adverse events associated with pet food directly to the FDA by following the instructions on this page: How to Report a Pet Food Complaint.”
FDA spokesperson, January 4, 2024
How to report a pet illness
The FDA relies heavily on reports from pet owners and veterinarians to alert them to safety issues in pet foods.
If your pet is sick or dies, and you suspect that pet food is the cause, please ask your veterinarian to file an Adverse Event report with the FDA.
Whether or not a veterinarian agrees to file a report, pet owners can file directly with the FDA. Prepare to create your report by gathering lots of information about your pet’s symptoms, any laboratory reports (eg, blood tests), and any information you have on the specific product(s). that you feed your pet. This includes brand and variety names, lot codes, expiration dates, and bar code information, all of which can be found on the package.
There are two options for filing, explained on the FDA web page, How to Report a Pet Food Complaint
Option 1: Contact the FDA Consumer Complaint Coordinator for your state by phone (in the case of California, there are separate coordinators for Northern and Southern California). A list of phone numbers is available at: Consumer Complaint Coordinators.
Option 2: File online with FDA Safety Reporting Portal. Just click the “Report as Guest” button and follow the step-by-step directions.
Share your story
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“A complete and compelling account of the hidden and not-so-hidden ways the food we feed our beloved pets can become contaminated.” – JoNel Aleccia, Health, Food and Nutrition Correspondent, The Associated Press.
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