Animal Lovers Web Forum

A particular brand of prescription dog food has been recalled due to excessive Vit D levels. Hill's Pet Nutrition makes specialty diets that are usually purchased from a veterinarian. Dogs only had to eat a little before the toxicity did its damage. A number of pets have since died.

www.khou.com/article/news/grieving-owners-believe-recalled-dog-food-killed-their-pets/285-72f1cded-4aa0-47b4-8a5a-f7862ddb33d5

It is heartbreaking to lose a pet. It is worse when the pet dies because of a pet food that turned out to be toxic. It must be so much worse when that food is an expensive veterinary product given to help the animals health. In many cases the dogs were not in danger of death until they ate the food.

Hills is recalling the food, but they are not tracking it down. It is up to the pet owner to check any food they have. So far the company has not acknowledged responsibility for any deaths or reached out to grieving pet owners. They are taking calls from them. I don't know yet if they will cover vets bills.

Yet another dog food recall in the USA. There seems to be a real problem there....

I'm afraid that the link is showing "access denied" where I am.

Catherine: "It must be so much worse when that food is an expensive veterinary product given to help the animals health." Indeed. It is frightening to think that vets were actually recommending this food and selling it, without checking the vitamin D content on the label for themselves. Appalling.

I understand that the elevated Vit D levels were not intended. The company is blaming one of its suppliers for the problem.

www.khou.com/article/news/nation-world/hills-recalls-canned-dog-food-for-excessive-vitamin-d/285-7c70b20f-fa9a-4a9a-bae9-94d999365e8c

I hope you are able to access this article. 

What I notice is that Hills doesn't seem to be taking much responsibility for the toxic Vit D levels in the food. They don't quality control test their foods or they would have found out before the food was sent out. I would expect that from a cheap no name brand of food. This is an expensive prescription diet. The food is formulated to provide special diets for things like kidney disease. If they are not testing their foods how do they know they are providing what they say they are providing. 

There are an alarming number of pet food recalls in the USA(and Canada because we use the same suppliers). Usually food is recalled after a number of animals have died. We have a fair number of recalls of human foods as well. There is a lot of careless handling of foods and there is a carelessness about the ingredients that go into foods. We need some accountability about the things that go into our foods. We need some oversight as to how that food is produced. Until that happens animals and people will keep getting sick and dying from the foods we eat.

I am wondering Catherine, if we should make this thread "sticky", and update it whenever any of us hear of any new recalls?

"Access Denied
You don't have permission to access "http://www.khou.com/article/news/grieving-owners-believe-recalled-dog-food-killed-their-pets/285-72f1cded-4aa0-47b4-8a5a-f7862ddb33d5" on this server.

Reference #18.29f31402.1549822839.3095e2c "

Perhaps European countries are excluded by their server?

Good point about making it sticky. That would make it easier for us to post about recalls. I am assuming there will be more.

I have noticed the access denied thing for certain articles.  I think certain articles are posted so they can be shared globally and certain ones only have local coverage. It might depend on how they are hosted. I think small local news outlets don't expect to reach a broader audience.

I can't even copy the video and post it. I tried. 

Quote:Hill's recalls canned dog food for excessive vitamin D
Dogs who get too much vitamin D can end up with serious health problems including renal dysfunction.

Author: Travis Pittman
Published: 10:27 PM CST January 31, 2019
Updated: 10:51 PM CST January 31, 2019
Hill's Pet Nutrition has issued a nationwide recall for some of its canned dog food because they could have elevated levels of vitamin D. Those excess levels could lead to health problems including renal dysfunction.
The problem was discovered after a dog in the U.S. was found to have elevated vitamin D levels. The company said an investigation found a supplier error was responsible.

<div class="ad__nojs-placeholder" style="height:90px;border:2px solid #e6e6e6"></div>
You can see a full list of the recalled food at this link. In addition to the name of the product, owners need to look for the SKU code and the date/lot code.
<img class="image__image" src="https://media.khou.com/assets/CCT/images/95a2d632-05b3-4014-96b0-97e73b1ea879/95a2d632-05b3-4014-96b0-97e73b1ea879_750x422.jpg" alt="Hill's canned pet food recall" />
Here is where to find the SKU code as part of the Hill's Pet Nutrition canned dog food recall that was announced January 31, 2019. (Credit: Hill's)
Hill’s Pet Nutrition
<img class="image__image" src="https://media.khou.com/assets/CCT/images/2c2a9c9f-18fc-4745-88d9-62463c01deb8/2c2a9c9f-18fc-4745-88d9-62463c01deb8_750x422.jpg" alt="Hill's dog food recall lot code and date" />
Here is where to find the date and lot code as part of the Hill's Pet Nutrition canned dog food recall that was announced January 31, 2019. (Credit: Hill's Pet Nutrition)
Hill's Pet Nutrition
The company said symptoms can include vomiting, loss of appetite, increased thirst, increased urination, excessive drooling, and weight loss. Owners who see their dogs exhibiting these signs should contact their veterinarian. The company said, in most cases, pets will fully recover after they are no longer fed the recalled food.
The food was sold through retail pet stores and veterinary clinics. Owners are advised to throw the food away or return unopened cans to the retailer for a refund.
Hill's said no dry foods, cat foods, or treats are affected.
Questions and comments can be sent to Hill’s Pet Nutrition, Inc. at 1-800-445-5777 Monday-Friday, 8 a.m.-4 p.m. EST or by emailing contactus@hillspet.com. Information can also be found at www.hillspet.com/productlist

I copied and pasted the key parts of the article so people can see the links.

I found another article that you may be able to see.

https://kfdm.com/news/local/pet-owners-s...ood-recall

Certainly a Vit D overdose would depend on the individual animal and also on how much of the food the animal ate.
Some cans may have had a higher concentration as well. No doubt some animals died as a result of this overdose. 
This is still a good product and a good company.  I just hope they are more attentive to their product in future. 
Certainly the rest of us need to be more attentive to what we feed our pets. We can't trust our pets health to strangers who sell us food even if the food is usually good. 

Food uncertainty is a reality these days.

One more article.

www.cbsnews.com/news/hills-dog-food-recal-pet-owners-report-dog-deaths-from-recalled-food-with-vitamin-d-dangers-on-social-media/

Thank you, Catherine. I was able to read the original article by googling the address inside speech marks (specific address search) and looking at a cached copy on Google.

This is a very sad case, but not the first recently in the USA. The company is not offering any reimbursements of vet fees, burial fees, etc. There are a lot of unhappy, grieving pet caretakers here:

https://twitter.com/HillsPet/status/1091014048823558146

Now that I have read what you posted, I find Hills to be very unsympathetic. Of course they are being careful so that they do not admit liability. They clearly do not intent to compensate anyone. There may need to be a class action suit. 

I noticed that they do not answer direct questions about which products were tested. I would hesitate to use their products again. It would be safer to make your own dog food. There have been so many recalls and cases of pets dying over the years.

This is a real blow to the pet food industry. They are the ones who make the special medical diets. People  don't know what to do and where to get the food they need. This would be a good time for a new company to start up and make special diets and put a lot into quality/safety checks and show some concern for pet owners and their fears.

Hills is expanding its recall, but it still doesn't seem to be taking this seriously.

https://www.care2.com/causes/hills-expan...suits.html

I would be scared to use any of their other products if I had a dog.  I don't hear them taking responsibility and being proactive in their recall. 

The parent company of Hills is Colgate-Palmolive. We can all remember that when we go shopping. If they can't be responsible and act quickly to prevent more animal deaths then maybe we can find alternate brands for all our human and pet needs.