One of our great rescuers has had some serious problems with some canned Kirkland dog food. Here’s the email we received:
At the end of December, a local kennel donated 12 cases of Kirkland canned
Lamb and Rice dog food. They said it was too rich for their dog because
they all got sick. Did not think any problem with the food. I fed to my dogs,
and to visiting dogs. Diarrhea for all dogs, puppy threw up 15 times. She
survived…Tesla and Dino did not.I contacted the company on Jan. 3 to say
all dogs got sick. They said they did not produce that food. Four weeks
later, one dead dog, next week, another dead dog. Finally got a response
with…tell Costco. I contacted Costco, and then they contacted the
manufacturer. Who wants a sample of the food. Mind you…this similar food
was recalled in 2007-2009 for melamine contamination. Over 400 dogs died.
I filed a report and waiting for request for the sample of food.I need to put out a warning of possible food contamination….is not
verified yet…but the vet and I feel it will be. The*Kirkland Canned Lamb
and Rice with expiration 2013. The cans I have say June 23, 2013*. Please
let your friends know. It would have been purchased in Nov.-Dec. 2012.
Please anyone that has a can to contact me directly. Do not return to
Costco. We need to let everyone know so more dogs don’t die.
I received the this in an email from a rescue friend. I got to the your blog doing a search to find out more information. Here are a few of the questions I have:
In what area are you located?
How much of the food was fed to the dogs before they got sick?
Did the local kennel report that any of their dogs died?
If the vet is suspect of the food, has he contacted the state with his concerns and had you send a can to them for testing?
I use & have 7 dogs eating it as well as a friend using & feeding 3 dogs, & we used cans with that date I still have a couple left & we have had no trouble.
HI
I give my dogs a tablespoon of the chicken or lamb in their food. the lamb made them sick for 2 days. blood in stool et all. talked to my mom about it in fort worth texas, she has similar issue. if someone wants the numbers on the cans, let me know, otherwise they are going in the trash and we are switching to homemade.
fix your recall kirkland, i shop at your store which is cosco, don’t have dogs, but love dogs,need to pull all your dog food cans out of the shelves before more dogs get sick or die.
I have had some serious side effects from the Lamb. both of my dogs experienced severe diarrhea from a small amount. just trying to get the word out. my last post was erased by the moderator of this website.
It’s odd that the same email keeps popping up all over the place, isn’t it? Word for word… Something is telling me that this is a fraud. Not EVERYONE who claims to have gotten this email got it, obviously. I agree w/David, there is far too many questions not answered by the supposed original poster.
I got this from a source with las vegas contact – but no one seems to know original rescuer – do you???? Food SHOULD be returned to Costco, because they are obliged to report it to FDA if they get returns for illness. Person who found problem should ALSO be reporting to FDA and not sending emails out without their name and contact info….just saying. We feed this without problems. What state was this in?
We, too, have some of the Kirkland wet food. Do you have a lot # on the bad stuff? Or to which the area it was/is distributed? Who is the basis of this information? how/where are we to find out more?
This is exactly why I started a petition on the care2 website. The USDA is planning to remove USDA poltry inspectors from ever poultry plant in the country. If this happens the poultry industry will be left to monitor and regulate itself. Please log onto the link below to read the newspaper article attached and then sign the petition. There will be a congressional hearing on the USDA’s plans on tomorrow, 3/8/2012.
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/4/keep-our-chicken-safe/
I have seen this posting on craigslist and other sites. Have autopsies been performed on the deceased dogs? The food has not been recalled,and so many factors can contribute to sickness and death other than food, it would be important to find out exactly what caused it. Let us know.
I have been researching this some more. A lot of people are seeing this same email, but there are no other incidents. http://able2know.org/topic/185647-1 all claim they think it is a hoax. Keep me updated if anyone has some solid facts about the issue please.
go to Snopes.com and search for Kirkland dog food, it will come back as a “dated” item from 2006. Please look at that site as there are a list of foods in 2006 that were contaminated.
We are located in Huntington Beach CA. One can was fed between 6 dogs, the two that died got the bulk of it. None of the kennel dogs have died, just very bad diarrhea. The Vet is the one that alerted me to the possibility it was enviromental. I contacted the company (wrong company) when the dogs first got sick in Jan, like what is written. I then contacted Costco, and then the manufacturer, American Nutrition contacted me. I told them I was working on getting together my documentation and would contact them when complete. I filed a report with the FDA on Feb. 20th, dogs were deceased Feb. 6 and 13. I put this information on the internet to warn others, stating it is not verified as of yet. The testing takes time for each toxin. I have received over 400 emails from others with dogs that have experienced symptoms, and some deceased. We are in the midst of collecting all the necessary documentation. These people have informed us that they have filed reports with Costco, American Nutrition, and the FDA. So far we are getting emails with cans that have dates in June,Aug.,Oct., Nov. and Dec. 2013 exp. that are showing side affects.
Thank you for commenting and sharing your story Renee!
Hmmmm. Maybe it is a recurring problem? Thank you for the tip.
Thank you Natasha for the link!
Tayte, we have not erased any posts intentionally. We get so much aggravating spam on the blog that we might have trashed it by mistake, and if so, please accept apologies. The spam is truly offensive and hard to look at. Please repost.
We are getting interesting comments on this post. Keep an open mind!
I took our pug off of Kirkland wet food at the end of January/beginning of February because he began throwing up multiple times every day. He’d been on the food for about a year with no issue. Once I took him off he stopped throwing up, but then I discovered he’s managed to get into the cat box so I thought that was why he was throwing up – not the dog food. I still had the wet food so I went back to feeding him the Kirkland and he immediately started his vomiting pattern again. We live in Michigan, I see the best buy date is November 29, 2013, but am not sure where to find the lot number, though 332A1220 is printed on the side of the cardboard tray holding the cans. I do appreciate the price of the product and the dog enjoyed eating it, would be nice to hear this is nothing more than a batch issue, albeit devastating for those who have lost dogs or had them suffer from major consequences.
I’ve fed this food for several years. I’ve never had problem one. I would however appreciated being kept informed if that’s possible.
Kirkland dry puppy food seems to be our issue in Canada. (Ontario)
I threw the bag out already as I store the food in a sealed bin.
Our puppy has been on this food for several months no issue.
Then she started vomiting and stopped eating. Took her to the vet and she was on a medication. Fed her wet food during this time for the little bits she would eat.
Started adding high protein dry food with wet food until she was feeling well.
Now we have been slowly adding kirkland food to the high protein dry food.
She has now started vomiting again and lost her appetite.
Hope to god this is just a coincidence and not a recall that should be happening now.
Kirland Lamb and Rice dry food was the problem for all of my dogs as of Feb. 2012. They were all lethargic and slowly stopped eating.
Since all of my dogs have been on Kirkland’s dry food for over 7 yrs I never suspected the food.
Well I just had to put the 8 yr old down last Mon. He stopped eating anything and went donwhill fast. As of the middle of Feb., I stopped feeding the food. It has taken a month for their stools to look normal even after changing the food.
Talked to KIrkland and Costco. They’re investigating but not holding my breath. I think the Lamb was bad, but getting them to admit it will be tough.
My suggestion, don’t feed any food from Diamond right now. If you look up Diamond Dog Food, you can get a list of all the food they manufacture.
Just heard about this today.. will be watching for updates. I’ve been feeding my dog Kirland dry and Kirkland canned for a few years.. No problems thus far. I checked the cans I currently have, and they are dated Dec 2013.. I will stop feeding it, until I hear more.
This IS from a real person who has lost two dogs. Why do people not get this is how a recall begins. It doesn’t happen overnight, and has to be tested from various people who experienced problems. In fact, food dated with Dec 2013, are still being widely distributed. If something is wrong with a particular run, we’ll hear more soon. In the mean time, all you have to do is follow the names here, GOOGLE a few things people, the person is real, and a friend of mine has met with them.
Both the Kirkland Chicken and Rice and the Lamb and Rice are no longer available on the East coast as of last week. Not on the shelf in any stores from NY to VA. I had them search trying to find it, as our dog likes it.
I just bought this at Costco this past weekend and fed my doberman this for a day…I gave him half in the morning and half at night. The next day he was okay, but the day after that OMG my poor dog. He had diarrhea when I walked him, and the next day maybe 2x, but the third day our backyard had 5 diarhea droppings. He must have been feeling really sick, because even his blanket ended up in the backyard. He also dug up a lot of dirt, which he does when he doesn’t feel good. I told my boyfriend to return it…..
And Jane I am sorry for your loss……I can’t even imagine
Has anyone experienced these similar patterns from the chicken and rice kirkland bagged food or just the lamb canned? My Mastiff loves the Kirkland food but I will say, he stopped eating one of the chicken and rice bags that we got at the end of last year. When we opened up another bag we had for him, he ate that no problem. Makes me wonder if that bag was contaminated and my dog is pretty damn smart to know there was something wrong with it. I started weening Petey onto a new brand earlier this week because of the concerns I read here with Kirklands food but he doesnt seem to like it as much so I go back and forth about continuing with Kirkland Chicken and Vegetables bagged food or making him get used to the new food to be on the safe side. What has everyone been doing with the kind of food they are giving their dogs now?
BTW—any results from testing the potentially contaminated food??
Thanks
I hope you all have seen that Diamond has recalled their Lamb and Rice bagged. Oh, and none of my pets died, it was the author of the original email who lost two dogs. I simply was verifying the story
is real, a friend of mine met with the owner whose dogs died. http://www.examiner.com/dog-health-in-rochester/diamond-pet-foods-voluntarily-recalls-lamb-meal-rice-dry-dog-food
Kirkland is made by Diamond.
Kirkland dry food is made by Diamond, and is currently on recall for salmonella. Kirkland canned dog food is made by American Nutrition and has not been recalled as of yet. But both seem to be causing issues. My experience was with the canned Kirkland Lamb and rice exp. 2013. My two dogs passed away on Feb.6 and Feb.13, after ingestion. Filed report with FDA on Feb.20th…still no response.
On http://www.costco.ca they list the recalled products, no Kirkland dog food is listed. Is this a rumor has this been confirmed? I have a new 10 week old Lab and he was on Pro Plan but I was going to start switching him to Kirkland puppy chicken, rice and veg so added a few scopes of the kirkland to his bag of proplan a few days ago.
http://www.costco.ca/Service/FeaturePageLeftNav.aspx?ProductNo=10045085
Got me terrified.
Should I chuck the whole bag and feed only Purina from a new bag?
Why take chances, Alan? A puppy? They are more susceptible to illness than adults. Be conservative and stick with what you feel certain about.
I can’t believe that I just found this. I HAD a boxer named Trixie who was a beautiful Boxer rescue that we loved. We moved and she jumped in the car to go and within 7 days of our move she died. I have racked my brain about this, did they spray the yard, was it the fountain…
She was so thirsty in the end and her stomach was so full of water and then she just went too fast to help her. Yet here we go, she ate both the wet and dry Costco Kirkland poultry with rice ONLY! This is because she was intolerant of any corn fillers. Ironic that I fed her what killed her due to allergy’s! I actually upon death didn’t know why but did throw away her food in the end even the can’s.
This is HORRIBLE to now find and without the evidence to finally get a recall issued to help others out!!!! UHGGG I AM SOOOOO MAD!!!
I am so very very sorry for your loss of your Trixie! I’m glad you didn’t send the left over food to a shelter though. Spread the word Kathy.