Chicken jerky treats linked to mystery illnesses, deaths in dogs

MSNBC ^ | November 21, 2011 | JoNel Aleccia

[khnyny]

Chicken jerky treats may be to blame for dozens of new reports of mysterious illnesses and some deaths in dogs, prompting a renewed warning for pet owners by the Food and Drug Administration.

At least 70 dogs have been sickened so far this year after reportedly eating chicken jerky products imported from China, FDA officials said. That’s up from 54 reports of illness in 2010. Some of the dogs have died, according to the anecdotal reports from pet owners and veterinarians.

FDA officials say they have not been able to find a cause for the illnesses. Extensive chemical and microbiological testing has failed to turn up a specific contaminant and officials did not identify a specific brand of treats. They note that the reports of illness have not conclusively been tied to chicken jerky products, also sold as chicken tenders, chicken strips or chicken treats.

The new warning follows previous FDA cautions about chicken jerky treats in 2007 and 2008. But after a high of 156 reports of illness in 2007, the number of complaints dropped. Now, it's rising again.

Dog owners and vets are reporting that animals may be stricken with a range of illnesses within days or hours of eating chicken jerky, including kidney failure and Fanconi syndrome, a condition characterized by low glucose.

[VaRepublican]

my waggin train package says made in china at bottom under bar code, our dog has developed a of lip apralysis.HMMMMMMM

[redhead]

Dogs eat rank meat with gusto. They eat whole bones. They eat poop, and I’ve never seen one of my dogs eat this stuff and get sick from it. If there is something in the chicken meat that is making them sicken and die, it is an introduced chemical or compound they are unable to process.

[VaRepublican]

man, hate to think I have been poisoning my dog, his dry is eukanuba. It says USA.

[stylecouncilor]

You guys are right! Made in China argh!! I thought I was being careful, back to the drawing board.

[Nik Naym]

“My dog gets human jerky...”

That doesn’t happen to be “Donner Party” brand jerky made in Colorado does it?

LOL

[lula]

Thanks for the thread. I had two products, one is Milo's Kitchen and the other Shep made for Aldi. Both made in China and are going in the trash. I have two Poms and give them tiny pieces every time they come in from outside. I thought I was doing good by them not feeding them processed treats.

[Tunehead54]

We’ve been getting “Waggin’ Train Jerky Tenders” (Chicken) - Made In China (MIC) for about 6 months.

Normally my wife covers the labels - no by-products, made in USA but I think someone said “my dog loves these” in the store so she got a bag.

When I saw MIC I called the company to ask about controls because they’re supposedly all natural, no preservatives, no by-products, no fillers, no grain, no polypropylene glycol, no potassium sorbate, no titanium dioxide (what?), no phosphoric acid, no potassium chloride or artificial preservatives.

The listed ingredients are Chicken breast, vegetable glycerin and natural flavor.

The rep for the company said they monitored and tested at every stage and was aware that one bad report could put them out of business.

Now pay attention:

First, these jerky strips are hard and stiff. I have an Aussie and she loves them but I break them up into very small strips and hand feed her (and the cat shows up too). If I give her a big piece it just disappears without a chew.

The “destructions” say you might want to moisten the pieces in hot water to soften them and piece them out. I can see where a big strip being “wolfed down” could injure the dog’s throat.

Second: There are other brands - I checked with this company and feel relatively reassured and our pup and cat show no problems. As always with China if something sells someone will try to make it cheaper, cut corners, etc. - you know the drill.

All I can say is I checked, was reassured, the pets are fine and if a bag rattles I’ve got company. They actually look pretty good - I’ll post if I try one. ;-)

[simplesimon]

What a gorgeous ole boy. God Speed Mason. God speed.

I’m such a sucker for those grey faces.

My old girl ( gulp ) will be 11 in April and while she’s slowed down a weensy bit, she’s getting a LOT of grey hairs on her face.

Cute Kitteh too ~

[DollyCali]

I was really hoping you would have him at the shoot & TheMom told me he had died. felt badly. I used to like to watch Flyer's cam of him. whenever I checked in he was usually sleeping. Hoped to meet him & give him a hug. Josy however would have probably beat him up & Toby cuddled him.

I just posted a link on rating various dog foods. My German shep is on a special diet == grain-free due to health issues.

HERE IS THE LINK for those who want to check out their dog foods. Joe if you want to start a sep thread for it, be my guest. It is worth the time I think to check out.

[simplesimon]

Thanks for that link.

One of my friends has a Lab with very serious skin issues that she’s spent literally several thousands for and really no results so I sent her this link.

[greyhoundlady]

Sorry, they’re not. Read the label carefully. I was so excited to think they were made right here in Anderson (where we are) but sadly, they’re Chinese too.

[fedupinhouston]

My lab mix Scooter is in the animal hospital as we speak on iv fluids. We just discovered that he was a victim of the chicken jerky treats found in Waggin Train treats. This company has been informed of these problems apparently after reading several reports on the internet tonight. I cannot believe they are still selling this product. Scooter has 105 temp and his kidneys and pancreas are failing. We pray that he will survive and be back with us. I cannot believe we could have avoided this tragic event. This is criminal.

[OneLoyalAmerican]

Greetings Shannon:

Thank you for that handy link. Seems the dry food brand our local livestock feed store carries is not rated very well. But it’s all our livestock guard dogs have ever eaten. Besides stray chickens. And slow geese.

Cheers,
OLA

[goat granny]

Come to think of it, that was its name....:O) LOL She found it quite tasty. So do my son’s when they come for a visit..I just tell them its something I picked out at a lttle hole in the wall deli in Colorado...

[dragnet2]

Oh silly yankee...haha...you like poon jab doggy yum yums...make you proud, make you doggie happy...haha....You go shop now yankee...Pickup doggie yum yums...enjoy!

[Salamander]

One of my rescue dogs was an abused/neglected runt of the litter and has always had a compromised immune system due to that.

She suffers from break-outs of demodectic mange as a result.
[all dogs “have mange” but stress/diet/seasonal changes/no apparent reason can cause it to overwhelm their immune system and actively manifest...it’s *not* the contagious kind of mange]

We spent thousands on her over a 3 month span for expensive oral meds, medicated shampoos and ointments but got no results at *all*.

In fact, she got even worse.

I found it by accident and three days of that stuff and she looked like new.

One “testimony” said that their dog’s hair grew back over night.

I thought “Yeah. *Right*” but God’s truth, my dog had peach fuzz the next morning on her bare spot.

I’ve never seen anything like that cream and I keep spare tubes of it on hand at all times.

Oddly enough, it’s a simple sulfur based cream like my gramma made out of sulfa blouses on the farm.

The old ways are often the better ways, I reckon.

[Shannon]

Your welcome. Taste of the Wild is my favorite brand; grain free and very reasonably priced. They don’t advertise so the costs stays down.

[simplesimon]

Holy Toldeo Batman~ That really was a miracle for your pupster.

Oddly enough, my friends Lab is a rescue. A sweet beautiful rescue that she adopted from the Lab rescue she volunteered for.

And someone else that I know, has a cocker spaniel that has hardly any hair and the skin where the hair/fur used to be is seriously like elephant skin. No one can figure what’s going on with that dog but she’s not in any pain, is not miserable except with spring /summer allergies ( Benedryl helps with that ) so maybe I’ll mention this stuff to them.

A lady that has one of my pups went right to the vet dermatologist to see what his problem was, instead of going to the general practitioner vet she’s used for over 20 years because all they do is the process of elimination ( cut corn out of diet , give bath in tea tree shampoo etc etc ) not to mention hundreds or thousands of $.

That 500 bucks at the derm immediately gave diagnosis.... allergy to DUST MITES ~
As soon as they did a few things around the house, and bought some de-humiditizers ( spelling ?? ), the dog after 2 years has never been bothered again by it. Basically outgrew it.

Any time I hear of a dog that has “allergies” , I immediately advise people to get to a vet derm to go straight for the “heart” of the matter instead of fooling around with their general vet practitioner.

I mean why not go to one or two appts to a vet derm and get it right straight the first ( or 2nd ) time, versus repeated expensive “maybe” treatments at reg. vet......

Have a great day FRiend ~ May you be Blessed many many times ~

[simplesimon]

Welcome to FR .....

Prayers up for Scooter. May he be home and healed in no time.

Have the vets who are working on Scooter call this company. Seriously.

If they have solid “proof” that this is the cause of Scooters illness, then the company should be paying his vet bill IMNSHO.

[Silentgypsy]

Alton Brown on the Food Network did a program on homemade jerky that involved a fan, air conditioner filters and some other stuff. His methods usually turn out a good product.