Potential Warning to TOTW Feeders

nikelodeon79 · 10-06-2009, 04:06 PM

Awhile back a few of the dog forums I'm a member of had members popping up with issues with TOTW Pacific Stream formula. Recently, a person on another dog forum I'm a member of had problems, and has given me permission to crosspost to warn about another (or perhaps the same) potential issue:

Quote:

Sunday night, last call, all the dogs came in for bed and Beta started vomitting. Now, there is nothing more pathetic than a sick Silken Windhound--except two sick SWs. Lola started puking. Then Odin, then Iris, then Calla.... That's five out of seven dogs.

After a major clean up and a trip around the dog yard with a flashlight to make sure they hadn't eaten a squirrel or some other unsuspecting intruder, I had no answers as to why they were all sick. No one had a temperature and after the initial nausea, they all acted reasonably normal. At about 2:00 a.m. I offered them some water and we all settled down for the night--no more incidents.

Monday morning, they were bright and chipper and obviously hungry. So I fed them and they all ate ravenously. I had run out of tripe, so they got kibble, same thing they had for dinner Sunday night. I kept them all in so I could watch them and about an hour later, I had six vomitting dogs. Now, Jules had smelled his food and decided he didn't want it and he was the only one not sick.

So a light bulb goes off--it's gotta be the food. Nothing else has changed, it's not viral or bacterial since everyone got sick within minutes of each other and once they all vomit up all the food they were fine, except for Calla and McCaffee who did not vomit the first night and ended up with diarhea yesterday, as well.

On Saturday I opened a new bag of TOTW Pacific Stream with an August 2010 date code. The company declared that the only bad bags on the recall that happened a couple of months ago were with a July 2010 date code, but there is no other reason for these guys to be sick--all at once.

Yesterday I bought Timberwolf and fed handfuls of kibble throughout the afternoon and they had a little raw green tripe for dinner and no vomitting. This morning they are all fine, ate well and are hanging around looking for chicken feet treats.

I waited to post this because I wanted to be sure that once I stopped giving them the TOTW there was no vomitting--and there wasn't. I'll send the company an email today.

PLEASE--if you are feeding TOTW Pacific Stream be on the lookout for this. I won't feed Diamond products anymore and will have to figure out something else to use in my kibble rotation.

She emailed TOTW and received an auto response that her message had been sent to a staff veterinarian and she would receive a response within two business days. It is interesting to me that they have an auto-response... perhaps they are getting a lot of complaints. Their veterinarian (who is paid to say exactly what they want him/her to say) will likely come to the conclusion that the food was not the issue.

I have had an uneasy feeling about TOTW ever since the "voluntary" recall. I have had the feeling that they desperately trying to downplay the issue and cover it up. TOTW has done a very good job trying to distance themselves from the Diamond brand (the only way I knew they were affiliated was that someone once mentioned it, and I compared the addresses of the two companies and found them to be one and the same). I think they were frantic to not sully their "new" name, so they simply tried to sweep the problem under the rug.

I have some TOTW left over from when I used to feed kibble, but it will be going straight in the garbage. I don't have the bag so I can't check the date, but that doesn't seem to matter anyway, since they are not telling the truth about which dates may be affected.

MissMutt · 10-06-2009, 04:14 PM

Reading this kind of stuff really is a bummer for me, because my dog is doing SO well on a combination of TOTW Wetlands and Merrick. Her poop hasn't looked this nice in a whole year.. so I don't really know what to do.

nikelodeon79 · 10-06-2009, 05:24 PM

As far as I know, I haven't heard any complaints about the Wetlands, so you may be okay....

My canine nutritionist recommends Acana and Fromm a lot... if you do decide you'd like to try something different.

nekomi · 10-06-2009, 05:25 PM

Oh geez... I hadn't even heard about the recall. All of my guys are on TOTW Prairie. Was that part of the recall too? Does anyone have any links for information regarding the voluntary recall, when it took place, what flavors it included, etc.?

nikelodeon79 · 10-06-2009, 05:35 PM

As far as I know, the recall was sort of a word of mouth kind of thing, only told to those people who actually complained or called with concerns. TOTW stated that "an alternate protein source may have" been added to the Pacific Stream formula, but stated only the bags with an expiration of July 2010 were affected, and only the Pacific Stream formula and none of the others. Everything was garnered from online forums and emails members posted that came from TOTW/Diamond. I do not know how reliable all of the information was, but I do know that people that I know personally did call TOTW when their dogs got sick off of the food and were told about the potential issue with the Pacific Stream formula. Common issues included diarrhea, vomiting, and flat out refusing to eat the food.

Several members of other forums reported issues with Pacific Stream at that time, but then I hadn't heard anything again until now.

Personally, I tried feeding my cats the TOTW cat food (which incidently also uses many of the same protein sources as the Pacific Stream dog formula) and they vomited on a daily basis so I switched away from it. Not sure if they just couldn't tolerate it or if I had a bad bag. They are eating Wellness Core now with zero issues.

Hallie · 10-06-2009, 05:48 PM

Ugh!!! I've spent too long out of the dog food circuit, I bought a brand new bag of TOTW Pacific stream the other day

It's still unopened. and I'm receiptless.

nico8 · 10-06-2009, 07:45 PM

THE SAME EXACT THING HAPPENED TO MY DOG. I posted a warning a week or two ago on a thread about TOTW .

I had my dog on the Wetlands for about 2 weeks but she wasn't crazy about it(rarely ate and when she did it wasn't nearly as much as she usually eats) so I picked up a bag of the HP to see if she liked that more. By the second day she wouldn't eat anything at all and by the third she was vomiting 3-5 times a day and had horrible diarrhea all over my house(has never happened before or since).

I've switched foods maybe 5 times in the past 6 months and haven't had ANY reactions anywhere near this. I've never seen my dog that sick and as soon as I switched her to Evo everything cleared up within a day or two.I've since changed to Solid Gold and she has yet to have any bad reaction to the switch.

Maybe this is an isolated incident but I won't chance feeding my dog TOTW ever again...even if it means spending a little more $ than I'd like to.

pugmom · 10-06-2009, 07:52 PM

I love TOTW.... 2 of my guys have been on HP for over a year with no problems at all......they look great , less gas, poo normal

I'm going to dig around a bit and see if I find anything....otherwise my guys are staying on it.....they did horrible on Wellness...except for my pug who is on the weight control formula

Inga · 10-06-2009, 08:52 PM

My dogs also eat TOTW and are not having any issues. Granted Oliver has a torn ACL but I don't think I can blame that on the food.

Keechak · 10-06-2009, 10:10 PM

Hawkeye is doing great on his TOTW Wetlands.

Dog_Shrink · 10-06-2009, 11:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hallie

Ugh!!! I've spent too long out of the dog food circuit, I bought a brand new bag of TOTW Pacific stream the other day

It's still unopened. and I'm receiptless.

You shouldn't need you recipt if it is a volunary recall they should replace it regardless if you have the recipt or not as long as it's going back to the store you got it from. Worse come to worse take the store credit and get something else.

railNtrailcowgrl · 10-07-2009, 12:31 AM

Mine's doing well on TOTW too. Wellness is not an option as she didn't do well on it and there are no other GF foods in my area.

Darkmoon · 10-07-2009, 11:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nikelodeon79

She emailed TOTW and received an auto response that her message had been sent to a staff veterinarian and she would receive a response within two business days. It is interesting to me that they have an auto-response... perhaps they are getting a lot of complaints. Their veterinarian (who is paid to say exactly what they want him/her to say) will likely come to the conclusion that the food was not the issue.

Actually Most places have an auto response system. It's normal. They use it to tell you that they received your email and will get back with you as soon as they can.

I just switched to TOTW HP and I'm very very pleased with it. Nubs is having the best BM's I've seen ever. I didn't think he's ever have normal BMs.

If there is an honest issue, I believe they will take care of it. it takes time to investigate. I would stop feeding them the TOTW Wetlands and see if you can find a few older bags until things straighten out.

nikelodeon79 · 10-07-2009, 12:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Darkmoon

Actually Most places have an auto response system. It's normal. They use it to tell you that they received your email and will get back with you as soon as they can.

Actually, what concerned me was that other people reported getting no response, despite initially receiving the auto response. Fortunately, the person who posted the story I crossposted above did receive a response from the staff veterinarians. They asked how her dogs are and also asked for the numbers off the bag. She will be receiving a refund.

Quote:

If there is an honest issue, I believe they will take care of it. it takes time to investigate. I would stop feeding them the TOTW Wetlands and see if you can find a few older bags until things straighten out.

I am not personally feeding TOTW or any other kibble, for that matter. I do not begrudge anyone who feeds a high quality kibble, however. I simply was posting this potential warning to TOTW feeders, in case their dogs are showing or start to show similar symptoms, so they can consider the food as a possibility to the illness. I am not trying to get people to stop feeding TOTW, and I do understand that the ratio of those who have had problems to those who have not is relatively small.

Darkmoon · 10-07-2009, 12:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nikelodeon79

Actually, what concerned me was that other people reported getting no response, despite initially receiving the auto response. Fortunately, the person who posted the story I crossposted above did receive a response from the staff veterinarians. They asked how her dogs are and also asked for the numbers off the bag. She will be receiving a refund.

If the person would have read the email they sent to her in the auto response
she wouldn't have had to wait...

Quote:

Your question or comment has been submitted to our Quality Control Manager. You will receive a reply within 2 business days. If this is an urgent matter, please call our toll free customer support line at (800) 977-8797.

Thank you for your inquiry

So please don't get snippy at me. I wrote TOTW prior to The first post I made on an totally different matter and that is the reply I received. That's how I knew the answer to the question.

As for your second quote, it wasn't directed at you it was directed at everyone in general. Don't take things so personally. Not everyone has the time to feed Raw. I would love to, but I honestly do not have the time currently. If this was an issue for me, I'd be looking for an older bag of food and using that to switch or to hold over until newer batches came out.

PappyMom · 10-07-2009, 12:30 PM

Mine are on TOTW Prarie, and love it. Their coats are fantastic, BM's are perfect..etc..Is it just the pacific stream line?

nikelodeon79 · 10-07-2009, 01:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Darkmoon

If the person would have read the email they sent to her in the auto response
she wouldn't have had to wait...

That is not the auto response she got.

Quote:

So please don't get snippy at me. I wrote TOTW prior to The first post I made on an totally different matter and that is the reply I received. That's how I knew the answer to the question.

Hmm... I don't understand where you feel I was "snippy" with you but I certainly wasn't upset over anything. I was merely explaining what my concerns were regarding the auto-response, that's all.

Quote:

As for your second quote, it wasn't directed at you it was directed at everyone in general. Don't take things so personally.

Your use of the word "you" made me believe the response was directed at me, considering you had quoted one of my posts in your response as well. I don't understand why it was such an issue that I chose to respond personally?? It isn't as if your comment had offended me or anything, so how can taking it personally be any issue whatsoever?

Quote:

Not everyone has the time to feed Raw. I would love to, but I honestly do not have the time currently.

If you read my prior post, you will see where I stated that I have no issue with people who feed kibble. I don't consider myself superior or my dogs better cared for because of it, though I have encountered this attitude in many rawfeeders. It is simply a choice I made, because my dogs personally did not do well on any kibble I tried. Other people's dogs do perfectly well on kibble and that's fantastic, and they should continue to do what works well for them (and this includes feeding TOTW).

If I had barged in here and said something like, "TOTW sucks! This is why everyone should feed raw!" I can see where people would get defensive and think I was getting "snippy."

I very rarely post on this forum because so many things seem to turn into a giant rip roaring fight. I only wanted to post this potential warning because it is a large community. I cannot believe that a simple warning meant to give those people a heads up who may be feeding the food and having similar issues has ruffled some feathers.

nico8 · 10-07-2009, 03:33 PM

I've read this thread 3 times now and have yet to find where Nikelodeon was being snippy or rude in any way. I feed kibble and took absolutely no offense to what was said. Let's all take a deep breath and remember that this is a place for exchanging ideas and information...not bickering.

Thanks again for the heads-up post Nik.

Hallie · 10-08-2009, 12:16 PM

So it's just a change in the food that dogs are getting sick from? It's not from the food actually being contaminated right? Because I still have the unopened bag, Hallie hasn't had this food in awhile so if it's just a change in the formula it should make her sick. She has a stomach of still and I'm sure she'll be fine if it's just a protein source change. She really likes it and I wanted to put more fish her her diet so hopefully I can still feed it.

nikelodeon79 · 10-08-2009, 01:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hallie

So it's just a change in the food that dogs are getting sick from? It's not from the food actually being contaminated right?

Well... it's hard to say. The company will not respond when asked directly, "What alternate protein source?" Protein comes from a wide variety of things... so there is a number of things that it could be. You would think if it was something "normal" they would identify the source, but they will not do so. My guess is that it's some sort of contaminant that they are labeling an "alternate protein source."

Some of the symptoms are fairly extreme to be just an upset tummy from a food change. My dogs have changed food plenty of time but haven't gotten anything more severe than loose stool. Symptoms include vomiting, diarrhea, loose stool, and a refusal to eat the food. Symptoms usually begin soon after the food is ingested and subside after the food has worked its way out of the dogs' system.