Kirkland dog food recall?
Added May 4, 2012: No more speculating…there has been an official recall announced of Kirkland Dog foods as well as a number of other foods made at the Diamond plant. As of this evening, Costco has started to robo-call people who have purchased the recalled food and is recommending that you return the food. I have written a complete article to explain more details about the recall which you can read here:
Huge expansion of the Diamond Recall
Added May 5, 2012: Many of you have asked if you can return your food to Costco if you have thrown out the bag. Some readers have informed me that you can take the food back even without the bag. Because it was purchased at Costco, they can look back in your account and see that you have purchased the food.
Original Article starts here:
I recently wrote about a voluntary recall on Diamond Naturals Lamb and Rice Food because of possible salmonella contamination. This recall has prompted fears about the safety of many other foods that are also manufactured by Diamond.
On the Ask A Vet Question Facebook Page, I had some users ask me if the recall also affected other brands that are manufactured by Diamond. Diamond Pet Food also manufactures the following foods:
- Kirkland Dog Food (sold at Costco)
- Taste of the Wild
- Canidae
- Solid Gold Health Products for Pets
- Dick Van Patten’s Natural Balance Pet Foods
- Chicken Soup for the Pet Lover’s Soul
- 4Health
- NutraGold
Is there a problem?
My first response, when I was questioned about this was to say that there was nothing to worry about. Diamond was quite specific in stating that there were only 5 lots of food that they felt were potentially contaminated.
So, why am I writing this article? There is currently a lot of rumor circulating around the internet saying that there is a recall on Kirkland Dog Food sold at Costco. There is no official recall. Correction – there now has been a recall (see here Many people, however, are claiming that the food has made their dogs sick.
One of the main goals of my site is to tell the truth in the place of internet rumors. As a vet, I get really frustrated when my clients come to me with information that they got off the internet. Just because it is on a website, it doesn’t mean that it is true!
So, I am asking for your help! I would like to hear of your stories of potential problems with Kirkland Dog Food. It’s not enough, though, to have a few people say, “I feed Kirkland food and last week my dog had diarrhea.” But, if we have enough people who have seen the same symptoms, it may give us enough evidence to know that there is a problem. We are seeing the same thing happen with my article on Chicken Jerky Problems. When I initially started to get comments on that article I didn’t think there was enough evidence to say that there was a serious problem. However, patterns started to emerge that showed that a large number of dogs who had eaten chicken jerky manufactured in China were getting an increase in thirst and urination as well as serious gastrointestinal issues. There are over 550 comments on that article from concerned pet owners. The FDA is paying attention and working hard to find the culprit!
Do you feed Kirkland Dog Food?
If you feed Kirkland Dog food, please leave a comment below, and let us know if your dog has shown any sign of illness. If yes, please tell us what variety your dog eats and also what symptoms he or she had. And, even if your dog is not sick, please let us know what type of Kirkland food you buy. That way, if there is a problem, the pattern should soon emerge!
Thank you for helping! And please, share this on Facebook. The more people we can get to take part in this, the better!
Dr. Marie.
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- Diamond Naturals Lamb and Rice Recall
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- Wellness Small Breed Adult Food Recall
- Recall on Natural Balance Dog Foods
- Recall on Canidae dog foods.
About the author
Dr. Marie is a veterinarian treating dogs, cats, and pocket pets. Click here to ask Dr. Marie a question.
466 Responses to "Kirkland dog food recall?"
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Thank you Dr. Marie!! You are the best. I shared it on FB, Twitter and I’ll re-post your plea on Poisoned Pets. I also this with Susan Thixton as well. She will be thrilled.
Hello, In responce to your question:
I feed the following foods FROM COSTCO!
I do the following mix
2 bags of Natures Domain Turkey= RED BAG 33. lbs each
1 bag of the Natures Domain Salmon = BLUE BAG 33 lbs
1 Bag Kirkland Chicken and Rice = Green Bag 40 pounds
1 bag Kirkland Lamb and Rice = Purple bag 40 pounds
SO basically I mix 179 pounds of food in a huge bin I have.. I put 1 cup crock potted Chicken in the bottom of a large mixing bowel and add 10 cups of food warm water and feed each doberman 2 cups twice a day.. They look amazing and they seem to have a small amopunt of poop per dog oper day..
I hope this helps answer any questions.
Please check out my web site and see them for your self..
Thank you
Janet
I have 8 dogs from 2 years to 13 years of age on Kirkland Chicken and Rice dry food, and none are experiencing any problems. I am in Canada so not sure if the food is made in the same plant.
i feed my two german shepherds kirkland lamb from costco. they have been on it now for approximately 5-6 months and both have been fine until recently. my 6yr old still seems to be ok however my 7 month old has been haveing diareah lately. i am in n.y. and the costco i purchase from is in the town holbrook i believe.
Costco kirkland food almost killed my dog……….please if your dog shows any sign of sickness take them off any food they are on…..I thank god did right away !
I started feeding Kirkland Adult Chicken Rice & Vegetable due only to recent financial trouble. I compared the ingredients and they were practically identical to Wellness Chicken, which I have used for years. The Shepherd & Shih Tsu were fine but after one full coarse of Kirkland (I slowly switched them over the coarse of a week), the Bassett -Beagle mix got deathly sick. She was vomittin g and so lethargic, she couldn’t get up for hours at a time. We had to carry her up and down the stairs and she also lost weight. She also had diarrhea and an increased thirst and would not even take a favorite treat. Needless to say, she’s back on Wellness and she’s
I was feeding my dog Cooper, a 6 year old pit bull, Kirkland Chicken formula. I just bought a new bag of this food 4-12-12, Cooper got very ill and I took him to the emergency vet on 4-19-12. He was vomiting, he stopped eating, very weak. They diagnosed him with IMHA (anemia) and Pancreatis. The vets are so confused because he had many things going on. My dog was always healthy never sick. I had to make the decision of putting him down on 4-24-12. The hardest decision I have ever made. I made a claim with Costco and Kirkland. I also talked to Dr. Berkshire at Kirkland/Diamond and she assured me that the food is tested. But why are there recalls? This food needs to be off the market.
Our dog Cooper, a border collie, was lethargic on Sunday. He wouldn’t eat on Monday. We took him into th vet on Tuesday morning. Blood tests and ultrasound showed it was pancreatitis. His liver enzymes were way out of wack. The vet said it as like trying to stop a wildfire. He also started having neurological “events”. He died on Wednesday, the very next day. He had been healthy until this attack. I just got the phone call about the recall from Costco today, 3 days after his death. We have 2 other dogs who ate food from the same bag. We obviously will no longer feed them this food. They do not show any signs of illness. Is it possible for one dog to get gravely ill while the other two are fine even though they ate from the same bag of food? (i.e. is it possible that only a few pieces of kibble were infected and that it was like Russian roulette?)
I agree, there was something very, very wrong with the last bag of Kirkland dog food I bought, my dog a beautiful German Shepheard who had been very healthy and active his whole life suddenly started having seizures, very lethargic, going blind and deaf… all in a matter of two – three months??
I can assure you it was not genetic because he came from the top Shepheard breeder in Canada, and his father lived to be quite old and won dozens of titles. We took him to the vet multiple times and had absolutely everything checked, but there was nothing found, except after that last bag of Kirkland Lamb and Rice formula he just kept having seizures… he died just a few hours ago!!!
Thank you Costco, for outsourcing your dog food label to China, they send us baby formula tainted with melamine, they don’t care about what they’re giving to our babies, you think their going to give a shit about our dogs!!
In my lifetime I’ve probably spent a hundred or more thousand in your stores, I use to think the Kirkland brand was amazing… I will never set foot in one of your stores again, you can kiss my business goodbye forever, just like our family pet. How the fuck am I suppose to explain this to my kids?
Here is an update to our original post below. A lot of information, but hopefully it helps others.
Our 4 year old Terrier Mix has eaten Kirkland Chicken, Rice, and Vegetable for almost 2 years with no problems. We just purchased a new bag a couple weeks ago, soon after she started to not be herself. When we would take her outside she would just sit in the yard and look around instead of playing and running. A week ago Wednesday, she started to become very lethargic and we knew something was wrong. We took her immediately to the vet. The vet said she was very sick and needed to keep her there to monitor her. We would bring her home a nights and waited for the sickness to pass. Unfortunately on Friday night she got worse. I woke up at 3am and layed down with her. About 4am she started to have severe seizures. We immediately rushed her to our 24 hour Animal Hospital. By the time we got there she was almost gone, minutes later she died at the Hospital. This does not make sense for an absolutely HEALTHY dog that was the joy of our family to losing her to something like this.
We have all the tests back from the many that were performed by the vet. All blood, x-rays, samples, etc came back that she was a healthy and there is no sign of a physical defect or indication of why she should have died. I have already contacted the FDA, Diamond, and Costco so with the help from my vet we are working with them in trying to resolve this.
We are trying to strictly work on facts and try to determine what exactly the issue is. Clearly we are not trying to spread rumors saying the food was for sure the cause, but since the death occurred after starting a new bag and all the medical tests show no indication of other cause, the food is highly suspect.
Here are the symptoms we encountered: BEGINNING DAYS-started by moving slower, not wanting to play, eating grass NEXT 2 DAYS- became very lethargic, fever, labored breathing, not eating or drinking, Vets administered medicine and IV’s and ran many tests LAST NIGHT- Very Lethargic, laying with legs straight locked, can’t walk or falling over, LAST 2 HOURS-head would turn backwards locking, appeared to be going blind by not seeing us and eyes were unresponsive, then very severe seizures.
I read articles like these before I started to buy Kirkland/Diamond dog food, but TRUSTED that no one would ever sell something that would cause this much loss. I will never trust these companies again after loosing the greatest dog our family ever had. We wish we would have read this information several weeks ago and it may have been a different outcome. If you are still feeding your dog this food, I was just like you a week ago thinking it would never happen to us… now we are trying to deal with the tragic loss of our family pet.
I am so sorry, I know what you are going through, I lost my healthy best friend to another brand Natural Balance, although the formula that he was on has not been recalled, yet. It seems that too many animals are exhibiting the same/ mirror symptoms with many brands since the fall of 2011. It is more than just salmonella affecting/killing our pets. All these brands use the same pre mix…ingredients from China that have aboslutely no oversight, heck the food in China is killing their own people. There is also an increase of the meat being sourced from China. I am very mad about all the illnesses and deaths and the lack of accountability by these corporations and any oversight by our regulatory agencies. The FDA does have the right to pull a product since July 2011 for any harm to animals or people.
Marshall,
So sorry for your loss. The same happened to my dogs. File a incident report with Costco. That way you have documentation. Costco and Diamond don’t give a rats ass about our pets. Infact, Costco has tripled the size of the pet food display. They have no interest into looking for a better pet food to put their Kirkland name on it. The only way we can hurt them is to remember this recall and not purchase any pet food from them ever again. The bottom line is their only concern, not our pets. I demand better for my $100 membership. Shame on Costco!!!!!
yep i feed it and my dog is fine.
@Natalie, what an idiotic thing to say… ”I fed it, my dogs fine”. These people are grieving. You couldn’t form a few more sentences to make your comment not look combative & insensitive? Do you work for Crapco or diamond? I don’t understand nor do I want to understand your lack of empathy and general common courtesy.
I feed my puppy Kirkland puppy food and he got sick. He had diarrhea and lack of appetite. I took him to the vet and they found bacteria in his stool. Once I changed his food he made a quick recovery.
I use Kirkland and have not had a problem at all. I have 10 dogs and 7 puppies eating it right now. I will switch temporarily until the scare is over.
We started our 6 month old JRT puppy on Kirkland puppy food a little over a week ago. About 3-4 days into it, he had diarrhea and vomiting for 3 days until I changed his food. He is fine now but symptoms are very similar to those described by others.
For appx 2 years I have fed my dogs Kirkland Natures Domaine turkey dog food. About 1 1/2 weeks ago I opened a newly purchased bag. Neither of my dogs would eat it. My golden retriever finally ate it , threw up, had stomach distress and would not stop eating grass for days. I cooked food for them for a few days as my flat coat retrieverwould not eat it. I really think there is something wrong with the dog food and plan on returning it to Costco. In the meantime I am looking for a good quality dog food that does not have corn or grain or made by Diamond. It should not be so difficult to find a dog food that is safe
I feed The Honest Kitchen foods, and also recommended it many times when I worked in a retail/vet location. They have the most amazing safety standards. The food is made in an FDA inspected human food facility. They test every batch of ingredients purchased before it enters the production line, and again test the finished product extensively for a long list of contaminants. No hormones or antibiotics, no GMO’s, no ingredients from China, and an open and transparent list of ingredient sources available on their website, along with a full nutritional breakdown of their foods. My dog Gypsy LOVES Embark. Check out their website!
Hi Dr. I feed my dogs the Kirkland Super premuim puppy with chicken rice and vegetables. They’ve been eating it for 3 days now. As of yesterday (day 3) 2 out of the 4 (those 2 eat more than the other 2) started to vomit and shake and it was a very frightening thing to see. I wanted to know if this could be from the food or something totally different?
I feed Kirkland Adult Lamb, rice, and vegetables dog food and Nature’s Domain Turkey and Sweet Potatoe grain free dog food and neither one of my dogs are showing any sign of sickness.
We buy the senior Kirkland dry food and both my husband and I thought it smelled funny the last 2 times we bought it. Neither of us said it to each other. Then weren’t on vacation. Our daughter called us and our 2 dogs were sick with diarehhea and the 12 year old was wrenching and drinking lots of water. She fed them rice. I said to feed the the other dogs food. We came back from vacation and I cooked bailey an egg and she ate it. Then I came home with new food and she wolfed it down. Whe is too smart. The food was bad. Btw, the other dog was a rescue dog from the streets who ate anything. Got sick finally from stress. Won’t buy Kirkland again.
Yes, I noticed the exact same thing. The last two bags of Kirkland’s Chicken and Rice for me smelled really bad. I’m in Orlando Florida and have been feeding this food for over a year in Los Angeles CA and here. I didn’t think much of it until reading this article. Neither of my dogs are showing signs of illness but I am going to switch their food today. This is really disappointing to see from Costco. Why can’t they just make their food here? It’s just terrible. And I am so sorry for all of these people who had their pets get ill.
I agree with a previous poster, I don’t think it is just salmonella. It’s probably something or multiple things in addition to that. I mean if they make it in China, come on, god knows what’s going on in it. This is all very bad. Costco should do something more. Even though I know they won’t because they only care about profits.
Costco needs to deal with this. My dogs ate Kirkland premium dry adult in the blue bag. The old yellow lad woke my daughter up and she was shaking. We were out of the country. This was terrible. They need to pull the stuff off the shelves. We are putting all our dogs on blue.
Hi my name is Tina i was feeding my pup kirkland dog food in the burgundy bag duke was a healthy 4 month old pure bread german sheppard puppy he passed away on saturday march the 17 at 11:00 pm we believe it was the dog food that made him ill his symptoms were as follows lose of appetite increased fluid intake vomiting bloody diarreah rapid weight lose and very lathargic the symptoms came on very suddle and only lived for about 4 days after the symptoms got worse. we called costco and they said nothing about any recall on the food infact they were argumentive about returning the bags of food .
Tina, I’m so sorry for your loss. The same thing happened to our dog this past winter. What is strange to me is that we have two other dogs who ate the same food and are fine. Our older dog, however, began to show symptoms very suddenly and had very drastic weight loss. She only lived 7 or 8 more days after she started showing symptoms. She was so thin, every bone on her body was showing, despite us feeding her fresh rice and chicken, which she ate all of. After a very expensive blood test by the vet, we found out she had kidney failure and we had to put her down. Her last days, she was too weak to even lift her head. It was all a mystery to us as to why she had gotten sick as she was very strong and healthy beforehand and had no access to anything else that would make her sick, but now that I am reading about these experiences with Kirkland dog food, I’m starting to think that we had a bad batch.
I feed my boxer whose 80 pounds active white coat and is completely fine with Kirkland dry food from coercion and he gets chicken jerky treats…hes 100% healthy no side effects after almost 4 years of feeding him this food. Ive only seen some excessive thirst and frequent quick lees on a walk only
Just started feeding my dog Costco/Kirkland Lamb and Rice (made by Diamond) two bags ago. First bag no problem. Second bag – decreased appetite, vomiting throughout the bag. Second bad number is KLU 0307832 XOJ best before mar 23 2013. not sure of number of the second bag.
did you ween them onto the new food
I started my 2 1/2 year old boxer on Taste of the Wild and discovered that Nature’s Domain at Costco was basically the same thing, so I alternated between the Salmon and the Turkey for about two years. A couple months ago, however he started getting small bald patched on his hind quarters and was continually getting ear infections.
After a little research I determined that he was probably allergic to something in the food so I switched him to Merrick Wilderness blend. After about a month his hair grew back and he’s no longer scratching at his ears. His coat looks shinier than is ever has and he just seems happier overall. I’ve also never seen him destroy a bowl of dry food as fast as he does with the Merrick food. He eats it the second I put it in his bowl where with the Costco food, he would eventually eat it but nothing like with the Merrick food.
I liked the price of the Costco food much better since a 35 lb costs about what I’m now paying for the Merrick, but you can’t put a price on your dogs overall health and happiness. I really do hope that there isn’t anything wrong with the Costco branded foods because I know several other dog owners that use it. All I know is after I switched my dog off it, he is much happier and healthier guy.
OMG! I am devastated! Last week my 12yr old – super healthy – Weimaraner started throwing up. Then she started throwing up blood, then she wouldn’t eat her treat, then she wouldn’t eat period. She lays on the floor and shivers uncontrollably. I have to pick up my other dog’s food because normally, she will eat anything.
2 Days ago my 5yr old Great Dane started having diarrhea and getting sick. I have been feeding Kirkland Lamb and Rice for 10+ years. I just bought another bag of Kirkland Lamb and rice yesterday in case something was wrong with my old bag. They wouldn’t touch it.
Today I decided to try a Holistic Canned food and mix with a specialty dry food and see if they would eat. Both ate like they haven’t had food in a week. Come to think of it…they haven’t. I was hours from taking my sweet old girl to the vet to have her “put down”. I thought she just became way too old way too fast.
After they ate their food, I came immediately to the computer to google if anyone else had this problem. I have been poisoning my beautiful dogs!!! I am sick about this.
Why hasn’t anyone let us know??!! I lost a cat to this same problem about 6 years ago when “poisoned” food product came from China. Remember that?
In February, I lost my Vizsla and my Dobie/Rott one week apart. They had ingested one can of Kirkland lamb and rice in Jan. In five to six weeks they were both dead. It was a slow miserable death. The cans were exp. 2013.
I feed 33lb bag of Natures Domain purchased at Naperville,IL Costco. Dog has had progressively looser stools over 1 week period. Morning stool was a liquid which is prompting a vet visit
My dog died and we missed her terribly, so we went to the local shelter and adopted two. One is four and the other ten. I had some dry food left and gave it to them and they were fine. Then I got the Kirkland brand and they both came down with diarrhea which I thought it was because I was mixing it with wet food. I am going out to buy my old dry food right now.
My dog ate the salmon version and immediately began having seizures, vomitting, diarrhea and had to be taken to the vet for 2 weeks. We actually had made the decision to put her down and while on the way to the vet, she actually ate some of my other dogs puppy chow and immediately began acting better. I have returned the food to Costco…net with the manager and asked that they have the food tested. I should have kept some to send off somewhere to be tested myself,,
My puppy also ate some before we realized it and she too began vomitting.
We just got a automated phone call from Cosco about the dog/cat food with a possible contamination. So there definatly is a problem. I am taking my daughters dog off the food as a precaution, as no animal should have to suffer at the fault of a human. Just my 2 cents.
I finally seemed to have the dog happy with Merrick products, so haven’t gone with the Kirkland. However my cats generally eat the Kirkland Adult Cat Food. Is this product included in the recall as well? My cats have been well, other than the ever present feline attitude (cattitude) thing.
We have 4 dogs that eat the Kirkland dry and wet food combined. They love it and have no ill effects what-so-ever. I believe it’s the Rice and Lamb pellets.
Hello
I feed my dog Kirkland Dog Food from Costco. She has not shown any signs of any illness and has been having regular normal poops.
I’m scared to continue feeding it to her with this news. Any information or insights would be greatly appreciated !!
Our dog has been vomiting yellow bile (banana yellow).
we bought the Kirkland dog food in Pointe-Claire, Qc,Canada.
Our five month old springer has been refusing her kirklands puppy food, after reading this blog I threw it away!
I have 2 dogs and feed both of them Kirkland brand Lamb and rice adult dry food from Costco. 2 weeks ago, approximately, one of my dogs, she weighs 110 pounds got really sick for no apparent reason? She was ill for a couple of days with vomiting, lethargy and excessive drooling!! She also seemed to be extremely tired! I checked the bag that she was eating from and it fell between the dates of the official recall so I’m assuming that may have been the cause. I have another bag of the same dog food that I took to my cottage last week that is still half full so I will be tossing that in the garbage for sure!!!
German shepherd has had the runs/diarrhea and both dogs have been throwing up quite often, very sick. DO NOT FEED KIRKLAND. Canidae is best.
Canidae is also part of the recall, and made by Diamond.
Canidae is made at the same plant as diamond, wellness, kirkland, etc…..i didn’t know either….went from kirkland, canidae to diamond…..my poor dogs went from nutro years ago with their recall and now this one…i’m not picking good food, but i’m checking recalls and reviews.
I bought the Grey Weight Management bag a month ago and have been feeding it to my 9 yr old Golden Retriever and 1 yr old English Bulldog and they have been fine. Stool has been solid. They were eating BLUE and had diarrhea all the time, that’s why I switched to Costco and plus it was cheaper. I’m reading through the comments and don’t see any mention of the GREY WEIGHT MANAGEMENT bag….IS ANYONE HAVING A PROBLEM WITH THIS?
I use the healthy weight Kirkland dog food. I hve 6 dogs 5 small 1 large. I buy it is the 40 lbs bg. Only one dog seems to be sick a Lhpsa Apso about 23 lbs, 4 years old. She is vomiting a slime from her mouth. I took her to my Vet but test are not complete until tomorrow. She has nothing wrong with her bowels and does not have much of fever. All other dogs are fine so far so I am hoping it is nothing serious.
Thanks for your article.
i have 3 cocker spaniels all on kirkland lamb and rice formula kibble (green bag) all are showing signs of digestive upset and diahhrea…..frankly do not know if it is food related or some other parasitic infection but all are on their way to the vet today and i will be switching their food at least for the time being until we can rule out contamination in the kibble
In Jan one of my Goldendoodles went to new home had Natures Domain and fed Natures Domain Salmon-Sweet Potato forumla that cust bought Puppy almost died ! in hospital for 4 days and sick for 10 and very ill thank goodness he is alive
I bought a 18.14 kg bag of Kirkland dog food at Costco about a month and a half ago, the bag is almost empty now, and my dog did NOT get sick from it.
My dog has been sick for months since April with liver enzymes alt at 400. Get here in Ontario California wants to charge me $1200 for a liver flush. All from using Costco chicken and rice adult food.
I have been feeding my dog Kirkland Lamb and Rice and also the canned beef and chicken wet food. She was doing OK until I gave her chicken jerky strips from Costco. She walks slow and unsure of her steps. Does not want to go out her doggie door. She is 13 years of age and I don’t think she should be acting this way. She will her food but not like she used to. Seems as if her eyes have been affected also.
This sounds like it could be an age related issue. I’m guessing it’s not connected to the food or treats at all. I’d highly advise that you have your vet examine your dog ASAP!
I just discovered this in a fluke of finding out thwarted ingredients in the Kirkland food. One of our bouviers has strayed having seizures with no history in the breeders lines.
I am feeding my dog Taste of the Wild– it seems fine– what should I change to? I gave him one Beggin’ Strip and he got sick, I was ready to take him to the vet- he threw up, laid on the patio like he was going to die- and after he threw up for about 6 hours– he was okay. I called Purina and unbelievably they told me– “There’s no proof”.
Hi i just bought my 1 year old lab the weight management kirkland dog food from costco and all a sudden as off Nove 18,19 my dog has been severly vomiting, I am looking to find out if my dog is sick due to the kirkland food if so what do i do cause i do not have the dog food bag to bring back.
Very concerned.
Yes my dog got severly ill…..I fed kirklands food stopped my dog got better 2 weeks later fed kirklands again he got severely ill……..thought I was going to lose him. Stopped feeding kirklands 3 days later fine……Do not use this food !
I purchased Kirkland Salmon and Sweet Potato for my dog and a friend’s dog several months ago. Both dogs got ill and both owners had stomach issues. Last week, Costco refunded me for bags purchased over the last few months and filed and incident report which was sent to their insurer and the manufacturer. I just got a call back from the manufacturer who denied my claim relating issues with both dogs to the tainted food. She advised the bags I purchased did not match the Best Before Date of the recalled products. While I am not a vet and the issues may have been caused by other factors, I am deeply troubled by the company’s evasive and denial tactics; particularly since 2 humans were hurt by this issue (assuming that they would be more afraid of lawsuits related to human poisoning). Essentially, I was told they were not responsible and that I had no recourse, so I am taking my case to the web sphere and making sure that people know how Diamond is treating this serious case – typical corporate P/R campaign of evasion and denials. Clearly, I am not buying Kirkland pet products and if Costco cares about its reputation, they should hold their vendors more accountable.
We used Costco/Kirkland brand dog food for over 10 years. Always thought it to be pretty decent food for the price. We have big dogs and needed a quality food for a smaller price tag. November of 2012 we got a hold of a contaminated bag of Kirkland Healthy Weight dog food. We had 4 very sick dogs. All had diarrhea and were throwing up. One of our dogs had 4 week old pups. Because she was a nursing momma, her immune system was weaker than the other dogs. She died one month later. This was from only 2 feedings of this food. We are currently seeking restitution from Costco.
I just posted above. My dog died as a result of eating the Costco Healthy Weight dog food. It was purchased from the Costco in Fort Worth, Texas. I have been in contact with Costco and am awaiting a reply at the moment. I see that there are so many cases reported above. Would very much like to look into a Class-Action Suit. I have allot of documented evidence. I see that some of you still have a sample of the food. Costco took the food back and refunded the money for the bag but no one knows what happened to the bag of food after that. We have $1200 in vet bills from trying to save our dog plus the loss of our dog. This must stop. I get so angry when I see that food still being stocked and sold at Costco and believe me, I’m warning people who I see starting to buy it.
Re Kirkland Nature’s Domain. We have five large mixed breed dogs , a German shepherd, two golden retrievers, two border collies. We ran into a problem with Orijen salmon based dog food so we tried the salmon and sweet potato from Costco. The dogs looked very good for a year, but in Feb/March of this year, 2013, they started blowing coat, acting lethargic, refusing to finish their food. We have two friends that also switched to this food at the same time and one dog experienced unbelievable itching and her coat look like it was burned off. She was in agony. When I saw the similarities, I stopped the food and, in most dogs, saw an immediate improvement. When I contacted Kirkland, the verteriarian insisted it was environmental! It has taken a lot to bring my dogs back to the level of health they had previously and my older golden retriever appears to have permanent health damage.
Please keep the good work of spreading the word about this food. I will never purchase a dog food from costco or made in china again.
I am re posting this so that it appears at the top of the website comments. some people may not read to the end and read new comments. We used to feed Kirkland Nature’s Domain salmon and sweet potato. We have five large mixed breed dogs , a German shepherd, two golden retrievers, two border collies. We ran into a problem with Orijen salmon based dog food so we tried the salmon and sweet potato from Costco. The dogs looked very good for a year, but in Feb/March of this year, 2013, they started blowing coat, acting lethargic, vomiting, refusing to finish their food. We have two friends that also switched to this food at the same time and one dog experienced unbelievable itching and her coat look like it was burned off. She was in agony. When I saw the similarities, I stopped the food and, in most dogs, saw an immediate improvement. When I contacted Kirkland, the verteriarian insisted it was environmental! It has taken a lot to bring my dogs back to the level of health they had previously and my older golden retriever appears to have permanent health damage.
Please keep the good work of spreading the word about this food. I will never purchase a dog food from costco or made in china again.
My friend feeds this Food and we just had to take his Dog (Brown Lab) to the Vet for a HUGE Hotspot on his Head! I have Eight Dogs…don’t feed Grains or Kirkland Brand and have never seen Hotspots . I just got him switched to a grain Free and Better Dog Food .
We just got an automated call about thR dry dog food Kirkland recall
I cannot believe this! My dog died last Tues. She ate this dog food for years with no problem until last week. She got violently ill. She became so ill we rushed to vet because she would not get up. She died. The vet could not figure out what the problem was.
Michelle, my dog also became very ill very suddenly during that same time – April 2012. We had been feeding him Kirkland Dog Food from Costco on the Queensway in Toronto, Canada. First, he lost his appetite. Then, he stopped walking. After 4 days of changing his bed because he couldn’t get up to use the bathroom, we put him to sleep. The vet also didn’t know what happened. Did you pursue a further investigation?
Amanda, I am sorry to be responding just now. We had our dog cremated. Therefore, forgoing any chance of proving it was the food. We threw the food out the same day as well.
I feed Taste of the Wild and have seen no problems whatsoever. Their Grain Free formulas are wonderful & my dogs love them. I alternate with home cooked meals from Susan Thixton’s cookbook. I do feed the Duck one, I believe it’s Wetlands.
My niece was feeding Kirklands from Costco and her dog got sick, she has since changed him to Taste of the Wild & he loves it and is having no issues at all with it.
Canidae and Solid Gold are NOT Diamond foods! They are manufactured in the same facility, but to higher standards. That is not to say there couldn’t be cross-contaminantion of salmonella, but let’s be very clear they are NOT Diamond foods. Diamond has been plagued by recalls throughout the years due to substandard ingredients. Canidae and Solid Gold have not been.
According to Wikipedia, Diamond manufactures under contract some of the pet foods for all of the companies I mentioned in the article. Here is the link:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diamond_Pet_Foods
Now, Wikipedia is not always 100% correct. If you have more accurate info, please let me know.
When I worked at an independent natural pet food store my boss toured the plant along with other owners of similar stores. I know Chip Sammons was on that tour, he should have the specifics. I don’t have the details myself. http://www.holisticpetcenter.com/chip.htm
Thank you Katrina for this info. I contacted the Holistic Pet Center and Chip is out of town. But will follow up next week. They are also interested in any info on problems with Diamond manufactured food. Chip has toured the Diamond plant and their store no longer carries Diamond products. Chip will give me the details when he’s back in town.
You wanted to know if anyone has had issues with Kirkland food. YES! My two dogs ate the Kirkland canned lamb and rice dog food and died on Feb. 6 and Feb. 13. One week apart. I put it on the internet, and over 500 people responded with sick, dying and dead dogs.
And you took your two dogs in, had them necropsied, the food cultured/tested in their stomachs and know for sure it was the food? There is a kennel not far from me that claimed the same thing until she had the contents of her 7 dogs (that passed) examined. They had all eaten mushrooms out in their paddock and that was the cause of death during the night.
Thanks Renee for your comment.
It was because of your efforts to warn pet parents, that Susan Thixton, Dr. Marie and myself (Poisoned Pets), did articles about the Kirkland dog food issue.
Please share with Dr. Marie’s readers who you are and how you came to hear of so many problems with the Kirkland dog food.
Thanks again Renee!
Mollie, I personally have experienced the pain and loss people are going through. I run The Pet Food Bank in California. I received some cans of Kirkland Lamb and rice dog food from a local kennel. They said the food was causing explosive diarrhea to their dogs because they normally feed the chicken and rice. They attributed it to the change of meat. I gave one can of the food to my dogs at the beginning of Jan. 2012. Right away, all the dogs had diarrhea, and one began to vomit (15 times) yellow bile. They all began to drink a lot and one had urinary problems. One began to develop a stiff back and moan in pain. Within 5-6 weeks two of my dogs were dead. The one that vomited, survived. I put out a warning to rescue groups on the internet. Over 500 responses came back with sick and dying dogs. To date, there are now 12 dogs dead that I have spoken with personally. Last week a chi died from the same exact cans that my dogs ate from the kennel. Now the recall has come in for the dry food for salmonella. The food I fed my dogs, was the canned Kirkland lamb and rice exp. 2013. It is a different manufacturer than the dry. But many people have fed both. If anyone would like to contact me about their experiences with the canned food….woof@thepetfoobank.com. is my email. When I put this warning out a few months ago…I was hoping to save lives. But based on what I am reading…it was too late for some. Sob.
Hi Renee: I am in total shock and disbelief .. received a call from Costo May 5th re the Kirkland Dog food. I went on-line to check this out and was so surprised to read comments from people about their experiences with their pets. Our 5 year old German Shepherd took sick on Sunday, January 8th, 2012. She started throwing up, was lethargic and could not walk. We had to carry her up the stairs after she collapsed. We immediately called the vet on call, as it was a Sunday, and had to carry her out to the van on a blanket. Her breathing was very labored. The vet was at a loss as to what was wrong with her … asked us if she had gotten into anything “toxic”, which we know she did not. Our dear dog died 45 minutes after arriving at the vet. We had no answers as to what happened to her, until the phone call from Costco. Now we know – the Kirkland Lamb and Rice caused her death!!!
We were getting over our loss, but know it has all been revived. Will be investigating further with Costco today!!!
Renee, can you please direct me to the internet page? I’m sorry for your losses. My dog also passed in April 2012 and was on a Kirkland Dog Food diet. He very suddenly lost his appetite and ability to walk, and within 4 days he was completely immobile. I would like to investigate whether he shared symptoms with other victims of Kirkland Dog Food.
No they aren’t Diamond foods but they are made by them and they source the ingredients for them. Do you really believe they are sourcing premium ingredients for any of the foods they are producing? I wouldn’t feed any of our pets anything that is made in a Diamond facility….
Canidae has had recalls – http://www.consumeraffairs.com/pets/canidae.html
I feed Canidae and have been for the last year and a half. Never had a problem, I have 5 dogs they all look great.
Claiming Solid Gold and Canidae are not Diamond foods is just sophistry. The big name on the front of the bag may not be Diamond, but these foods are made by Diamond in a Diamond plant with Diamond supplied ingredients. They just put the customer’s brand name on the bag, but they make the food. The customer may spec the formula, but Diamond sources the ingredients and processes them into dog food. If the problem is with the ingredients (as happened with the melamine contamination a few years ago) then the brand name on the bag is irrelevant. If the problem is with the process by which, or facility at which, the food is made, then the brand name on the bag is also irrelevant.
These two brands have both gone to production at Daimond and those of us who knew these foods before they went to Diamond, know full well they are not the same foods anymore. They are made more cheaply, with cheaper ingredients. That’s how Diamond is able to sell to these companies for less and get the contracts. It is also how these companies have continued to keep prices down and profits up, and to grow their companies (don’t you just love buzzspeak?) So it is all down to how good a job Diamond does when it comes to purity, and safety. The formula is the only thing Diamond does not totally control.
Now I am not anti-Diamond. I feed Kirkland Adult Lamb, Rice and Veggie. We went to this after Canidae changed their formula (before they switched to Diamond for production even). I have paid twice as much for dog foods and frankly, I didn’t think any of those foods were any better than the Kirkland. I think Kirkland is as good as any kibble out there, no matter what the price.
And for me, cost is a big issue because I run a rescue for Great Danes. I feed anywhere from 10 to 30 dogs a day, twice a day. A 40 lb bag of food lasts between 1 and 2 days max, and sometimes less than a day. So paying just $5 a bag more can end up costing me $150 a month. But I wouldn’t feed any brand, no matter the cost, if my dogs did not do well on it. That’s why we do not feed the cheaper brands. We could save a lot by going cheaper, as much as $200 a month. It just isn’t worth it to me, because the dogs do not do well on those cheap foods. While Kirkland’s price is low, their quality is high. That said, they are a Diamond food, period. If there is a problem at the Diamond plant, they can be affected.
So far we have not seen any issues. All of our current dogs are doing fine on the Kirkland. If that changes I will post an update.
Very well put. First of all, I am very very sorry to anyone that had their dog or cat suffer from this incident. I have fed taste of the wild as well as raw meaty bones and meats in the past 12 months. Around January 2012, I switched to raw foods and Kirkland foods, and due to a job loss, I coincidentally, switched in April 2012 to Kirkland only foods. I did not know about the recall at that time but luckily I am in California where apparently, there was no impact.
That said, my 3 dogs have done very well on the Kirkland chicken/Lamb and rice kibble. In fact, I do not notice any difference between Kirkland and TOTW or raw foods.
This incident was a total shame. However, I feel that the food itself is a high quality food— just read the label. In fact, the Kirkland one is a bit better than the regular Diamond blend as it has Glucosamine and Chondroiton added. I hope that Diamond has learned a big lesson here and that they do a flawless job from here on out. It is not enough to offer a quality food at a good price… The food must also be 100% safe as we feed it to our Canine family members .
LEARN YOUR LESSON DIAMOND. Although I support your food and buy it, you are walking a thin line with me due to this past incident. In addition, Anyone that lost their pet or had their pet get ill due to Diamond foods should of had a personal apology from Diamond and be compensated in some way.
It became clear with the release a few days ago of the FDA report on their inspection of the Diamond facility in question that the standards and protocols in place to prevent contamination are inadequate, the manufacturing equipment and facility are in a dangerous state of disrepair, and this is true for all brands made there, even the “higher quality” ones. The report raises serious questions both about Diamond, as well as the oversight (or lack of) in place throughout the industry.
I feed Taste of the Wild and rotate between the Wetlands, High Prairie and Pacific Stream formulas. I have never had a problem with TOTW. One of my girls is very sensitive to subtle formula changes, but she is eating normally.
Thank you for asking this question. All 6 of my dogs eating the Kirkland Signature Dry Lamb and Rice dog food from Costco got sick. My healthy 8 yr old died. Took him to Loomis Basin Vet hospital and UC Davis. Neither could tell me exactly what he had.
All of my sick dogs were letharic, losing weight, throwing up, stopped eating the food, eating lots of grass and dirt. My 8 yr old was drinking a lot of water and losing weight rapidly.
When I took my 8 yr old in for testing, his blood work showed the platelet levels declined so much since the first blood work that they were afraid to do another ultrasound to get fluid samples of the stomach and spleen. His urine was very diluted.
On Mar. 5th, I had to put him down because he wouldn’t eat anything, kept throwing up and suffering.
I have switched to Innova Prime and some of my dogs are ok. But I have another dog that has the same pattern as my 8 yr old. Letharic, not wanting to eat, eating grass and drinking a lot of water. Just had a blood panel done on him and his urine levels are also diluted and some other levels were off a bit but don’t remember what. Picking up the paperwork of that bloodwork today so can share the results if that will help.
I have an appt this Tues to due a full untra sound on him.
Also my 2 yr old is losing weight, not interested in eating and her summer coat is dull and very thin. She goes in next.
Contacted Diamond, Dr. Melissa Brookshire their vet, gave me the results of the aflatoxin they ran at the time the food was made but will not retest. When I requested the test results done on the meat, Dr. Melissa Brookshire from Diamond seized all communication. Said I needed to go through my vet to get further answers.
I filled an incident report with Costco on Mar. 6th. Brian Kenney from the liability dept. also stopped all communication when I requested a retest on the food and what test were done on the meat. I’m thinking there was something in the meat, and now we have a recall.
Until this recall, I’ve haven’t been able to get answers to what made all of my dogs sick. Thank you for looking into this. I hope to find answers to what made my dogs so sick and possibly killed my healthy 8 yr old.
Thank you!!
I’m so sorry for your loss. Thank you do much for sharing this info.
Susan,
I am sorry to hear about your dogs. I experienced the exact same ordeal with my dogs in February. Two died a week apart. My dogs ate the Kirkland canned Lamb and rice dog food. Please contact me when you have the time. woof@thepetfoodbank.com.
There has been the same problems with Natural Balance, dogs getting sick. Nausea/vomiting; bloody stool,smelly fur and breath, ++gas and abdominal gurgling, increased allergic symptoms with dry flaky skin, abnormal labs indicating liver problems, reoccuring bloat; diagnosis of pancreatitus, liver damage, kidney damage and death. When the animals are taken off the foods the symptoms resolve and the labs normalize (if not permanent damage). The FDA is investigating but in the meantime the product remains on the shelves and animals are getting sick and dying. I lost a dog. There is inadequate regulation of the pet food, and it is safer to cook for them, at least we know what is in the food.
I can not believe what your story is! We had a 6 year old that
Went through the exact same thing. We ended up having to put
Her down as well. Nobody could figure out what was wrong with her.
Her urine was very diluted, and they told us it was because of all the water
She was drinking. She stopped eating, she was vomiting
And peeing all of the time. The hardest part was not being able to figure it out
And now after reading this, we had just changed her food to Kirkland brand, it was
The green bag. All of this happened last September. Not that we can bring her back, but now I am mad I hadn’t read something like this sooner. 🙁
Sue, if you haven’t already file an adverse event report with the FDA. Save a sample of the food for testing if you have any. Save some for yourself and ask the FDA to test it. Have your vet file a report too, if he feels it was food related. Keep us posted…
Finally, they recalled Kirland brand food. Please note the date of my post. April 7th. Important to know, CA plant was behind in production due to upgrades to their production facilities. I think the CA plant was down Jan – Feb. So if you live near CA you still could have received contanimated food. This ordeal proves how DISHONEST Diamond is, and I knew back in April it was the meat.
I see that Dr Melissa Brookshire from Diamond asked you to contact her. What did she say? Did she lie to you also?
My dog almost died from costco food in CA. I too had my dog treated at loomis basin and they could not figure it out. Lethargy, explosive diahrea, could not walk. Later agreed was salmonella poisoning..costco did nothing and i too spoke with Diamond and they said there were no cases in Ca. This was may 2012. I also spoke with diamonds vet Brookshire who said results were inconclusive and ended all communication. What a joke they almost kill my dog and i am out 3k and big business gets off the hook. I wish there was something we could do!
I feed Taste of the Wild and rotate through the various “flavors” as well – no issues or illness with my dogs. They love the food.
Katrina is right about the difference in proprietary food and contract manufacturing but Diamond has not been plagued since they used bad corn in 2005. Salmonella is a common risk in pet food (also cantaloupe, spinach, sprouts, and now sushi.)
Yes the formulas differ between Diamond branded foods and the contract brands. But some of the ingredients are often sourced from the same supply, for a given plant, and the equipment is often shared as well (which is why the focus has been only on foods from a given plant). That said, it seems pretty clear that Kirkland brands are manufactured at a different plant than the one having problems.
Additionally, salmonella, which not good for dogs, is a pretty low risk bacteria. Most often recalls for this contamination are more about human exposure in handling, than in dogs getting sick. Fact is every single raw diet is rife with salmonella almost all the time. I find it fascinating how the raw feeders start bad mouthing kibble and the companies that make/sell kibble, and start talking about this proves folks would be better off switching to raw, every time a kibble salmonella or e-coli contamination problem crops up.
Come on folks, these sorts of contamination problems crop up in human food too. It is a fact of life in this new “mass production” world of ours. The dog food manufacturers are not insulated from this risk any more than any food producer is. Nor are they evil giants trying to kill dogs.
OTOH all products are made to a price point, and quality often determines the price point in the lower half of the market. It is only in the upper half of a product market that brand name and PR selling points can start to affect price significantly. So if a brand is in the bottom half (price wise) of the market, quality is always a potential issue and you generally get what you pay for as far as quality goes. But in the top half of the market, you can often be paying a lot more for no better quality (or even worse quality). While there are exceptions, I think they are more rare than people tend to believe.
Personally I think Kirkland is under-priced based on quality. It is at the point where the brand name holds the price in line. I think if you sold the exact same formula under some trendy “holistic” brand, you could sell the formula for twice as much. Canidae is a prime example of that process, I think.
My dogs are all eating Kirkland Chicken Rice and Vegetable and are fine. The possible issue is with Diamond food made at another factory.
My Neo Mastiff is also eating the Kirkland Chicken & Vegetables dry food and has had no problems with it. We are at the bottom of the bag purchased approx. 3 weeks ago. It sounds like, from what I am reading here, that it is the Lamb & Rice that is causing the problem?
I am a RVT that has been feeding my dogs the Kirkland Signature Super Premium Mature Dog line for ~2 years with no concerns. While I did not know which compamy manufactures this brand it does carry the AAFCO statement. We, as consumers, do need to keep in mind that, unfortunately, all manufacturing facilities are susceptible to these issues. It is important to give your Vet all of the facts and let her/him decide what is pertinent.
All 6 of my dogs eat Kirkland Lamb and rice and are fine… I have a 12 yr old English mastiff, a 12 yr old american bull dog, a 1o yr old Dobe, a 3 yr old Dobe, a 3 yr old Yorkie mix and a 9 month old Pit….as you can see all ages and sizes and all are doing Great on Kirkland!! Thanks!
Why do you put emphasis on the AAFCO statement, most vet nutritionists feel that their requirments are too low for adiquate health of a pet. Look who is on their board, then answer who would they be working for. This is not an indication that a food is good, nutritious or not toxic.
I have been feeding my dogs for years the Kirkland brand dry dog food. The chicken, vegetable and rice one and have never had a problem
We have not had any problems and have fed the kirkland grain free Nature’s domain, and the chicken and vegetables, also the Kirkland Senior for over a year to all of our foster dogs with absolutely no problem whatsoever.
I feed my dogs (3 of them) the Kirkland Signature dry lamb and rice and have had no problems, but I will be watching closely. Thanks for the post on Facebook!
We have been feeding Kirkland’s lamp and rice for many years with no problems. In fact, the dogs we had at the start were allergic to corn, wheat, gluten’s, etc. and this was the safest food for them. Now we have two Shelties ages 5 and 14 on it with no gastric trouble at all.
Je nourri mon chien (16 mois) avec Kirkland Signature Super Premium Dog poulet, riz et légumes. Sur un même sac de nourriture, il a des diarrhées, mais par périodes. Donc je ne crois pas qu’elles sont dû à la nourriture . Cet hiver, il a même pris du poids par manque d’exercices. Pas malade du tout, pleins d’énergie …
I feed TOTW mixed with homemade. No issues here.
Yes! My dog got sick on Kirkland “healthy weight” dog food. He had an upset stomach and diarrhea. He threw up and kept eating leaves, and grass .I thought maybe his system wasn’t use to the new food, so I have been incorporating it in with his usual food. Yikes! I also feed him natural balance.
I feed my 5 dogs Kirkland signature chicken & rice adult dog food. They are all healthy and happy.
I used to feed over 50 cats (most were ferals) and my own at home the Kirkland Signature cat food. This was back in 2007/2008. I had 6 cats die suddenly and close together. Suspecting the food, I stopped using it and I did file a report with the FDA.
I have fed my dogs Kirkland Chicken Rice and Vegetable dry for years and they are both happy and healthy. I have never had any problems or complaints about their food.
According to Canidae even though products are made at the Diamond facility Canidae has a very strict testing policy. They also source all of their products used in the foods. They are not purchased by Diamond.
This is from the Canidae website:
Are your products safe?
Yes. Though we were not involved in any way with the recalls of contaminated pet food in 2005 and 2007 (or at any other time), we have substantially increased our testing procedures. To assure the safety of our products, CANIDAE has strict protocols which require that all formulas are tested in-line during our production runs and cleared by a second supervisor every 30 minutes. Additionally, there are 141 ingredient tests and 10 finished product tests that are performed. A sample of each finished goods batch is also sent directly to our research and development center where they are tested again, this time by a third party lab, for known toxins and potential risk hazards.
Kristi,
Can you do me a favor and get more info on the 141 ingredients test. I will tell you for a fact, for the Kirkland product, they will only run a test for aflatoxin. They will not retest my food in question nor explain the 141 ingredient tests posted on Diamond’s website.
And I would love to find out, who is the third party lab doing the test?. Can you call them and ask? Love to hear what they tell you.
Have the FDA test the food. And save a bit for yourself if you should want to do third party testing. Tell your State Ag Dept about your complaint. Very important.
Every bag of Diamond Naturals says “151 checks,” so I think the ingredient checks and product checks are part of Diamond’s own procedure, not Canidae’s.
I have one dog on 100% Kirkland Lamb, and two others on 50% Kirkland Lamb and $50% Taste of the Wild. Everyone is healthy here. 🙂
I feed my dogs Kirkland Adult Dog Chicken, Rice, and Vegetables dry food for a few months. There are no serious problem with them. But one of them has gained a good amount of weight. The other has extremely bad breath despite a dental cleaning from the vet. Not sure if its the food. I also give them baby carrots in between meals. Hope I can help.
I would like to say that we currently have 28 dogs and everyone is happy and healthy. I selected Kirkland a few years ago after doing extensive research and also doing a dog food test with groups of our own dogs and Kirkland was the winner. The other brands were Euk, Blue Buffalo, Innova, BilJac, Canidae and Euk. Kirkland is made at the Diamond facility but it is a better recipe. I doubt that much (if any) of the Diamond naturals dog food has made it to the shelves. To test for salmonella cultures need to grow for 18-24 hours. In that short period of time I am sure little of the food has made it to store shelves. I am confident in this food! Your dog has a MUCH larger chance of getting it at the beach than from this food.
We have been feeding Kirkland Signature dry chicken &veggies or lamb &veggies for a few years without incident. Both rescued Alaskan Malamutes thrive on it. One is 10.75 and the other is 5ish. Both were introduced to Kirkland when they came to us. Both were under weight when first rescued. Now both have shiny coats, energy to spare and love their food.
We just switched from Fromm’s Gold Senior to Kirkland Mature Dog food a little over a week ago. We have our dogs on scheduled controlled feedings twice a day. At first my 3 dogs loved it, than one day one of them wouldn’t eat it at all, then the next day another one would only eat some of it and this morning 2 of them were eating grass to make themselves puke and wouldn’t eat the food and we know one of them threw up last night.
My 10 year old labradoodle does fine on Kirkland Preium mature lamb and rice, at least two years now.
Kirkland Puppy and Cat served here … NO one sick …. Lamb is not a food served in this house for digestive reasons
I have 2 Dobermans on the Kirkland Healthy Weight food- One is 6yrs old and the other is 2- no problems with either dog and they both look great.
We have no problems with Taste of the Wild, various flavors. We have a 65lb Airdale.
I just bought a bag of Kirkland Chicken, Rice, and Vegetable dog food about a month ago. My dog (pekingese) has been using this dog food for over a year now. I opened the new bag and started feeding him a mix of the new bag and the “old” food. That night he started having extremely bad gas. After a few days he started having diarrhea.
This didn’t start until he was on the new bag of dog food. after about a week of him eating one day and having diarrhea and the next day he wouldn’t eat and feel better we took him to the vet. The vet gave us some medication for colitis and told us to feed him rice and a little boiled chicken.
He started feeling better and we slowing got him back on the dog food. Needless to say, he vomited the next morning and was sick the whole day. He will now be on a strict rice and chicken diet until I can get a hold Kirkland pet food.
Please contact me if you need more information. I will be calling Kirkland tomorrow
We too feed our one dog the Kirkland Chicken, Rice, and Vegetable. When we changed over to his new bag last month we noticed one day he was vomiting and had diarreah (which is not like him). It lasted for about 2 days and than he was fine and started eating again. It’s hard to know if it was the food or something else. He has been on it for almost a year, so until now he has been fine.
Makes you wonder if pet food companies really care about our pets or about making the money off them 🙁
Andrew, don’t forget to file an adverse event (complaint) about it to the FDA and have your vet do so as well. Save a sample for testing – the FDA may wish to test it.
Bought a new bag 2 weeks ago. My dogs normally love this food but the past two weeks have noticed they won’t finish their food and been eating a ton of grass. Today I almost lost my 10 year old dog today. Started vomiting then progressed to horrible seizures. Vet couldn’t figure what was causing them. Brought her home and gave her more food….sezuires became worse. Stopped giving the food tonight and haven’t had one in 10 hours. What is in this food?!?!
I wish everyone would understand that ALL kibble is made from garbage ingredients & under poor conditions. The ‘rules’ around processed pet food are pathetic. You get what you pay for unfortunately. I’m sorry for everyone’s loss – its heart breaking. Please consider feeding a high quality raw diet or at the very least home cooked. Then YOU know what your animal is ingesting!
my dog is currently on kirkland chicken and rice dry, w/the kirkland chicken/rice, & lamb/rice canned. she has been doing fine. i had read in the recall that the contaminated cans had an expiration date of june 2012? my dog has been on kirkland chicken/lamb for 4 years and has been healthy.
I feed my dogs home cooked dog food, have for years. My 16 year old heinz 57 is as healthy as my 15 year old Jack Russell! They are both in excellent health and even my vet is happy with them and how they are being fed. Stop feeding your dogs this mass produced garbage and you’ll have no problems!
I feed my dog the Kirkland chicken and rice formula and have for many years. She has had absolutely no problems and is in perfect health.
Dr. Marie,
I am a veterinarian that works with Diamond Pet Foods. Please contact me directly to discuss this matter. I can be reached by email or at 800.442.0402.
Thank you,
Melissa
I had my dogs on river run until I started getting bags with mold in them last year. Three dogs experienced a dermatological reaction, three had diarrhea (colored water) and one died overnight. I switched to diamond and noted improvement in the gi symptoms, but within two months, one bitch became listless and didn’t even appear to recognize me right beside her. She was 6 wks gestation. She was unresponsive. Then she had a seizure and was taken in for emergency c-section. We lost half the litter and it was three days before the dam began to recover. When the pups began eating, they were fed rice and ground beef until they were able to eat totw salmon and prairie varieties, canned and nibble. As they grew, I started to use the 4 health puppy and diamond puppy blended with a bit of canned totw. Now for the past wk (they are 8 wks old), they have the runs. Fecal is clear, gums pink, drinking a load of water and eating only 4 health puppy. I have yet to find out if due to mom’s consumption of aflatoxins in the river run, then switching to diamond caused her toxic condition and now perhaps the pups’ systems are very sensitized to the same thing now in the diamond line of products.
I’m suspicious that your issue with the pups having diarrhea is not related to food at all. I would definitely have a vet examine them and check a stool sample for parasites!
Marie,
Now that the Diamond Disaster is exposed, I’m still curious what Dr Melissa Brookshire had to say about the recall and if you have still been in touch. I don’t believe her for a second. Dr. Brookshire and Diamond Pet Foods are covering their butts, big time!
Hi Sue,
The email from Dr. Brookshire simply stated that at that time there was no recall on Kirkland foods (which was correct). She thanked me for trying to gather information and really did sound genuine.
BS Doc, i just found your site a year late unfortunately. I spoke with brrokshire a month or two later and she told me none of this and said there were no issues in Ca.
However above another poster from Ca spoke to her a month earlier and their dogs were treated at the same vet ad mine!!! And dr brookshire ceased communication with me as well. Just a corporate schill.
We fed our dogs Kirkland Signature Dry Lamb and Rice dog food from Costco for several months. The dogs were not thrilled about the food, but ate it. They had LOTS of gas, loose stools, coats got dull & flaky. Dogs just seemed “off”. They always wanted to eat grass. Our dogs went from excited to eat at meal time, to having to be “bribed” with yogurt, pumpkin, etc. Pretty soon, even that did not work. We only bought Kirkland, because that is all we could afford (we had both lost our jobs). Long story short, we finally found a way to get money for dog food, and so switched them back to Wellness dog food. Within a few weeks our dog’s coats were looking fabulous, gas was gone, stool was normal, no more grass eating, and our dogs were once again their happy-go-lucky selves. No longer had to bribe them to eat! The only thing that changed was the food … will NEVER buy Kirkland Signature Dry Lamb and Rice dog food from Costco again.
I feed my dog Kirkland’s Adult and he’s been getting diahhrea a lot lately I stopped and am now feeding him another brand and he’s been fine.
Adopted a healthy 3yr old black russian terrier (106 lbs!) About a year ago. Had read good things about Kirkland food..started with chicken variety and switched to lamb and rice. She was in out of vets office with diarrhea (high chlostridium sp.?). Antibiotics and boiled chicken rice seemed to take care of it..but eventually it would return. Also gave her ocaissional chicken jerky treats from costco in oct and nov..stopped treats when I heard of problems ..switched food to Natural Choice in dec. Jan-feb noticed her losing weight, losing more hair, coat looked bad, and not much appetite. She just wasn’t quite herself. About 2 wks ago she got a cold and took her in…she stepped on the scale and it registered 75 lbs! That’s 30lbs in less than a yr…20 since nov!!! Over the next 6 days she stopped eating and then drinking..antibiotics, AD and ID food, vit B shots, iv fluids, nothing worked. We ended up at emergency vet in middle of night..couldn’t walk, blood pressure plummeting..made the difficult decision to put her to sleep..she was 4 yrs old. Vet did basic autopsy and said she died from cirrhosis of her liver. My regular vet is doing some further testing to see what he can find out. Don’t know if its the costco food and/or treats that caused her liver disease..but my sons and I are heartbroken..RIP Inna…
…were you feeding the canned lamb and rice too?
We have been feeding our 100-lb German Shepherd male (7 years old) Kirkland’s Nature’s Domain for a couple years. We alternate between the salmon and turkey. In the past month, for the first time ever, our dog has been exceedingly thirsty, drinking two or three times his normal amount. Instead of urinating once on a walk, he has needed to urinate 4-5 times. This hasn’t been every day, but maybe once a week or so.
I have 3 female dogs (age 11, 3, 2)and have been feeding them Kirkland dry lamb and rice food for months now. Also fed them the canned food, but it is no longer available. They all seem fine. Sure one is gassy and they eat grass. They always have, they are dogs and like to eat grass… Their coats are shiney and fine. My cats are also eating Kirkland dry cat food and seem fine. I’ll be watching them a bit closer now, though.
I only feed my three German Shepherds Pedigree and always have. My cats, however, have been on Kirkland dry cat food for years. They all do very well….they eat less (but maintain healthy weight), they throw up less, they do exceedingly well and are all healthy.
I’ve been feeding my two dogs Kirkland’s Nature’s Domain Turkey & Sweet potato for several months without a problem.
I have multiple foster dogs and have been feeding all of them Diamond Naturals Chicken and Rice for almost a year. The past few months I have had a few that just seemed to keep loosing weight, now I have more than half of the dogs with nasty diarhea, some bloody, some explosive. I have wormed them all and treated some for Giardia, still having trouble. Tonight I am starting them on Science Diet W/D (bland diet) to see if I can get them straight. I had already considered that the food might not agree with some of them, but after reading these responses I am getting very concerned. Most have started drinking 2 to 3 times more water than before, cannot wait to get to the water bowl from their crates, am having more unable to hold their urine until I get home from work. This is very disturbing considering I just bought 8 new bags this past Saturday!
Wow! It’s heartbreaking to hear that so many other pets have been suffering. We used to feed our dogs Blue Buffalo, which they loved and kept them looking and feeling super-healthy. My husband and I are going through a rough patch financially, so after looking online to be sure that there were no issues with Kirkland food, we bought Kirkland’s Mature for the first time a few weeks ago.
After a few days, I noticed one dog acting lethargic and not wanting to eat. So we went ahead and switched him to another food, and after a few days he was eating well again and back to his old self. My other dog was not exhibiting any symptoms at that time and was eating just fine, and we had this 40 pound bag of food, so we continued to feed her the Kirklands brand. Big mistake. All of a sudden, after about 2 weeks on the food, she started vomiting blood and became terribly lethargic. I rushed her to the vet, and thankfully tests for organ functions looked ok. The vet said she had not seen any instances of contaminated food recently, that it appeared to be a “gastro” thing. We gave the dog medicine and fed her special canned food from the vet for a few days (when she would eat), and now finally a few days after she went off the medicine she is just about back back to her normal self.
I’m absolutely convinced it’s the food that made them sick. We have no mushrooms in our fenced back yard, and know that they were not exposed to anything toxic during this period.
I feed Kirkland dry and canned, and all my dogs are doing great.
My two dogs ate Kirkland Lamb & Rice dry food for most of February and March 2012. One is fine, and the other developed uric acid crystals and stones which were removed surgically from her bladder. She is still undergoing more tests to see if her liver function is normal and manageable with diet. But at age 8, this is a bit late for a liver shunt to magically appear. I don’t know if aflatoxin is involved or linked or even present but I’ve had a sick dog too, and will continue to look for answers. It’s probably not the food in our case, but who knows. We’re still trying to figure it out here; thanks for sharing.
Kirkland dog food is made at a different factory than the actual Diamond Dog Foods…There is a toll free # on the back of your bags..Call it….Kirkland is a fine food, fed it for years, until they added veggies, after that my dogs had loose stools, so we changed to Breeders Choice ADP. The Reps will answer your questions, if you have dogs who are having problems, give them the UPC # so they can research. If my kids did not get loose stools I would still feed it.
Below is the response I received from Diamond today.
I can tell you with absolute certainty that the Kirkland Signature line
is in no way connected to the voluntary recall we announced on six
production codes of Diamond Natural’s Lamb and Rice. It is completely
fine to feed this to your dogs. Your food came from another plant and
is not produced at the same time as other products. Please continue to
feed your pet the Kirkland Signature food it is a great product!
Thank You,
Andrew Brondel
Director of Administration
Diamond Pet Foods
As u can clearly see more lies from diamond!!
My dog has been eating the Kirkland Lamb and Rice, 2 weeks ago I switched him over to Presidents choice Salmon and rice because I couldn’t get to costco to get him a bag. Last week I put him back on the Kirkland brand, he started vomiting frothy clear , so I fasted him for a day and switched to boiled chicken and rice (thinking I had switched him over too fast without slowly integrating the new food).
When I started integrating the Kirkland lamb and rice with the boiled chicken and rice, he started vomiting again and has had diarrhea (clear, liquidy). He’s been lethargic.
I fasted him yesterday and today fed him some chicken and rice which he was eager to eat. The vomiting has stopped and his bowls aren’t as frequent. He’s starting to get a little more energy. I’m going to chuck the Kirkland bag and go back to presidents choice. I suspect the bag is spoiled.
– Alysa in Canada.
I have been feeding the Kikland Lamb and Rice dry kibble (green bag) for about 4 years with minimal problems. I have two male basset hounds – both aged ~5.5 years old. Over the last week both boys have come down with an upset stomach – eating grass, vomitting and refusing breakfast/dinner, but this only happened to each dog on one day in the past 7. Otherwise they have been fine. We have had our current bag of food for about 3 weeks. We live in N. California. Thanks for looking into this; I’ve been wondering about the Kirkland foods since I saw the Diamond Naturals recent recall.
I have fed my dogs Kirkland Lamb & Rice &/or Chicken & Veggie dry kibble for over 10 yrs.
I currently have a male Dalmatian and a female black Lab.
Per my vet’s insturctions, I soak the kibble so the Dal doesn’t get bloat.
With this last bag, the soaked consistency, instead of just being soggy kibble, was like sticky peanut butter.
The Lab became listless and her fur became dull; the Dal was vomiting after every meal.
I tried varying the amount of water with the kibble, but they both continued to be sick. After a week, I could count my Dal’s ribs.
I phoned the number on the bag, and spoke with a lady who assured me that there haven’t been any changes to the formula. She had a gentleman phone me from quality control, who assured me that there haven’t been any problems with the food.
I assured him that I, then, would not be able to ever buy their food again, and that I would never be able to recommend their food to anyone else.
I have now been making the food for my dogs. They have both recovered from being sick (the Dal took longer), the Dal has regained the weight he lost, the lab is taking off some extra weight she was carrying, and they’re both doing very well.
I spoke with my vet about the food I’m making, and she was very supportive. She approved of the formula I’m using and recommended a few additions, which I’m now including.
We have fed the Kirkland brand Chicken, Rice, & Vegetable formula for about 4 years with no problems until 3 weeks ago. We had our 1 year old get very ill with vomiting and diarrhea. She was on I.V. Fluids and sub Q fluids for a week. Ultrasounds and X-rays showed that her stomach lining was inflamed and full of fluid. She did not eat or drink for 4 days. Finally she came out of it. Then we had a 6 yr old start to get depressed and had vomiting as well as diarrhea. She progressed to pneumonia and is on 2 antibiotics. Her liver was also affected. Her ultrasound showed that her intestines were inflamed. She is still getting sub q fluids and has not returned to her normal self. She goes through bouts of shaking that are a result of pain. We are praying that we start to see some improvement in the next couple of days. We stopped the food immediately and none of our others have shown any symptoms as of yet. We have spent a small fortune to date on vet bills and we are still not done. We plan to send a sample of the food in to be tested but don’t know where to send it yet.
We feed Kirklands Nature’s Domain, grain free fish. 3 are doing really well on it, but the 2 mastiffs both suddenly stopped eating after the first week or so, and they are so hungry that they bolt outside to eat grass in the mornings.
I have been feeding Taste of the Wild for 2 years to my 5 dogs now in the past 3 months they have all had bad gas, loose stools, and are drinking a lot more water. The only change I made was adding Grizzy oil to their food. I stopped adding it a month ago and the problems are still there.. I will be changing foods once I get my research on different brands done.
My German Shepard-mix has recently been peeing much more than normal. She has even had a couple of accidents during the night which has never happened before and she is 6 yrs old. I have limited her water intake at night, but I’ve never had to do this before. I’m concerned now that I’ve read all these other stories that the Kirkland food is what is making her sick.
Our vet recommended Kirklands after using Iam’s for years. We started our three mutts ( 70 lbs, 40lbs and 35 lbs, 1, 4 and 11 yo) in January. Shinier coats, less poop and lots of energy. No problems here! Sorry to hear of those with ill dogs but I think there could be so many other explanations. I’ve been thru illnesses and deaths of my sweet pups over the last 24 years and we can only do so much to keep them safe and healthy. Even when fenced in, they can unfortunately get a hold of dangerous things in your yard. I like the ND turkey and sweet potato, no grains and healthy fruits and vegetables are added. Please keep posting so we can keep them safe! Thank you.
We’ve been feeding Kirkland brand dog foods for years now; our two older dogs had been fed Kirkland Mature Dog formula. One passed away from fluid around the heart, the other from cancer (she was 15 1/2). Now our Entlebucher puppy is on Kirkland Puppy formula. We started him on Blue Buffalo puppy, but his stools never firmed up and it was causing him anal gland issues. We think it might have been too rich for him. When we moved him over to Kirkland food, his stools firmed right up and he’s been fine ever since. As far as our dogs go, it’s been a great product!
I’m on the same boat as you Bruno. Started our 5-1/2 month-old Boston Terrier on Blue Buffalo. Tried both the Chicken and Lamb formulas but his stools never firmed up on either. I am now in the process of transitioning him from Blue Buffalo Lamb to the Kirkland Chicken Puppy formula and I’m started to see improvement already in just 4 days (still feeding 75% BB and only 25% Kirkland).
My wife said our dogs have been throwing up the last two days and are shunning their food . It is a fresh bag opened a few days ago. It is Costco’s Nature domain turkey.
Feeding my 2 Golden Retrievers Costco’s Kirkland brand Lamb & Rice. I have not had any issues. We just opened a new bag of their food this morning. Now, I am a nervous wreck and scared they will get sick from this new food. We always add a bit of canned pumpkin to their kibble. The pumpkin firms their stool. I’m so sorry fo everybody’s dogs who have gotten sick and passed away. It truly breaks my heart.
Started an investigation on non-stop itching in my 3 dogs. I use the Kirkland chicken and rice dry food from Costco but more recently had bought the canned Kirkland food to compliment the dry food. Also bought Cadet Rawhide bones. Wondering which of these is causing the itch. I have used the Kirkland Dry food from Costco a long time so don’t think its the dry food. Any suggestions?
I have been feeding the Kirkland Chicken & Rice kibble to dogs at my boarding kennel for 18 mos with no problems. My show Boxers have been eating a mixture of cooked meats, organic brown rice and Salmon Nature’s domain for the same period — No problem that food with any dogs. In fact, I switched from using Innova and Evo for 17 years after it made all of the dogs violently ill. Stools have decreased volume and coats and skin are excellent.
We have 12 dogs ranging in age from 10 months to 13 years. Feeding Kirkland’s Nature’s Domain salmon & sweet potato, and haven’t observed any problems. everyone seems normal. Live in NC.
I have 14 German shepherds eating Kirklands chicken and rice and all are perfectly fine.
All 6 of my dogs are on Kirkland mature dog food and doing fine.
I have ben feeding my 12 year old Yorkie and my 5 year old Poodle Kirkland’s Salmon and sweet potato for aboout 6 months and everything is fine. I think my Yorkie is allergic to chicken. So this is great! His stomach is so much better on this food. No problems here!
My dogs for the last 2 weeks have been sick with lose stool and runny stool. We use costco kirland dog food as well. I have noticed it more so now then ever, Every dog I have was or has been sick. We removed the dog food and Havent had any more issues since switching. We still have the Kirkland dog food should we have it tested?
I have fed Kirkland chicken/rice for years with no problem until a couple weeks ago As of today I have 5 puppies and 3 adults that are all sick ( runs, fever, cramps, lethargic) My other 6 dogs are fed natures recipe and are all fine I switched them from kirkland chicken to natures recipe about a few weeks ago because they kept having loose stool which they now have normal stool
I have started switching the puppies over to natures recipe a couple days ago so hopefully that will fix the problem. (the pups are still playing and otherwise acting normal now and yes they have been wormed and checked out but the first day that they were sick they acted like they were in pain and lethargic) The last adults will also be switched off Kirkland also
I wonder if we all should have posted what city we are in to localize the problem?
We’ve had problems. We’ve been feeding our geriatric dog canned Kirkland food. It came in a pack of 24 – turkey and beef. The turkey was fine but when we started the beef, she didn’t really like it and was reluctant to eat. Our younger dog continually would steal the uneaten bowls and eat it all. 5 days after starting the new beef flavor, they both developed terrible diareeha and vomiting. The vet gave them both fluids, anti-emetics and started them on a broad antibiotic as well as septra to treat what he thought may be salmonella. Both dogs have been at the hospital being cared for and are doing remarkably better and we feel very thankful that they will be okay. Does anyone know if the pet food manufacturers will pay vet bills for pets that have been poisoned by their food (our bills are now 1000$+)
I have used the Nature’s Domain, salmon, for past year. In the past two months, i have noticed a difference in our dogs stool. One dog, just two weeks ago, starting throwing up and had horrible horrible diarrhea. I didn’t relate it to her food. I did a bland diet and gave her some metronidazole. It cleared it up mostly, but she still has extremely smelly bowel movements. The other dog has had extremely lose stools. I put them both on ProZyme hoping it will help. I saw about the SC plant haulting shipments. I went last night and bought different food. Our lot # is NDS0206A1NL CE 15 11
May I inerject… There is a reason that EVERY SINGLE brand made in a Diamond facility..i.e. TOTW…Natural Balance…Kirkland is WAY cheaper than any other comprable recipe.
Kirkland is partly cheaper because it’s in a club but when you see that every single brand they make is cheaper than any other comrpable product…well there is a reason
Try BJ’s…. they have a holistic food that is a little more than Kirkland but when i called ot ask abotu their ingredients they told it’s made by GlobalOne Pet and they perixoide value test their meats to human standards etc.
Mini does way better on it than she ever did on Kirkland or TOTW
I breed Dachshunds and have been feeding kirkland dog and puppy foods for years.My dogs do wonderful on this food.
I have been feeding Kirkland Lamb and rice to all of my rescued dogs for over 10 years. Lately i have been mixing it with the Natures Domain Salmon and Sweet Potato kibble for added omegas and have seen no negative issues. They are healthy and happy and have good coats, energy and activity levels. I have never had a problem with this Brand of kibble. We mainly rescue senior and special needs small dogs and they need good healthy nutrition so these are the brands I chose. I also recommend it to the adopters when they adopt a furbaby from us.
I feed my 5 year old Rottweiler Kirkland Healthy Weight Dog Food. I switched a year or so ago because I was eating Kirkland products and they seemed good quality. I will be interested to read your conclusions from your readers’ input, but, reading the comments I realize that there are at least 6 products being blamed– I hope Kirkland/Costco sort out which one(s) are potentially contaminated and send out a warning.
What do you think about homemade food? I have read that it is very difficult to achieve a healthy balance oneself.
I am in VA and feed a mix of Kirkland Chicken & rice and ND salmon and rice to 13 dogs. No issues that I am aware of. I had one dog with an issue a week ago, but he seems to be over it. Excessive urination was one of his issues. I have a litter of pups and they are getting Kirkland puppy food. Everyone seems to be fine. I will be keeping an eye out for any issues.
I have been feeding my two dogs Kirkland Chicken and Rice for two years and have had no problems until the bag I purchased most recently. Soon after beginning to feed them from this bag my little girl got so sick (vomiting, diarrhea, shaking, inability to stand) that she was in the doggie er for two days. I never thought about the problem being with the food until my little boy started having the same symptoms this morning. Both dogs have been eating very reluctantly and have been preferring grass, dirt, and even other dogs’ stools (neither have ever had this behavior before), but I thought it was because we just moved across the country and they were experiencing some stress. Having come across this article, I will buy them new food tonight and throw this bag away for sure.
Oh, and I also purchased the food in Delaware, in case the info is relevant 😉
Our 2 Irish Setters both have bloody diarrhea. They ate Kirkland Signature Lamb & Rice UPC code 96619 25350 and Chicken & Rice.
canned or dry food?
We feed our girl Kirkland Lamb and Rice. She’s happy, healthy and thriving. We have been using the same dog food for at least ten years now, probably closer to fifteen years.
Thank you for trying to help the consumers sort this out.
I have 4 dogs- 12 year old hound mix, 9 year old shih-tzu, 9 year old poodle mix & a 3 year old pit bull. They have been eating Diamond Lamb & Rice for almost 3 years now. I bought a 40 lb bag about 2 weeks ago & have never had any problems
I have 2 labs . One with grain allergies and the other is a senior .
I switched to Natures Domain Salmon-Sweet Potato formula back in February . No problems he loves it and it smells so good. My Senior in on Kirkland Mature Adult . She was switched in March . No problems she also likes her food. I am thinking about switching her to he grain free also . Anyone have an thoughts ?
BTW both had been on Iams . I always thought it was a premium food . I started researching foods after my pup developed the grain allergy.Then to my surprise our choice of dog food was not the best.
Don’t believe everything you read about “premium” foods on the internet. I personally believe there is a lot of misinformation out there. I actually am a fan of Iams. Read this article…it’s very interesting: Iams. Also, there are some grains that are very beneficial. I have found in my practice that many dogs on grain free foods don’t do well. They often gain weight or have stool issues. I’m currently in the process of writing a bunch of articles about this very thing.
I have 9 Rhodesian Ridgebacks, and I also do rescue work. So currently, I have 9 Rhodesian Ridgebacks (ages 4 months to 12 years), one 4 rescue dogs, one of which has 5 puppies that are 2 weeks old.
All of them are eating Kirkland dog food, most on the lamb and rice (2 are on the senior version).
None of the dogs are having problems, include the mama dog that is nursing and eating a good 7 cups of Kirtland Lamb and Rice a day.
Hope this helps.
In Denver, we’ve fed our 5-yr old Rottie-mix Kirkland Signature Lamb, Rice and Veg (forest green bag, 33#) for about 6 months, switching her over from Pedigree Large Breed kibble. She’s a healthy eater, and has been, on both foods. With one new bag of Kirkland kibble, she wasn’t too jazzed to eat and we half-halfed with Pedigree to encourage her. She had a few days of loose stool, gas and vomiting, but these issues seemed to resolve without a need for intervention. While the GI distress may have been related to the Kirkland kibble, it may just as likely have been due to other causes. We’ve continued using the Kirkland kibble with no further issue. She’s as rambunctious as ever with a healthy coat and gums, etc.
Costco’s Nature’s Domain dog food never made my dogs sick but after I discovered that the “premix” (additives that are put in most dog foods) was sourced from China I discontinued feeding it.
My friend and I both feed Kirkland chicken and rice (purple bag) and have for many years now (I would say at least 5). Neither one of us has had any problems. I have a 9 month old south African boerboel and a 1 yr old English cocker spaniel. She has the sibling to my cocker, a sibling to my boerboel, the mother of my boerboel (3 yr old), a boerboel from the first litter (just about 2 yr old), as well as another 4 yr old boerboel. Kirkland has been great for our dogs as the boerboels especially tend to have sensitive stomaches. We have fed 2 litters of boerboel puppies the Kirkland chicken and rice formula as well (25 puppies in total) and recommended the new owners to continue feeding it as well. Yesterday we noticed my boerboel had a very loose stool, today 4 out of the 5 boerboels have very loose stools. There is no other symptoms and nothing else is abnormal. Initially we thought the food but with one of the boerboels fine as well as the two cocker spaniel, I can’t see that! There is so many other elements that could have caused this to blame it solely on the food is ignorant. People need to realize just because there is a recall doesn’t mean that they should over react. There are so many elements to look at. I do send my sympathy to those who have lost these 4-legged members of the family, and I hope they find out what the cause was. My condolences to your families!
Have an 8 month German shorthaired pointer. Has been vomiting and eating large amounts of grass. He was fine on the first bag of the Kirkland salmon and sweet potato last month, but with this bag he has been sleeping a lot and not very hungry. Stool fine. Took him in to the vet two weeks ago due to serious vomiting over the course of 45 mins. He was ok, but still no confirmation of the cause.
Oh, we’re in CA. Previously stool was pretty nasty (no parasites), but he eats a lot of random things… .
I have 6 Greyhounds and 2 Silken Salukis plus fosters. My dogs eat kirklands food with no problems at all. I think it is the best food on the market for the money. I have a Costco membership just for the dog food.
My dog has been acting very strange since my GF bought our last batch of Kirkland Super Premium Chicken Rice and Vegetable formula. She has been rather lethargic, won’t finish her food and has very irregular stools. Sometimes hard, sometimes soft, but more importantly, she hasn’t pooped in almost 24 hours. I’m very worried about her and we may have to take her to the vet today if things dont improve and we don’t get a movement by 3pm.
We’ve been using the Kirkland Lamb brand for a couple of years. The last bag I opened smelled awful. I waited a couple of weeks and after my dog really doesn’t want to eat it, I bought another one today. I thought maybe I got a bad batch the first time.
It smells the same… awful.
I now found out about this problem being bigger than I thought because I was looking for Kirkland’s site to email them about going back to the original formula. I didn’t know it was so widespread.
I am re-posting this to Facebook, and I suggest you all get the word out too.
I’ve been feeding my dogs Kirkland Lamb and Rice for many years and never had a problem. About a week ago I switched to the Kirkland Healthy Weight and now my lab is throwing it up.
Stupid question but I feed my cat Kirkland food and have not been having issues but am close to the bottom of the bag and am now concerned with buying more Kirkland cat food, do we know it there have been any issues with the cat food at all, I feed the chicken. Thanks for any responses.
I started feeding my 1 year old Golden Retriever the Kirkland signature puppy chow about 3 weeks ago and she started to have diarrhea and mucous stools including accidents on the hardwood floor which she has NEVER had before. My puppy had never had accidents inside at night a day in her life and was also vomiting. Once I heard from my neighbors that there was a possible recall on the Kirkland brand food made by diamond I immediately switched her food and she has not had an accident or an abnormal bowel movement since!
Hey there, I fed a litter of puppies Chicken Soup Puppy as they were being weaned and they all got TERRIBLY ill. I thought they were going to die. They all had horrible vomiting and couldn’t hold down anything. I took them to the vet and he suggested we make a switch to IAMS and to do it immediately instead of slowly switching. With in 24 hours there was no vomiting at all and the pups are now doing fantastic. This was about 4 to 5 weeks ago. I bought my food at a local independent feed supply store and I know it isn’t them b/c I buy my IAMs there now and the puppies have tolerated that wonderfully.
Our dog died 3 weeks ago from kidney failure. She had similar symptoms, stomach problems & diarea, refused to eat, vet did tests, said her kidney results were off the chart. Vet thought she “got into something” although we could never figure out what. We always fed her Kirkland chicken & rice adult food.
I feed several Great Danes Kirklands and Nature’s Domain. I know several other GD breeders that also use these foods. None of these dogs have had any issues with either of these foods. I think this is circumstantial and people are mobbing up now!
Hey douche the recalls were fake too? Why don’t you think before you post on shit you have no idea about. Many of us lost loved ones and if they had been honest from the start many pets would still be alive.
I have been been feeding my GSD the Kirkland Lamb and Rice, but switched to the Kirkland Chicken for spring/summer. From day one he has been throwing up, and getting diarrhea, and a fever after feeding him. I’ve since switched his food to none Costco/Diamond food and have had no problems.
Here is an email that I received from Customer Serviced at Chicken Soup for the Pet Lover’s Soul (a brand made by Diamond). It tells how to determine from the product code whether a bag of food was manufactured at Diamond’s South Carolina plant.
From: “CS Customer Service” Add sender to Contacts
To: “‘kateiacy@yahoo.com'”
Dear Kate,
Thank you for contacting us.
Diamond Pet Foods is voluntarily recalling Diamond Naturals Lamb Meal & Rice on the below listed production codes out of the South Carolina facility. This is being done as a precautionary measure, as the product has the potential to be contaminated with salmonella. No other Diamond manufactured products are affected.
Below is the lot numbers included in the voluntary recall.
Product Name Bag Size Production Code & “Best Before” Code
Diamond Naturals Lamb & Rice 6lb DLR0101D3XALW Best Before 04 Jan 2013
Diamond Naturals Lamb & Rice 20lb DLR0101C31XAG Best Before 03 Jan 2013
Diamond Naturals Lamb & Rice 40lb DLR0101C31XMF Best Before 03 Jan 2013
Diamond Naturals Lamb & Rice 40lb DLR0101C31XAG Best Before 03 Jan 2013
Diamond Naturals Lamb & Rice 40lb DLR0101D32XMS Best Before 04 Jan 2013
We want to be overly cautious in light of the recall and we have decided to suspend shipments of our products from our South Carolina plant until more information is available.
In the codes above, the “X” reflects the South Carolina plant. If you have an “X” in your code, then your product would come from South Carolina. However, your food is not involved with the voluntary recall listed above.
Sincerely,
Julie
Customer Service
I have two puppies on Kirkland signature puppy food… They are fine 🙂 sometimes they get soft stool… But they ARE puppies
Hi! I have 4 Chinese Crested dogs and have been feeding them Natures Domain from Costco both the Turkey and Salmon. I also advised my mom to switch to it. THEN one pup started vomiting his food up a few hours after eating so I called vet and put him on bland diet he is now doing better but since then 2 more of my dogs have had vomiting and my mother called today her Chi wienie is vomiting and has bloody stool. I can no longer attribute the vomiting to anything other than the food itself. They are acting normal just hours after eating they deposit piles of dog food on my floor. One has had bloody stool as well. My dogs are all vaccinated etc and have no health problems. I hope this helps others as I believe there is something that is wrong with said food but has yet to be discovered by Diamond.
We had been feeding our 2 cattle dogs Kirkland’s Dog food for years without any problems. They seemed to be growing tired of it, so we switched to Purina One. After about 8 months, our one cattle dog just didn’t like it anymore, so we switched back to Kirkland Dog Food. After one meal, they both got sick – diarrhea and vomiting. Sounds to me like a bad batch.
I have been feeding my greyhounds kirtland lamb and rice for years. they like it, they are not sick, they don’t have diareha. Many years ago I added alpo canned food to their food and they wouldn’t touch it. The Alpo dog food was recalled shortly after that.
I think that if they don’t want to eat it, there is a reason. My dogs look forward to eating their Costco dog food.
My 3 year old Golden Retriever is happy, go lucky and always smiling. When he stopped wanting to eat the Kirkland Chicken and Rice (cranberry colored bag) I was very surprised, because he’s not a finicky eater AT ALL. After two days, I purchased some baby food and mixed it in with the kibble to get him to eat. Initially he was just quite and didn’t want to play, eating grass at every chance. Then he vomited and started to drool a lot—all very out of character for him. We correlated that a new bag of food had recently been opened and decided to change his diet to Fromm Gold. Within 24 hours he was back to normal!! Luckily, Costco is great about returns and seamed concerned when I shared our experience with them. I wish that I could learn about dog nutrition and prepare his food myself!! There are a ton of recipe’s out there, just not from qualified nutritionists–at least from what i’ve found.
Just letting you know you may be right about this recall, my local costco were completely all out of stock of all their dog foods and the name and price tag were missing. They only had 3 bags of puppy food left. Come to think of it my dogs have bad diarrhea and i think my golden doodles stomach is upset.
I was in my local costco yesterday and they still had all of their dog and cat foods instock.
I have been feeding my 3.5 yr old americna bulldog mix kirkland signature chicken and rice for about a year now. He did have a some bouts of diarrhea (about 3 wks apart)on the previous bag of food. I am not sure if those where related to the food he has been going through alot this year (diagnosed with addisons around 12/20)
The current one he’s been fed from since around 4/1 has been fine.
I have been feeding my 2 Treeing Walker Coonhounds Kirkland Lamb and Rice for over a year, and they have been doing well on it. They are running out of their favorite food, and now I cannot find it because of this “recall”. The 2 Costco stores in my area ( Ottawa, Canada) only have a few bags left of the weight formula and adult formula. no Lamb and Rice to be found in any store in my neck of the woods. Before everyone blames a specific brand of food when your beloved pet gets sick, maybe you should back it up with some proof.. get a tox screen, blood work, get the food tested and their stomach contents tested as well.. make SURE that it is the food, not something growing out in your back yard, or food they swiped from the kitchen counter ( my baby girl , gets sick from pineapple.. my big girl, has intolerance to corn and chicken, thus the Lamb and Rice formula)
Anywho.. no vomiting, no diarrhea, no nothing on this end.. I will check the lot number on the bag though.. to rule it out.. maybe it is a lot that is not affected.
Kirkland dogfood lamb using for more than 3yrs no problems with illness for either of my 2 dogs
no illness for my dogs eating lamb Kirkland food
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!!!
…my vizsla did the same thing…filled with water in the abdomen. He only had one can of Kirkland lamb and rice. In 4-5 weeks…he was dead. My second dog died a week later. Contact me…woof@thepetfoodbank.com
I purchased, unknowingly, a sick puppy. After hundreds of dollars of medication etc. I switched from the breeders food to Kirkland premium brand chicken puppy food. I have had no problems with my dogs appetite and she has had no intestinal problems while on Kirkland food.
We are in Canada and the kirkland brand offers great value for, what looks like, quality ingredients and quantity.
We have no issues with their food however the local petvalu manager absolutely hates that I buy my dog food from Costco. She indicated they are just full of corn. I found it interesting after reading your article that diamond produces several brands that she sells in her store.
Thanks for the article.
Regards,
Scott
My 4 year old lab mix has always eaten Kirklands brand in the green bag. We just opened her a new bag and the next day she was in the emergency vet after vomiting blood and having blood in her loose stool. Doctor suspects the dog food. I am contacting an independent lab for testing and getting in contact with Diamond.
I feed my dogs Kirkland brand Super Premium Adult Dog Chicken and Rice. I have not had any problems at all. In fact, my dogs have better, more consistent bowel movements on this food. Thanks.
I have been feeding my lab the Kirkland senior version of lamb and chicken for over 4 years with absolutely no problems. the only times there are loose stools are when other foods are introduced substituted.
We have fed our chiweenie the canned Costco lamb and rice for about 3 months. I noticed in the last can there was a blue speck in the mix, sort of like a tiny piece of blue plastic. I didn’t think anything of it, but the next couple of days, she was vomiting, shaking and whimpering. We took her to the vet. We didn’t talk about the food being the cause of her tummy distress but maybe that it’s the trash she sometimes gets into. So, I can’t say for sure that it WAS the Costco food that made her sick, but she DID become ill when she was on it. She recovered quickly once she was eating other food.
I have been feeding my 2 dogs Kirkland food without issues for the past year. One dog is a mixed breed that is 3 and I had a Golden that was 11 1/2. We had to put him down due to kidney failure in the middle of March. The Golden had issues at the end of February that puts everything into perspective now. He was healthy except for arthritis and had a vet visit in the fall that confirmed that he was healthy. He always ate heartily and was always on time for every meal. Then all of a sudden he just stopped eating. He refused to eat his food, which was Kirkland Dry Senior, but would eat the other dog’s Kirkland Adult Dry Lamb formula. Then he stopped eating altogether. He would drink tons and never urinate. After 3 weeks of not being able to get much in him, we took him to the vet who did blood work that confirmed severe kidney failure. We had to put him down. We attributed it to his age and our vet said “bad luck” but now that I see other people mentioning it, I did notice that his food had a bad smell that wasn’t what it usually smelled like. I wonder now if this wasn’t the cause of his demise. It was just so sudden even though he was an older dog.
The 3 year old is fine but now I’m thinking of throwing the rest of his food away.
Hi,
I recently learned about this recall. I live in Canada and I feed my Chocolate Lab Kirkland dog food as that is what she ate in her old home (we adopted her). She hasn’t been showing any symptoms.
I was wondering if anyone in Canada has had issues with Kirkland dog food? If someone could help me out that would be awesome. 🙂
This same thing happened to me in January of 2011! My 11-year old Aussie developed a very sudden kidney failure and died very quickly! Was on an iv for 4 days to no avail. I am so sad for your loss…I still haven’t gotten over my boy dying so suddenly.
I feed my two greyhounds Kirkland Lamb & Rice and have had no trouble. I bought a new bag as recently as last week with some trepidation, but have watched them very closely and see no issues at all. However, I did notice as some people have pointed out that the Chicken & Rice formula was completely out. I asked the manager if there was a recall and they said no, they were just out. Maybe a shortage due to the problems at the plant?
I have been feeding my dogs Kirkland Signature Nature’s Domain Salmon Mean and Sweet Potato Formula for Dogs for about 3 years–or however long it has been available at Costco. This past week two of my three dogs have developed watery diahrrea, and one of the two threw up. In retrospect, I have noticed one of them eating a lot of grass. What heightens my concern is that I recommended the food to neighbors who got a new puppy, and he developed very watery diahrrea also. I will be returning the food. Their doctor did a fecal exam (including for Giardia) which was negative, but because the watery quality of the diahrrea has persisted for 3 days, he just prescribed Metronidazole and I am to call them with an update tomorrow. If no improvement, he will probably put them on ivs to rehydrate them.
I just recently bought two bags of the Kirkland chicken and Rice, and went to put them in our storage container. First bag as it was poured smelled a bit off, 2nd bag smelled revolting….very bad… Like FECES!!!!……I thought my nose might be off …. Had my husband smell it and he was revolted, even the sacks smelled horrible the next day. I came online to research and found this site and now I am alarmed. I am returning this food to Costco and researching what to feed my dogs next. Have fed this food for 4 or more years, and was satisfied with the middle of the road nutrition quality vs. cost having to feed six dogs… I will pay more $$$ for peace of mind… Do not want to chance loosing any of my dogs nor deal with diarreha and vet bills. thanks for the info everyone.
My 8 month old lab has been eating kirkland puppy for 7 months. I also give him a tablespoon of metamucil every other day. Starting 5 days ago ( and a new bag) he has started drinking lots of water, horrible gas, and soft stool.
I think I will change his diet.Thank you.
I have been feeding my 2 basset hounds and 1 bloodhound Nature’s Domain Salmon and Turkey since November 2011. I buy 8 33# bags at a time at the Costco in Indianapolis due to the distance from my home.
No problems here. These 3 hounds have the softest coats ever, energetic and LOVE their food. My bloodhound attacks her food every afternoon.
I will keep an eye out for any changes in them and post here if I find anything but no problems with Nature’s Domain Salmon and Turkey..I usually alternate the flavor with each bag I feed.
Hounds are updated on shots, etc. Bloodhound is 4, Basset’s are 8yr and 3yrs old.
I having 2 basset hounds, one male 3 years old, and one female 2 and half years old. they both cannot have any gain and can only eat fish due to itch skin so I switched to feeding them taste of the wild (salmon/sweet potato formula) about 6 months, it was so great, its getting 90% better than before. But my husband always complaining the price for 2 dogs were too much so he found out the one at Costco has the same INGREDIENTS likes TOTW. He kept asking me to switch, I did it finally about 6 months now. My male seems like no change but my female itch skin still has it or maybe a bit worse, due to this food or weather change, i really don’t know cause I have a allergy too, one day better and next day getting worse even I’m on prescription so…Should I go back on TOTW or….IIts drive me crazy…how about your bassets? Their skin okay or not? Please reply cause I never meet any basset here…( Toronto)
Have fed our dogs, an 11 year ridgeback and a 2 year old sheppard mix, kirkland signature dry and canned for about 4 years, the only food the shepppard has ever had. just switched to the natures turkey and sweet potato. they are perfectly normal, they eat good, normal on their walks, play ball just like always
Our dog has been eating Costco food for several years. Six months ago, he began having bouts of severe diarrhea. He has refused his food some of the time. He has eaten grass and thrown up repeatedly. He has repeated ear infections (connection?) The vet has mentioned liver problems with his blood tests. We will have to check further with her. Today was the first we have heard about this possible source of illness. We have also been feeding Waggin’ Train Chicken Jerky treats which have been reportedly causing health problems..even death.
We have 2 Beagles and all was well with the Kirkland Mature dog food-chicken rice and egg until our latest bag. I noticed a smell different from the other bags we purchased. The smell was not bad but was different. Both dogs got soft stools and then 2 days later diarrhea all night long. My wife just went to Costco to pick up another bad so that I could see if that one had an off smell as well, but it seems that all of the Kirkland brands are no longer there. The front clerk stated that they were changing suppliers. I just found this site and do hope my dogs are OK. Fed them a little rice. Just purchased some Iams. Our Costco is in Pointe Claire, Quebec Canada! My feelings go out to those who lost their dear pets.
I have a Staffordshire and a Pomeranian and they both eat Kirkland “Super Premium Healthy Weight Dog Chicken & Vegetables” 40 lb bag. Both are very healthy, no problems. My Costco store is in Pointe-Claire, Quebec. When I went today to buy more, I was in shock to find that they aren’t selling it anymore. I was told they didn’t know if they would get any more and they are negotiating with the company. They only had a new one “Nature’s Domaine (salmon and sweet potatoe-gran-free) which is Kirkland brand. So sorry to hear some have lost their wonderful pets.
Will people please post rather or not they have tested pets for salmonella? The Diamond & Chicken Soup press release states that the recall was due to salmonella, but now I’m wondering if there is something else that we aren’t being told due to the lack of credibility from Diamond HQ. Diamond has lied 2x when asked directly if there has been a cross contamination problem & told me on the phone that I’m the only one who has called to report a problem. If you check dog food advisor, the Taste of the Wild fan page on facebook & other sites like this, you will see how many reports there are of sick pets in the past couple of months related to the food. But consumers aren’t reporting if they have had + or – salmonella tests. My dog is very sick but he tested – to salmonella. I feel very strong about the decline of his health being related to his food.
My dog was on Natural Balance as his old food and I slowly transitioned a blend of Taste of the Wild over a month ago. At the time, I had no idea they were both made by Diamond. In hindsight, the more TOTW he ate, the more pronounced his symptoms and illness became. The NB was made in CA as indicated by the C in the bar code. The TOTW was made in SC as indicated by the X in the code. Will people please post where their food was made (by the letter in the middle of the code. X=South Carolina, C= California, M= Missouri) so we can try to determine if the cross contamination problem was only in SC or if it was perhaps an ingredient problem that contributed to all 3 plants.
Symptoms: My dog has almost no white blood cells which are not responding to anti-biotics. His spleen and lymph nodes are extremely enlarged. He tested negative for salmonella, parasites, cancer and several other basics. He has always been current on all vaccinations & only walks on leash so I know what he is eating and drinking at all times.
He cries in pain, has lost almost all of his energy, and was refusing to eat his food. He is drinking a lot of water but seemingly not needing to urinate proportionately. His eyes seem flat. He is now eating very mild human food but not like he used to.
For others who have had the food tested by a 3rd party, please post results. Report your experience to the FDA so they are aware of what is happening: http://www.fda.gov/Safety/ReportaProblem/ConsumerComplaintCoordinators/default.htm
please email me at woof@thepetfoodbank.com..thanx!
Yes, my full breed German Shepherd got diarrhea last week and was really feeling bad. We feed him the two pack Kirkland Brand Lamb & Rice and Beef & Vegetables, I believe. Well, he went through the Lamb & Rice just fine, but once he started eating the Beef & Vegetables, he began to get really sick. My dad noticed and changed his food. He returned the food back to Costco and complained that it’s making our dog sick. Now after switching to dry food, he’s fine but I think his new food is also the Kirkland brand, so I’ll tell my dad Kirkland dog food is made by Diamond. Funny how I always looked to see where it was made but couldn’t find anything other than Kirkland/Costco Distribution on the label. We bought the food at Costco in South San Francisco, CA.
We are Australian Shepherd breeders, we feed the Kirkland puppy food to our pups and have had great results. We haven’t noticed anything in our pups, they are all very healthy. I am in Canada, not sure if that matters or makes any difference.
Using Kirkland puppy dry food for four months now, mixing it with either water and peanut butter or beef broth. No problems, we hve watched our dog go from 6 pounds to 40 pounds so far.
My father inlaw bought a bag of Kirkland chicken and rice last week. Our beagle went to stay with him for the weekend. As of last night his four chiwawas and our beagle are all VERY sick. Throwing up, lethargic, diarrhea, lack of appetite. He threw the food away and we are hoping our dog starts to recover or to the vet he will go tomorrow.
I called Diamond several months back to express concern about the food. Went as far as to explain that I was an excellent test case for them because of the wide geographical area my dogs were placed in. I had dogs in four different parts of the United States that were all displaying the same symptom (sudden onset diarrhea) and the only common denominator was the food. They were not helpful at all. Made me feel as if I was speaking with a legal rep, rather than a food consultant. Their rep asked me could all four of them have accidentally left the food in their cars to in the heat. I informed her that there was snow still on the ground in one of the areas of residence. Switched then, won’t go back. In the process of going completely raw. I’m done with manufactured kibble. Enough is enough. This may be all you hear of the problem, but this isn’t the entire problem. It will end up being a problem with an ingredient that’s imported and distributed to all of their manufacturing facilities as a base ingredient to the majority of their products. JMHO, Jennifer
I just started my 2 shelties on a new bag of Kirkland Lamb and rice on Sunday and 2 days later one has soft poo and has vomited. So I have stopped feeding them that food as of this morning. I read about the possible problems with the food but I was so hoping that everything would be fine but it appears that is not the case. Friends of mine have a dog who is vomitting as well and she eats the same food.
I purchased from the Halifax, Nova Scotia Costco.
Took my dogs off the food for 3 days and then decided maybe it was a coinidende that the one threw up so gave them a sprinke of the food on top of the other food I was giving them and well I ended up having to clean up vomit again! Bought a brand new bag and it smellls different. Hopefully it is ok.
I have fed my dogs Natural Balance for months and they just started having problems a few days ago. I feed them NB beef roll in the morning and NB dry potato and duck limited ingredient diet for small breeds in the evening. It seems their problems started when I opened the new bag of food. One dog has had vomiting and wants to eat grass. I can hear her stomach gurgling from several feet away. The other dog has had diarrhea with mucous. She has been less active, but I would not call her lethargic. She too has a gurgling stomach that can be heard from several feet away. I found similar complaints online and have removed the dogs food and started feeding chicken and rice. I will not take a chance and use Natural Balance again.
i have been feeding kirkland for years…and both my greyhounds have had bouts of Diarreah since buying this last bag. no other food has been eaten…and nothing else ingested…but yet the D keeps coming back. never had the problem before..till this bag.
We feed our two bassets Kirkland Brand Chicken & Rice Dry Dog Food.
My husband went to Costco last night to pick up another bag, only to find an empty shelf and several other confused customers. One other shopper told my husband that he had been to EVERY Costco in the Montreal area looking for it and all shelves were empty.
An employee told my husband only that they are switching suppliers and handed him a telephone number to call for more information. I am now suspicious.
Our male basset has had two days of diarrhea. That said – we are just now near the end of the bag and so, I doubt it is connected.
My dog is 12.5 years old. we have been feeding her the Kirkland Lamb and rice since Costco stopped selling Iams. we recently brought her into the vet with a swollen snout and a mass on the roof or her mouth. it was either cancer or a tooth abscess. luckily turned out to be an abscess. anyway they checked her blood levels and everthing came back normal BUT her Phosphorous levels. around this time we hit the bottom of one bag of dogfood and bought a new bag. she has been eating the new bag for about 2 weeks now and her phosphorous levels are back to normal. a little too much of a coincidence if you ask me. I personally think there was something wrong with the last bag of food since her counts climbed again with the new food.
I’ve been feeding my dogs Kirkland Lamb and Rice Adult dog food for years with no problem. I just opened a new bag. At least one of the dogs now has diarrhea. I live on rural property so I don’t always see where they “go”. They also could possibly get into something I don’t know about.
I heard about the Diamond recall and wondered about the Costco brand. I found this site in a web search.
I am going to watch them closely.
ABQ, NM: We go through a bag once a month, and dog has been fine until this past weekend (4/28/12) when we opened a new bag. Dog began vomiting and loss of apatite for 2 days. Dog does have a gambit of other issues, so not sure yet. After seeing your article on Diamond foods, I knew Kirkland was made by same manufacture I put in a call to personal vet who saw my dog at beginning of sickness. Waiting to hear back from personal vet.
Forgot to add, Kirkland Signature Lamb & Rice Formula
this is a must read for those of us looking for answers. “#6
….Diamond is picking up (removing) all product (all products they manufacture, not just Diamond brand) from distribution centers (not retail outlets…distribution centers). ”
http://www.truthaboutpetfood.com/articles/diamond-pet-food-updates.html
I fed my dogs Kirkland food.Last Aug my oldest who was on the adult complete lamb and rice started refusing to eat which was odd as he was a food hound,its my other who was the picky one.He was drinking water like crazy , urinating & vomiting clear & eating dirt we took him in & he had a 1100 blood sugar.he should have been in a coma but my little guy held on lord knows how& my husband couldn’t bear to not try.Had him on Iv’s insulin and the doc gave us diabetic food to try get him to eat( not thinking I threw out the other food) We got his sugar down but he refused to eat so started going low, had to stop the insulin ,his bloodwork came back and his liver was failing as well as his kidneys & he had major issues from the high sugar.We had to put him to sleep:( I am fully convinced it was a bad batch of food as he never had diabetes or symptoms of before & from talking to others + finding out who manufactured it.I would not chance any food manufactured by companies who have had any issues ever ,again.His younger sister who thankfully did not eat the bad food & her new baby brother are both on a grain free/junk free food now & homemade treats.Giving up things to add the extra expense is so worth it.I would urge people to have the food tested if noticing any signs & find a different food period.I wish I had as I have no proof in which to help others ,I watched my poor baby suffer & my heart aches to think any more will.
We are feeding Kirkland Puppy/ Taste of Wild to our puppy. No health issues.
As previously reported here is the info on the bag that I fedd our Beagles.
Kirkland Super PremiumMature Dog
Chicken, Rice & Egg formula
Production code:
KCS0301B31XCW 2132
Best before 09 March, 2013
Purchased from Costco Pointe Claire, Quebec. Canada
Hope this helps.
All three of my dogs eat Kirkland dog food. Two of my dogs eat the Kirkland Healthy Weight and the other one eats Kirkland Adult Dog Chicken and Rice. We live near Pittsburgh, Pa. I have seen no symptoms of food poisoning in any of them. I know a few other people who feed Kirkland as well and have had no problems. I’m so sorry for those who are dealing with the loss of their pet.
My dog has been eating Kirkland Chicken & Rice for a number of years. She was vomitting very lathargic hasnt eaten in two days. I am going to give her antebiotics & change her food. Sooo frustrating.
We opened a bag of Kirkland chicken and rice last week for our three year old Australian shepherd. It is the same food we have always fed him. He initially ate it fine but then seemed reluctant which is not like him at all. For the past four days he has had diarrhea or soft stools with blood and mucous. And he is lethargic. Yesterday we began giving him cottage cheese and rice after a vet visit. Still waiting for lab results. This is a dog who has never been to the vet outside of regular checkups. So it is scary to see him do miserable.
I have two great Danes that are eight years old. They have eaten Kirkland signature dry dog food their entire lives. they have eaten the mature blend for the past two years. The last bag that I purchased on 4-22-12 from my local Phoenix Costco has caused both of my dogs to become very sick with vomiting and diarrhea. Alternately after one and a half days both of my dogs refused to eat the food at all. My male great Dane has never missed a meal so him refusing food speaks volumes to the existence of a problem. I have contacted Costco corporate headquarters who is having an inspector contact me to pick up a sample of the dog food from my home. In the meantime, I have requested a full refund for my most recent purchase and unfortunately had to buy a bag of pedigree dog food as to avoid everything in the Kirkland product line. I’m confident that my dogs illness is a direct result of contamination of the Kirkland dog food.
Ive been feeding all 6 of my dogs the Natures Domain salmon food for over a year with no problems, however over the last 4 days my yorkie has had very foul smelling diarrhea. I’ve noticed mucous and blood in it too. I’m worried and wondering if it is the food?
My two dogs both 7yrs old have been experiencing diarrhea and vomiting, I took them off of the Costco brand dog food (purple bag). An started them on a oatmeal and ground beef until their stool was solid again, just be sure that it was the dog food that caused their illness I gave them a half scoop in tonights dinner and low and behold they are sick again!
Fed my 9 yr old lab Kirkland since he was a pup. No serious problems but have noticed an increase in drinking. Vet said he does have a high urine count. 1.008 and wants to retest in a few weeks. Not sure what is causing. Opened a new bag of Chicken, Rice and Veggie a week or so ago he eats it just fine. No loose stools or throwing up. I’m starting to wonder if this were a human food company and they had a recall would I continue to buy their other “safe” brands.
Are any of these incidents occurring in southern California? Has the company said anything about this?
yes, quite a few dogs in Southern California have died from the canned Kirkland Lamb and rice made by American Nutrition in Ogden Utah.
I feed my dog Kirkland Lamb and Rice mixed with Taste of the wild lamb. She hasn’t been sick at all.
Diamond plant in SC shut down for production of all brands as confirmed by the online co that sold me a bad bag of ToTW. First read here http://www.truthaboutpetfood.com/articles/diamond-pet-food-updates.html
Diamond is hiring 3 new Quality Control Technicians at all 3 plants. You do the math. http://www.diamondpetfoodcareers.com/jobs/
Since my earlier post on the 30th I’ve switched to another diamond made food… Chicken soup for the dog lovers soul, but did find that a voluntary recall has been issued on the light formula with the specified …
http://www.chickensoupforthepetloverssoul.com/information
I have two dogs, one boxer mix and one boxer. We have been feeding them Kirkland Lamb and Rice. The Boxer has been att he vet for two days with Pancreatis. She started throwing up and then added blood to it. The other dog is fine…..
i feed kirkland adult food now all 4 of my dogs are sick vomiting,diarrhea, i called costco they said they said no recall i dont believe them some one help please
I have been feeding my shih tzu Kirkland Chicken and Rice kibble and canned food her entire life with no problems. Now I have a bassett mix and she has been eating the same thing as the shih tzu and is also fine. I live in the Pacific NW if that helps at all. Just a side thought: people need to realize that anytime you change a dog’s diet it can effect their stools and stomach for up to a couple of weeks ( if not introduced properly). My heart goes out to anyone who has lost a pet. It’s a devastating thing but remember the good times.
I live in Denver and fed my dogs Kirkland’s lamb and rice food last year for about two months (I transitioned them to it over the course of two weeks). My dogs developed very stinky, very dark colored diarrhea on it and hair loss. A client fed Kirkland’s chicken and her dog experienced extreme hair loss on it. I stopped feeding the food right away and thankfully my dogs recovered quickly. So did my client’s dog.
me again after a trip to the vet he is now on antibiotic and fluids iv and bland diet guess what* salmonella * the bags were kirkland adult healthy weight and kirkland biscuits product codes are ksho440903 / ksh03070n -biscuits is 30093 lot 095azb
almost forgot the 1 batch #is KSH040903HX this is on the recall list is sold in arizonia
I have been feeding my 14 yr old female dog natures domain for less than a week and noticed that she has changed drastically for the worse. Before I was feeding her honest kitchen (a dehydrated dog food) and she was perky and had a lot of energy and a good appetite. But then after switching foods, due to budgeting my money, she began vomiting and would not want to eat. I definitely think that something is wrong with kirklands food and now I am stuck at the vet everyday trying to find out what went wrong. I hope this dog food is investigated and recalled right away before more dogs become severely ill.
I also forgot to mention that we purchased the bag of natures domain at the Costco in Northridge, CA.
I just got an automated call from Costco saying we should return any Kirkland Signature Dry food with use before dates between 12/2012 and 1/2013. The bag we are using is labeled use before 3/2013. We are half way through the bag. The dogs seem fine except the younger golden’s lips have pink blotches. I just noticed that this week.
Do you think we should return the food even though it’s after the date they signified? Do you think the pinkish blotches could be from the food???
Thank you.
I feed Kirkland’s chicken and vegetables dry dog food. My dog is fine, but I had a phone message when I got home tonight saying Kirkland pet foods with best by dates between 12-9-12 and 01-31-2013 are recalled and to stop feeding the food and return it to Costco. The bag my dog is currently eating on is between those dates.
Costco is doing a robo message today, May 4, telling it’s customer that there is a recall on the Kirkland dog food.
My dogs have eaten through the bags we had on hand and are doing just fine.
We tried a bag of the Kirkland (COSTCO) Dry Dog Food in late February or early March, and immdeiately our Shelties developed an unquenchable thirst, excessive urination, and diarrhea. We removed the Kirkland dog food and returned our dogs to Natural Balance Reduced Calorie Dry Dog Food. They recovered quickly, and we vowed to stay with what we know is best for them.
We also feed our 7 year old English Mastiff and 5 year old Goldendoodle the Kirkland brand dog food and they called today saying to bring the food back to the store and they will replace it. So, yes they are doing a recall. Our dogs have been fine, but I’m not taking chances! We will be returning it tomorrow!
I feed my dogs kirkland mature dry dog food. We’ve had no problems.
My 4 year old Labradoodle eats only Kirkland Lamb & Rice – no problems, I will exchange existing for fresh.
I only buy the Costco Lamb formula. How far back does the problems go? I am in Colorado and lost a dog the middle of Feb. to what I just assumed was a quick acting infection. She was 9. I have two dogs under a year and a 12 yo doxie still on the food. They seem to be ok, although two of the three now are experiencing diarrhea. Perhaps I’ll change their food until I know for sure.
I have been feeding my 18 month old lab mix Kirkland Signature Lamb and Rice since getting her in mid December with no issues. However the bag I purchased on 4-25-12 had a funny odor to it. My dog has been eating it with no problems however I will toss it as a precaution. I did get a phone call from Diamond Pet food about the recall.
Been feeding Kirkland Signature Adult Dry Lamb to 3 dogs….no problems. Just bought new bag to keep ahead 2 week ago…think i should return it?
I was feeding my dog Kirkland weight control formula. I have a 12 yr old weimaraner mix. She was fine until a couple days ago when she started having really smelly farts, was lethargic, (more than usual) vomiting, and was panting on short walks. I went online and saw that other people’s dogs were getting sick from Kirkland too, so I immediately switched her over to Acana and saw a significant difference in behavior and health within 24 hours! She’s perkier, and happier than she’s been in years. Her poo’s are better too!
We have used Kirklands adult and puppy food for over a year. Last month two of my Pekingese who were pregnant, got very sick, diarrhea, lethargic, rapid weight loss, dehydration, would not eat or drink on their own. We nursed them back to health, slowly, and during that time they had their babies. Neither mom had any milk! Within 1 week, all of my puppies got sick, vomiting like no newborn puppy should be able to do and died. My vet said at the time, infection or poisoning, now I feel that the dog food caused this. My mommy dogs have started eating on their own and gaining weight and seem to be okay. We switched dog foods at the time they were sick.
I have six Rhodesian Ridgebacks, weighing between seventy to ninety pounds, ages one year to five years, that are fed – two cups, morning and evening – on ‘Kirkland Signature (Super Premium – made with Real Lamb) Adult Dog’ (Green Bag).
They have had no problem(s) with the above mentioned brand that I have been feeding them since they were one year old.
I am now on high alert and on the look out for any food related problems as well as change in their eating habits and overall moods. So far, there have been no problem(s) at all with the six Rhodies that live with me on a four acre chained-link fenced enclosure.
I can’t wait for the foresinic results, toxicology reports, or necrospy results attributing the cause of death in most of the cases as having been brough about by one and only culprit – Kirkland Dog Food.
Otherwise, – with all due respect to owners who have lost their beloved pets – I will treat the rumours circulating on the Internet as ‘dog-foog-hysteria’ , no more no less.
FYI, it came as no surprise that the mysterious culprit is a different agent other than Kirkland dog food, as was the case some years ago in a similar incident that occured in one European nation (name withheld), where it was found out that the cause of death in many dogs at the time had nothing to do with a popular vacine that was being adminstered by the vets at the time – but it was caused by fecal matter and urine from infected rodents and foxes in the region.
I will go off a limb here by declaring that I still have full confidence in the Kirkland dog food until I am proven otherwise – by scientific proof from the authorities in charge of the matter.
I did get an automated call about the voluntary recall, but let’s do what we can do to protect the lives of our precious pets, but at the same time wait for real facts to emerge.
@Dr. Marie, thanks for highlighting the issue while you try to get to the bottom of the matter as well as unverified accounts.
We f eed our old (13) mixed breed the Kirkland Adult Dog dry food. She started on a new bag about a week ago and thus far, no issues. She is her normal, cheerful self.
Have been feeding our dogs the Kirkland Dog Food in the red bag, as in your illustration above.
Our ten pound Yorkie became acutely ill on this past weekend. We brought him in to the Vet on Sunday 28 Apr12 because we were alarmed by his sudden cascade of symptoms: fever, no eating or drinking, listlessness, cough, straining at the stool with a bloody residue, a taut abdomen and a high degree of what can be only interpreted as all over achiness.
The Vet was unable to diagnose our dog’s acute illness. She treated him with IV intervention to prevent further decline. X-rays and sonograms were taken. Still couldn’t pinpoint the cause of the maladies.
Tonight, Friday 4May12 we received a telephone call from Costco advising us of a possible Salmonella contamination of their dog foods.
So, we then googled and found an array of symptoms that coincide with our dog’s illness.
With all the expense and stress we and our dog experienced we are wondering if there is any way proper compensation from Costco can be pursued?
Our dog is still in recovery…slowly normalizing.
Thanks….John Earley
I feed my one year old boxer kirkland chicken/rice – I bought my most recent bag mid April/2012. He seems fine – has had some diarrhea – but nothing serious, so far?!?
From the message that came from Costco via phone, there was less than two months of food production that was of concern — Best before date from Dec 9, 2012 and Jan 31, 2013 — and they asked that it be returned for a refund. They said that none of the Costco food had tested positive for salmonella, but it was being recalled as a precaution. I’ve been feeding my dogs Costco’s Nature’s Domain Salmon and Sweet Potato for about 5 months with no issues. May current bag has a best before date of Feb 13, 2013. The dogs love it.
I personally think it was fantastic that Costco generated calls to everyone who has ever purchased the food. Their proactive approach to customer care and service should be applauded
Our 4 dogs are eating Kirkland Lamb & Rice. Last bag was purchased around mid-April. Nothing unusual happening.
We were feeding our two Golden Retrievers Blue Buffalo until quality control issues gave us several bags without the much-vaunted “LifeSource Bits”. We switched to Kirkland about six months ago. Our older dog does not seem to like it as much as Blue; the one year old will eat anything. Both are exhibiting allergy problems since being on the Kirkland food; the older gets rashes and the younger one gnaws at his foot. We are going back to Blue Buffalo.
I just started feeding my dog kirklands lamb and rice food 1 week ago. We have been slowly incorporating it into her diet. She threw up twice today and had looser than normal stools. I also got a call today from Costco about the recall. I have stopped feeding my dog the food and will be returning it.
We have a rescue lab/shep. Got him in February. Started him on Kirkland Adult Chicken and Rice. Stool was consistently soft. But since we opened a new bag, his stool has been like water. We have cycled him through three 5-day regimens of: no food, all rice, rice + boiled chicken, rice + kibble, all kibble. And like clockwork, his stool becomes firm during the rice and chicken phases and turns to liquid on the all kibble day. Finally gave up on the Kirkland this week, then read this article. We are currently moving him over to 4Health….F*&% !!! But now I see that is on the contaminated list too. Wonderful. Thanks Diamond.
Dr. Marie,
I have 3 cattle dogs. They have been on Kirkland for years with no problem, but from the last bag purchased we have had vommitting & diarrhea from 2 of the 3. I will be checking the bags for dates. I usually pitch the bags aftewr putting them in the rubbermaid tote. I feed Lamb & Rice (Green Bag).
Thank you for monitoring the situation. We got our brand new poodle 7-week old puppy on Tuesday (May 1st, 2012). The breeder and we have been feeding her Kirkland Adult Formula purchased from Costco. So far, no symptoms at all. We live in Massachusetts.
Hi. Just received the robo-call this morning. Our doggie has not shown any signs of trouble. The bag we have is green and it’s Kirkland Signature Adult Lamb, Rice and Vegetable formula. He’s been eating it for weeks without any apparent problem. Our son had the flu two weeks ago, and he does feed the dog, but I don’t think this bag is bad. Still, we plan to return it as it does have the 2X that is marked on the website: http://diamondpetrecall.com/
It looks as though our bag may not be part of the bad lot, our expiry date is March 2013 and has a 2X instead of a 3x. Thank you to your article for being more thorough than the manufacturer’s website!
In January 2012 our nine year old previously healthy whippet became very ill. Anorexia, lethargy, weight loss, lymphadenopathy, tachycardia, mucousy greenish foul smelling stool, and vomiting. The work up at the vets showed an elevated amylase, lower than expected white count and low grade fever. Stool samples were not looked at. She was given a course of predisone with no definitive diagnosis. I didn’t suspect the food but started feeding her a home cooked diet and she started to recover. I started her back on the dog food about the time she was coming off the prednisone and she became sick again. We put her back on pred and had to change food to purine one lamb and rice as Costco didnt have Kirkland in stock. She remained well after coming off the pred that time but relapsed when we went to the cottage for the weekend where we still had the Kirkland kibble – she started to have the mucousy diarrhea again on the Monday after the weekend. I’m actually a bit relieved that we know have a better idea of what was behind the mystery illness. Vet had wondered if it might be lymphoma but was surprised when she actually got better.
I have fed Kirkland Chicken and Rice for 4 years now. My Native American Indian Dogs are well, healthy and happy. No problems here.
I have fed Kirkland dog food (Chicken & rice-Red bag) to my dogs for years and never had a problem, UNTIL last Thursday, 4.26.12, My 14 month old St. Bernard pup became very ill. When I say ill I mean she was trying to vomit, she was pacing, would not settle down and calm down, she was very anxious and she was bloating, we left dog class early that night as she was really worrying me, in less than 1 hour she suddenly looked like she was 70-80 days pregnant, ready to explode with puppies, and she has never been bred, her stomach was extremely tight like a drum, the Gas-X I was giving her was not in and I called the vet clinic and let the Dr. know I thought she was bloating and raced her in. We got to the clinic about 10pm Thursday night. We took numerous X-rays and did different blood tests, the vet pumped everything out of her stomach, which really was not very much, she was having a hard time under the anesthesia and I was afraid we were going to lose her. The entire time she was on the table diarrhea just kept spilling and spilling out of her bottom, it was very mushy like soft serve ice-cream. After she was basically empty, The Doctor woke her up, she was still in complete panic mode (& this is a dog I bred, I have raised, has been loved & adored since she was born and I very well socialized, she is not a nervous dog and she does not panic or fear new situations, and my dogs love to go to the vet) Her heart rate was even higher than it had been before, which was high, and it was not calming down, we took more X-rays, and kept re-checking her heart rate and she had to go in for surgery to open her up & see what was going on. For this surgery, I was present, the entire time… What we saw was EXTREMELY inflated, looking like they would explode intestines that were twisted, but not dead or purple. There seemed to be things “stuck” & nothing was moving… Her GI system basically froze and was causing her extreme pain. He said as he opened her stomach that I may lose her when he did it, she may get an infection and could die. She woke up from the surgery and was in so much pain she just laid there crying. I walked out of the vet’s office without my dog at 5:53AM Friday morning. They said they had to keep her overnight maybe a couple nights. I went home, not sleeping of course fearful I would lose my baby, throughout the day I called and went to visit her, she looked like a ghost just standing there in extreme pain, panting heavily, her heart racing, they couldn’t calm her down, she was like a ghost on the outside and in panic mode inside. She did not even know who I was. I left her that afternoon fearing the worst and that I would get the call she passed sometime that day. She kept tearing out her catheter/IV and they couldn’t get it back in her because she was panicking so badly and her heart rate was even higher, it had got to 191-2, she was not in good shape. I wanted to take her home and doctor her here but seeing her like she was I knew she had to stay and I couldn’t move her. In the night the doctor on call said she was given more meds and her heart-rate was still high, no sign of improvement. Before 8AM Saturday I was at the clinic, and was elated to see my pup laying there happy. (They had given her several new drugs & got the IV back in) she was panting some and her heart rate was a bit elevate but it was 129-127 I believe at that time. I took her outside and walked her around, she drank tiny amounts of water and was a happy girl, she knew exactly who I was Saturday morning. About 12pm Saturday, I was able to take her home, she has been on high doses of 2 antibiotics and at this point is doing good. She lost early 15 pounds…Hopefully she makes it to the 2 week mark, where the vet says will be a good sign and hopefully then we will know she is clear of the possibility of infection, from opening her stomach. The ordeal cost just shy of $2,500 and I nearly lost my baby… It has been a horrible experience..When I heard of the recall I immediately called Kirkland assured me since I live in CA my food was not tainted, ad I feed Costco food not Chicken lovers soup, which was the only food re-called. I knew that was not true, I called the vet that preformed Alegra’s surgery ad asked if if he i fact thought Alegra’s problem Thurs night could have been from the bad dog food ad he said ABSOLUTELY, he said it would really explain a lot too. Kirkland’s vet Dr. Brookshire (sp?) was going to call him, but as of ow she has not. Was it from the food, I do’t know, at this point, but I wanted to share our story ad see if anyone else has had a similar experience???
yes, same experience…but with the canned Kirkland lamb and rice dog food. Contact me. …woof@thepetfoodbank.com
Heather Again –
My dog eats Kirkland Adult Dog Chicken, Rice and Vegetable Formula and the best before date says March 21, 2013. We are three quarters of the way through a 40 lb bag and she has shown no sign of illness. Now I’m paranoid as hell and will return the rest….
We fed our 4 month old English Bulldog Kirklands Grain free Taste of the Wild. After a very short time (I’d say two days) he had hives and hot spots all over his skin. It took A LOT to get him to even eat the food. He did not have much of an appetite and had loose stools. Anyone who has had a bulldog or a puppy knows they are eaters! We took him the vet and they could not figure out why he had hives and diarrhea. We thought maybe it was something in our yard or house that he was allergic to. We did benadryl…then a steroid treatment. When weening him off the steroid treatment the hives returned immediately. After many many expensive vet visits and prior to paying for a very expensive dermatologist visit. We decided it was worth a try to switch his food before going forward. The Dr. said it was very rare that a dog his age would be allergic to the food…since that is something that happens later in a dogs life. We decided it was worth a try to at least switch. Wouldn’t you know, the hives slowly went away (he was not on any meds at this time). It was like a miracle. His appetite went from barely there to a normal hungry Bulldog puppy. There is something wrong with Kirkland Brand dog food FOR SURE! Our dog still has healing hot spots but no more hives or diarrhea. We were able to return the two extra bags we had.
The Costco in Edmonton AB just got an e-mail about the recalled food this morning. The recalled food is in the East Coast, the west coast has not been affected.
THE COSTCO NATURE’S DOMAIN TURKEY AND SWEET POTATOE DOG FOOD HAS MADE ALL THREE OF MY DOGS VERY SICK! LETHARGIC, VOMITING, DIARRHEA, EVEN THROWING UP WATER!
I HAVE PURCHASED THE KIRKLAND SIGNATURE BRAND DOG FOOD MANY YEARS; MY DOGS PREFER THE CHICKEN AND RICE FORMULA. RECENTLY, OVER THE PAST SEVERAL WEEKS THE PRODUCT SEEMED TO DISAGREE WITH THEM (ESPECIALLY MY LABRADOR.) I TRUSTED THE KIRKLAND BRAND, SO A LITTLE MORE THAN TWO WEEKS AGO I PURCHASED THE COSTCO NATURE’S DOMAIN TURKEY AND SWEET POTATOE DOG FOOD. AS RECCOMENDED, I GRADUALLY BLENDED THE TWO FORMULAS ….. NOW ALL THREE OF THEM ARE SICK!
It gets interesting….
YESTERDAY MY DAUGHTER CAME DOWN WITH THE SAME SYMPTOMS, INCLUDING A HIGH FEVER. SHE SPENT THE PAST 36 HOURS IN BED OR ON THE BATHROOM FLOOR. I HEARD THERE IS A POSSIBILITY THAT EVEN TOUCHING THE DOG FOOD MAY BE A SOURCE OF PASSING THE INFECTION, IS THAT TRUE? WE OWN A SHEPHERD, LAB AND CHIHUAHUA; WE HAND FEED OUR DOGS TREATS OR SMALL BITS OF FOOD DURING THE DAY, AND OF COURSE THEY LICK AND GIVE DOGGIE KISSES IN ABUNDANCE ,COULD THAT BE ANOTHER WAY OF TRANSMITTING SALMONELLA?
I HAVE USED THE COSTCO KIRKLAND BRAND OF DOG FOOD EVER SINCE THEY BEGAN SELLING IT YEARS AGO AND MY PETS HAVE LOVED IT! I ALSO FEED THEM THE COSTCO BISCUITS, (LAMB/RICE, CHICKEN RICE) KIRKLAND DENTAL CHEWS. IT HAD BEEN A GREAT OPTION, NOW I DON’TKNOW WHICH MANUFACTURES OR RETAILERS I CAN TRUST.
MY DOGS ARE BETWEEN THE 4 AND 9 YEARS OF AGE.
WILL THEY GET BETTER WHEN I STOP FEEDING THESE PRODUCTS? OR……….
DO I SPEND ABOUT $350+/DOG FOR A VISIT TO THE VETERINARIAN, BLOODWORK, URINALYSIS AND POTENTIALLY MEDICATION? TO MAKE MATTERS WORSE, MY 9 YEAR OLD SHEPHERD IS ALREADY ON AN ANTI FUNGAL MEDICATION FOR VALLEY FEVER; WILL THAT FURTHER COMPLICATE HER CONDITION?
I AM VERY WORRIED AND LIVID THAT THIS MAY CAUSE SERIOUS HEALTH RISKS! (Least of all my carpets cleaned and my daughter has missed two days of work already.) THIS IS WRONG ON SO MANY LEVELS!
COSTCO IS USUALLY GREAT ABOUT MAILING OUT RECALL NOTICES, HOWEVER, DIAMOND PET FOODS IS NOTORIOUSLY GREEDY FOR NOT MAKING THIS RECALL EARLIER. THE ONLY GOOD NEWS IS COSTCO HAS TRANSACTION RECORDS OF MY 20+ YEARS OF PURCHASES!
IF DIAMOND WOULD LIKE TO TEST THIS DOG FOOD THEY ARE MORE THAN WELCOME TO COME AND PICK IT UP!
SCOTTSDALE, ARIZONA
There is a simple fecal test you can get done to test for salmonella, if you suspect your dog is sick from the food why not get that done? And yes, it can be passes from dog food to humans as well from dogs saliva to humans. It is apparently people that got salmonella from the Diamond plant and there has apparently not been any dogs that are known to have been affected as of yet.
It’s really not that simple. You can culture stool to look for salmonella but the test will take a week or so to get results back, AND many normal, healthy dogs can have salmonella in their stool. I suppose there is a way to type the culture to look for salmonella infantis which seems to be the culprit now, but as this is a very rare strain it may be difficult to do.
Maybe not simple for the lab people, I just meant simple as in all you need to do is go to your vet, pick up the container with the solution in it, take a fresh sample then give it back to your vet. My vet wanted 2 samples, one in the solution and one that I just put in a seperate container. The samples were sent to the lab on Friday at 3pm and I got the results back on Tuesday morning as the lab was closed on the weekend.
return to costco and fill out a report call them do all the above there is a problem with this food make them aware of it
Oh god, is my first thought after getting the robo call just minutes ago.
We now used to feed our girls the meaty(red bag) of Kirkland food.
Sadly two weeks ago our 6.5 year old SPringer Spaniel died within 4 days she
Went from a healthy dog to limp & lathargic.
She was my baby girl and this is killing me now to think food may have been a cause.
Monday morning I am contacting my vet and who ever else I need to.
No one should watch there dog Die!
Is the Taste of the Wild cat food also being recalled?
I like how I emailed costco asking them about if there is a recall on their food last week. Nope they ensured me no recall and everything is fine, didn’t say why they ran out of every bag of food. Now I got a robo call saying the foods recalled.
What a bunch of scammers, they must have known something was wrong with their food if they pulled it off their shelf’s middle of April, now they issue a recall 2 weeks later
I normally feed my 2 standard poodles the Kirkland red bag, but decided to change to the green Kirkland Adult Lamb, rice, and vegetables dog food the last time I bought to see if they liked it better. My dogs have been sick with diarrhea and vomitting. Then, they refused to eat the food, I tried mixing it with scraps and they would pick the scraps out and leave the dog food. I am returning it today and hoping they are going to be good after this—
Please keep posting symptoms and diagnostic info. I have reason to believe that this may be a 2 point problem. Salmonella AND a potentially toxic ingredient. Others have reported negative salmonella but extreme illness. Excessive thirst due to acute liver failure is common and indicative of toxicity. We are relying on each other for answers since Diamond won’t tell us. Sending out the recall info at 5pm on a Friday night is a reflection of their ethics. Tell everyone you know, contact your local retailers, contact the media. For those of you who are new to the conversation, be aware that Diamond employees are filling these boards with fluff. Do not replace your food with any other Diamond products in this link.
http://diamondpetrecall.com/diamond-expands-voluntary-recall/
Read this page and you will get an idea of Diamond’s attempt to hide the problem.
http://www.truthaboutpetfood.com/articles/diamond-pet-food-updates.html
Sign up for the email updates. They are the 1st and most credible resource I’ve found.
http://www.truthaboutpetfood.com/
Visit the multiple Diamond links on this site and read comments to get a scope of the problem among all of their brands that have been going on for quiet some time.
http://www.dogfoodadvisor.com/
Go to facebook fan pages of the different brands and read consumer complaints on the wall mixed with attempts to hide the problem w/ employee posts.
Has anyone contacted a lawyer for a class action suit that we should all be contacting as a group?
THANK YOU to everyone for sharing their experience and I’m so deeply sorry to those who have lost pets.
The truth shall prevail.
…I think you are right…it may be two things involved. Let’s hope the truth does prevail.
I have purchased Kirkland Chicken and Rice (40pounds) and Kirkland Lamb and Rice (40 pounds) for my lab and cairn terrier. Last sunday, my lab threw up and had a few diarrheas. That night she puked up everything in her stomach as well as just bile. The next day she still wasn’t herself, but we tried giving her a very small amount of food as she was hungry. Within 20 minutes, she puked it up and though that was the last puke, she has had diarrheas since then. It is now 6 days later and she is finally seeming like herself. My cairn terrier though hasn’t had anything.
My dog, 10 year old English Mastiff, went from healthy to deathly ill in less than hours. On Sunday April 22 we fed her normally. Later in the day she started vomiting, diarrhea, and kept drinking. As soon as she drank she would vomit again. This continued through the night. By this point she had an elevated hart rate and was so weak she could barely move. My husband took her to the vet on Monday, April 23. The ran a battery of test but found nothing. We didn’t know what we were looking for. She was on IV and pain med as well as oxygen. They call late that evening for us to pick her up. We did. The vomiting started again as soon as she had a drink. She died around 3 AM Tuesday, April 24. She was suffering. It was truly horrible. We had no way of easing her suffering. I am totally sick that this happened to her.
We went to Costco this morning, filed an incident report. There were a few bags of dog food that had been returned. They said they had an idea of what lot was contaminated, and the time period that the products were purchased. I believe that this is wider spread than they think.
I am in the state of VA.
Replying to myself this is the email I received today:
Dear Michelle,
I am very sorry to hear about the loss of your English Mastiff. The Kirkland Signature products that are included in the recall were manufactured between December 9, 2011 and January 31, 2012. If you purchased the bag of food that you were feeding in March or April, it is extremely unlikely that you had a bag made within these dates.
If the veterinary tests indicate Salmonella and you would like to file a claim, please contact our recall center at 866.918.8756.
My response:
Dear Melissa,
Thanks you for taking the time to email me. I have been trying to reach you by phone for several hours. The number either does not go through or it rings busy. I would just like to say I am awaiting a call from our vet. I realize with the amount of food that has come into question, it may be hard to pinpoint the bags responsible. That said, she only ate that brand dog food. You could surely pull our records. She went from being healthy to dead in 48 hours. Very similar stories have been posted on the internet. So the fact that you are telling me it is unlikely, is not likely.
Thank you,
Michelle
My ? is how can I possibly have her tested now?!
With 5 dogs in the house, each gets a cup of Kirkland Lamb and Rice every morning and night except our beagle who only gets a small amount… All seem fine have been feeding this for over 2 yrs with no problems (knock on wood) Bag I have currently in basement is KLU 0304c22XES March 13, 2013 use date.. Bought in MD last week.
hi
This is very distressing. we feed our dog the Kirkland Healthy Weight. In january my 4 yr old was ill, lack of appetite and he had blood in his stool. we took him to the vet and could’t figure out the problem. I cooked him rice for a few days and he got better. now looking at this recall we are convinced that it was salimanila poisoning from the food.
I’ve been feeding my 2 pitbulls both 11yrs the Kirkland dog food the blue bag for over a year now and never had a problem. But when I came home wed night my male dog could barely stand, he was weak,
And walked like he was drunk, and his eyes were moving back and forth horizantally. I had to rush him to the vet and she said it was neurological. So now he’s on cortisone and antibiotics for 2 weeks. With no apparent reason why!!! Is it due to the food? I don’t know but I’m not feeling very good about it, I was thinking I was going to have to put him down!!
We use Kirklands dog food and DID RECEIVE a phone call to return our food today. We live in Houston TX
my two boxers have been fed Kirkland lamb or chicken kibble for two years. No issues and the dogs have shiny coats and our vet is complimentary about there health. My current kibble is dated outside of the recall best by dates so I assume we’ve already consumed what might have been at risk and we’re all fine.
Weve been feeding this(kirkland) to our dogs for a while, then recently at yearly check up they showed signs of kidney failure, one came out out of it(the one who dosent eat as much) and the other died within 6 weeks of the vet visit. She went from being a super healthy 5 year old dog to dead in less than a month and a half. She showed all of the symptoms to look for but we didnt know about the recall until today. Costco called us on other recalls but apparently if your dogs life is at risk they dont call you. Because of this I will no longer shop at costco, or buy any diamond brand food ever.
I have a almost 2 year old lab on the Kirkland Chicken, Rice, and Veg formula. Earlier this week she was acting very lazy, sleeping all day, and wouldn’t eat unless it was table scraps. She is our little protector and she wasn’t at the door barking like usual when we come home. She would barely get up unless she had to potty and was being very cuddly. At first we thought she chewed up one of our kids toys, but she was pooping fine. A couple days after we looked up how to induce vomiting and the day after we did that she was acting fine, but still not eating her food. I just found out about this in the afternoon and dumped out her bowl. My husband is out of town with the car so I can’t go get a different food until tomorrow. We are in SCOTTSDALE, ARIZONA. I know its not on the recall area, but I can not think of any other reason why she was acting that way. And I don’t think that the brand of food being recalled is just a quintessence.
return this my dogs also in az were sick fill out reports this is a problem here make them aware
Just heard about the recall today, but my two dogs, a 5 yr old Cav. King Charles Spaniel and a 3 yr. old Collie/Aussie mix, have no problems at all, nor have they refused the food. I mix a bag of chicken/rice with a bag of lamb/rice.
My dog (11 years old) ate Nature’s Domain (Costco) for two months, had a CBC and her liver enzymes were off the charts. Two months of heavy-duty antibiotics and liver support drugs, plus ultrasound… I took her off the Costco food immediately after the CBC, and she’s improving on medication. She was *fine* prior to eating the Costco food. And I thought I was providing the best food for her. … guilt is painful. So is the $1200. vet bill. I have NO doubt that the food caused her liver problems. I’m furious about this….. (I received the robo-alert call from Costco today. Too bad it was too late to spare my sweet girl.)
I feed my three dogs Kirkland salmon and sweet potatoes. I bought a new bag a couple weeks ago, and my smallest dog has been having intestinal issues a few days a week since. I find her eating grass almost every other day, her stomache is always rumbling, and she just seems upset. Also, they all of a sudden havnt been finishing thier meals which is odd, they usually scarf it up. The other two have shown no symptoms though? I changed their brand today and their bowls were eaten right up? It may all be a coincidence, but we’re taking the symptomatic one to the vet to be safe Monday, better safe than sorry. Idk if I had a recalled bag either as I put the food into a large bin and throw the bag away. hopefully all is well!
My lab/duck toller has been eating kirkland food for over a year. He was having frequent ear infections so switched to the kirklands (no grain). I switch between the green and the red bag for adult dogs and the loss weight bag as well and he hasn’t had an ear infection since. We’ve had no other symptoms either. he was just recently at the vets for his yearly check up and needles. This recall concerns me greatly. My dog is outside during the day while I’m at work but is in at nights. No symptoms in here but now worried about outside. Will check more for stool droppings. Would love some recipes for the homemade dogfood.
Update from my previous posts.
My wife received a call from Costco Pointe Claire, Quebec, CANADA indicating that they were very concerned and wanted us to return the food so that they could test it and wanted us to fill out an incident report which we did yesterday (Saturday ). While at the Costco my wife received a call that left a message indicating that there was a recall that it was a cautionary recall. Costco seems to be very concerned about this, & knew about a Diamond contamination that Diamond apparently said there was no cross contamination to the Kirkland line, they now feel that this might not be the case.
Kirkland Chicken // Kirkland Rice
After switching from Royal Canin to Kirkland in August 2011, my dog seemed to be adjusting well.
I purchased a new bag of Kirkland Chicken in March 2012 and my dog immediately started vomiting and had explosive diarrhea. I called the vet number listed on the back of the bag and they informed me that there were no issues with that batch of food. I returned the bag for a full refund. The vet had suggested trying the Kirkland Lamb and Rice formula so I purchased that.
I have been feeding it to my dog since, mixed with white rice and pumpkin puree, and she has had diarrhea off and on for months.
On Friday, I got fed up with the inconsistency and switched back to Royal Canin on my vet’s advice. On Saturday, I got a telephone call about the recall from Kirkland.
I’m not surprised, I just wish that the vet that we talked to at Kirkland had given us better advice about how to determine what was irritating our dog’s stomach.
We were feeding all 3 dogs Kirkland food in the green bag. All 3 started vomiting every day. I even posted on Facebook to ask if people were having problems with Kirkland food. Couldn’t find anything on the Internet about the recall then. Switched food and they all recovered.
We have been feeding our Shelties Natures Domain for over a year,but a few months ago our Vet informed me that one of my dogs had very high cholesterol and her trig readings were in the 600 range ,so we looked for a new dry food with lower fat and for the past few months fed them Kirkland Healthy Weight dog food and after a month on this new food she was retested and her readings had gone down 200 points,which is good…..but….on March 21 2012 our 6 yr old Sheltie started bleeding and the vet said that her heart was failing and we had to put her down….and on April 28 our 11 yr old Sheltie had to be put down because she started losing weight and her hair starting thinning out real fast , and the day before she died she was straining to urinate and started bleeding and then vomitiing and had diarhea, which we felt was kidney failure.
Just yesterday morning we found out about the dog food recall and it really makes us sick to think that there might have been more to this than just a tragic loss of 2 dogs in such a short period of time.If we even had a idea that something like this was causing the problem,we would have had further tests and an autopsy done,but we had no idea at all that there was any problem with the dog food.
We immediately took all the dogs off of this food and will be returning the remainder to Costco.
Now we have to try to find a new low fat dog food.
It really seems that the dog food standards are not regulated or watched very good.In the past few years there has been a number of very large recalls .
We live in a suburb of Toronto. We go the call last night from Costco. Our current bag of Kirkland Adult Dog food is on the affected list.
Perhaps this explains why over the last 2 weeks, our normally non-gassy Golden-doodle has been driving us out of the room with her horrendous smelling farts. Otherwise she’d in perfect health and temper !
I have been feeding Kirkland Lamb and Rice (Purple Bag) to my 3 year old Black Lab for about 8 months. We run Hunt Test and the food seemed to supply the energy needed to run the trials. She did very well on the Kirkland until recently. She began having diarrhea after feeding. Decided to return to Purina ProPlan and she is back to normal.
Rockie a healthy 10 yr old soft coated ter was fine until my Mom opened a new bag of the salmon and sweet pot food from Costco 2 weeks ago. Rockie started not wanting to move, thirsty all time, would not eat, vomit found after she passed last tue… my mom recieved the recall robot phone message fri. She has 7 grandchildren that are so upset. The only thing that makes me feel better, is reading some of the other posts … Rockie seemed to go quick and I hope didn’t suffer .. she took a nap and never woke up. To our beloved Rockie we love and miss you! RIP 🙁
http://poisonedpets.com/2012/05/05/your-complete-guide-to-the-diamond-pet-food-recalls/
This is a consolidated list of the Diamond related recalls including CostCo products. My dog is extremely ill and the #s on my bag and my state are not on the recall list. I will be calling the FDA & Dept of Ag back Monday morning & I suggest everyone else do the same. I am going to ask Taste of the Wild for the alleged ingredient quality control report on my specific bag and the ingredient source list every day until they respond. I suggest CostCo customers do the same so we can figure this out sooner than later. Read the comments on the link bc there are some great suggestions to contact Cornells toxicology lab for free.
I have been using Kirkland dog food since my dog was a puppy at 8 weeks jersey has never been sick before from his food. But just last month we had him to the vet he had bloody diarrhea and vomiting drinking lots of water didn’t want to eat his food which he normally loves he is on the burgundy bag chicken and rice. My vet did x-rays did blood tests was looking for a blockage but found non. Our vet put him on intestinal kind of dog food and some really strong meds . They told us to take him off his kibble and just give him the food they gave us . So we did and he is doing better stool is back to normal and he is doing better . We had gotten a black lab also around this time she is eating the Kirkland food also . She also became sick but just vomiting . So both my chocolate lab jersey and my black lab Molly have both been sick so I am going to take them both off the kibble and just give them the food the vet recommends until this is settled .I don’t have the bag the food came in but we still have food left from the bag we are using . I am going to take the food to get tested to see if it is a bad batch. I received a robo call from Costco so I am going to give them a sample also of the food . For those of you who have loss pets I am sorry for your loss . I have bought my food at the Moncton Costco and since have called them and they said they would have no problem reimbursing us our money.I live in prince Edward island . There are cases also of farmers putting out coyote poison too so watch your dogs around fields and such if they are free roaming dogs .
My dogs are 2 1/2 years old
My dog got sick and costco can go suck a fat one
After losing access to the food I was feeding, I switched to Kirkland Chicken , Rice and Veg. with great success… at first. The dogs loved it and did well. After opening a new bag ( something we keep a close eye on ) several of the dogs broke with loose stool and vomiting, but not all. Living in a rural area, I suspected something parasitic and treated them accordingly. Appetites, attitudes and basic well being was back to normal. Recently, I’ve seen soft stools that are discolored ( some green, some yellow ) that starts mid way of the bowel movement. ( I scoop my yard twice a day ) At the same time, I’ve noticed ear issues have been on the rise, again, in some but not all of the dogs. Any young dogs on the puppy formula have had no issues. Firm stool, good appetites. I wondered why the puppy food seemed to be the only one left off of the recall. If cross contamination is the issue, you’d think the whole plant would be affected.
My dog got sick on May 3rd (vomitng / loose stool). I had just switched her over to Kirklands Signature Chicken Rice. I found this page and checked the production / date #’s and the dog food was part of the recall. She lost her appetite and would not drink water. I took her to the vet and the found salmonella in her gi tract. They placed her on antibiotics, probiotics and nausea meds. The vet I took her too, heard about the dog food recall, however, this was her first encoutner. $400 bucks later, she is doing better. I live in North Houston, Texas.
Thanks for your website! You saved my dog!
Hi, I am a dog breeder and have been using Kirkland Chicken/Rice Adult and Puppy for about 2 years and never any problem until about 6 months ago my adults and puppies would periodically have diarrhea and vomiting and I layed it off to worms, which I have never had a problem with, and d-wormed them and it took days for them to clear up, and then not knowing @ the time, I would open a new bag and that was probably an uncontaminated bag, and then they would get better. I even myself 2 months ago became very ill with vomiting and severe diarrhea and went to the doctor, and she thought maybe I might have caught Giardia from the dogs and treated me just like I treat my dogs if they get it. It all makes since now as I handle the dog food many times a day with my bare hands. I raise very expensive Labradoodles and trusted Costco to take the same precautions on dog food as they do our food, my bad and shame on you Costco for not caring the same about our animal family members as you do us! I think there should be a class action lawsuit, as I have spent a lot of money getting myself and my dogs well and thanks god none of them died from it.
i have been feeding Kirkland puppy food to my now 7-month-old yellow lab when she was young and she was always fine. we ‘graduated’ her to Kirkland adult chicken and rice and she is still super duper. i am, however, concerned. i am rethinking purchasing another large bag until this issue has been resolved. why hasn’t this been publicized? i only know because a friend of mine emailed me about the recall. i really appreciate the transparency of Costco about their dog food since all of Costco’s products i know are tested, tested, and retested and they are all top notch. i trust the Kirkland brand. thank you for this information on this website but know that it hasn’t been widely publicized. I live in New Jersey.
I have used Costco brand right up until the recall …my German shepherd dog has had bouts with diahrea…i never contributed it to the food as i had trusted Kirkland food…however since he has been off it a little bit he seems to be clearing up.
I have just recently given my 2 dogs Kirtland Brand dog Biscuits, (Lamb & Chicken Flavors), within the last month, which is new to them. One dog became sick 10 days ago now the other is sick. I normaly feed them Purina One. I noticed at the bottom of the lot of dry dog food some weird looking things not looking like the dog food pellets. Now I am not sure what is making them sick. The dry dog food or the biscuits? Any clue… Have the biscuits been recalled?
i have been feeding Kirkland puppy food to my 3 months old golden retriever, and Kirkland adult dog (lamb) to my 4 years old golden retreiver, and both are OK… i live in california.
here its the letter from cotsco page.. it appears that just affect certaint states….
http://content.costco.com/Images/Content/Misc/PDF/Recall-Release-Diamond5-4-12.pdf
I’ve been feeding both my dogs the Kirkland Lamb & Rice food for years. We recently switched to the Senior food. On the morning of March 27, 2012, we found my oldest dog dead. She had a little bit of bleeding from the mouth and she had made a small bowel movement before she laid in her final resting position. At the time, we chalked up her death to old age (she was a humane society dog, so we dont know her exact age, between 12-14); however, my husband had suspicions about the food. We were so distraught with her death though that we had her remains cremated as quickly as possible. But my husband still thought that there was something wrong with the food, and we threw out the remaining food and bought another bag. Now there’s a recall! Im upset to think that there was a possibility that my dog was poisoned and couldve been prevented!
Recently lost our 3 year old standard poodle who is very dearly missed. He had suddenly became very ill wouldn’t eat, vomiting, lathargic. Took him to the vets and they were very confused as to what was attacking his kidneys and liver. Three days after his sudden illness had to make the decission to put him down. Just recently got the phone call from costco and am wanting to know information on what thier plan is for those of us who have sadly lost our pet due to thier lack of notification to thier faithful customers. I have had him and all of my other pets whom I have had in the past on Kirkland, am very upset with the loss and the expense that I have incured due to thier lack of concern with this issue and the affect it has had on the pets and there owners.
My dog became sick about a week ago with about 12-15 episodes of vomiting, lethargic, anorexic, fever, and won’t drink anything. The vet drew labs and her CBC indicates a bad infection. She received subcutaneous fluids, antinausea meds, and antibiotics. She has still remained lethargic and not eating or drinking and continues to have a high fever. Took her back to the vet and he is saying he thinks it is from the food. We feed her Kirkland lamb and rice. When I called Diamond today they stated they have no confirmed reports of dogs being sick with salmonella. However, the call center people ( I talked to about 3 of them over the last few days) have all said they have heard of many dogs getting sick. I just wish I could get some straight answers.
Also, my dog is having more labs drawn today, she spent the night at the vet getting more antibiotics and IV fluids. I will update with lab results.
For anyone who wants to have the food tested themselves, this toxicology expert will consult with your vet.
Karyn Bischoff
Assistant Professor
Animal Health Diagnostic Center
College of Veterinary Medicine
Cornell University
Ithaca, New York 14853
607-253-3900, klb72@cornell.edu
http://www.vet.cornell.edu/popmed/bios/bischoff.asp
The claim from Diamond in Carrie’s post above stating ‘no confirmed reports of salmonella in dogs’ tells me that we need to move forward with having the food tested.
We’ve been feeding Kirkland for years with no issues. We purchased a new bag on May 3, 2012 and found out about the recall 5/6/12. Been watching carefully and still no issues. We are in the Phoenix, AZ area.
HI we seem to have lots of problems here whoever is having problems you need to return the products to costco fill out a report have it documented call the phone number listed on the bag write down the product codes and dates they dont know or cant help if you dont report it
I bought Kirkland Lamb and Rice Dog Food for my dogs just over two weeks ago. I have two Cavaliers. They have both been eating grass like crazy, begging to go outside. There stool has been getting softer now it is full diarrhea on one of my dogs and he is vomiting. ?!?!??! I checked the recall list days ago and they told me Texas(Houston) was not affected. Today I checked again and yes it has been recalled here. Costco said they have no reports on any bad batches in Texas. What ???? But, they recalled it ? I was told I can return the food for a refund. The customer service woman asked, ‘Didn’t anyone call you ?” ah no, that’s why I am calling you. Why would they call customers if there was not a problem ? I think something stinks here !!!!!
Anyway, My dogs are sick, showing all the signs noted online. I am taking them off this food right now. I pray that my dogs will be ok with a different food. I will look seriously into making food for them.
Kirkland Rice and Chicken for our German Shepherd:
We adopted our year old German Shepherd (GS) from my sister. She gave us the remiander of the Kirkland Rice and Chicken dry food that she fed our GS while under her care. We are almost out of the food when I hear d about this. So far our GS has shown no ill effects and has gained weight and grew. He is very active. Once in a while, I noticed that he eats grass and throws up. It has only happend 2 times in the 3 weeks that we have had him. I’mnot sure if he is reacting to the carrots that I added to his food.
I plan to continue using Kirkland foods as it is one of the highest ranked dog foods reviewed.
I have been feeding my 2 dogs ( 10 y/o shepherd mix and 3 y/o Chocolate Lab) Costco Premium Chicken and Rice for 2 1/2 years. They have not had any problems on it. Two weeks ago we bought our newest bag. Today I returned home to find my Lab had had explosive diarrhea. I took him and to get him cleaned up and bathed, and found that he had vomited his undigested food and grass in the yard as well. Coincidence????? Maybe….maybe not
While vacationing in Jamaica we received a call Wednesday morning (May 9) from my boys, 22 & 25, that our 6 year old labradoodle Riley was seriously ill. She lied down (fell?)more heavily than usual, when checked wouldn’t stand and when coaxed up could not stand on her own. Shortly after she began to vomit uncontrolably. She spent the night on intravenus at the vets, and after many tests they still could only speculate(tumor,stroke?) as to what the issue was. They were referred to the University of Guelph veterinary research center Wednesday morning and after a day of more tests still had no solid diagnosis. At this point Riley was showing signs of improvement so they were all sent home. My wife and I arrived home at midnight Saturday (May 12) to a much changed Riley who limped, was unsteady, had a stroke-like tilt to her head, was lethargic, still was not eating, was showing an unusual obsession with eating grass (which has been obvious for about 3 weeks) and generally not the same boisterous dog that we had left a week earlier. So at this point it has cost us about $1600 and have no answers or prognosis on what the future will be (or not be). Could something in the food, salmonella or toxins cause all this? Riley’s food has been Kirkland premium chicken, rice and veg for most of her life.
Our 10 year old Aussie has eaten Kirkland Premium Chicken and Rice for several years. Last Friday, after not wanting to eat her food in her usual hearty manner for few days, she was very lethargic and wouldn’t touch any food offered. I took her straight to the vet having heard about the recall earlier that morning. No robo call from Costco was received by us about the recall. The vet checked Reilly and put her on Metronidazole. She sold me some canned food for unwell dogs and said to try to feed her some every couple of hours and get the medicine down her. After getting her home and feeding her some of the canned food and the pill, she went outside and threw up over and over. She then wouldn’t drink or eat anything else the entire day and we took her back to the vet that evening and had some fluids injected into her back and some anti-nausea medicine. That night she had very bad diarrhea and felt miserable. Over the weekend we worried and nursed her and this morning she was able to eat some boiled chicken and kibbles from the vet. She ate some chicken over the weekend and we are able to get the antibiotic into her with some cheese wrapped around it. It has been so scary and we will NEVER feed Costco (Diamond) dog food to any of our dogs again. Costco refunded us for the 2 bags of food we had, which had the dates and numbers of the recalled products. I am going to be feeding Blue Buffalo as soon as Reilly can get back to her normal eating routine.
We have a Springer Spaniel who has been eating Kirkland dry dog food for a year now (he’s almost a year old). We recently switched him to the adult food. There have been no problems and all; in fact, everyone remarks on how shiny his coat is.
We have 2 dogs, a 45 lb boxer and recently a 60lb pit bull. We have been feeding them Kirkland lamb and rice. Our boxer has had diarrhea for the last month and the pit bull just developed a rash that doesn’t seem to itch, but is constantly seeping blood on her side. I was just online doing research on what might be causing the rash when I came across this “recall”
my healthy beautiful four year old pit mix died oct. eleventh 2011 and until now i didnt know wtf killed my beautiful girl and trsumatized me watching her light fade. she was a month shy if her fifth bday. vets could not figure it out and all symptoms stated above were those of my girl. i still cry every night and i am going to SUE THE FUCK out of kirkland/costco for this. it isnt fair her light went out so soon. this is hard for me.
Last year I purchased cat food from Costco (their brand) and found it to be quite smelly, unlike it usually was. I wAs going out of town that day and other family was coming over to take care of my cats while I was gone, Days later when I returned, I again noticed the foul odor with the cat food. I looked in bag but since it was almost full, it was hard to see anything, Later than day my husband poured it from the bag into our storage container and as he was dumping the bag, out fell a dead mouse. We froze it and contacted Costco. Made a report with the store. They gave me my money back for the bag but that was it. I will not buy their products. Now my two dogs have been eating this food that has been recalled. Ugh!
Hi, I live in Vancouver BC, it is may 15 and by chance this morning I saw a blurb in a free press news paper that Diamond pet food had been recalled. We decided to check the recall list to see what foods Diamond made. To our shock we saw the brand of food we feed our dog on the recall list! my dog is still sick!!! We bought a bag of Kirkland Signature Lamb,Rice and Veg in april and didn’t open it until the end of april. Our bullmastiff loves food!!!!! We put down her bowl and she gobbled it down as usual. Within a week we noticed that she was very lethargic and listless. We also noticed that she started licking her paws until they would bleed. We took care of her paws the best we could. We thought maybe it is an allergy and decided to change her food. We had to bring her to the vet and they couldn’t figure out what the issue was. However her front paw had swollen up to 3-4 times it’s normal size. The vet put our girl on antibiotics for 10 days. Unfortunately after she finished with the antibiotics we figured it was not a food allergy and fed her once again the Kirkland Signature Lamb, rice and veg. She started loosing the fur off her paw by the next day she was vomiting and had loose stool. Unfortunately we only found out about the recall on the 14th of may!!! I am so pissed off with Costco. When we went to return the food today the customer service guy said that he didn’t know that Kirkland Signature dog food had been recalled!!!! Now my dog is still sick and I am not sleeping worried that she has had this illness for almost 3 weeks. Thank for the phone Costco????? (Didn’t actually get a call). Who is going to pay my vet bills?
Jay, Vancouver BC
We fed our two dogs Kirkland Lamb & Rice dry dog food for over three years with no problems… Then last December (2011) the older dog started loosing weight for no apparent reason. Shortly there after, the young dog also started dropping weight at an alarming rate! We spent hundreds of dollars at the vet between January & March with little results… We doubled their food, still both dogs were wasting away! Finally, I switched them to Blue Buffalo food in April… Both dogs are now feeling better & regaining their strength & on their way back to their proper weights. Kirkland food almost killed my two dogs! Costco WILL be hearing about this…
I live in Southern California San Diego Area. I bought my NATURES DOMAIN from Costco on Scripps Poway Pkwy. My one dog is diagnosed with lymphoma and started vomiting. I figured it was the chemo. The vet started him on antibiotics and told me to stop chemo for 2 days and see if it cleared up. As of now, it has not. Then today, my other dog (not diagnosed with ANYTHING) starts to vomit. They are both having labored breathing. The thing of it is, they have been eating this food for awhile and the bag is about half gone. I cannot find the bag for the food but I do not think my state is on the recall list. HOWEVER has anyone else in Southern California had any symptoms? I just do not know what to do. Im sure diamond will not be paying for these vet bills…
Oh also forgot to mention that the non-cancer dog has had extreme itchiness and basically trying to chew off her own skin over the past 2 weeks…
We are in Victoria BC and just lost our 11 year old lab/border collie to uncontrollable seizures on May 10th. He had been on Kirkland Signature Lamb and Rice for a couple of years and was about 1/2 way through a bag. Not sure if it’s related or not. He had lost weight late last year but seemed to have regained it after being treated for worms.
I will be checking the leftover bag for #’s and discussing this with Costco.
We’ve been using Kirkland dogfood for years for our 55 lb terrier mix and 15 lb Yorkie-Schnoodle. The vet just remarked on how healthy the dogs were.
My wife just bought a 40 lb bag of Kirkland Adult Dog Lamb Rice Vegetable Formula from Costco, and when I opened it up the smell was really bad. It smelled like something dead. I had gotten a letter from Costco about a recall on their dogfood, but the bag we bought was outside of their stated date window. I’m bringing the bag back to Costco today and will switch to another brand.
Fortunately I never gave our dogs any of this food.
I have three dogs and they are on Kirkland foods. I have one GSD that had some seizures a couple of weeks ago. Took him to the Vet. and Blood work was ok. Could they have been caused by the food? Other two dogs are fine but the are on the weight manage food from Kirkland.
I purchased Kirkland Premium Chicken from Costco and at first my dogs seemed to be doing fine on it. Two weeks ago my young healthy dog became lethargic, anorexic and was vomiting. I tried to get a stool sample but her runs were so loose and bloody that the result were inconclusive. Her bloodwork indicated that she was fighting off a parasitical infection. She required antibiotics, anti-vomiting, and numberous other treatments to regain her health. I really don’t want a rebate on the food. Will never use again but some help with the medical cost will be nice. Have notified Diamond but have not heard back from them.
Thank you for posting Dr. Marie. While waiting for the vet to open I googled my dogs symptoms and came across your site. Being aware of this might have helped to save her life!
I feed my dobie Kirkland and have been for about 6 months. He loves it and I havent had any problems with it. He just finished a bag today.
Our 4 year Terrier Mix has eaten Kirkland Chicken, Rice, and Vegetable for almost 2 years with no problems. We just purchased a new bag a couple weeks ago, soon after she started to not be herself. When we would take her outside she would just sit in the yard and look around instead of playing and running. Last Wednesday, she started to become very lethargic and we knew something was wrong. We took her immediately to the vet. The vet said she was very sick and needed to keep her there to monitor her. While there they ran many tests and gave her IV’s to keep fluids in her. We would bring her home a nights and waited for the sickness to pass. Unfortunately on Friday night she got worse. I woke up at 3am and layed down with her. About 4am she started to have severe seizures. We immediately rushed her to our 24 hour Animal Hospital. By the time we got there she was almost gone, minutes later she died at the Hospital. This does not make sense for an absolutely HEALTHY dog that was the joy of our family to loosing her to something like this. We never thought in a Million Years that something like this would happen.
I read articles like these before I started to buy Kirkland/Diamond dog food, but TRUSTED that no one would ever sell something that would cause this much loss. I will never trust these companies again after loosing the greatest dog our family ever had. If you are still feeding your dog this food, I was just like you a week ago thinking it would never happen to us… now we are trying to deal with the tragic loss of our family pet.
I am so sorry Marshall. Please be sure to report AND UPDATE your case with the FDA so they know what is going on. Please sign & circulate this petition that someone started last week. http://www.change.org/petitions/diamond-pet-foods-natural-balance-costco-petco-petsmart-release-all-documents-related-to-diamond-pet-foods-2012-recalls
We fed our dog Rocco, a min pincher Jack russel terrier. The salmon and sweet potato Kirkland brand dog food and he lost his appetite and has developed hives all over his body. Our other dog Obon, Rocco’s son has no symptoms accept a lack of appetite. We bought the food in Regina, and I am wondering if the recall has any effect here. We’ve. Checked the website but could this be the Ptolemy or is he just allergic to it? Is anyone in Saskatchewan having this problem?
Thanks
Before anyone jumps to conclusions that their pet is ill because of salmonella (the source of this recall), do a salmonella fecal test. First of all, salmonella is very, very rare in dogs. However, animals, like people can get sick suddenly for a variety of reasons and casual links do not make for good medicine. My dog who eats Kirkland had a bout of vomiting and bloody diarrhea. It turns out it was run of the mill (but serious) gastroenteritis easily treated by metronidizole (Flagyl).
We have fed our 2 labgolden crosses Kirkland Lamb & Rice over the past 2 years in Florida. One of our bags was on the recall list, but was already consumed prior to the warnings with no incidents. We are onto the next-current bag with no problems.
We are extremely saddened by the reports from other dog owners.
I purchased Kirkland’s Nature’s Domain Turkey and Sweet Potato dog food for the first time this month. I started feeding it to my dogs by mixing with their previous dog food and 2 days ago began feeding it alone. One of my dogs, a 12 year old Bichon Frise) seems fine with it. But since yesterday my 6 yr. old labradoodle ( who is on Sodium Bromide for seizure control) is excessively salivating, spitting up small bits of food all day long, and is now slightly disoriented…brushing against walls when he walks, a little unsteady on his feet, won’t jump up on his back legs, all very unusual for him). I noticed that this particular flavor of food is not on the recall, but I can’t help but wonder if it should be. This doesn’t seem like salmonella, but as another poster suggested with the same flavor food, something neurological…Anyone else with similar experiences?
I have 1 dog on Kirkland Adult Chicken Rice & Vegetable (largest bag, does not fall in timeline for recall) and 1 pup on Kirkland Puppy 15lb no recall. Both bags purchased in Manitoba Canada.
Just was telling my husband about how runny the dogs stool (like soup) has been the last 2 days, and he thought food recall. googled food recall and found this site….
OMG! No one from Costco has called me! Why haven’t they called me? I have been feeding my dogs both kinds of Kirkland dry food from Costco for a couple of years and they have always loved it. But this last bag I bought, when I would serve the dogs, they would turn their noses away and I can only get them to eat it if I mix it with wet food, which has never been the case. I cant believe I was not listening to my dogs, they were trying to tell me something?!!! I have been making them eat the food, because it is all we have and we paid money for it. I am throwing it out now!
Ok, I just called Costco and the man said the recall was not for Texas that is why I havent been called but he would make a note of my dogs behavior…
Just bought a bag of Salmon flavor Natures Domain last week. Right away, I noticed that my 16 month old corgi was not at all interested in eating it. I even tried putting a teaspoon of cottage cheese in it and he barely ate it even then. Just this morning, I had to coax him to eat and he vomited it up 10 minutes later. He’ s been lying around most of the day today but he is drinking a normal amount of water and will play if its with the ball. I received a phone call 2 hours ago from my friend in Raleigh who called to warn me about the food. Her dog eats the same food and had a seizure this afternoon. She’s at the vets office under observation now. Although AZ is not one of the suspected states that the food was distributed to, I’m returning the food to Costco. I just returned from Petsmart with a new bag of Blue Buffalo Freedom.
I have two labs and only one eats kirkland dog food and he has been sick for a week. We bought a new bag just a week ago and he can barely stand…He is usually a happy hyper dog. I can’t believe I didn’t think of this sooner. I just thought of it this morning when he only ate half his breakfast (unlike a lab of course). I made his brown rice, chicken, carrots and potato and he ate the whole thing. I am very very disappointed with Kirkland brand 🙁 Never again!!
Ive been feeding my large dog kirkland chicken and rice since he was a pup. He is now a year old and I just bought a back a couple weeks ago probably 5 hours after I fed it to him he got horrible gas and by the next day had very soft stole, couple days later he had liquid diarrhea, he even messed in his crate, poor guy. I took him off the food and he started improving immediately. But I am not in a recalled state and the food was out of the recalled date being best before may 14th. I am convinced it was the food.
I live in Arizona and feed our 3 dogs the Kirkland Chicken with Clucosomine and 2 out of 3 got sick after just a day or two. They are at the vet now and my wife called and said pick up the food and stop feeding it to them, Looks like Arizona might need to be added to the list. I am calling costco when my wife gets home with confirmation about this. One of my dogs is so bad I am not sure she will make it. If this is the food and it still on shelfs shame on you costco & Diamond!!!! I will never buy your brand again and exspect to be compensated for this including vet bills. SHAME ON BOTH OF YOU!!!!
after my last posting i have had daily contact with the diamond company vet well thats untill i submitted a new batch number now no one will return my emails or phone calls i live in AZ batch #is KSH03703NL best before march 2013 this adult chicken and rice gray bag this is a problem here in AZ
I live in southern California. Been feeding my schnauzer and wheaten terrier Kirkland chicken and rice dry and wet food for over 1 year. The schnauzer last week had horrible gas, noticed his stool was soft, and now he has liquid diarrhea and vomiting. I just figured he got into something in the yard. The last 2 nights he’s been waking me up a couple times at night to go out and diarrhea. He’s been bugging me during the day to go out (more than usual). Yard poops are all soft/diarrhea. He also is only eating the wet food and not much of the dry. I’m not sure what the wheaten’s poops look like right now but the last few meals he has been eating real slow and barely finishing (not usual).
In California, the Costco Kirkland dog food has not been recalled. So is it just coincidence that my schnauzer is having problems and maybe my wheaten too? We’re going to switch food and see what happens.
My siberian husky of 7 months has been eating Kirkland Puppy with chicken rice and vegetables for 5 months now with no problems. She has always been super healthy and energetic. Last week she had diarrhea, followed by vomiting, she was extremely lethargic also. I took her to the vet who hospitalized her for four days, saying she had gastroenteritis but now that I read this I’m very suspicious that it was salmonella.
Right now she’s eating a prescribed food from Hills i/d because it’s suposed to be easy on the stomach but after she finishes that one (I don’t really like Hills), I will be looking for something different. Unfortunately, living in Mexico doesn’t give me a los of options but I’m sure I’ll find something.
Has any of your dogs eating Kirkland Puppy been sick this days?
Kirkland chicken and Veggie Adult dog food.- Two of my three dogs seem to be having stomach issues. One is a mix and the other is an aussie. I can hear their stomachs “talking” so loud when they lay near me. They don’t seem to be in any distress and their stools apear to be fine most of the time. I’ll pay closer attention. At first I thought it was the kirkland brand flea and tick topical but now I don’t know. One of the two with the stomach issues just lays down most of the day and she is only 4 years old. Thanks for the info.
I forgot to mention that I’ve fed my two of my dogs this dog food for years now and have never noticed this issue and that is why I thought it was the kirkland flea and tick topical. I noticed this issue about mid April 2012. The Aussie is a new dog to me and he’s been eating the food for about a year now.
I have a Rottie and a border collie and have been feeding Kirkland premium lamb and rice- recently I have noticed the rottie is not wanting to finish his food and he is eating a lot of grass. No more Kirkland as of today! Unreal. What the hell is wrong with these companies?! I am so sorry for all of you have lost your pets.
We feed Kirkland Super Premium Adult Chicken, Rice and Vegetables, last bag purchased 5/25/2012 with an expiration date of 15 May 2013. The dog is well and energetic as usual. The kibble smelled very fresh and good when opened.
Our dog has been on this kibble for over a year, and sometimes we give him Kirkland Nature’s Domain salmon and sweet potato to spice things up. He enjoys both and tolerates both.
My 10-year-old LGD has refused to eat Kirkland chicken and rice for weeks now. If I mix in wet he just picks that out. I buy 4-6 big bags at a time. Nobody else has seemed to notice there is a problem but Czak is the smartest. The bags he is now refusing have an April end date and are out of the recall group but I think there is still something wrong. (Chinese ingredients?)
I have 3 dogs & 2 cats that have been eating Costco dog/ cat food for 6 years & have never been sick nor are currently sick. Broght K Adult chicken & maintence (grey bag) & purple bag for cats.
Yes, we feed our German Shepherd Costco’s Kirkland Signature Lamb and Rice Dog Food, and she has been showing unexplained signs of illness in the last 3-4 weeks. A while back she had a very rough day and was in a great deal of pain. We checked her for injuries, including mouth injuries, and nothing was found, so we thought that she had possibly eaten something that she shouldn’t have. It never occurred to us that it could be her food. That same day she drank some warm milk and then vomited twice and then seemed to feel better increasingly, and was near 100% back to normal by the next morning. Now she is mopey at times, but will still chase her ball without complaint, but she has diarrhea and has a lack of appetite. She is eating the same dog food that we just bought a couple weeks ago. If she continues to show signs of illness we will take her to the vet.
My golden retrievers had been eating Nature,s Domain Salmon and sweet potato formula for 2 months when my female Asia became ill. Weopened a new bag and suddenly She would not eat the natures domain and stopped playing ball, which she loves. Then she began throwing up and could not even keep water down. We rushed her to the vet and she was placed in intensive care and Ivs were started immediately. She got worse and was having bloody diarrhea.We transferred her to an internal medicine specialist who ran every sort of test, including over 60 ultrasound and X-ray images. Nothing could be found.We then learned of the food recall and asia was tested for salmonella on her fourth day in intensive care. The test came back negative, but she had been on 4 days of medication by then. We almost lost Asia, and it has been a very stressful time, and over $3500.00 in vet costs. Our male Buster, thankfully did not get sick. We are so very thankful that Asia has recovered, and our hearts go out to all those whose pets were lost. I contacted Diamond Foods to let them know that although my bag was not on the recall list, my Asia became very ill and the vets said it was more than likely salmonella. The person answering the phone said that it was impossible because it was from another plant, but I urged him to please check into it. He would not hear of it . We are working with our vets to file the necessary reports.
I have fed my 3 year old Lab/Dane and 2 year old Boxer the Mature Adult formula of Kirkland brand dog food for at least six months. I live in Oregon, so don’t believe that the food I have is affected by the current recall. My dogs don’t currently have any health issues, stools are normal, however the Boxer has seriously bad gas and a lot of it. However, I am online today to find out if anyone else is having issues with the dry dog food smelling rancid. The last several bags I’ve bought have had the most horrible smell, but my dogs eat it okay, so I thought it would be all right. However, after reading about all of these problems, I’m switching them back to Iams Large Breed or Senior (I feed senior/large breed feeds so that they get gluco./chondro sulf. for joint support).
I also buy the Kirkland canned food (the patee) for my two little Pomeranians. My six year old female is doing fine, however my four year old male has become increasingly lethargic, sleeping the majority of the day and night, and seems depressed. His stool is normal. This has been going on for the last few weeks increasing little by little. Over this past week I was keeping a really close eye on him as there is obviously something that is just not right. I will be changing their food immediately to see if it helps my little guy.
The last 3 bags of dog food that we fed our labrador was the Kirkland Super Premium Adult Chicken, Rice and Vegetables. We opened up a new bag during a weekend and on Monday our dog had thrown up twice in the middle of the night. That day he laid down and looked dead and his eyes were at half mast. He eventually came in the house and drank water but didn’t want to eat. The next day he ate again but continued to eat grass and would vomit once or twice a day. My husband looked around the yard to see if the dog had gotten into anything but it didn’t look like it. He improved on Wednesday but vomited again on Thursday. Friday we bought a bag of the Kirkland lamb and rice and that seemed to make him improve. No more vomiting and eating grass. So for us, it seems that the chicken bag was contaminated and the lamb bag was fine.
We have been feeding our dogs the small breed kirklands dog food for years. They have loved it up until this bag. We bought it towards the end of May in Georgia. We left the dogs with my mom while on vacation and she said they weren’t eating very much. We thought it was because they had a change of housing. When we got back home, they still didn’t want to eat the food for the first few days. Finally they started eating it. Now all of a sudden they have horrible diarrhea and are vomiting.one has rubbed his nose raw and the other is chewing on her feet. Are there any other comPlaints about the small breed food?
We are a large boarding facility that supplied Kirkland canned food for owners who wanted canned food for their pets. We purchased cases of the lamb and rice and chicken and rice. Dogs began getting diarrhea and we at first thought the lamb was too rich for them and eventually used only the chicken. The remaining cases of lamb were donated to shelters. We have reports of over 100 dogs dying and or being severely ill and the only common link is to the canned food. We are in California.
http://efoodalert.net/diamond-pet-foods-etc-recalls-2012/readers-report-their-experience-with-recalled-pet-foods/
Another poll in addition to the “Consumer Complaints Natural Balance” poll.
Google “salmonella carcinogen correlation.” This may or may not explain why the organ failure problem started late 2011 followed by the FDA salmonella testing.
SoCal, I hope the 100 cases have all filed with the FDA? I am so sorry. I have never cried so many consecutive days (now months) in my life. This nightmare is absolutely heart wrenching.
We returned our Kirkland Dog Food to Costco and got new bags of the Kirkland Chicken, Rice, and Vegetable variety. Everything has been going fine right up until about two weeks ago when we opened a new bag and started feeding our two dogs. They’ve become very sick. One has receovered but the other is refusing to eat and when we manage to coax her to eat, she ends up vomiting it up later. She’s very weak and has lost her appetite for any Kirkland food-even the dog treats. I’m afraid we’re going to lose her.
I have always fed my dogs canidate till a couple people told me about the costco kirkland brand and said they just loved it..well the first bag they ate OK but the second one I have a hard time getting my Bullmastiff to eat it…and she eats everything…she now has a rash on her inner thighs that has turned almost black and bumps on her back and head…getting new food tomorrow…I was feeding the chicken and rice one and the canidate was lamb and rice…will try the sams club one..I heard it got good reviews…
I have always fed my dog Iams dog food. About two months ago I switched to Kirkland chicken and rice (first mix 80 (Iams)/20, then went 50/50 then 20(Iams)/80. My pit bull mix got the diahiarra really, really bad. She has never been that sick before. She had it for almost 2 weeks an I had her on Flyagl (prescription) and fed her rice and venison burger and then I slowly put her back on Iams. Problem solved. I’m sure it was the Kirkland dog food. The other two dogs I have, both their stools were very, very soft and one of the dogs started to develope diahiarra also and I immediatly started to feed her Iams again….Problem solved! Kirkland is going bye-bye!!!! I also have a sister in law that feeds her dogs Kirkland and she said they have gas very, very bad! She is taking them off Kirkland also.
I had tried the Costco Large Breed Chicken for about 3 months about two years ago. I had originally been giving my two dogs large Iams large breed for years like 5 years. Once I slowly switched to costco over a month from the Iams they both seemed to be throwing up a lot of yellow color stuff more and more. It got to the point where I actually returned one of the bags and stopped buying it. This all happened about two years ago. I was convinced something was wrong with the food. Since then I went to Authority from petsmart and they LOVE it and seem very healthy.
I live in BC Canada and I have 4 dogs that have been on the Kirland Lamb and Rice and/or the Chicken and Rice. I actually started my Bernese Mountain Dogs on the Kirklands Puppy food. They have all been on it for about a year and a half and have been doing absolutely great on it until about February or March when I noticed a drastic change in coat and weight. I just returned 4 bags to Costco and was telling them at the counter what had been going on and she just handed me my refund and dismissed me saying “Oh that’s only back East where there were recalls.” I said “Oh so the Kirkland’s dog food you sell from here isn’t made at the same Diamond factory.” she tells me “Oh no totally different.” So now I am left with dogs that are not eating, losing weight, etc. I have changed foods a couple times and am now trying Nutrience and they are still not eating well. I won’t feed Kirklands again but am now having trouble deciding on what to feed. I research and continue to be confused and disgusted in what I find in dog food. I am so alarmed by what I have read her. I pray my dogs don’t die from my choice in dog food. I think I may have to take one in for blood work. I just want a safe reasonably priced food that my dogs will enjoy and eat and get some weight back on.
I just got a dalmation about 51/2 months ago and he has had diarrhea since we got him. At first I thought it was just nerves from being in a new place and having to get use to all of us. However, the systems are not stopping and I finally took him to the Vet. and she is thinking he may be hyper-allegetic to his food. We have him on the green bag of kirkland dog food. We are now slowly switching him over to Medi Cal Hyper Allegic food to see if we can get the symptons to stop. But know I am starting to think that it is the Kirkland brand of food that is causing all his problems.
We have been giving both of our older Border Collie mixes (12 and 14) a mix of Nutro Senior dry and Kirkland’s Mature Dog to try to save some money. We also add a tablespoon of Kirkland’s wet or Nutro wet food. We have had both dogs to our vet several times in the last two weeks for diarrhea and vomiting issues. These have been diagnosed each time as varying types of bacterial infections. They are both now on amoxcillin to treat the latest bacteria. Now that we know Kirkland’s food is probably the culprit, we will stop feeding them this food and hope there are no repurcusions. We will be returning the Kirkland’s food and report the problem to them.
We have just today had to have our great Cocker Spaniel put to rest because of a suspected liver failure, which seemed to come from nowhere. Several weeks ago, he started showing signs of illness, which we at first speculated was a bad leg or hip, the vet gave him some pain killers. He gradually lost his appetite and became lethargic to the point that he would stand and stare at the wall, rather than react to people other than to voice, it seemed he had lost his sight. We spent lots of time and money over only a few days/ weeks looking into possibilities and finding no answer. We eventually decided that we would prefer him not to suffer any longer if we can’t get an answer and to have him put to sleep.
My father/ the owner then came home and to his shock googled the kirkland food, for whatever reason, to find this page, which lists many of the same symptons listed for a lot of people that Jack faced. We have bought and used the kirkland food for Jack since an early age, but have never been made aware or seen signs of a warning, we have not been contacted by Costco, which I understand must be a huge job, but for something that is potentially killing peoples pets, must be a more effective way of contacting people on record.
Please investigate a way to contact those who have purchaed this food, I would not wish anyone to feel the loss that myself and my family feel today after losing our great dog if there is a better way of contacting customers that MAY have bought your product.
I’m so sorry to hear of your dog. You may want to ask your vet about how to get the food tested to see if it was the culprit. At this point, it seems that the issue with Kirkland food has passed. If this was indeed because of the food then people need to know.
We bought Kirkland lamb rice and veg with exp of Jun2 29 2013 from santa rosa ca costco store in May. Just opened it 8 days ago, smelled funny. Two dogs, female would not eat it, male did. Within 24 hours he was throwing up, stomach gurguling, shivering, in severe pain, with bloody poop. Took him to vet, almost died, ivs, antibiotics, meds, x rays, etc. Liver enzymes through roof, stabilized him after three days. 1000 dollars!! Vet thinks it was his food!!!!! Reported to FDA and called Costco..Costco states his bag wasnt recalled. Im CONVINCED it was!!!! Been on that food for 5 years without problem till last bag!!!!!!!!!
We used Kirkland for our dogs for the last 10 years. Our lastest dogs are only 4 years old. Since March they don’t eat as much. This past week they started throwing up and having diareah. Two different breeds, that were previously healthy. We feed a mix of Healthy Weight and Adult Chicken. They both have bloody diareah. Nothing in common, except the food. Their water is filtered and the same water we drink. They are lethargic and are losing weight quickly. I have purchased medicine and food specifically for Pancreatitus, which they have both been diagnosed with. These are my children’s pets and loved dearly. They are usually so lively and now they barely move. We are extemely worried. So far, 1000 dollars in vet bills. Latest bags purcased in July 2012.
My son’s dog is also sick. Only thing in common-the food. Kirkland brand bought for years because we advised him to.
My dogs are on Kirkland’s Nature’s Domain Salmon and Sweet Potato. They have been on it for a couple of months now. One dog threw up her food a couple of days ago and my other dog just now had a couple of seizures, minutes apart. The one who threw up is a little over a year old and never threw up before. The other is 6 1/2 years old and never had a seizure before. I will not give them any more of this food. I will be taking it back tomorrow.
I just read the article on Kirkland dog food. We have been feeding our Aussie Signature Premium for a couple of years. I checked the current bag, and it is safe according the the product code and best before date listed. However, it is a fairly new bag and the previous bag discarded. I do recall our pup (1 year old) had episodes of diarrhea and lethargy for undetermined reasons during that time. I would conjecture we had a contaminated bag. I shall subscribe the the email alert your site offers. Thanks for what you are doing.
I am shocked at what I’ve read here. Our UPS driver, Miss Peggy, gives my 17 month old Lab/Border Collie, Tucker, a giant Kirkland dog cookie every time she delivers a package to our home (about 1-2 x a week)…he NEVER eats “hard” cookies or food, he won’t even try..he only likes soft stuff. But, this cookie he eats. I thought this is great, since harder cookies are needed to prevent plaque buildup on his teeth. So, I goggled kirkland brand to see if I could buy them online. I am beyond sickened and heartbroken at what I’ve read in regards to dogs getting sick, and worse..dying. In April, our dog started to tremor, to the point he couldn’t walk or hold his head still enough to eat. After 6 emergency visits, a spinal tap, ct scan, mri, and countless bloodtests, he was diagnosed with Auto-Immune Encephalitis…basically, swelling of the brain. It was gut wrenching…we were hours away from losing him, and we had just lost our lab, Kinzie a few months prior to a tumor in his liver. Tucker is on many medications, as well as monthly Chemotherapy pills…and most likely will be for the next 6 months. He can NOT receive rabies and many other vaccines while on treatment. He cannot play with other dogs, as he gets sick quickly due to the lowering of his white blood cell count. It is disgusting that a dog food or treat could ruin everything for him. His body cannot fight off an illness from a tainted product. We have spent upwards of 8 grand (and counting) to save his life, he has suffered countless tests, and will continue to, as he needs bloodwork twice a month, he has fought hard and most important…he is our precious baby. To think, this could all be for nothing over a possibly tainted dog cookie. It’s beyond absurd. My heart breaks for all of you who have lost a pet due to this company’s complete lack of morals, and utter disregard for life. It should be criminal! It shouldn’t be so God Damn hard for us to find a food that won’t kill our dogs!!! I’m just sickened by it all.
I am afraid the Kirkland Lamb and Rice is causing my 4yr old beagle/spaniel mix to have allergic reactions. He has rashes on his paws and one in the front leg. This started after we put him on the Kirkland. He was on Iams and then Beneful ( because Iams was getting pricey) and after reading the stories on Beneful we put him on Kirkland but he has never had rashes like this until we put him on the Kirkland.
My irish setter, age 11, has been fed Kirkland Lamb & Rice and Nutra Nuggets Lamb & Rice exclusively for the last 10 years. About three weeks ago, he started suffering from nausea, became lethargic and had no energy. I knew he was getting older and had been becoming more accustomed to spending increasing amounts of time napping or simply lying in the sun, so I didn’t think too much about it. Over the last few days, he has suffered from vomiting, has no appetite, even for human food, typically a rare treat, is weak to the point that he cannot easily go outside to relieve himself or get up into bed, and has bloody stools and heavy discharges from his eyes. The worst part is the labored breathing, sometimes after activity, sometimes simply while lying otherwise undisturbed. I do not live in an area covered by any Diamond recalls. But given the onset of these changes, I cannot help but wonder if the food is at least partly to blame. I love my dog dearly, but haven’t the resources to provide hospital care for him at this time. So, I will take care of him myself until he either passes or starts to suffer so much that I am compelled to take him out to the back forty and shoot him. If his illness is the result of Costco’s continued affiliation with Diamond, who seem to have a series of problems with producing foods that are injurious to there intended recipients, I only hope that their attention to short term profits over the welfare of their customers prompts purchasers to abandon them.
i just bought a bag in late Aug , and the expiry date is March 2013. my 12.5 yr old retriever has had nothing but puking, the runs and her hair is just falling out all over the place. i bought her the Kirkland Super Premium Healthy Weight Dog food. i am not feeding her this anymore. she is so so sick all the time. i can’t believe they’re still selling it in the store to be honest. something is terribly wrong.
Google pointed me to a comment made about Brian Kenney from Costco, “I filled an incident report with Costco on Mar. 6th. Brian Kenney from the liability dept. also stopped all communication when I requested a retest . . .” but I cannot locate the comment or its date. Can you help me find it?
I have been using Kirkland dog and cat food for about three years now and have never had any problems.
I have fed my 12 year old irish setter Kirkland and Nutra Nuggets Lamb And Rice Formulas since he was weaned from puppy food. I had a couple of bags that I purchased late last year and from early 2012 that he has been eating for the last several months. I discarded the a bag of Kirkland Signature early this year when I found that mice had gotten into it and died shortly after ingesting some of the food. The replacement bags seemed ok and not knowing about any of the recalls for Diamond products, I continued to feed them. I only feed a small amount of kibble each day, about two cups, supplemented with fresh foods, so I didnt notice any real problems initially, My normally voracious dog began picking at the kibble when fed and wouldn’t eat until he was pretty hungry over the last couple of months. About 5 weeks ago, he began exhibiting anorexia, had a great deal of gas which had a foul smell and became lethargic and a bit disoriented. He would trip and misstep when walking and sometimes would collapse, apparently exhausted for no apparent reason. As he was getting older, I thought this might have been aging related, but in retrospect the onset was sudden and seemed to worsen fairly rapidly. When he collapsed, he would have trouble breathing, often taking rapid shallow breaths. His heart rate accelerated and it took him a long while to regain strength. He had periods when he would not drink and had to be coaxed to both eat and drink. By this time he was being fed fresh foods which I prepared for him 2x or more daily, supplemented by whatever treats or tidbits I could get him to eat. His stools had blood in them and initially when he started having problems he would vomit. This last week he started having even more gas which I effectively countered with over the counter simethicone. But he had really never recovered from his earlier weakness. Sometimes, I would take him outside to poo or pee and he would collapse and have to be carried into the house. For the last 11 years he has slept in my bed, but it is upstairs and he was too weak to climb up to bed, so I stayed down stairs with him. Two days ago he seemed a little stronger, he had been getting weaker over the last few weeks. He actually went uptairs on his own last night. He was breathing a bit more easily and his appetite was a little better. This morning his appetite was gone. He would drink, had small loose stools and urine which was darker than normal. I believe that his system was shutting down. All day he would be in the same area that I was in, but separated by a little distance. I took him out to our porch to let him breath this afternoon because he was having difficulty breathing. The simethicone, he has been dosed with it the last 3 days, didn’t seem to help with his gas.Breathing was shallow and rapid, heart beat was fast and he had a little liquid coming from his mouth. There appeared to be tears in his eyes. Normally, he has some heavy mucous and it’s routine for me to clean them for him, but this was different. The liquid was watery, again like tears. I petted him, talked with him and tried to comfort. He was groaning a little and appeared to have pain, but he didn’t react as though it were a sharp acute pain, more of a deep seated one which he had been complaining about for a while. His breathing became weaker, to the point of being unnoticeable. His heart rate also became more difficult to detect. He convulsed. His gums and tongue assumed a bloodless pallor. He died at 6:30 P, PST. I would have loved to have been able to take him in to the local vet to see if He could have been saved. But I am long term unemployed, partially disabled and do not have the money to do so. I only wish that I had known more about the Diamond products earlier. I know that it seems horrific not to have had my friend professionally cared for. But my wife is just recovering from cancer, has neuropathy and I have late stage glaucoma and heart problems. The money goes just so far and medical bills already take a disproportionate amount. My dog and I have been virtually inseparable since I adopted him and there aren’t words to express my loss.
Hi,
It might be happening AGAIN. I bought the bag in August/September 2012. I read many of the previous posts and my dog is acting in a similar manner -lethargic and stiff.
Last April I bought a bag of Krkland lamb and rice adault dog food. When I opened the bag; it smelt rather pungent to almost rank. I feed it to my dog any way as I believed it was just the way fresh dog food smelt . He ate it. A few days into it he began to act really stiff and tired. He is a really active and athletic dog. I called the hotline on the bag and was routed to the vet that represents Diamond of Kirkland. She assured me that the dog food was good and that my dog might just be old, tired or sick from something else. In the mean time I biught another bag of food at Petsmart and my dog began to feel better. I threw away the Kirkland food. Later that month I received a notice that there was a recall for Kirkland dog food. I felt sick. Last month however I needed dog food and was at Costco so I bought another bag thinking that the problem was solved. I gave my dog some food yesterday and this morning and he is acting sick and tired again. I feel like an idiot. However I also feel incredibly angry and disappointed in Costco. This is pathetic. I cannot believe I trusted Costco.
Hi Thomas,
My 5 year old lab, who has been fed Kirkland food all her life, is showing symptoms of diarrhea and Vomiting.. I picked up some product samples of a food that was like Kirkland from a local pet store and she was fine.. but now that we have gone back to her Kirkland she is getting vomiting again.
(Note that we were given a bag of Kirkland dog food that was not matching the recall back in the summer when I returned the dog food, and my lab was fine during the summer recall.. no signs of vomiting or diarrhea)
Out of curiosity and concern, how did you learn about the newer recall? Do you have the Product Number and expiry dates in which the bags are affected?
Thanks!
Lily
My 10 LB Dauchsaund Savana is 9 yrs old next mo. She is gray in her face now but has always acted like a lil puppy with so much energy. Even the vet says this when she comes in for her visits. She’s extremely healthy and never had any problems. I’ve fed her cheaper dog foods the first year or two (Puppy Chow, etc) until I read something touting how Costcos Kirkland Dog Food was way better for them. It was affordable too so we began feeding her the puppy blend in the yellow bag(?). She loved it. Everyday, once in morn & once in the eve, and she always ate it like it was her last meal.
It’s now day 2 of her acting like all these stories I’ve read thru above this. She has no appetite, lying around, lathargic, whimpering quietly as if in pain, acting as if its difficult just to walk anywhere. We thought she hurt her back like is usual for dauchsys but that’s not it. We watch her closely & seems like its internal.
I posted it on my FB pg & a GF asked if I feed her Costco food. Why yes…
And thus, it led me to look up this ‘possible’ recall.
We are not in a financial position to take her to the vet either and just been nursing her (hoping) back to health.
After reading all the above, even if this is all a big coinsidence, we are throwing out the Kirkland dog food tomorrow & buying some other brand.
Praying we’ll see a turn around in our lil Banana’s behavior.
I will try to get back on here & post results; be it bad or good. Just for any help this may be to another dog owner/lover.
I wish everyone healthy & happy pets!
I am not sure if too much time has passes since the recall but I started my 4 dogs on Kirkland chicken in the beginning of the year. During the first bag one dog got diarrhea so we switched her back. When she was better we tried again and she was fine. The other 3 were fine. My boy is a 7 year old soft coated wheaten terrier. He is very healthy and fit and never would have expected him to be where he is today. In August he was so lethargic and refused water and food. We thought he was going to pass on. The vet found a tumor on his spleen. We don’t know if it is cancer but there is high possibility. He was given 2-4 months to live before his spleen erupts and he bleeds to death. Removing the tumor will only expand this 1-2 months in which he will spend recovering from invasive surgery. We opted to not do surgery because of this. He is doing well for now. Just thought I would share. This might not be related but we are so confused how a healthy dog could get so sick so fast. 7 does not seem very old for his breed.
I feed my 9 big dogs the kirkland chicken and rice dog food. I havent had problems with any of them. I also have my one dog who breaks out with hot spots and the only two dog foods that he hasnt broken out with are Kirkland and Natures Recipe.
I do feed the Kirkland Signature Lamb and Rice formula to my dogs with no ill effects. But when I tried the Chicken and Rice Formula, they all turned their noses up at it. I am currently feeding Pedigree Original because I am dogsitting my friends’ Coonhound but I dislike the smell, it smells like horse dung but they sure like it!! Plus there have been some great sales and coupons and my friends have been purchasing Pedigree for their dog so they all eat the same food. I have always liked the Kirkland formulation, it’s a reasonable price and they eat far less of it and their poops are smaller so I presume that it’s a more nutritionally efficient formulation. I will be keeping my eyes peeled for the dates cited in their message and avoiding those lots. I would like more information if there is any available from anyone. Thanks a million.
I just got an email from a friend who knows I buy my dog food at Costco. She told me about the Nature’s Domain recall. I have two aussies of my own and I foster aussies for a rescue group. I have been feeding all of them the Nature’s Domain Salmon and Sweet Potato because my male has chicken and grain allergies. I did have one episode each with my dogs wherein the dogs got diarrhea and vomiting that was nonstop. The diarrhea turned bloody. I had to take them to the vet to get antispasmodic shots and other medication. I had no idea about the recall — I just assumed they got a stomach flu. At different times, two of the foster dogs got the same thing. I started thinking there was some plant- or soil-based toxin that was causing this. I have been feeding these poor dogs this food for years. I have received no robocalls from Costco about this recall. Believe me, they are going to get a call from me. I also noticed that all of the dogs would periodically just throw up their food just once and then be fine. I thought they just had sensitive stomachs. For grain-free food, the Costco price is just over half what pet stores charge. I guess you get what you pay for. I would never jeopardize my dogs’ health for money. Just as with other products, I assumed Costco just got a terrific price due to the volume it sells. I sure hope the pet store food indicates where it is made. I won’t be buying any Chinese-made food anymore, if I can at all help it. I’m mad as hell about this, but so thankful to my friend for alerting me.
My 8yr old German shepherd normally very active has been displaying very off putting behaviors. Lethargy, weight loss, he seems to smell around his food vs actually smelling the food, almost like he’s blind and can’t smell, I have to coax him to eat…and the past two days he’s been pooping in his crate, which he never does, he’ll vomit before ever pooping in doors. I feed him and my pitbull mix the Kirkland lamb and rice, and have for years and only until 2-3mo ago he started with these symptoms…both eat a lot more grass than normal. I was considering arthritis and old age, but he’s 8. And well that isn’t too old. And has been very healthy and active up until July. I’m going to buy a new brand tomorrow and pray it helps and then definitely return both the dry and wet foods I use from costco. I will update the GSD condition if anything changes…
I forgot to mention that this all started to happen in July this year, before this he was your average normal German shepherd, running and chasing balls, playing with our 4yr old pitbull. And in 3mo time it all went downhill? Anyways I switched them both to blue the salmon grain free. They both ate it like it was the last meal on earth! Even the shepherds pace was faster than it has been in months. And he came over to me as to either ask for more or say thank you. Probably both because I did give him a Lil extra. He’s so thin. I hope this works! And I don’t understand why Costco California is Ignoring this, except to think that pet owners have not caught the coaralation between the food and the illnesses. Although they did suggest my pet may have distemper something he’s been vaccinated for…? But still I’m going to wait and see how the food improves his health if not then when I’m able to put him in my car I will have him checked for it, I am far too pregnant (2wksaway If that, from delivery) to struggle carrying him into my SUV alone.
We purchased our stinky batch of Kirkland chicken dog food a few weeks ago, and immediately took it back. Apparently when we asked if they’ve had a huge influx of returns, they replied no… Odd, but okay. We bought another bag – stinky again. So I thought I’d outsmart the system and head to another Costco, returned with 2 bags, both stinky. Clearly there’s a problem. We’re thinking we may just need to change dog food. Any suggestions?! These comments started back in April – this is December in a few days – is this dog food stench going to clear up or should we just jump ship on Kirkland for our pups?
Is there a way to get the food tested? How do we report this to Costco? We live in the NW and my dog just died after similar symptoms as the most recent posts. Never had a chance to switch his food to find out if that’s what it was. Please help!
I also want to know if there is a way to get the food tested and if so where? I have been keeping an eye on this site and reading comments since my parents dog died in April 2012. I have decided enough is enough. I saved some of the tainted dog food in hopes of being able to prove it caused his death. Here is my story-
My parents dog died in April with all of the exact same symptoms that everyone else experienced. We ended up spending over $900 trying to save him. It happened just a couple weeks after switching him to Kirkland brand food.
I had fed Kirkland to 3 of my dogs for years with no problems and my parents dog always chowed down on my dogs food so I unfortunately talked my parents into switching to Kirkland.
After their dog passed away my Mom gave me the remaining bag of food. The following day after feeding it to my dogs they were throwing up and having “accidents” on the floor (which never happens). These were the same symptoms my parents dog started out with. I knew something wasn’t right so I did a Google search and found this site. I could not believe my eyes!
I immediately stopped feeding my dogs ANY & ALL commercial dogs foods and treats. I started making home cooked meals for all 4 of my large dogs. It was a full time job in itself but at least I knew what was going into my dogs food! I have since switched over to RAW. My dogs will NEVER eat even a morsel of commercial kibble for as long as they live.
Costco has NEVER contacted myself or my parents about the recall. I had been purchasing 2-3 bags a month of Kirkland food for a few years. My Mom had purchased the one that killed their dog and numerous times had picked up some for me under her account.
Someone needs to be held liable for all of the deaths of peoples pets. Thank you for taking the time to read my story.
HI..my heart goes out to everyone who has lost a loved one due to this..my husband and I have two dogs, had two dogs. Both healthy, raised on a farm lots of exercise and love…they sleep in our house and play with our daughter. We just lost our dog Ozzie Saturday night. He had an irritation on his front paw that he had licked down to the skin…now I think it must have been itchy allergic reaction to the food…Our other dog Maggie refuses to eat the dog food and that started about 3 days ago..So far she hasn’t shown any symptoms Ozzie showed, she just will not eat it…unfortunately it was too late, we had no idea something in his dog food could have done this since we have been buying this food for a long time : ( We plan to complain to Kirkland and Costco and beyond that we don’t know what else to do, just get the word out..Thank you for letting us share our stories and good luck to all the dog owners out there, and our hearts are with you all!
We have feed our twwo beagles Kirland Wieght Management dog food for years but about a week ago one of them become ill throwing up. Thinking he just eat something from when we were on his daily walk we moved him to home cooked meals for a a couple of days and his symtoms cleared up. As we moved him back onto his Kirklind fodd he once again is showing signs of sickness, bad gas, lathorgic etc. My wife believes the food smells and looks different so we suspect there might have been changes or possibly a bad batch. We purchased the food at the Alpharetta GA Costco around the 15th of December.
I have two Weimeraners that will be turning
2 -Years-old in April 2013. I have been
feeding them Costco’s Kirkland dog food
(Puppy kibble until they turned 1 and then
Chicken And rice formula-maroon colored
bag- ever since). They have always had ‘soft’
Stool, but I didn’t think anything of it.
I bought a new bag of Kirkland dog food
About 3 weeks ago and then Two
weeks ago, on a Monday, my 80-lb boy
began vomiting and not eating. I tried
feeding him plain rice and pumpkin, but
the only thing he would eat was frozen
pumpkin pieces. His stool ended was semi-
solid-soft-jelly like each time he went to the
bathroom. The jelly-like substance concerned
me. On Wednesday, he vomited again…
I called the vet and made an appointment
for the following day. The vet said that he
didn’t look dehydrated and everything seemed
‘Normal’, other than the stool which she obtained
by digitally examining his rectum.
She said the jelly-like substance was plasma
with Blood in it. The vet
decided to keep my boy overnight to do
some X-rays, Blood tests and obtain a better
stool sample. Blood tests were ‘normal’,
but showed That he was slightly dehydrated.
X-rays showed there was ‘something’ in his
stomach that was blocking Entrance into his
small and large intestines. The vet decided
she needed to do ‘exploratory surgery to remove
the ‘object’ in his stomach. She kept him overnight
With IV to get his fluids up. The next day,
the vet did the surgery…only to find that there
was no ‘foreign object’in his stomach, but that
his stomach lining, small and large intestinal
lining and lymph nodes were all inflamed.
Blood tests were normal, urine sample was
Normal, stool sample was normal. The vet
thought maybe it was inflammatory bowel
disease. It took over a week for the biopsy
results due to Xmas holidays…and it turns out
That my boy has lymphocytic-plasmacytic
inflammatory bowel disease… I find it very
odd that this would all of a sudden come up
After them eating the same brand of food
for almost 2 years…And I honestly think that
this last bag of Kibble was the triggering factor.
My little 60-lb girl just began vomiting 2
Nights ago and has jelly-like stool now…
and she won’t go Anywhere near her bowl
of Kirkland kibble…which she would normally
gobble up 2 cups in under a minute!!
I honestly think I bought a bad batch of
Kibble…and will definitely not be buying
any more of That brand! I have been
researching different kinds of dog Food
all day and will be switching foods as
Soon as I can take my boy off of gastro-
intestinal wet food, hypoallergenic kibble,
prednisone and antibiotics/anti-
inflammatories!!!! $2000 later… SIGH!
At least my ‘babies’ are still alive-I am SO
sorry to hear of all the dogs on this forum that
have not made it! I couldn’t imagine losing
these two!!!! They are my children!
A frustrated ‘mother’.
Sorry to hear about your dog. It is unlikely that a food would be the cause of lymphocytic plasmacytic IBD. But a change to a new food could have brought out a condition that was already there.
I have been feeding my 1.5 year old dog Kirkland food (Chicken and Rice) for the past year. I have always just thought she was a picky eater, because she kind of pushes at the food in the bowl when I put it down, and sometimes spills it on the floor on purpose. I thought it was a puppy thing. We just opened a new bag of food, and she has woken me up several times each night since to be let out. She never does that. Her poop is pretty much liquid. I am really worried after reading this and unfortunately had just put her evening meal down for her. I will be switching her food. Has anyone heard of a recent recall on any Kirkland dog foods in Canada?
Our Bernese Mountain Dog has had diarrhea and lethargy for a few days now and after reading the YEARS WORTH of comments from other people I’m going to take her off the Kirkland food. How awful! I’m so sorry for everyone who has been exposed to this, poor dogs. Also Dr. Marie, thanks for your comments however I would have to argue that non organic GMO foods can lead to all sorts of problems. Having a look at this documentary may be a good place to start
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wnlTYFKBg18&feature=player_embedded
I am going to start making my own dog food from natural ingredients. Organic, non GMO turkey, carrots, and brown rice. I’m in Atlantic Canada does anyone know of healthy dog food producers?
Our Bernese Mountain Dog nearly died last spring – she had been eating Kirkland dog food with no problems then had an episode of diarrhea which over the course of a month an a half became a nearly fatal case of Inflammatory Bowel Disease. Its a long story and over $7,000 in vet bills and medications. Not until I started researching food after she was well on the road to recovery did I discover there had been a Kirkland food recall early last spring when she started getting sick. (March 2012) Perhaps foolishly, I am back to feeding her the salmon formulation of Kirkland food – she likes it and has not experienced any further problems. It was recommended she eat a form of protein she had not eaten before (salmon, venison) During her treatment she was on a special diet of very expensive canned and dry kibble. I plan to continue with Kirkland food unless there are signs of intolerance or any stomach upset, will also be watching for recalls.
Re Kirkland Nature’s Domain. We have five large mixed breed dogs , a German shepherd, two golden retrievers, two border collies. We ran into a problem with Orijen salmon based dog food so we tried the salmon and sweet potato from Costco. The dogs looked very good for a year, but in Feb/March of this year, 2013, they started blowing coat, acting lethargic, refusing to finish their food. We have two friends that also switched to this food at the same time and one dog experienced unbelievable itching and her coat look like it was burned off. She was in agony. When I saw the similarities, I stopped the food and, in most dogs, saw an immediate improvement. When I contacted Kirkland, the verteriarian insisted it was environmental! It has taken a lot to bring my dogs back to the level of health they had previously and my older golden retriever appears to have permanent health damage.
Please keep the good work of spreading the word about this food. I will never purchase a dog food from costco or made in china again.
My dog passed away from this dog food. Is there a class action suit?
Wow, I’m sadden to hear of all the illnesses these dogs have experienced.
I bought Kirkland dog bones for the first time on Jan 2, 13. I have 2 boxers, one pure bred and the other is a mix. Our pure bred boxer began have odd symptoms including excessive drooling (excessive for a boxer even, there were puddles without reason) and welts on her head and neck. I brought her to our vet who thought she was having an allergic reaction, to what, we didn’t know.
About a week and a half after the welts, she lost her balance and couldn’t walk without running into walls or falling over. I immediately brought her to our vet again who ran tests – everything was normal in her blood tests except her WBC count was slightly elevated. She progressively got worse over the next 2 days to the point we had to carry down stairs and help her onto our bed. Our vet asked if she had gotten into anything in our garage, etc but we couldn’t think of anything. She recommended a neurologist.
After a few days of trying to think of what could be causing this, I realized it might be those dog bones (which I had instinctively stopped giving her when she very first lost her balance). In the back of my mind I suspected a connection but it wasn’t until she vastly improved after not having those bones for a week (Thank God!!) and my mom called to tell me she heard those bones were bad news. I discussed with my vet who agreed and we have thrown them away.
I hope this helps ensure that no one else has to go through this with their dogs. Such a scary and desperate situation to be in when you don’t know what is wrong or how to help!
Thank you for your time and effort.
We have a 7 month old bulldog; we were in the middle of switching his food to Kirkland. He use to get all excited to eat, like puppies do, not anymore – he would just walk by his dish. Then he developed a mite – one that comes out when their immune system is low. We switched back to his normal food (which was easy because we were at half and half at the time) he gets excited again to eat… just waiting for the mite thing to clear up….
We have two Sharpei. Both have had a healthy appetite. One after another , they have either been slow to get their food or have not eaten altogether. They have had fevers, vomiting, and been lethargic. Dogs do get sick once in a while, just like we do. Anyways we feed them Kirkland salmon meal and sweet potato. The latest batch was NDS0110C3NL CE 01:40. I had a bag of another batch # which I opened today. They both finished their bowls like they usually do. I have not found the batch number on any “recall” list. Is it listed?
It has been my experience that Costco’s KIRKLAND branded products are going downhill further and further… this year’s flea treatment is no improvement over last year’s terrible product, their Puppy Chow kibble is soo poor that my puppy refuses to eat it, several Kirkland brand items are UNDERweight when you place them on a scale… COSTCO is no longer what it used to be… even their gasoline is poor, they add their own additives on site, my car that requires Premium idles rough – definitely is not Premium !
With all these dogs STILL getting sick more than a year after the recall, how is costco allowed to continue to see the food? Something needs to be done to inform everyone about this so that they will stop buying the food.
I have fed Kirkland Chicken brand for many years. The end of April 2012 all three of my golden retrievers started to become ill. They didn’t have an appite and they broke out with hot spots. One healed on her own but the other two wouldn’t heal. I took them to the vet and they were placed on antibiotics. Once that cleared up within a couple of weeks the same two that were on the anitbiotics broke out again with hot spots. Once again to the vet and once again on antibiotics. After they healed from that bout, my middle golden broke out a third time all down her back! multiple sores from her shoulders to the middle of her back, as well as between her toes on one of her front legs. Again on the antibiotics. I was frantically trying to find out what was causing these skin eruptions, diarehhea and lack of appitite. I thou She went through this all summer long, from April to September. After the sores healed, she started limping
I have fed Kirkland Chicken brand for many years. The end of April 2012 all three of my golden retrievers started to become ill. They didn’t have an appite and they broke out with hot spots. One healed on her own but the other two wouldn’t heal. I took them to the vet and they were placed on antibiotics. Once that cleared up within a couple of weeks the same two that were on the anitbiotics broke out again with hot spots. Once again to the vet and once again on antibiotics. After they healed from that bout, my middle golden broke out a third time all down her back! multiple sores from her shoulders to the middle of her back, as well as between her toes on one of her front legs. Again on the antibiotics. I was frantically trying to find out what was causing these skin eruptions, diarehhea and lack of appitite. I thought it may be something in the water from the lake I swam them in, not even thinking it was the food I was feeding them. She went through this all summer long, from April to September. After the sores healed, she started limping. Couldn’t go up and down stairs to where I had to carry her. In March of this year, 2013, she died from liver or kidney failure! I have now had additional testing done on my other 2 goldens, One seems to be ok, but my older one appears to have kidney issues as well and it looks as if I may be loosing her too. I have changed to feeding my dogs a raw homemade diet now. My neighbor feeds kirkland to her dogs as well. One she had to put down and the other is experiencing the same hot spot sores as mine. I have heard from 4 other clients that have fed Kirkland here in British Columbia and 2 of them their dogs died and the others their dogs have been sick and one their dog is now limping just like mine that passed away! They restricted this recall to only eastern Canada but obviously we received tainted food here on the west coast as well. I have added my name onto the National Class Action lawsuit against Diamond foods for the loss of my Canadian Champion Golden Retriever and the illness of my other two. I would love to get a list of people here in BC that have had problems with feeding their dogs Kirkland brand to be able to present to the Canadian lawyers that are on this case to show that it has affected us here on the West Coast. You can email me at stephanieagarner@hotmail.com
Costco, kirkland, diamond, and vet Brookshire shoukd all be held responsible. What may have started innocently became a cover up, outright lies, greed and 0 accountability! How many animals (friends) were lost?
They knew, they lied, they covered up but because it is just an animal we are not allowed recourse. It is so disgusting. I agree class action costco, kirkland, Diamond and the diamond vet.
Jon in Sacramento
jlunar_44@yahoo.con
My 3 babies LOVE Kirkland Adult and Kirkland Mature Dog Food, and have not exhibited any signs of trouble. Matter of fact, my Mistee has benefited from the Kirkland Mature.
I have fed my Mistee Soo Hill’s Science Diet since she was 7 weeks old, which she is 13 years old now. She has had a battle with skin irritation and allergies all her life. Last Oct, Tony adopted MIstee and I, at the age of 6 years, and the rescue foundation said to give him Kirkland dog food from Costco’s. Well to make a longer story shorter, 8 months later Mistee’s skin irritation and allergies has cleared up by 90% from eating Kirkland Mature Dog Food. She is happy and mommy is happy too.
My sisters healthy, active, wonderful dog died two weeks ago. He died howling, with sudden excessive throwing up and dirrhea. Our family is devastated, we have fed all our dogs Kirkland for years with no problems. So, I took his toys to my place, along with his Kirkland dog food for my dog. I finished my dogs Kirkland food last week, so I started feeding her my sisters dog leftover bag of Kirkland healthy weight dogfood. My dog (a hungry bullmastiff), is lethargic, feels like she has a fever, and won’t eat or drink…which led me to think it may be the food and to this site. I am going right now, to change my dogs food. If my sisters dog died because of this, it would be such a misfortune…especially if there were bags contaminated, still going out to these poor dogs. I am going to get this bag tested.
Sorry, for all of your losses. It was so hard on the family to lose such a special dog, with no previous problems whatsoever, who had many years in front of him.
Ashleywhitaker57@gmail.com
I know it’s been awhile since anyone posted here but I lost my dog to an unexplained illness last month. I was feeding Taste of the Wild which is the same company (Diamond) that makes Kirkland dog food. Being told by many pet stores that this was premium food, I trusted them. I have even fed this dog Kirkland food on occasion as well as Dick Van Patten’s food. ALL these foods were and are made by Diamond. It makes me sick to think that this expensive dog food that I had been giving my dog for years could have killed him! I just found all this out today and I’m mortified! I’m going to definitely do something about it.
I just bought a bag of Diamond ‘Chicken and Sweet Potato’ dog food, they also makes some Costco dog foods. During an introduction phase of a week while our 65 lb. dog got just a couple of handfuls a day I noticed about a 50% increase in water consumption and consequent increased urination. We’d had a cat exhibit those symptoms and she died of kidney failure. Stopped the Diamond ‘Chicken and Sweet Potato’ food last night and returned to regular food. Her water intake has returned to normal along with a normal urination. This dog food lists ‘salt’ 12th on the ingredient list. Maybe the salt is making my dog thirstier, maybe not. The Diamond dog food is going in the landfill.