BENEFUL DOG FOOD
Beneful brand dog food is marketed and manufactured by the Nestle Purina PetCare Company. The Purina company was actually founded back in 1894, when a man named William H. Danforth decided to make a company that produced feed for farm animals. In 1902, Purina underwent a merger which resulted in the Ralston-Purina Company. Nestle (who also produces the Friskies brand pet food formulas) merged with Ralston-Purina in 2001. The headquarters of the Nestle Purina PetCare Company are currently located in St. Louis, Missouri. Though Purina PetCare did have to recall several products during the 2007 pet food recall, none of the Beneful brand products were affected. Nestle Purina PetCare also produces Alpo dog food, Bonio dog biscuits, Felix cat food, Purina Pro-Plan and several other pet food products.
BENEFUL DOG FOOD REVIEW
All of Beneful’s dry dog food formulas contain ground yellow corn as their first ingredient, and corn gluten meal among their first five ingredients. Though marketed as being a healthy dog food formula, Beneful does contain artificial chemical colors, sugar, wheat, soy and meat (mostly chicken) by-products. For this reason, Beneful’s formulas are usually not recommended to be fed to dogs that have food-based allergies.
BENEFUL DOG FOOD FORMULAS
- Beneful IncrediBites Dog Food is a dry dog food formula that has small pieces, in order to make it easier to chew for small dogs. The Guaranteed Analysis of this formula contains 27% protein and 12% fat.
- Beneful Original Dog Food is suitable to be fed to all adult dogs. The Guaranteed Analysis of this formula contains 25% protein and 10% fat.
- Beneful Healthy Weight Dog Food is designed for dogs that need to lose weight, or dogs that need to maintain a healthy weight. The Guaranteed Analysis of this formula contains 25% protein and 7% fat.
- Beneful Playful Life Dog Food is designed for active dogs, containing a higher protein content than other Beneful dog food formulas. The Guaranteed Analysis of this formula contains 27% protein and 11% fat.
- Beneful Healthy Radiance Dog Food is a formula that contains salmon as its 6th ingredient. The Guaranteed Analysis of this formula contains 25% protein and 12% fat.
- Beneful Healthy Harvest Dog Food is marketed as being a formula that contains soy and barley. The Guaranteed Analysis of this formula contains 25% protein and 10% fat.
- Beneful Healthy Growth for Puppies Dog Food is designed to be fed to puppies that are under one year of age. The Guaranteed Analysis of this formula contains 28% protein and 12% fat.
BENEFUL CONSUMER RATINGS
Customer reviews about Beneful dry dog food formulas are mostly negative. Since it contains sugar, some dogs seem to have trouble digesting the formulas. The fact that the Beneful formulas are strongly corn-based was another negative aspect that was cited by most dog owners. Some dogs experienced hair loss, low energy levels, and stomach upset with Beneful food formulas. One dog owner even went as far to blame Beneful for her dog’s untimely death. Many dog owners recommend staying away from Beneful’s dog food formulas, due to its seemingly negative effects on the health of some dogs.
70 Responses to “BENEFUL DOG FOOD”
My 10 month old puppy had one serving of Beneful this morning from a neighbor who just opened a new bag. A few hours later he has lost control of his bladder – repeatedly – and in large and small amounts, varying. He is only 13 pounds and is a terrier/whippet/chihuahua mix (we think) – something along those lines (he was a rescue). I called Purina and the rep got extremely nervous when I told her why I was calling. I could tell she was extremely careful not to use the words “I’m sorry.” He only had 1/3 of a cup and I’ve just given him his usual high-quality Blue Buffalo food. I’m hoping that he will just get over it since it was only one serving.
My black lab has been on beneful for his whole life he is three now and a few months ago he has been having behaviour changes, not sure if it is related to beneful or not. I had a lab mix puppy and he was switched to beneful when i got him and was sick constantly. The vet said he was very healthy and maybe he was eating too fast, or had a sensitive stomach and they also gave him a worm pill and he just got worse and I had to put him down because of high vet costs. Now its awful to think it must have been this food and because he wasn’t like that before. He was only ten months old. I recently noticed a decline in the number of beneful bags at Walmart so I decided to look into it. I am glad I did so I can change dog foods before my lab gets worse or sick. Thank you to everyone for writing about their stories and I’m sorry for all your losses.
My dog has been eating Beneful for years and we have never had any problems…until now. It started with a large bag that I purchased from Costco. Looking back all the problems started shortly after feeding her from this bag. Slowly she started eating less and less and started throwing up bile every morning, which I figured was because of not eating enough. I took her to the vet and they suggested that a tooth could be bothering her (she is 16 so it very well could). They also gave her a heart worm pill so I figured what happened next was the result of the pill. After the appointment she stopped eating all together and started having horrific diarrhea in the house (in the 16 years I can count on one hand the amount of times she has pooped in the house). It was horrible bloody and just worng! She was having a hard time standing and just looked like death. I figured that it was the pill from the vet and maybe just needed to work out of her system. I was going to make her chicken and rice to see it she would eat that and she started vomiting something horrible and bloody. After speaking with the she assured me that it was very unlikely that it was the pill and that something else was going on. I cooked the chicken and rice which she ate. She has had a couple more bouts of horrible diarrhea but can walk and has some life back in her eyes. We have an appointment today for blood work but I feel absolutely certain that the food is what caused this! We don’t have a yard so she is on a leash outside and there really isn’t anything that could have poisoned her in the house. I have found a few other blog sites that have many recent postings with stories such as mine.
I adopted Coby, a 9 month old black lab mix, a few weeks ago from the shelter. I started feeding him Beneful Original immediately because my brother uses it for his corgi and it was a huge bag. Coby started to CONSTANTLY scratch his stomach and bite at his back. He also started to throw up a weird whitish fluid here and there.
My vet told me he doesn’t have a rash and there was no sign of fleas but he was constantly scratching and biting right before the his eyes! After awhile, I deduced it was probably a food allergy and saw the main ingredients were corn and chicken by-products! I have since switched to Blue Buffalo and already see improvements. After a week on the new food, he is scratching MUCH less with no biting and just looks healthier in general. I am sure I will be seeing more improvements.
After coming across this site, I now know for a fact it was the food. I need to get my brother off of Beneful because I feel bad for his dog. He seems fine now but I’m afraid he will get sick down the line.
I feed very little preearpd dog food due to all the preservitive and colouring added not to mention the disgusting rubbish they put in claiming it to be chicken,beef etc.I feed raw chicken necks, Cooked Liver stews with veg and rice added.Raw pet mince. Tuna cassaroles, Scrambled eggs with cheese. Cooked pet mince stews and a small amount of dog roll with NO preservitive plus fresh Brisket bones. I leave a cup of dry food down in case they get peckish but this is very rarely eaten. Maybe 1 cup a week with my four dogs.This feeding is actually cheaper than buying the preearpd stuff but does take a bit long to prepare.
To begin with, never abruptly change your dog’s food. That’s just asking for tummy upsets and loose stools. Consult with your vet before you do anything, and see if the food is appropriate for your dog’s needs. (I’m not a big fan of Beneful OR Nutromax, and if you want the reasons why, email me. I’ll be happy to answer anyone’s questions in private.)To cghnae over your dog’s food, start by mixing 1/4 new food with 3/4 of the old. Feed him that combination for three days, then do a half and half ration for another three days.Finally, do a 3/4 mix of new to 1/4 old for three days. On the 10th day, you should be able to feed him the new food by itself. Yes, it takes ten days to switch over, but it lets your dog’s system get used to the new food gradually.And it helps to avoid a lot of mopping and carpet scrubbing!
Im extremely worried about my dogs.I have four. My chihuahua has had bloody stools and some vomiting. Mostly bloody stools. Shes better now. No the extremely healthy young lab we have is vomiting horribly. Also he has diarrhea. Im worried now its beneful. Im so scared. I dumped all their dog food and we are changing too something else today.
I used to feed my pomeranian Beneful but he was always scratching so the vet suggested I put him on a good food no grains. He ate Blue brand, then I got low on money and purchased Beneful again. Dingo ate some of the bag but mostly was playing with it and wouldn’t eat it. I mean picking out the red pieces and placing them around the living room and tossing them in the air. I noticed he had blood in his stool and I was concerned and thought I would look this up on line before taking him to a vet. To my suprise was these people blogging about their dog getting sick and having bloody stools after feeding Beneful that they had purchased at Walmart. That is where I purchased mine too. I immediately purchased a can of chicken and rice food and some Holistic brand dog food, within 3 days he had no more blood in his stool. I can’t believe what I am reading here with these blogs. Some dogs even died. I called Purina and they took my information and they are sending me a refund. When I asked the lady if she had any other calls or heard anything like this she said she personally had not. I don’t think she was being truthful. Because if someone blogs about this I am sure they called the company too. I think there will be enough dog owners that have spent money on vet bills and dogs have died. Please let me know if there is a class action lawsuit.
I fed my dog Beneful for most of her life. Last April she began losing control of her bladder and had discharge from her eye. Then she began losing weight and in November began drinking a lot of water, hacking, became lethargic, and had diarrhea. She was later diagnosed with Addisons Disease. In January 2012 she had several episodes where she was panting, her heart racing and she couldn’t sleep.. I believe all of the stress put on her body finally took a toll on her. She wound up in cardiac arrest, with a volleyball size space full of fluid in her chest. She passed away at the vet. Until then she was the most energetic dog, but last year, everything changed. I’m suspicious of the food, because when she ate, her symptoms became worse. I didn’t make the connection until a friend of mine said they lost a pet in the same way, and blamed the food.
We bought our food at Walmart, and I guess we are part of the problem because I wanted to purchase a dog food that had a reasonable price. If I could go back, I would change it to a brand recommended by my vet or make my own. I would pay the price for a healthy dog. We are heart broken. She was the most amazing dog. For a company to mislead the public by producing a product that makes animals ill is criminal. I am thinking about having the food analyzed.
January 2012, I have a 15 year old mixed breed dog who I have been feeding Beneful to for the last year or so. Last week he started throwing up and the next day he started having seizures. He wouldn’t eat but would drink lots of water. The seizures lasted two days. I had taken away the dog food and started feeding him table food and then bought some canned food. It took him over a week to get back to feeling better. Not knowing what had happened I gave him back his Beneful and guess what he started throwing up again. Now I have taken away that brand of food. I am writing Purina and I will have the food tested myself. I did not buy the food at Wal-Mart. If I find the food to be defective I think a class action lawsuit might be in the works.
In december of last year we took our english springer spaniel to the vets. He had been on beneful since he was old enough to eat He was suffering from itching and scabs had developped on his stomach and a rach on his private parts. The vet changed his food and within weeks the scabs and rach disappeared.
We returned to the vet for another bag of dog food and the receptionist informed that her who was also on beneful had the same problem. She switched food and her dog is now cured.
If beneful is causing these problems what is the company doing selling this crap?
i was looking for beneful discounts and came across this link- our dog 12 months) has been sick for a few day;s,,,,,,,,,, sever lethargic and fatigue, watery eyes and most of all as others have commented SEVERE GLAZED EYES AND A SPACEY LOOK. i have no idea whats goin on but i am stoping the beneful wet food and see what happens
I have a healthy, happy 5 year old female sheltie who went to a new home for 2 days.
While there she ate ONE serving of Beneful and began having vomiting, diarrhea, lethargy, glazed eyes, staggering gait (barely able to walk), white gums, NO appetite…
Since she was healthy & FINE before being fed the Beneful…I am now confident that her eating Beneful is the ultimate cause of her symptoms.
Upon reading & researching…it appears that Beneful will be her cause of death… I am very ANGRY…
If anyone has any TREATMENT that would save this little girl’s life I would greatly appreciate you posting it …
Many thanks to everyone who shared their stories. I noticed that my dogs have not been themselves since I started feeding them from the new bag of Beneful “Playful” that I bought last week at Publix in Tampa, FL.
After the first feeding from the new bag, the usually boistrous hound-mix was very sedate, not wanting to get up, not wanting to eat when he usually wolfs his food down. Neither dog seemed to want to eat the Beneful dog food. My husband noticed the change and actually wondered aloud about the food, and I had had a passing thought about it myself.
This morning I awoke to bloody dog diarrhea all over the hall and bathroom – fortunately the tiled and not carpeted areas of the house, because it was nasty! I have fed my dogs the Beneful “healthy weight” off and on for years, but I picked up the “Playful” by mistake – looks like a bigger mistake than I bargained for. It’s only been a few days, so hopefully they will be ok. The hound was hungry this morning and I had some canned rice and chicken Pedigree, which he ate like usual. No more Beneful – or Purina anything in my dog’s bowls.
I will be one the phone Monday to Purina and Publix. Thanks again to everyone who posted – your stories may have saved my dogs, and no doubt have spared many pet-owners the loss of their’s.
JC
My 15 year old Cocker has always been in great health. About a year ago we started to use Beneful Healthy Weight as a dry snack during the day. We thought he was just getting older but have been told he may suffer from Cronic Kidney Disease. After reading all the info on this food I’m thinking the food may be the cause. He is off the food now. Hoping for the best. Thanks to all for the input
Wish I had read all this before I bought the stuff (online, 10 oz platic containers). Gave some to my maltese a few months ago and she threw up, but we thought it was something she ate from outside. Tried again this past week, and she threw up for two days. She barely ate any (sniffed and turned away), but ate enough of the first meal to cause the upset. Owner (me) is obviously an idiot! I almost passed the stuff on to my neighbor (assuming till I read this that my little one is just a fussy dog). The food is going in the trash.
Bijli My Two year old Female doberman started having tremors.I swicthed her to Beneful a month ago she liked it as she is a very picky eater I was excited.
But after reading all this I am not going to feed that anymore. Thank you all.
I read about the bad Beneful a long time ago. Walmart recently was promoting Beneful in a big way so I thought the manufacturers had taken steps to improve it. I bought a can yesterday and my poodle ate some yesterday and today. Today I had the thought that just in case, I should check reviews again. I was shocked to find these with 2011 dates on them and immediately put what was left in her bowl back in the container and it will go out with the next trip to the trashcan. I’m sorry now I didn’t check recent reviews sooner. I hope the little bit she ate won’t hurt her. She’s elderly but I do have her on vitamins too.
Are these comments all about dry Beneful? Does anyone have experience with wet Beneful? Corn is not an ingredient in the wet Beneful – corn starch is, but not corn.
Our dog nearly died from ecoli. She too had been eating beneful since we got her 6 yrs ago as a 2 year old. I was shocked to learn that it was ecoli. My dog is an indoor dog and my house is clean. It had to have been the dog food.
Oh my God, I just switched to Beniful as I thought this would be a little special compare to the Ol roy Brand that we have been giving to our dogs. I just couldn’t believe all these negative and awful experienced from other dog owners.. And I thought all these dog foods must be ok to our dogs.. I just bought another bag today, my dog doesn’t have problem so far but I am not going to wait for that to happen..
Thank you all very much for letting us all know about this problems.. This is aweful. And why Beniful products is still there in the market? It should be banned right? Poor dogs, who died I’m so sorry..
I have had my Bug (Boston Terrier/pug) on beneful for about 8months now, she just loved it as she was a picky eater. As of lately, she scratches and licks everything, non stop, her skin is always irritated , she had been biting into in now, i tried shampoo’s, oils, and even mixing oil into her food..She also seems to developing anxiety if that makes any sense, she is almost 3 . I started researching this today,and i have to say i am soooooo grateful to find this info, but very sad to read these stories, I will too be going to put my dog on a way better brand of food..
Trey my puggle had severe reation to Beneful, she started itching all the time then dry skin, sores, sores are now bleeding her eyes were very watery and she seems anxious also. I couldn’t take it any more went to Vet today. $88.00 later to be told it is the Beneful. Vet has seen a lot of dogs with reactions to Beneful. I had taken her off it last week before I even saw the Vet. SHe is now on Nutro Ultra, it is a holistic dog food and she loves it. Hope it will help along with the steroids and anitbotics she is on. They should not be allowed to sell that crap and they should reimburse us for the vet bills.
I’ve fed my dog Beneful for 4+ years. 9/2010 my Boston threw up for a few days, then refusing food. She began drinking TONS of water and throwing up foam few hours. Emergency vet said she was going to die, her liver was shutting down, she was yellow with guandice, lost control of her functions, seizures. I spent $5,000 and took a week off from work, we were able to save her. It was awful.
I rescued another Boston and have been finding vomit this week that is the Beneful that I’ve continued to feed them. I thought my 1st Boston was having a relapse as she showed signs of behavior she exhibitted early into her illness last year but soon realized BOTH dogs were vomitting. Immediately I made the connection. I switched them to a bland diet and all problems were resolved. I cannot believe that my vets nor I made the connection sooner.
I am so angry – $5,000! My dog’s life is worth every cent but not everyone is crazy enough to put that on a credit card, most people would have put her down.
I never put two and two together and after my experience over the last couple days – all yellow in color. They thought she got into something toxic but have a very controlled environment and it’s impossible, it must have been something she was given to eat.
Yesterday my pug thrown up about ten times. At first it was pure dog food and of course it was the beneful healthy harvest. Towards the end it was purely frothy! Of course the vets are closed on sundays. I was thinking of bringing him to the vet today although he is not throwing up anymore, but I’m thinking now after reading the reviews on beneful I will just switch his dog food to something for sensitive stomachs.
My dog began with diarrhea & excessive urination. The vet said she had a liver disease. I said could it be the food (Beneful) causing it. She said she doubted it was food related at all. She called for tons of tests and ultrasounds, basically, just milking me for every penny she could. I did my own research on-line & discovered it was indeed probably the food I was feeding my dog. I was one of the lucky ones and my dog is now a perfectly healthy 11 year old. Buying those cheap brand pet foods will surely make your pet very ill if not dead… and the vet bills… not worth it! Just pay a a couple bucks more and go natural/ holistic. YOu’ll have a happy & healthy pet for sure!
This is too much.
My 2 1/2 year old German shepherd/Doberman also became very ill after only 1 or 2 servings of Beneful. The same as above, bloddy stool, ruined carpet etc. She stopped eating it after a day, after 2 days I went back to Pedigree. Although the bloody diareah continued for 5 days total!@#$%
Not knowing the cause of all this I assumed she had eaten a dead bird or something at the park we go every day, so i just gave the bag of Beneful to my sister for her small breed 8 year old dog. It almost died with all the same symptoms, just awful. She just spent over $500 at the vet!
I’m so sad to hear about all the dogs who have passed because of this food. We too gave our German Shepherd, Hans, this food. After only having him 1 1/2 years, he became very ill. He was diagnosed with “SARDS” – its a sudden blindness. Not much is known about the disease, but cushings usually is related to the disease. With just that disease we were told that he would be able to live a normal life, but he then developed kidney and liver failure. His life was so miserable, and he was in so much constant pain that we made a hard decision to put him down November 2009. We’ve suspected that the food may have played a part in his health, but hearing everyone elses story, I’m almost positive thats what it could have been. He was a healthy, happy boy before we fed him that food… This food should be pulled off the market!
I’ve been feeding my yorkie Beneful for about 10 months now. Recently he has been having diarrhea. He is not larthargic and is still drinking and eating. I took him to the vet and they tested him for everything and couldn’t figure it out. They said it may be a bacteria problem and gave him some medicine. After the medicine ran out, the diarrhea continued. Now after reading these comments I am conviced it is his dog food. I’m switching to a better quality food!
For financial reasons I switched from Orijin to Beneful. I saw Beneful as half way between good quality Orijin and bad quality store brands. Within days my dog started lapping himself terribly. Both sides of his body and all four legs would be covered in his saliva. Vet said it was dry skin. Stopped the Beneful and he went back to normal.
My boyfriend and I just started feeding our 9 month old beagle beneful because we thought it looked healthier for him. Since we started feeding him it about 2 months ago, he’s been throwing up giant piles that look exactly like the food, having accidents in the house which is not like him, and as of yesterday has been having seizures!! We threw all of it out and are going back to Kibbles ‘n Bits asap. I called our vet and she wants to see him immediately. After seeing all of these similar stories, I am livid!!
we have 2 pug mixes ones for sure a pug/beagle and the other is a pug/? . Anyway we have been feeding our dogs a mix of wet and dry Beneful everyday since we got them over 3 years ago and have never had a problem. Recently our dogs got sick and threw up every time they ate, then would not even eat at all so i looked in the bag of dry Beneful and saw webs. i think they were worms in webs on the kibbel so my girlfriend called the next day and they said “oh we know what they are we’ll send you some free coupons just throw that bag out”. i still have a kibbel with a worm on it in case some problems arise. Our dogs have been fine and heathly, but i think after reading what some of you have wrote we should think of changing our dogs food brand.
I lost my Sheltie last year (Late Spring 2010) after feeding my two dogs Beneful. She suffered for a month. Her gums turned white and she developed pleural and abdominal effusion. My other dog had controlled epilepsy – that became uncontrolled. They both started to refuse food. I have since switched my Beagle to a no corn, no wheat product (Canidae). She also did well with California Natural, Nutro, and several other products. Since switching her to a no-corn, no-wheat product, her epilepsy has improved, to the point where I am slowly reducing her medication. She takes potassium bromide and the blood tests showed better absorbtion of the medicine (higher levels) after switching her food. She takes half of what she did and has no seizures. I no longer us any Purina product for my dogs, I rescued a elderly brother & sister English Cocker Spaniel pair from SPCA since then to keep the Beagle company.
I am so happy I found this site. I have used Beneful off and on for the last 3 years. Three of my 4 dogs have leg tremors. One is having skin conditions and one has a bunch of lymphoma type lumps all over his body. I have them on Science Diet now but will check out Before Grain and Blue Buffalo.
Thank you to all the contributors.
Sharon
WAKE UP PURINA! – Out of every single review, I haven’t seen a single good one.
I just switched to Before Grain, a 5 star dog food. I’ve been feeding my dog Beneful since he was a puppy… It’s attractive to the human eye, yet so very unhealthy for our 4 legged friends.
It just rings a bell. My australian shepherd has been on Beneful since he was a puppy… he’s 1.5 years old now. He’s pretty skinny, and grazes on his food. Last week when I first came across all of these poor reviews on Beneful, I did some research and went out and bought a 5 star enthusiastically recommended brand of dog food. (Before Grain.) He’s never been one to eat a whole bag of food within one sitting, as he eats 2 cups throughout the day when he wants. However, once I switched him to Before Grain, he ate a whole bowl of Beneful/Before Grain mixed together.
Once he’s transitioned off of Beneful, his almost new/full bag of Beneful is going to the dump. I’d rather spend the extra few dollars on GOOD dog food, then hundreds at the vet and most importantly risk my baby’s life. No way.
Check out Before Grain, it’s a little pricey, but it’s 96% meat, and has not a single questionable or controversial ingredient.
My 16 month old Jack Russell has been eating Beneful ever since she could eat solid food. Today she was playing like crazy with my grandmothers 4 year old Jack Russell. 3 hours after the other Russell left my poor puppy experienced a seizure. It was the scaryiest moment of my life. I rushed her to the vet and they did blood work on her. The results came back with no problems but they were encouraging me to switch to a different food.
Now I’m stuck with a 16kg bag of Beneful, unopened, and unable to bring it back to the store since I don’t have the reciept anymore.
Any pet food that lists corn as its first ingredient is cr*p as far as I’m concerned. Read a little further down and they add SUGAR! More cr*p and if you’re feeding it to your pets no wonder they are sick. My husband was feeding his/our Chihuahua Beneful prior to when I met him. Along with being overweight the dog had numerous fatty deposits on his chest which went away almost immediately after I insisted that he change to a more premium food. I don’t recommend Beneful and my philosophy is to NEVER buy pet food in a store where I can’t take my pet. Shop around and read reviews. Pay attention to the company’s status. So many of the formerly good premium companies are being bought by larger companies like Proctor and Gamble and the quality suffers. It’s a lot to keep track of but isn’t your pet’s health worth it?
I feed my dog blue buffalo and I haven’t had any problems as of yet its only been 4 months and it has taken me nearly 4 years to find the right food for my dogs , I hate biproducts and unneeded ingredints , so it took me a while to find the perfect food and I think I finally have
I also expereinced the same problem with Beneful Original. I have two Alaskan Malamutes. My 9yr old male had vomiting, diarrhea, and a fever which required injections from the vet. My 4 yr old female chose not to eat the food for 10 days, lost 8 pounds, had injections from the vet as well as blood work to figure out why she was not eating. The female stopped eating first & it wasnt until the male got sick that we thought maybe it was the food. After reading other comments about Beneful there is no doubt in my mind it was the food & they have had there last bowl of Beneful.
I have a 4 year old small mix breed who does shed. I started him on Beneful dry 2-3 weeks ago and now he sheds and scratches like NEVER before. The rest of the bag WILL go into the garbage. Also, he eats twice as much of this as did the other stuff but hasn’t gained weight. No extra exercise has been added.
We lost our dog about a month ago. My son had changed dog food to Beneful and believe it was from Walmart also. Our small dog mid age became ill after the food change to Beneful. She started throwing up and not eating. First visit to Vet she was given stomach meds that cleared it up for a week. She again became ill not knowing that the Beneful Dog Food was cause as former dog food caused no problems. Vet felt that she may have eaten something toxic as her diagnosis was fatal. She was put to sleep. Vet related diagnosis to the Addison Disease. I will report to Vet the online testimonals that are very similar to all information read related to other dog owners.
I have been meaning to search the Beneful Dog Food Effects and have found the responses to be same as our dog experienced. It has been very hard for us in putting our dog to sleep. STAY AWAY FROM BENEFUL IF YOU DO NOT WANT TO LOSE YOUR PET.
I just buried my dog last week. She got really sick with all the symptoms stated in the other posts. I’m a new dog owner and this puppy was one that I rescued from the cold. She had been eating Beneful for over 2 months. I decided to buy a big bag from Walmart and a few days after eating from this bag she became sick. All of my dog owner friends said she had Parvo. She didn’t make it to the vet in time. Now after reading these posts I’m not sure if the dog food killed my little Roxie. It saddens me to know that my lack of knowledge about this food could have contributed to her death. It was the brand used by my friend so I thought it was safe.
I have been feeding my dogs Beneful for years. Recently I opened a new bag & 3 out of my 5 dogs got ill. One had a seizure; a perfectly healthy dog. We took the dogs to the vet & they couldn’t determine what was wrong. A few days ago one of my dogs refused to eat his food. He didn’t eat for 2 days so I switched foods. He had no problem with the new food. I highly suspect a tainted bag of Beneful was the cause of the illnesses & my dog’s seizure. I WILL NEVER BUY THIS FOOD AGAIN!!
I had recently decided to find a better quality and better tasting dog food for my Bostons. So I set out to the store in hopes of finding a good dog food at a reasonable price. I came across Beneful Healthy Weight which from reading the bag sounded like a great dog food for my babies. And it was also a pretty good price for such a big bag. So I bought a 40 lb. bag and took it home to test it out. Well, my dog’s absolutely loved it. They ate it like it was the best thing ever. So I decided to permanently switch them to it. We feed all our small puppies Purina Puppy Chow but was out one day and decided to feed our healthy fat little 10 week old Boston the Beneful. She ate it for about 4-5 days and then started having severe bloody diarrhea. Before she had ate the food she had perfect firm stool. The diarrhea smelled awful and the first thing we thought was “oh no, it’s gotta be parvo”. So we took her to the vet and it wasn’t parvo and they thought maybe she had ate something that upset her tummy. So when we got her home we started her back on her normal Purina Puppy Chow and two days later she had perfect firm stool again. At the time we thought nothing of it and just figured maybe she had a sensitive stomach or had ate some fuzz or something off one of her toys that may have made her sick. In the meantime we had kept feeding our other dogs Beneful Healthy Weight. Now our dogs have been on this food for about 3 weeks as of today 2/28/11. Most of our dogs had had diarrhea for the first few days after switching but we thought it was just the change in food and that it was nothing to worry about. Now about 4 days ago yet another one of our fat healthy Bostons is very sick. She is 4 months old and has been going through very bad episodes of throwing up, loss of appetite and is very lethargic. She throws up this clear foamy liquid and doesn’t want to eat at all. She looks like skin and bones and this has all happened within 4 days! All she does is drink water and go lay down. She used to be a very hyper playful dog but since she’s been eating the Beneful Healthy Weight she’s been so sick that she can’t do anything. I have read the previous complaints on this food and I WILL NOT be buying Beneful ever again for my dogs. With all the issues related to this food it should be taken off the shelves. It is clearly making dogs very sick and in some cases possibly causing death! Consumers need to be made aware of the dangers of feeding their dogs Beneful.
oh Gosh! my little Jasmin has been vomiting now for 16 hours. I am scared to death. She’s my baby. I fed her this beniful crap. What have I done!? I feel awful.
I have had a similar incident with my 9 year old Jack Russell. He’s eaten beneful for a few years and been fine with it. We just opened a new bag from the grocery store and he’s been vomiting blood and having bloody stools. I’m throwing out the bag and switching foods!
I just switched to Beneful two weeks ago. Last week, all five of my dogs got diarreha and had some vomiting. I took them all to my vet. They all had blood tests. all had aggrivated, bloody colons. All were given IV fluids for dehydration and all put on a heavy duty antibiotics for 5 days. This cost me over $800. My vet said this was most likely casued by contaminated Beneful and that I should never feed it to my dogs ever again. I am now feeding Science Diet. Just litttle bits since they are not at 100% health yet! I wish I could prove this bad dog food and sue Beneful for my $800 back. PLEASE DON’T EVER BUY THIS FOOD.
Sorry about your experience with Beneful, but I would be careful with Science Diet as well. It’s got a lot of chemical additives and not the best ingredients. Vets sell it because they get kickback deals from the makers and people buy it because they think if the vet recommends it, it must be good….
My 7 year old pompoo just went through these issues. He used to be on Pedigree, but we thought we would try something healthier as he ages. We thought Beneful looked good with all the veggies,etc. and within a month or so after we just got him home because he was diagnosed with HGE. He had bloody vomit and diarrhea and was very dehydrated and lethargic. It costs us a lot of money; we have ruined carpet, etc. This was a new bag of beneful also that will be going in the trash. I’m so glad I saw this website. I will definitely be writing a letter to Beneful. I don’t understand how this can still be on the market. I would like to know if any suits have went up against them too.
My airedale was vomiting and having bloody diareah after 2 days of a new bag of Beneful. Vet said he had heard some negative things about it. Any class actions suits pending????
My 11 yr old Airedale just received treatment for vomiting, bloody diarreah, and lethargy and we realized we had just opened a new bag of Beneful dog food. Although she has had no problems in the past w/ it, after reading these reviews, the new bag’s being thrown out and I’m back to the more expensive Nutros dog food. Stay away from Beneful. I only hope Purina dares contacting me, but they won’t and those chicken-shits will disallow any knowledge of their deadly product.
Well, crap. Not too many positive things to say. I fed my dog IAMs in the red bag the first few years of his life, but have been buying Beneful Original almost 2 years now as it is a bit cheaper, but better than the Ol Roy junk. Better look at making some food I guess. This tainted pet food is inexcusable.
My little papillion Sammie was given ONE serving of Beneful Puppy chicken and rice dog food Saturday Morning(1-2-11) over the next 3 days she became ill and not herself. Today I came home to find my companion laying on the ground alert but unable to move, weak and limp I took her to Animal Hospital she lost control of her body functions and with in a half hour she was bleeding from her mouth and nose at that moment I had to put her down my family and I are investigating and planning on filing a law suit I would advise everyone with dog problems from Beneful and ALL Purina dog foods to do the same.
Even worse these dog food problems have been happening since 2006! Google it, I cant even count all the websites and comments about this issue. 4/5 years later and helpless animals are still dying and becoming ill from Purina and Beneful dog food, why hasnt this been resolved or have the company shut down??
WOW, thats the same thing that happend to my Lillie (yorkie). I came home late one afternoon to this black tary bloody poop everywhere, could believe I look over to Lillie she just layed there looking blood dripping from her nose her mouth was pretty bloody also. I rush her to the local ER, who totally took my vernabilty and ran with it $1300.00, worth of test to tell me she had a blood disorder. I leave there go to my regular vet he keeps her all day reads exrays tells me no blood disorder she has a tumor in her liver she not going to make it. We had to put her down hardest thing I have ever had to do. Yesterday I come home black tary poop with a little blood, Great here we go again. It has to be the dog food I wish I would have read this earlier, Hopefully I can trash this early enough for Conner to get better and not end up like Lillie. Someone should close these people down, shame on them!!!!
My healthy, happy, active 5 year old mini poodle died 3.5 days after
eating Purina Beneful with soy.
I contacted Purina, they asked for a sample, I sent one, they never
responded.
I tried to get the dog food tested but could find no one to test it.
After eating Beneful for years, my healthy dog developed Cushing’s Disease, which is an endocrine disease. Once I learned about Cushing’s Disease, I began to strongly suspect Beneful played a part in her decline.
I would NEVER recommend Beneful and have lost faith in Purina products altogether after closely examining the ingredients in Beneful. I pay more for my dog’s food now since she is no longer eating Beneful, but it is still much cheaper than the thousands of dollars I spent on vet bills.
I met my husband over 3 years ago, he has a boston terrier that he began to feed Beneful around the same time we met. The very socially outgoing dog became nervous, and would hide panting and shaking when around even just a few people. Lightning and thunder also became a problem, and any kind of flashing lights that never bothered her suddenly did. My husband and I thought maybe I changed her somehow since they had been buddies for several years before I came along. She began to have skin irritations, so we went to PetSmart and they suggested Natural Choice for her skin. About a month after we changed her food, we noticed that she wasnt scared during a thunder storm… and other back to normal behaviors started adding up. She was back to being social party dog again. We are upset to think that her food caused this and wished that we would have changed it sooner. I mentioned it to a coworker that said she had a very similar issue with her Jack Russel and Beneful.
I switched to natures varieties grain free afteracre using print because my dog had a seizure and after reading up on it I found that a better food would help. So I switched and no more problems, then in a moment of desperation I was broke and had to use beneful for a couple days and next day a seizure hum?? Well I learned never again. And for the money on better food you feed a lot less. Beneful is full of Crap that has been taken out of cat food due to issues but it is still in dog food. Switch right away and throw that Crap out. Funny how its always the stuff from Wal-Mart. Strange coincidence I don’t think so. I think they get crappy older food. Try natures variety…u will be glad u did. Even vet said that stuff should be off the market and that ole Roy is better
than that. How sad. Keep ur pet healthy folks…
I also fed my two dogs Beneful for years. In July and August of this year they both developed severe stomach illness (both dogs are 13 years old-throwing up, diarhea, bloody stools and at the end of this ordeal severe frothing from the mouth). I could not figure out what it was and didn’t even think it was the food since i had always given it to them. One dog would get better then the other one would get sick. My vet didn’t catch on either. This went on for about a month till one of my dogs got deathly ill right before we were to move from Hawai’i to the East Coast. I stopped feeding them the dog food and they got better just in time for our long plan ride. Thank God we figured it out. I will never ever feed them that dog food again. It was such a nightmare!!
I had the same experience!! My dog’s almost died. They vomited and had bloody stools. It was horrible. One of my dogs almost died and had to be hospitalized. My vet did’t put it together either. Sadly, I didn’t figure it out until my friend’s dog died today….after she switched to Beneful last week. She had all the same symptoms. My roomate’s dog also died about 4 months ago with the same symptoms after eating Beneful. All of us purchased the food at Walmart.
May 18, 2011 we had to put our beloved 10 year old husky Zena down. We found out only the day before that she had lymphoma. At first we were told possibly 3 months but it was hard to say. Over the next few hours her condition worsened and by 1:00 am the next morning we knew the only humane thing to do was put our girl out of her misery. She was gasping for air and when she tried to stand she was like a new born calf struggling to take those first steps. She had been eating Beneful for most of her adult life and most recently the newest member of our home; Max, now 2 year old shelty is also eating it; or was. The following Saturday a friend told me we were the fourth family in 6 months to put a beloved pet down due to being fed Beneful and 3 of them had lymphoma. Another friend told me that she has heard from professionals that the only true ingredients in any dog food are the first five and the rest are just additives and whatever else they choose to put in. I am sorry for your loss and I hope that Purina wakes up, pulls Beneful off the shelves long enough to do a study and if there is a correlation get it gone for good. To them dogs may just be pets but to you and I and so many they are so more than that; they are family and they gave us un-conditional love. We miss our girl so much.
I started feeding my 2 dogs (Jack Russell & Italian Greyhound)beneful about 6 months ago. Since I changed their food, my jack russell has developed a skin rash and my IG had a horrible seizure last night. I am immediatly taking them off of Beneful. I cannot prove that these issues are from the dog food, but I can say that my dogs have been in fantastic health BEFORE I put them on Beneful.
My dog developed seizures suddenly in 2007 while we were feeding him Beneful. He was prescribed phenobarbital but seizures continued on a monthly basis (at best) or more frequently.
In 2009, the frequency increased to every week so I thought he might have a brain tumor. Someone recommended I change dog foods because of reports that Beneful was harmful. I was unaware of issues with this dog food beforehand, and immediately switched to an expensive, high quality food Wellness Super 5 mix. Since then, his seizures went away completely.
I fed my dog chanel for all her life beneful and had no problems. This
past year in April, 09, she became very ill, and was to the vet weekly, and she had bloody stools, lethargic, not able to control her urine, glossy eyes, and many other symptoms. They did so many tests, and found
nothing??? It cost me over 1500. and I ended up putting her to sleep.
I am now reading that there may have been some problem with the dog food. So although I cannot prove it, I think there may be a link to some
sort of problem with the batch I gave her. Please be aware of this. I
now will report it to Purina, and add my dog to their list of problems.
I too, purchased a large bag of Beneful for my dog, Fred, as I have done for the past 2-3 years. Once I began feeding him from this bag, he would not eat. At first I assumed it was the heat, but it’s been nearly a week and he still refuses this food. I went out tonight and purchased another kind of food, and he dove right into it. Maybe some dogs can sense that a food is bad.
I read your expereince of the Beneful dog food you gave your dog and sad to hear she died. My dog died last night and she was a healthy dog no health problems until I to fed her Beneful dog food. After a feeding She became weak, sluggished her eyes were glazed she wouldn’t eat or drink any water she had white gums and tongue she had lack of control of bodily functions. I bought the Beneful dog food at Wal Mart because of the advertisements I thought this product was good to try. Iam taking this action to the FDA, consumer affairs and the Wal Mart claims Dept.
I just spent over $500 in Er & regular vet bills on my daughters Chihuahua. It is all digestive related, he started vomiting (worst smell I have smelled in my life) then went limp and had glazed eyes. He got a shot for nausea & one for dehydration on medi for his liver for a week and antibiotic’s for a week plus a RX digestive health dog food. Diagnosed with liver infection and pancreatitus. He has ALWAYS been a very healthy dog (only 3 yrs old). Both ER & his regular vet said he must have gotten into something. He is an indoor dog that goes outside only on lead and is closely monitored. There is NOTHING he could have gotten in to. All doors are kept closed and trash cans in pantry & closed off bathroom. I am wondering if it is the Purina Beef Beneful I bought almost 2 weeks ago also from Wal Mart. I honestly thought that he was gonna die last night. I am now scared to death to ever feed him that dog food again. He WILL be switched.
The same thing happened to my four rat terriers in September of 2010 about a week after I switched to Beneful Dog Food also purchased at Walmart. My dogs had the same symptoms and one dog ended up in the hospital. My vet said she had never seen such a sick dog. In addition, my best friends dog just died after one week of Beneful Dog food with the same symptoms. My roommates dog died four months ago after eating Beneful Dog food. Both my friends also purchased their food at Walmart. My dogs will never eat it again. I have gone to an expensive but safe dog food.
The exact same thing has happened to my dog. She is at the vet’s now and they are giving her medicine to help. I’m so sorry for your loss. Thank you for helping others know what is going on. Did you find out any other information? Was it the dog food?
I fed my dog a half a container of beneful beef entree and that night her skin was all red and thinking she had a skin reaction to something I bathed her, and found huge red marks that looked like bruises all over her. It looked like someone had beat her. I took her to the vet and they gave her some antihistamines and antiinflammatories. Next day she was ok. She just ate her regular dog food that day bc I forgot about the beneful in the fridge. The 3rd day I remembered and fed her some beneful- again, that night she was very pink and covered in dark red bruise looking marks. I was scared it was internal bleeding especially the ones on her chest were so bright reddish purple and scary looking. Rushed her to the vet again. Finally realized it could be the beneful. Took her off it and now she is fine. This was just this week by the way.