Greenies dog treats can kill your dog.
 

I thought about posting this in Spooky news, but it's not spooky so here it is.




I don't know about you guys, but I'm not taking the risk just for treats. I threw out all the greenies we had left.

Link to story: http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/02/14/dangerous.dogtreat/


KANSAS CITY, Missouri (CNN) -- At least 13 dogs have died after being fed the top-selling pet treat in the country, owners and veterinarians have told CNN.

The problem comes because the treats, called Greenies, become lodged in a dog's esophagus or intestine and then some veterinarians say they don't break down.

"I know they are marketed in saying that they do digest. Certainly the ones that we've taken out, esophageal or intestinal, that have been in for days are still very hard," Brendan McKiernan, a board-certified veterinary internal medicine specialist from Denver, Colorado, told CNN. (Watch a vet retrieve a two-day old, undigested Greenie from a dog -- 7:40)

Greenies recommends owners check that the treats are chewed and Joe Roetheli - who launched the brand as a treat that can freshen a dog's breath and clean its teeth - said it was important to pick the correct chew for a particular dog. There are 7 different sizes to choose from depending on the size of the dog.

But most of the dog owners CNN talked to say they did follow package instructions and they still had a problem.

Mike Eastwood and his wife, Jenny Reiff, recently filed a $5 million lawsuit in New York, blaming Greenies for the intestinal blockage that caused the death of their dog Burt.

"I'm mad that their packaging states that the product is 100 percent edible, highly digestible and veterinarian approved, yet our dog died of it," Eastwood told CNN.

S&M NuTec, which manufactures the toothbrush-shaped chew, won't comment on the case but in court papers denied the allegations.

Roetheli said the focus should be on the dental benefits and Greenies are saving dogs' lives by lowering the risk of periodontal disease.

He says feeding Greenies is far safer than putting a dog under anesthesia to clean teeth.

"Dogs really love the product!" he said. "They do a very effective job of cleaning teeth and freshening breath."

Any suggestion that Greenies are defective was rejected by Roetheli, who developed Greenies with his wife, Judy.

"Our product is safe. It is used every day by thousands of dogs, millions a week and it is basically a very safe product."

A CNN investigation uncovered 40 cases since 2003 where a veterinarian had to extract a Greenie from a dog after the treat became lodged either in the animal's esophagus or intestine. In 13 of those cases, the pet died.

One of those was Tyson, Josh Glass and Leah Falls' 8-month-old boxer, who was taken to Brent-Air Animal Hospital in Los Angeles, California, where vet Dr. Kevin Schlanger found the animal had a blocked intestine.

"It was very clear that it was something dense and firm that had caused the obstruction," Schlanger said. He removed a Greenie from the intestine.

McKiernan's says his Denver clinic has seen at least seven cases in the past five years, which he says is an unusually high number. That prompted him to start researching and writing a paper to warn other veterinarians of the problem.

He says his research, which he hopes to get published in a veterinary journal, shows compressed vegetable chew treats, of which Greenies is the most popular, are now the third biggest cause of esophageal obstruction in dogs behind bones and fish hooks.

The federal Food and Drug Administration says it's looking into eight consumer complaints about Greenies but has no formal investigation.

The issue has also been the topic of news reports across the country.

The chews are made of digestible products like wheat gluten and fiber, experts say, but the molding process makes the treat very firm and hard.

Roetheli, who runs S&M NuTec from Kansas City, Missouri, says Greenies do break down when properly chewed and swallowed by a dog.

He told CNN that any product has the potential to cause an obstruction in a dog and that Greenies packaging warns dog owners to monitor their dog to ensure the treat is adequately chewed. "Gulping any item can be harmful or even fatal to a dog," the package says.

The company's Web site addresses the issue in its FAQ section with the question "When giving an animal Greenies, does it affect their digestive system?" The answer "The only time dogs would be unable to digest anything would be if they didn't chew it up before they swallowed it. Canine and Feline Greenies are highly digestible when chewed."

The company says the number of complaints it has received is very low in relation to the vast numbers of treats sold, and CNN spoke with several vets who recommended Greenies.

Introduced in 1998, we found Greenies now selling for about $16 a pound. Last year, 325 million individual treats were sold around the world, nearly three times the sales of its nearest competitor Milk Bone, according to the marketing company Euromonitor International.

"At the end of the day ... literally millions of Greenies are enjoyed by dogs on a weekly basis with absolutely no incidents," company vet Brad Quest told CNN.

Hm....I had never heard of those treats before. If I wanted to clean my dogs teeth teh vet usually has dental special going on or they sell doggie toothpaste that you brush their teeth with. I'd rather do that than those "Greenie" treats.

I worked at a kennel that sold those for dogs.

Wonder if they're still selling/promoting them?

That's so sad... I'd bawl my eyes out if one of my doggies died. I've never heard of those treats before, but my dogs tend to completely ignore any kind of treat that's supposed to be healthy OR clean their teeth besides carrots. My dogs like carrots.

They're still for sale everywhere that I've seen. I don't think many people care since it's only a small number of dead dogs so far, and the company would lose a shit load of money if they stopped selling/promoting. It's sad when money is more important then a life.

I agree that is wrong.

Along the same lines I was talking to a coworker and she related an equally sad story. She had a puppy and the vet gave her an option to a heartworm shot that lasts 6 months instead of the normal heartworm pill. She tried and one day she came home and noticed the dog was not moving. She nudged her to see if she was ok and the dog was dead. The worst part was this was her son's dog and having to explain to him when he got home why "Daisy" wasn't there.

A couple months later on the news at heartworm shot had a recall because dogs were dying.

Stuff like that makes me angry and cry. I hope that Greenies treat gets recalled soon.

This kind of anthropomorphic marketing truly pisses me off: "Buy Greenies! They will make your dog's breath less offensive! Her teeth will be shiny and clean!"

The fact that animals are suffering and dying (however few) because of this makes me want to puke.

Most dogs and cats have the stank-bref because they eat food containing low-grade meat (i.e., the sweepings off the slaughterhouse floor and WORSE), grains, and numerous chemical additives. Most commercial animal food lacks the necessary consistency required to remove tartar from the teeth (which can lead to periodontal disease); which is largely responsible for the odor. That, and those horrible dog farts.

If you want your dog's breath to be less stinky, feed her a high-quality, human-grade meat protein diet, brush her teeth on a regular basis, and give her a big old RAW bone to gnaw on once in a while. NEVER give any pet a cooked or frozen bone; they shatter easily, and can perforate the esophagus, stomach, or intestines. If your pet is older, or has a compromised immune system, even raw bones might be too difficult for their digestion. Always consult your vet.

And even if your pet has bad breath, is it the end of the world? I don't think so.

I guess I have a big problem with people who seek to modify their pets because they are animals, and therefore property: declawing, ear cropping, and tail docking* are all done for style or convenience of the owners, with no benefit to the animals subjected to such operations.

This seems to be an extrapolation of this attitude. What's next? Braces for bulldogs? Tooth whitening for elderly cats?

Spare me. I love my angels, even when they need a mint.


* Tail docking is necessary in certain breeds of dogs, such as the Old English Sheepdog; they get maggot-infested mats in that area. Tres ick.

My dad and stepmothers idea of a treat for their dog, a Jack Russell named Scrappy, is those Minnie chocolates. In that house they don’t seem to get that that staff is bad for then. Especially when your feeding him a stedy diet of sausages every day. I don’t know how the dogs still alive let alone happy and healthy.
That however I just put down to simple stupidity on the part on members of my family, which is bad enoth as it is. Its still neglect even if Scrappy is well loved and for the time being ok.
The fuckers who make Greenies thought, can’t think what their excuse they have to sell doggie poison to beloved pets.

I have been told that those regular no-label bones can be bad, too, if they are gulped or swallowed whole. If you put it in a bowl of water, they expand and don't break down, so that's what happens in your dog's tummy. I used to give my dog pig's ears, because they were thinner and smaller.

its begun. I'd Hide.

http://www.thekidswindow.co.uk/image...ts/RAU0002.jpg

yes

I buy nutrience breath freshening biscuits with those nubby things on them, are those bad too?

I am trying to train my dog to be a ravenous carnivore. He is a far too fluffy and pampered cocker spaniel who frightens absolutely nobody. For his own sake, I want him to at least be able to defend himself from the ferocity of a 6 month old kitten. Nope. No more greenies for my dog.

Aw ^^ Your dog sounds adorable.

thats ok, my mom's friend has a german shepherd and it is scared of my cat

My boxer is a major pussy as well.

I am so glad I dont have any of those treats! I would die if my baby, Benji had that happen to him. Luckily, I have always worried about those hard treats choking him, because he doesnt like to chew his treats. I swear he doesnt even taste them. So I give him Beggin strips or Snausages, because they are soft. They smell horrible though. He loves them.

I wonder what Greenies taste like...

My brother and I sat on the couch watching Star Wars and ate milkbones once :p

As soon as I read that, I thought of Clorets, which was (is?) an "adult" gum I remember from my childhood. It was supposed to eradicate coffee/garlic/booze breath, and the package trumpeted that it was made "With Chlorophyll!"

I Googled the Greenies ingredient list, and sure enough, chlorophyll (a plant derivative) is in there. I tried a piece of Clorets when I was ten or eleven, and to a kid raised on Juicy Fruit and Bubble Yum (hello cavities), it tasted like homemade shit.

Of course, there's a lot of other stuff in Greenies as well, and most dogs don't have a discerning palate.

My mother ate dog biscuits when she was a youngster...until her mom told her they made them out of horses.

Thanks for researching that for me. They sound pretty disgusting.

Ok, I wonder what Milkbones taste like?

Excuse me while I go to Petco...

I give Jake, Tbonez. He loves those bitches, but they have zero nutritional value, and they smell pretty good. *has biscuit breath*






I kid.

You see... No one looks at the fact you shouldnt give a dog anything unsupervised anyways.
even dog food thats too big of pieces can lodge in a Hoovering dog throat.
Or tennis balls, in the hands *Err Mouths* of Some dogs with strong jaws can become lodged in throats or even clog up the poor pooches digestive tracks....
There's very few toys, Like Kong, which will Specifically Make note that you can leave it with a chewwy doggy.
It's Reallly unfortunate that there are any dogs due to this. But proper supervision with such things could prevent that sort of thing.
My dog is still gonna get greenies.... she loves em and I love em *Cuz her breathe is Horrid without em :P*