BLUE DOG FOOD WHAT CUSTOMER REVIEW AND EXPERIENCE
Customer reviews of Blue Buffalo dog food formulas are mostly positive but some people are concerned with a past voluntary recall that the company had. For some customers this made Blue Buffalo an even better company in their opinion, since it proved that Blue Buffalo puts the health of their dogs before profit. Many dog owners like that Blue Buffalo contains high quality ingredients, and no corn, wheat or soy. People also seem to appreciate the vast array of dog foods that Blue Buffalo manufactures, so that they can find a food that meets their dog’s specific needs. Most dogs seem to be able to make a gradual switch to Blue Buffalo dog food formulas without any significant digestive problems. However, some dogs with sensitive digestive systems seem to experience diarrhea when switched to Blue Buffalo dog food.
- norawant to know why moths suddenly appear in my home after i open the bag of your dog food? and it is only after i buy and open the food, little white moths, have even seen them come out of the bag.
- sharon fochtjust got a whetin terrier 3 yrs old who was on a taste of the wild and no problems. they did not sell her food where i live and recommended bufflo blue grain free to be comparable. so i purchased and started mixing with the others. had no problems except excessive thirst. she was on this for 4 days and now for 2 days will not eat or drink except grass. she went from a healthy energentic dog to one that just lays around with lowd stomach gurgling noises and bloody stools. taking her to the vet today. after reading the symptoms of other pet owners that had their dog on blue buffalo, i took back to the store. when i can get her eating again, i will put her on FROMM a family owned company out of wisconsin that have never had a recall on their food.
- JudyBeware of canned Blue Buffalo Freedom Small Breed. Large, sharp bone fragments made our dog extremely ill. If we hadn’t figured it out, he might not have survived.
About 1 teaspoon was strained out of 1/4 can of this food. Now in the possession of our vet for analysis, as some of it clearly does not even look like bone. You can check the food by placing some in a wire mesh strainer and running hot water over it. What is left are the fragments. I have an entire case and every can I have opened has the same content. - JasonMy senior border collie mix dog had recurring diarrhea until I switched him the Blue Buffalo Wilderness Senior blend. After I started feeding him Blue Buffalo, his diarrhea went away. Maybe it was just a coincidence, but over a year has passed without any diarrhea, so it certainly seems like switching him to BB did the trick.
We got a new border collie puppy a few months ago and we started him on BB Wilderness Puppy blend. He seems to be doing great on it. He loves the food, has great stools, and the vet said he seems to be growing at just the right pace. So, no complaints from me. - MarieOverpriced!! My dogs hated it.There appetite decreased. lost weight and my german shepard had diarrhea on it. wouldnt recomend it to anyone. weaned my dogs slowly and kept them on it for 3 months because it was so highly recommended. What a joke.
- SharonWe have fed our dogs Blue Buffalo Lamb and rice, since my oldest was around 2 (he is now almost 8). Never had any problems with their food till this past weekend. My youngest pup ( puggle) got very ill with diarrhea which contained mucous and blood (not just a drop). I thought it was something she ate. That was until my 4 year old pug got ill with the same thing. A few hours later, my oldest pug got the same thing. We ended up bringing our puggle to the the vet, as she was in the worst shape. They couldn’t figure it out, that was until later, when I had all 3 dogs with the same issue. I stopped giving them the food and 3 days later they are back to normal. They are now on a boiled beef and rice diet for the next week. I am hoping to find a new food to switch them to because I don’t want to risk this again. Be careful of this company! Something is changing and it’s not for the better!
- PaigeWow! I brought home a new Sheltie last week. I forgot to ask the breeder what she was feeding him( I think Instinct). I bought a small bag of Blue Buffalo and he is not that thrilled with it. Within a few days I noticed bloody mucous and diarrhea. I did not want to waste , so I mixed it with Earthborn Holistic.Now he is ALMOST back to normal. Still traces of blood. He goes to the vet. today. He is a year old , not a puppy. I should have purchased the Acana which is what I normally feed.I have 7 dogs. But this Sheltie has a cleft palate so I wanted the best for him and they sell it locally. This food is NOT the best. My other dogs were not fed this stuff.
- StacyHave you found a good food brand? we are having the same issue now and are looking for a new brand.
- reebWow, so many fake reviews left by trolls and competitors. Blue Buffalo is one of the best, yet there are comments talking about the most unreqlistic, horrid scenarios. If you’re going to lie at least make it believable.
- AnneI just want to make a comment about possible causes of cancer in pets. Consider the water that you feed your pets in addition to processed food sources. Our tap water has hormones and other drugs and impurities in it that cause cancer in humans as well as pets. I feed my dog natural spring water in an attempt to bypass those impurities. This may well be the cause of other ailments in your dog, so that is just something to consider for the health of your dogs and cats over and above the food.
- JennyBlue Buffalo Wilderness puppy food should be banned. It gave my poor pup explosive diarrhea. As soon as we switched his food it cleared up in one day. That stuff is horrible!!
- Alex JoaquinWe adopted 7wks.old female maltese.The breeder had them on Blue buffalo Freedom.Upon doing my personal researched,I switched my maltese puppy slowly to (4-5days of transition,like 2-3 table spoon) My puppy pickup her appetite without incident of gastrointestinal problem. I highly recommend Blue buffalo Wilderness dry puppy food to anyone. In fact most of my hospital-coworker loves it & recommended it to me. 5-star!!!
- LynneWho Makes Blue Buffalo?
“The company who makes Blue Buffalo dog food is called The Blue Buffalo Company. Blue Buffalo is currently headquartered in Wilton, Connecticut. The present CEO of Blue Buffalo is Bill Bishop.”
I believe this to be a false statement. I dont know what is wrong with these dog food companies claiming they have the best natural, organic, holistic whatever the word might be and charge outrageous prices for bags of this type of food which is being manufactured at companies that many, many types of dog food from Ol Roy(Walmart) to grocery store chains brand. These companies Diamond, Tuffy etfc… continue to have recalls and its pretty deceiving when YOU lead your customers on letting them believe it is made at your facility. - DebbieOur lab has been on BB Wilderness Salmon due to grain allergies since mid 2012. However, we routinely have to put him on prescription ID due to explosive diarrhea. He has a great coat and is otherwise healthy but last year he started peeing his bed. He is on meds for incontinence but none of his siblings have this problem. As we are slowly reintroducing BB again, we notice he is emptying the water bowl rapidly and of course really needs to pee more often too. I am thinking it’s he food…
- BrianaMy 14mo old border collie/ pit bull mix has been eating BB for about a year with no issues. Recently, however, she was vomiting alarming amount of yellow bile. About 6-8 times a day!
I gave it 3 days but ended up taking her to the vet, worrying about bloat or pancreatic issues. The vet found nothing after blood work and xrays except slightly high white blood cells and irritated intestines (Over $400 by the way, for almost no info!!!).
Now I’ve but her on a bland diet of boiled hamburger and rice/oatmeal, sweet potato and chicken broth. Whatever combination she will eat! I just got her to eat tonight for the first time in 5 days. It’s been so stressful and heart breaking to see her like this. She hasn’t vomited in 2 days but now has pretty bad diarrhea since she stopped vomiting.
I was trying so hard to figure out what could have caused it all! And after reading some of these other similar stories, I think my hunch is right. It must be a bad batch of the food. We had just bought a new bag the day before she started being so sick!
I’m going to attempt to return the bag to Petco tomorrow, which I’ve read they are very good about not having issues. I’m also going to be looking into making my own dog food; I’m tired of reading about dog food recalls and dog cancer from food products. BB was good while it lasted for us, but we’ll be making a change. I never want this to happen again. My dog is so sweet and I never want to see her like this, ever.- WendyWe have been feeding our boxer Blue for a few years with no problems. Due to allergies a vet (not our regular vet) suggested we switch him to salmon and potato this was November 2013. Our 93 lb boxer is currently down to 78 lbs. Soon after the switch he started losing weight, began to have very loose stool and began to drink excessively. He also began losing patches of hair. He was getting up every night several times just to drink water and urinate. He’s been to the vet three times but they could not find anything wrong with him! Kidneys tested fine, no diabetes, no cushings disease. We were told it was probably some type of cancer and his days were numbered. It’s been over a month since he has not had the Blue food. We are cautiously optimistic at this point because he is eating a little better and not drinking as much. We can only narrow it down to the food. Please do not buy this food.
- kimI have heard that blue buffalo has propylene glycol in it. It does not have to be listed as this was added before rendering. I know of at least two german shepherds that became ill after eating this product.My vet advised againt this product also.I now feed raw diet to my bulldog and wont go back to using any kibble ever again,after losing my beloved german shepherd to cancer, which I think was caused by the kibble.(not blue buffalo)
Who in their right mind would knowingly feed their pet antifreeze(propylene glycol).Their are excellent products out there, yes even kibble but educate your self before you unknowingly poison your pet.Check out origin acana kibble and pets4life, primal and tolden farms raw if you are not comfortable doing your own. Just remember that raw needs to also include bone for calcium. - Joan N.I have feed my dogs and cats Blue for many years with great results. I have also recommended Blue to all my clients. Last summer my 12-year-old Shih Tzu refused food, vomited and had horrific diarrhea for a week. The vet could find nothing wrong and he started eating after 8 days. In Dec. he stopped eating again and he wouldn’t use his rear leg. X-rays and blood work showed a slight elevation in white blood cells. Despite treatment he refused to eat for 4 weeks and his knee grew to the size of a softball we had to put him down.
Two weeks ago my 4-year-old Boston Terrier had to have a mass removed from his gum. Biopsy showed cancer. The only treatment is to remove 1/4 of his face. We will not do that to him and we plan on enjoying him as long as we have him. On Monday I had to take one of my cats to the vet. She is being treated for crystals in her bladder. The vet asked me what I was feeding my pets. When I told him Blue his response was this “Blue is now made in China it was sold to China last year and I would not use Blue for any animal”. Blue had been on recall for having toxic levels of vitamin D. Excess D can cause mineralization I wonder now about Baileys leg and his refusal to eat and also the crystals in the cats urine.
Years ago my dogs lived for 20 years, now all my pets die from cancer at a young age. I no longer feel I can trust the dog food industry so I now make my own dog food. After doing this for only 2 weeks I see a tremendous improvement in the appearance of my pets.- DaveBlue is made in the United States. They get their meat from United States, with exception of lamb. It is from New Zealand, which by the way have stricter standards than US. Your vet is grossly misinformed.
- Joan N.I have feed my dogs and cats Blue for many years with great results. I have also recommended Blue to all my clients. Last summer my 12-year-old Shih Tzu refused food, vomited and had horrific diarrhea for a week. The vet could find nothing wrong and he started eating after 8 days. In Dec. he stopped eating again and he wouldn’t use his rear leg. X-rays and blood work showed a slight elevation in white blood cells. Despite treatment he refused to eat for 4 weeks and his knee grew to the size of a softball we had to put him down.
Two weeks ago my 4-year-old Boston Terrier had to have a mass removed from his gum. Biopsy showed cancer. The only treatment is to remove 1/4 of his face. We will not do that to him and we plan on enjoying him as long as we have him. On Monday I had to take one of my cats to the vet. She is being treated for crystals in her bladder. The vet asked me what I was feeding my pets. When I told him Blue his response was this “Blue is now made in China it was sold to China last year and I would not use Blue for any animal”. Blue had been on recall for having toxic levels of vitamin D. Excess D can cause mineralization I wonder now about Baileys leg and his refusal to eat and also the crystals in the cats urine.
Years ago my dogs lived for 20 years, now all my pets die from cancer at a young age. I no longer feel I can trust the dog food industry so I now make my own dog food.- Mark MFake review
- MyrnaI have been feeding my dogs Buffalo Blue Small Breed which was purchased at Petco. They were on Purina Beyond for small breeds which they loved and when I ran out, my daughter bought the BB because a Petco Sales lady raved about it so much and was in her face until she bought it.
My dogs got sick on it! First it was my little Yorkie and she had diahrea and was sick everywhere. Then my DaxiChihuahu got the runs, then my mini pincher got it too. I gave them some steamed rice to help stabilize them and they were okay for a little bit, so I thought it was just the sudden change in diet from Purina to BB.
The following week it started all over again. They are all still having soft runny stools, and I’m really worried. The BB bag is all gone now (it was a small bag) and they’ve been eating it for weeks. After reading the bad reviews, I know there is something wrong with their dog food…it’s almost as if my dogs are going through some kind of food poisoning…vomiting and diahrea.
I’m not buying BB anymore and will go back to feeding my dogs healthy fresh food and make it myself. I think BB is lying about what is in their dog food!- Rob BonesFor all dog foods, switching to the new food gradually is recommended. It appears you went 100% with the new stuff immediately, which will cause this. I’ve seen mostly good reviews, with some poor ones similar to yours. Makes it hard to decipher the ratings and find a good dog food.
- Valerie MI am really glad I read this site! My 2 dogs both age 10, poodle and doxipoo, have been on blue buffalo homestyle recipe for 2 years without any problems. Starting in December their stools started getting less consistant. I tried just one flavor each for a week at a time and still getting worse. Finally, I took them off completely and just gave them cooked organic chicken thighs processed with the broth until they were better and went back to the dog food. Same thing happened. They were also vomiting a little, mainly in the morning. I switched to Wellness Simple Limited ingredients formulated for sensitivities and feeding the regular amount only splitting it into 3 feedings a day instead of a little in the morning and the rest at night. They are getting much better. No more mucus in the stools and no more vomiting. Something happened to the Blue Buffalo brand. They changed the recipe or added or removed something. I will not go back to any of their products, dry or canned.
- LisaOur 4 month old shi tzu has been on blue puppy food for about a month and was doing great. Recently we started a new bag and she started having diarhea. Same food just a new bag. I didn’t think it was the dog food since she had been doing fine for a month or so. I put her on chicken and rice and she started having normal poops. Three times I’ve tried to gradually get her back on the Blue by sprinkling in a little with her chicken and rice. Every time she gets diarhea again. I think there is something wrong with the new bag of food. I will be looking for a new brand of dog food.
- JustmejvWe have been feeding our dogs BB for several months and the moment we say “Time for PAPAH” they get so excited that one of our dogs drops her favorite toy and starts waggling her tail. All the dogs get so excited {we have 4 dogs}they seem healthier and their coats look healthy as well. We are very happy with choosing this brand. I would recommend BB for sure!!!
- Roy DonnToy Aussie, I have been fighting loose stool, bloody stool, mucous stool for months. All I have heard is how great Blue is. Well, let me tell you, I switched to Science diet 3 days ago and her stool has gradually looked better each day, today her stool was perfect, 4 days ago it was diarrhea and blood. She used to through up frequently also. Stop selling this poison.
- NancyHave used Blue Buffalo for years. I am not sure if I got a bad bag, or if something has changed but the last bag made all of my dogs very ill. Not sure of the cause, I had switched them over to a bland diet. The younger 2 to recovered on their own. The older two required a trip to the vet. The younger two got put back onto their kibble and within 4 days it started again.
Not to be too graphic, it has caused explosive diarrhea that is like water. The older ones actually started passing large amounts of blood. This initially started 5 days after starting a new bag, the second time it started 4 days after being put back on kibble.
This was the Blue Buffalo Chicken and Brown Rice small bites in the teal bag. I am curious if anyone else has had the same issues. - Eric WI was feeding my 8 year old boxer Purina Beneful…she like it, but the Blue Buffalo intrigued me so I gave it a try… HOLY COW…. in her 8 years she hasn’t never gotten more excited at feeding time…she absolutely loves this stuff… her hair is also noticeably softer…. she also goes #2 about half as she used to…. so the Blue Buffalo claim about fillers is TRUE…. will never go back to any other dog food….will be switching my cat over shortly
- SamWe have 2 dogs. A yellow lab mix (2 1/2 yrs) & boxer mix (14 mths). We found out when the yellow lab was a puppy that he had a sensitive stomach so put him on BB Sensitive Stomach Turkey & Potato. Never had a problem. When we got the boxer mix put her on regular puppy food then transitioned her into the BB our lab was eating. Didn’t have ANY problems until about a month ago. We purchased a new bag of dog food & within 4 days noticed that our puppies didn’t have the same energy level as normal, were drinking lots of water, peeing often (the boxer actually peed & pooped in the house & she’s potty trained), licking their paws a lot (looked at paws & they were all cracked & dried out–never a problem before)& vomiting yellowish bile off & on. Since nothing else had changed as far as diet or environment (and trust me I racked my brain going over things!) the only conclusion I could come up with was the new bag of food so I looked on the internet & discovered that it wasn’t just us having these problems/issues. Called PetSmart (where we got the food) & they were great about taking back the unused food & exchanging it for another product. I still would like to know what happened. Did BB change their formula? Were there ingredients (or too many of them) that shouldn’t have been added? I’ve been looking on the internet but haven’t seen any info about a recall. All I can say is that I’m very upset & disappointed because I was happy giving my dogs this food, they liked it, were doing well on it and now this. Unfortunately, I have to be honest & say that I will never buy this food again since I can no longer trust the company.
- carolHi, our boxer is now four and a half years old, has always been on BB. She has developed a bright pink splotch pattern all over her stomack and butt. this was after her whole body was covered with hives. we took her to the vet twice so far and the hives went down with the steroid shot they gave her. She is on Benedryl every six hours now untill the red dots go down. the dots are coming together into just red. I’m not sure what to do at this point but other dogs have shown some problems as well and i thought I’d bettr write about this.Something has changed about this dog food!
We lost our former boxer to a case of mega-esophagus from another dog food and i’m really really scared about this one! How is your boxer now?
- MadridJBI have had my minpin on BB since a puppy and not a single problem! He is now 3 years old. My new minpin puppy had flatulence when I fed her the Chicken and Oatmeal recipe so i switched her to grainfree since then and not an issue, she is now 11 months. I love BB it has been better than other brands. My dogs only get diarrreah if they get into something they shouldnt. But BB has kept them very healthy and their coats are so shiny!
- JessI have a two yr old German Shepard who has eaten BB his whole life. We found out he does have grain allergies. So does my 9 yr old lab. Both have been doing great of BB till our last two bags. Both have ear infections both have been itching themselves crazy ! I switched to another brand and cut out chicken. BB makes nothing without chicken or chicken by products. My dogs are getting better without Blue Buffalo! Took my cats off it too. Something not right with the dog food. I no longer will buy it or recommend it like I once did.
- Sandra Harknet, Certified Dog TrainerI am a dog trainer and have a Doggie Daycare. I am not a Blue Buffalo fan for reasons pointed out in numerous comments posted byothers, but clients still insist on buying it. Most of the dogs on it have diarrhea and other problems. A Bernese Mountain Dog puppy has constant diarrhea but they will not switch. I sell and recommend FROMM, NUTRISOURCE, Merrick and Victor. I give out samples and do have many smart customers who switched from an inferior product. Also dog food experts recommend switching the food every 2 to 3 months to prevent nutrients toxicity and imbalance. BUT take 7-10 days to make the switch. You will have a healthier dog.
- RobertFirst time here and thanks for having me. Purchased (dry pellets) Blue Buffalo several months ago and noticed that my Sheltie was getting sick once or twice a week in the morning then not eating till early afternoon. She’d drool first then vomit stomach fluids and sometimes the actual Blue Buffalo. This went on for months. Thought of all reasons why she was getting sick from low sugar levels to alergies. Tried feeding her treats at night to keep her belly full but that failed. The BB never crossed our minds as being the culprit because of its reputation. Just recently, my dog was getting sick every morning for a week straight…we finally took action. After feeding her the dry pellets from Blue Buffalo for months, we changed to a canned wet food. Miraculously she stopped getting sick. It has been 72 hours now. Wife googled Blue Buffalo and a whole page of articles populated about BB making dogs sick. She informed me and then I called the store that sold us this product then the BB headquarters. They did not pick up their phone in any department. The store that I spoke with claimed they knew nothing about the articles….you’d think they’d be aware because of the multiple articles posted were from last March 2013. Were they protecting BB? All I know is, if I was selling food that was potentially getting pets sick, the product would be pulled immediately and never sold again. We use a store swipe card everytime we buy product so maybe (you’d think) the seller would have looked up what we / everyone were buying and notified us about possible tainted food from BB? Waiting on BB to email us back so will check back later. Recently bought chicken and duck canned from Blue to replace the BB dry pellets and that made her sick too…but she loves the salmon and chicken. Is the duck and chicken tainted? Is there anyone out there having problems with the duck chicken canned by Blue? Love my dog and it killed me seeing her vomiting every morning. Take her to a vet you say? Who can afford a vet these days? Or am I being obtuse. Happy Holidays!
- RitaI have a 1 year old Golden Retriever mix. I started feeding him BB because reviews were great. He started drinking huge amounts of water and having to go out to pee all the time. It was ridiculous. I had blood work and the vet said he was in early renal failure. He was put on Hills Science Diet Renal and his levels went back to normal. At the vets they say they have these complaints often. This has been a very expensive and time consuming thing for us. And my poor baby has had to suffer. So not happy with this. Do not put your dog on this.
- Lonnie WilliamsHow much does it cost?
- JackiA few months ago, Joey who is now 1 ½ yrs old, had crystals in his urine. Assuming that it was because of him being a puppy, his hygiene wasn’t the best. Was put on antibiotics and Hills food for 10 days. The crystals cleared up. Then on Oct 17th of this years, he developed severe diarrhea and was vomiting. I gave him an Imodium and withheld food that night. The Next morning I fed him a small amount of food and within 15 mins. he threw that up too. We were out of town at the time, so I had to take him to a vet I knew nothing about. Luckily Brewer Vets in Springfield, IL were great. I immediately had them do an xray because this is a dog that was known to swallow rocks and it was the exact same symptoms. Xray showed he had several pockets of gas in his stomach and intestines. All his blood work and vitals were normal. The vet thought that maybe the stress from traveling caused it. Although we were only 2 ½ hrs. from home and Joey had slept the entire way there. Joey stayed at the vets for the day to make sure he did not become more dehydrated, then started him on Flygal and Hills food for 5 days. After a few days of this I put him back on BB. The diarrhea did not clear up and he was vomiting yellow phlegm in the morning about every 1 or 2 days.
At the same time that all this started with Joey, Frankie, who is 10 yrs., started drinking water excessively and peeing a lot. Took another stool sample of Joey’s and a urine sample of Frankie’s to my vets about 4 days later. Joey’s stool sample was negative and Frankie’s urine showed a very high PH count. Joey had also started drinking large amounts of water. More lab work done on Joey and also on Frankie. Both came back normal. We thought that maybe Joey had become allergic to chicken, so I bought a bag of BB fish & potato. Another 10 day round of Flygal and Hills food for 3 or 4 days for Joey and antibiotics for Frankie. After 2 weeks, Frankie had crystals in his urine and Joey still had Diarrhea. My vet put Frankie on a different antibiotic and Hills food for 2 weeks. Frankie has always gone to the bathroom 4 to 6 times a day and at least 1 time would be a soft stool. After 2 or 3 days on the Hills food, Frankie stopped drinking as much and going to the bathroom as often, and not one was diarrhea. Kind of made the light bulb go off. Frankie’s urine sample yesterday still shows his PH is high but the crystals are gone. Started reading all the reviews about Blue Buffalo and was amazed at how many dogs had the same symptoms as Joey and Frankie. Switched all 4 of my dogs to Wellness dog food….no chicken in it either. Within 2 days Joey’s stools were almost normal again. 3 dogs I switched over cold turkey and Joey in 1 ½ days. Not 1 of them even had soft stools from switching so fast.
Both Joey and Ranger, 1 of my other dogs kept licking and chewing their butt every time they went to the bathroom. This stopped after switching food too.
At the time all this started, both Joey and Ranger were only getting ¾ cup of BB. In the morning they got raw chicken backs and freeze dried raw food. At night they got BB and ¾ cup freeze dried raw. I don’t even want to think what might have happened to Joey if he had eaten only BB. Frankie and Leeah were getting straight BB. Lucky for me Leeah never got sick since she is 12 yrs old and wouldn’t have bounced back as fast as Joey.
It’s too bad that Blue Buffalo doesn’t spend some of their money on trying to figure out what’s wrong with their food instead of so much on advertising trying to convince people how good their dog food is. Even better, maybe they could pay my vet bills which, at this point, amount to hundreds of dollars. I had been using BB for almost 2 yrs. and you can bet I’ll NEVER use it again. There are several sites on the web with bad reviews for BB and I’m going to try to post this to as many as I can find.- JaneJackie, I am so sorry to hear about all the health problems your dogs have gone through. I am relieved for you however that they survived this horrific ordeal. I purchased BB for my two dogs recently; but after reading many negative reviews decided to feed a different food. BB is not a transparent company in my opinion. They had a recall in 2010 for a vitamin D issue that caused the death of some dogs. At present, a possible auction is in the works for potential buyers such as Colgate,Proctor & Gamble and DelMonte to name just a few. Once a small company as BB sells to a huge corporation it’s anyone’s guess at what changes in the original dog food will be. The manufacturing plant is of concern to me as this is where the contamination originates. I for one encourage you to post your comments everywhere you can; including on Facebook if you use it. This negligence in the pet food industry needs to STOP! As for me, I will be giving my beloved dogs a dog food that has not had recalls and is made by a company that uses their own plant. I know of several to choose from and I will sleep better at night too. Thanks for your honest comments re; BB .
- RossBeen having problems with our two cats (1 1/2 year tortoise shell and a 1 year tuxedo) after 8 months of feeding blue buffalo so I started to research them online. All review sites that aren’t associated with major pet companies said the same thing that my cats are going through. Vomiting, loose stinky stools, urinating all the time, major hair loss and lethargy. All review sites associated with Petsmart, amazon, blue buffalo, etc… did nothing but praise the stuff. I decided who I thought was telling the truth and I immediately switched them back to their old food and within 2 weeks, they were back to normal. I don’t know what they put in that stuff but it’s going to end up killing pets. I’ll never use anything by that company again.
- DanielI am starting to slowly change over my dogs food to BB. The key to switching over is to gradually change over. YOU SHOULD NEVER EVER FEED YOUR DOG NEW FOOD COLD TURKEY. So right now even though it is day 2 I have been using 80% old 20% new BB. They seem to be responding pretty well so far. I plan on doing this for a few weeks then gradually adding more of the new dog food BB. I seems like most people are just feeding their dog cold turkey which is VERY BAD for the dogs.
- chrystal darrow2 years of Blue Buffalo Wilderness I swore by it. The 3rd year has been a nightmare,mainly because it was the last stone turned over. My dog vomiting at least once a week,started eating grass,eating her poo,nipping at hips and back BUT her constant licking her paws and I mean constant!, coupled with on again off again runny stools. Not to mention HUGE VET BILLS!! That led Vet to say,change her dog food,let’s see if it helps. Its been 5wks since beginning Orijen adult formula,normal stools,paw licking reduced 90%,back and hip biting,stopped. Her coat is going back to its full and shiney self!!! No vomiting,although I mixed organic pumpkin with new dry kibble to get her to try it. She now loves it! I live in Reno Nv and have at least 30 friends with dogs a couple with cats,10 fed BBW,9 have stopped for same reasons. All cats have been taken off BBC, way sick! The one dog has never had any health problems. We all chose differnt high end brands with great results.
- AnnWe have a 3 year old Soft-Coated Wheaten Terrier and anyone who’s ever had one knows how easily they can get upset stomachs. After boarding Brendan last year(where he got sick for months afterwards from their feeding schedule)we switched to Lamb w/Brown Rice. Brendan does sooo well on it just eating 2 full cups a day,still trying to figure out how much poop he has from that small amt of food,LOL!! We think it is pricey and Blue Buffalo isn’t generous on their $$ off coupons, but it’s worth it.
- GraceAll these bad reviews seem to be fake, there’s been speculation that competitors are posting fake experiences about pets dying from blue buffalo. Check other websites of reviews, it only seems to be this website and another website,consumer reviews, that have it. Do your research before you base it off all these fake names.
- CandaceAttention Pet Parents…Please Read! I’m a pet parent to 4 dogs and 2 cats. All my pets have been on Blue Buffalo products for the past 4 years. Recently my dogs began throwing up, having loose stools, foul gas, refusing to eat their dog food at times and when they did eat I noticed they were eating grass in the yard afterwards and drinking lots of water. 1 of my dogs appeared bloated and was panting heavily, my other dog started to urinate in her doggie bed while sleeping (she’s a younger dog and had never done that before.)I went online to research if there was something going on with BB and came across so many other comments similar to mine. I’m shocked because I always thought BB was a great food! It is an expensive pet food but I wanted to give my pets the best so the cost was worth it to me to ensure their health. I immediately stopped feeding BB to all my pets once I saw the postings from others who were experiencing problems. I bought Halo for my pets and am seeing a big difference now! I’m convinced that the BB food was causing issues for my pets. I’m sharing my story in the hope that I might help someone else whose pet is experiencing issues like mine.
- Martha NMy puppy has had diaharea for a week now since starting blue buffalo. Also stinky farts! i am going to try something else!! I’m glad I found this webpage! Thanks for your help!
Martha - MikeCandace,
My two huskies are going through the same thing. Nausea and eating grass in the back yard to make themselves sick. The stools have been solid though.
This has been going on since we bought a new back of BB in their blue bag. All other variables such as treats, human food, ext…have been eliminated.
We are returning the rest of the bag tomorrow and switching brands. - MikeI forgot to mention. Our dogs have been eating BB for a few years.
- MindieI’m so glad I read this because my 6 month old puppy is constantly having diarrhea and stinky gas. He’s been on Blue Buffalo since we got him 2 weeks ago. I thought switching his food would result in this for a couple of days but never thought it would continue 5-6 times a day. Guess this means we need to try something else. Thank you!
- BarbWhich BB formula were you using?
- NancyMy 7 year old maltese eats Blue Buffalo and seems to like it, but he will not eat the bits. The nutrients are in the bits, so I am concerned he is not getting the benefit of this product. He consistently picks them out. I will say that his poop is much better on this food, so he must be digesting it better. I had him on a number of high quality foods in the past, and they either caused loose or hard stools, including Evo. Will probably try another similar kibble.
- NinaMy dogs do the same thing!
- ranchriderI have been feeding Blue Basics Turkey and Potato for the past 10 years and no problems until now. I read that Blue got bought out by another company which may be their downfall. Anyway, both of my Cocker Spaniels have digestive tract problems from this last bag. Now one of the dogs has a blood in her stool and her urine. Both dogs are throwing up like they have acid reflux. My vet said to switch so I am now on Science Diet dog food. They are not healed yet but it has only been one week. I am tired of the vet bills to get my dogs healthy again but I feel I am on the right track now.
- Bev BarketOur 14lb Poodle/Bishon mix was eating Blue Buffalo Grain Free Dry and canned alternately with Blue Buffalo Fish Formula Dry and Canned. She received a 1/4 cup total one or the other in the a.m. and a 1/4 cup total in the p.m.
She began to act like she was going lame and her back legs would shake. She would take a couple of steps and sit down. She wasn’t herself and we feared she was losing her ability to walk.
I stopped Blue Buffalo dog food only two days ago and she has improved dramatically. I believe Blue Buffalo Dog Food is saturated with supplements to an excessive degree and is not suitable for small dogs.
The dog food industry as a whole is a train wreck. I have spent hours researching dog foods and after this experience will feed her homemade Chicken and Bison and a small array of vegetables and Blueberries. I am done with commercial dog food. If I hadn’t intuitively stopped her food I don’t know how desparately this story would end. - sandyWhy doesn’t blue buffalo have the AAFCO label on their dog food. I would feel more trusting if they had that. I wrote to them asking and no return mail. I have trouble trusting a company that is not endorsed with this label. Lots of companies have this on their dog food bags.
- AshleyI had my two mini American Eskimos on the Blue duck recipe which was fine then they got picky so we tried the salmon recipe which is horrible after a week they’re both shaking, panting, diarrhea, also the worst diarrhea i have ever seen including blood! I liked the brand but I can not continue using food that is making my pets this ill.
- PatMy Irish Setters were on Blue Buffalo. My male is in intensive care (for 3 weeks) on oxygen and IV’s for complications with bladder stones. My female has urinary tract infections quite often. My vet asked me last year not to feed Blue but I was stubborn and continued. Today for my know better than my vet ways, I will be happy if my male comes out of the hospital under $10,000. My female thank the Lord only had an infetion that could be helped with oral antibiotics.
They will not be eating Blue Buffalo ever again. - EmilyWe have fed our 2 cockapoos Blue Buffalo from the start (one is almost 2 and the other is almost 1 year old). Both did better on this than the previous food they had been on (shiny coats, good stool). The younger one, however, had horrible gas when switching to this food initially. He still gets bad gas when he eats some different things. After doing more research on BB lately and reading about the many issues other people have had with it, it made me reevaluate. We have noticed that both of our dog’s stools have been getting softer and stronger smelling for the last few months. Also, our older dog’s coat had lost some of its softness and sheen, and she herself seemed to have less energy. She also didn’t seem very enthused about eating it anymore. All things considered, we switched to Nutrisource Adult food. Both dogs have healthy, firm stool again and little to no smell. Our older dog’s coat is soft and shiny again, and she has more energy than she has in a while. Also of note, while switching to Nutrisource, our younger dog has had absolutely no gas! He could clear the room on BB, but has had no issues with Nutrisource. We are very happy with the switch because of the positive changes in our dogs. Also, BB is very expensive (we paid $2.20/lb for BB and now pay $1.15/lb for Nutrisource). Overall, Nutrisource seems to be a much better food for our dogs.
- taraI found sharp bone fragments in the duck/chicken dog food!!!!!!!!!!!! Seriously?????
- Savina and RockyWe ran out of Orijen 6fish dog food we have on autodelivery and needed to substitute with another quality fish kibble for our Frenchies with sensitive skin and tummies. Our local petstore did not have the Orijen brand, but had plenty other good and not so good options. We ended up with Blue Wildnerness Salmon. This was the closest to their Orijen Fish favorite. And I am happy to say there are no skin breakouts (blisters, rashes, hives) and no vomiting, loose stools or diarrhea.They also seem to like it (bowls empty). These 2 brands cost about the same and glad we now have a good substitute for bags running out or with traveling.
- LolaMy 9 yr old maltese very ill diabetes. Switched to Blue Buffalo Wilderness canned..immediate improvement within 3 days.
- DaleMy second bag of blue dog food .The first bag everything going good .Almost done with bag two and oh my what stink comes from the back side of my dog .It is foul really foul .I will be dumping out the remainder of the food left .Thank all who have left reply’s .It has confirmed what I was thinking . Wanted to give my dog the best or what I thought was anyway . Price does not reflect the best .
- VirginiaI have a 9 months old Havanese puppy. Since we got her we’ve been using Wellness. We recently started using BB, gradually mixing the new puppy BB food with the other one. As we made the switch, puppy started having diarrhea – first a little, then more and more. She also drank huge amounts of water (an entire bowl in an hour, when she usually does not empty it in an entire day!) I got very worried and started suspecting it may be the food. When i checked for any recalls I see other people with dogs going through the same symptoms. I stopped BB and puppy is back to normal! Not sure what is in the food but it really made my dog sick – DO NOT BUY this food!!!
- KimThe last recent two bags of dog food that I have purchased from blue, has caused one of my dogs to get an ear infection, another one is panting and throwing up every time after being fed, and overly gassy, and even after feeding all three of my dogs each day, they each are still starving. Done with blue, going to petco today and checking out Science Diet.
Also my 6 cats are on the blue cat food and they’ve all been throwing up from it as well.- Pat KokkeMy Irish Setter had bladder stones, the vets (regular vet, surgeon and internist) blamed it on the blue buffalo. Due to complications my dog asperated and has spent 3 weeks in intensive care. I am hoping to bring him home this weekend, he will not be eating Blue Baffalo.
- TonyI was researching Blue Buffalo, did the pet food comparison on their web site. Funny how my pets current pet food has nothing in it, I mean all dashes at least compared to Blue. Seems to me all they did was change the order of ingredients putting meat first (protein that is). Truth is dogs are carnivores and are suppose to eat meat, they are not omnivores and do not eat any sort of vegetables. Blue Buffalo is blowing smoke telling comsumers that what dogs need. Truth is they are just trying to sell a product. Which isn’t all that great.
- JackieTony, you are sadly misinformed that dogs are carnivores. Cats are carnivores. Dogs are omnivores like us. If you feed an all meat diet it will get too much protein and could develop kidney disease. Dogs also need nutrients in their diets provided by plants. Have you never seen a dog eat grass trying to get more plant nutrients in it’s diet? If your dog is doing well on what you are feeding it,healthy coat,normal energy, and normal stool, then you don’t need to switch.
- melissa cavazoson the first of the month I bought a bag of blue freedom from petco.since then my shih Tzu died and my other shih Tzu is very weak and is on fluids . I have had to take her 2 times to vet to have fluids put in her . I don’t have any money to do the lab tests but my dogs where fine until I got this dog food . does anyone know for sure if something is wrong with this food . I don’t have bag as I throw them away and put food in a pet container . please help you can text me any time at nine five six nine zero seven five eight two six or email me at missyjo 06 at g mail dot com
- KDHas anyone’s dogs been getting diarrhea from Blue Buffalo Chicken and Rice? Our dogs have both had it for about 3 weeks. Our vet recommended stopping the Blue and giving them the bland diet of Chicken and Rice which seemed to have stopped it but as soon as we tried to add Blue back into the Chicken and Rice they would get it again. My Male seemed to get better for a couple days but the female wasn’t getting better so we brought her to the vet and they gave her meds, she is still on the Chicken and Rice only and hasn’t had any diarrhea. Since seemed like the male was getting better we started to mix Blue into the diet and he is now having diarrhea again. I don’t know if it’s a coincidence that every time we try mixing it in with the chicken and rice they get diarrhea or if it may be something else. Please let me know if this is happening to anyone else.
- D RAHRWe switched from Beneful to Blue Buffalo dry food for our dogs. Almost immediately they has intestinal issues…vomiting and lots of diarrhea. The vet said that it was too rich for them and we had to change back to Beneful and the problems stopped.
- melissamy shih Tzu died went into shock and my other shih Tzu is very sick took her to the vet and the vet said that the blue dog food could be bad
- KarenMy bichon frise has been on Blue for about a year without any problems. All of a sudden within the past two weeks, I bought a new bag and he has been having vomiting. I changed to the bland diet of cooked chicken and rice for four days, went back to the Blue, and it’s even worse. I believe that Blue has changed their formula and should recall. My dog is very sick right now and also these bags of food are very expensive. I am switching back to the cooked chicken and rice and changing back to Eukanuba sensitive stomach. I also called and left a message with Blue. I think they should do a recall!
- EileenThis food seemed perfect & our picky Westie loved it! After about ten days on Salmon/Chicken she was hospitalized & is in our vet’s ICU with IV’s. She tested positive for pancreatitis. We definitely had the gas symptoms & eating grass. Then, the vomiting started. She refused to eat. We’re hoping she’ll be well enough to be home for Christmas. We don’t know if switching to that food could have so quickly caused this..
- melissastop the dog food it is making pets sick I lost my shih Tzu and anther is barly making it
- jenI’m wondering the same thing about the cat food as I’ve just dropped 600$ at the vet because of my seriously ill cat that I currently have to hand feed wet food from the vet. All of the lab work has come back fine. He has no ‘illness’ to speak of, so I can only guess that it is the food. Started off with wicked diarrhea, then fatigue and severe vomiting. My other 3 cats are barely eating the kibble and are usually quite voracious with their appetites. I’m very worried and hope my cat recovers. I’ll be switching the food over today as soon as I can. I hope everyone else critters recover
- PatMy dogs have bladder stones and urinary tract infections. The one with bladder stones almost died. No more Blue Buffalo for them. My vet says that, she can’t prove it, but she sees more dogs with gastrointestinal problems and urinary tract problems that are on Blue than any other food.
- bobbieWe bought a new bag of Blue Buffalo Chicken and Rice and started our 3 Shetland Sheepdogs on it the last week in July. Within 3 days all three had diarrhea and the youngest and middle aged one(2 year old and 8 year old) were throwing up.
Took all three to the vet. Started them on the special diet, chicken, rice and cottage cheese plus ‘Flagyl’ medication. They did not get better.
Took them back and ran blood work on the 2 and 8 year old and took a fresh poop – diarrhea sample in from the old guy – he is almost 12.
Now they are on the same bland diet, plus Famiditine tablets twice a day and Tylan powder 1/4 teaspoon twice a day.
As far as the Blue Buffalo food, never going to use it again. I have been using it for 9 months, but no more. There seems to be some improvement in the 2 and 8 year old. But, our old boy isn’t getting better. - KathyYes, my male dog has been experiencing very loose stools and diarrhea ever since I switched to Blue Chicken and rice. My female dog seems ok but not the male. I keep wondering if I should switch back to Royal Canin. Has yours improved or did you switch their dog food?
- JaneOur Lab had ear infections and skin issues and switched to the fish and sweet potatoes and this cleared up immediately. We previously had him on wellness. Our sisters schnauzer was having vomiting issues on wellness and now is on Blue and no problems. We like to mix the duck wet and dry and people comment on how beautiful our dogs coats are. The dry food had a big variety for even the pickiest dogs, like ours.
- Linda – Coppell TXToday 6-28-2013 Blue Buffalo Freedom Grain Free Chicken Recipe Killed my 14 yr old Min Pin. Sharp Bone fragments in the dog food.
DO NOT BUY THIS DOG FOOD !!!!!- melissadid u call blue buffalo 3 days ago my shih Tzu died and my other shih Tzu right now is very sick throwing up .
- JohnI purchased the puppy formula and my dog could not tolerate it. After two weeks her stools were getting worse. I stopped feeding her blue buffalo and her stools went back to normal. I guess I will keep her on science diet. Too bad was really hoping this could be the food for her.
- agent 13give a big build up in the TV ads, put a fancy label on it and triple what it should cost and then wait for the suckers who think they’re giving their pets something good for their money — they do the same thing with eggs by paying some lacky minimum wage to stamp EB on them — some day the people in this country may start to get smart and stop falling for the countless swindles on TV and computers
- kimDo NOT by blue for your.cat. my cat has been having loose stools for over a week now and is not going in her litter box .after.all these reviews on the internet it seems to me blue needs to recall the bbq’d chicken for cats. I paid 33 dollars for this and thought I was doing my cat a favor by helping her with a healthy product. Have to take her to the vet soon. I am hoping there is no issue. Will update
- ChloeBlue doesn’t sell a BBQ chicken.
- Anthonyim very happy with blue my dogs coat is in perfect sow look when compared to the food i was feeding him before which was eagle ,he is a 110 pd miami blue pitbull and extremely playfull ever since ive switched his food to blue ,no stomach gurguling sounds and stool just perfect i love it and i can tell my dog rocco does too.the chicken ,lamb and duck recipies i will stick too for my best freind.thanks blue!
- LindaI had been feeding Blue Life Protection Formula
Chicken & Brown Rice Recipe for Senior Dogs to my just turned 14 yo yellow lab for about a year. For about 8 months she has had episodes of panting/pacing with much stomach upset. She was also diagnosed with Canine Dysfunction Syndrome last fall. I thought the panting and pacing was primarily related to that.
I just opened a new bag of Blue last week. The panting and pacing and obvious stomach pain (audible gurgling) has been awful. She absolutely will not touch the Blue. However, I can get her to eat lamb and rice without problem and I’m transitioning her to another brand’s salmon and rice food. She seems to like that. Now that I’ve read what I have about Blue, I wish I had taken her off this ages ago. - PaulI have two beagle puppies and have been feeding them blue buffalo since they were 2 months old. They are very active dogs, with beautiful healthy coats. The vets have told me that my dogs are very healthy & to continue feeding them blue buffalo. Once in a while I mix their dry food with blue buffalo wet food as a treat. I give my dogs carrots & apples as treats. Blue buffalo ingredients are top notch. If your dog has digestive problems try giving them a slice of apple every day. It will help with digestive system. I love blue buffalo products, like human beings dogs also need organic & holistic products. I’m staying true to Blue!
- RandyHave been feeding my two labs Blue Buffalo Healthy Weight for over a year. Recently we noticed that the appearance of the kibble had changed and there wasn’t as many of the “life bits” as before. The food also has a lot of dust like crumbs that take up a quarter of the bag. This food is different depending on where we purchased it. Tractor Supply seems to have the original style and Petco has the stuff that we have problems with. Both dogs had the worse diaherea that I have ever saw. I used to praise this food but something changed and we are switching to 4health. This food has a 4 star rating and is much more reasonably priced and the dogs love it! Sorry Blue but I will NEVER buy your brand again
- JayTSC 4Health is made by Diamond. We too used to buy BB until recent problems.
TSC is the only store around..We switched to Wellness.
Diamond seems to have recalls every other month…- Bully loverDallas—I’ve been on blue buffalo for over 3 years and my dogs love it. That is until this new bag CHICKEN AND RICE FORMULA that they have been having issues for the last 72 hours. (Two 85lb bullies). Their symptoms are exactly as described by others: loose stools, “shine” to feces, mucous, blood tainted (fresh) but also apparent due to black stools. I’m F’n livid my boys are my kids ( we have fertility issues) and the last thing I want is poor health. This many complaints in less than 6 weeks deserves a recall. I found website to FDA/dog food I will post in a moment. To others I wish your pets well being.. Blue your on my $#€t list…literally !
- mary salisbury mdI am not happy about blue Buffalo food…. At this point my two pups have water stools… I hav switch over from another food and they have been on blue only for about a week. These pups are German Shepherds…Blue you will not take my pups from me. I bought you food because you have NO FILERS or Bi-Products but YOU NEED TO FIX this problems with your food. I have read 3 days of NEGATIVE Results with your food
- DarleneBlue Buffalo Wilderness has made my four dogs extremely ill. I am so distressed, my four dogs have been eating Blue Buffalo for almost a year. Recently, they have all started showing distressing symptoms… they have become lethargic, eating grass and vomiting daily, diarrhea, and EXCESSIVE thirst. I can’t keep their water bowls full, their drinking of water has doubled in the past month. I connected it to their food (the only thing they all had in common) and stopped immediately, returning all bags and cans of Blue Buffalo back to the store. I started them on cooked rice and chicken (made by me in my own kitchen) and after only two days, they are already doing better. No one has vomited since they stopped eating the Blue Buffalo.
They are all seeing the vet tomorrow for bloodwork as this excessive thirst could a kidney issue. They have even lost weight while eating this toxic food.
I cannot believe the company has not pulled this food off the shelves. Go to consumer reviews, there are over 248 complaints about the same symptoms dogs are having and some have already died. I contacted the company, with no response. I will switch my dogs to Merrick or Fromm, both seem to be made by the original family company. Blue Buffalo was sold recently and obviously may be getting their products from China… just my guess. Never again will I touch a Blue Buffalo product and am hoping my dogs have not been permanently damaged. I feel so guilty that I fed them this toxic food.- melissaplease report to fda blue killed my shih Tzu and made the other very sick
- SueNot happy with Blue Buffalo. Almost lost my 1 1/2 yr. old lab. She was eating fish and sweet potato for about 1 yr.. The last bag she was eating smelled extremely fishy. She got so sick I didn’t know if she would live. Had abdominal surgery to see if the Vet could find something that didn’t show up on the x-rays or blood work (which had liver values of 845, but 150 is normal). Her intestins were 2-3 size normal. After surgery changed to a perscription diet and she ate for the first time in over a week, switched to another pet food and no problem since (I still have to have blood work rechecked)
So if you pet won’t eat this food SWITCH! they may know something you don’t - Dolce’s “mom20 April 2013 at 12:02 am
I rescued a 4 yr old dachshund from the local pound and she was sick with bordetella and under-weight. After visiting my vet, and getting treatment for her illness,I went and bought a small bag of BB chicken with those lovely life bits. Evidently, Dolce was used to a soft diet by the look of her teeth and she was initially quite resistant to the BB. However, after a few weeks of getting used to her new life, feeling better she is liking the BB so much better. Her teeth look much better, and unlike other folks that seem to complain about an excess of life bits-I have the opposite issue. My two cats have been known to sneak those tasty bits out of the dogs bowl. Luckily, the dog is quite good natured and doesnt eat the cats. Dolce is thriving on Blue Buffalo! - JodeBAD EXPERIENCE – Please do your homework and Google reviews for Blue dog food. I wish I had. Most report horrible gas, worse than anything most have ever experienced. Extreme stomach upset to dogs causing pain. Heavy, uncontrolled panting, blood in stools etc. I purchased Blue based on the commercials and rating of “meat” being the first ingredient. My Lab was so miserable I ended up taking him to the vet in the middle of the night after approximately 4 hours of non stop heavy panting and putrid smelling gas. He was having issues for approximately 2 weeks with gas and a couple small heavy panting for no apparent reason during cold weather. I thought he was having or going to have a heart attack. The vet couldn’t find anything wrong. In addition, I also purchased dog anti-acids, which helped a little, however the problem continued for a few more days. I then did the research on Blue and found this was very common. I took him off of Blue about a week ago and he is fine. He was on the Blue Wilderness – High Protein-Grain-Free Duck Recipe. (He has had duck dog food and real duck jerky in the past so Duck would not have caused any issues)
- DianeI have two beagles…both were adopted. My oldest girl, Daisy, had trouble with gas. It was so bad that we had to leave the room. I decided to change her food. Right now I can’t even remember what food she was on when she had all of the gas. Anywho…I decided to get the Blue Buffalo Basic. She loves the food and no more gas. I know she is feeling better.
Part of her problem was that she has a sensitive stomach. It took me awhile to figure that out.
My other beagle, Louise, gets infections and crystals. She was on the special food for a year which I hated feeding that food to her. My vet said that I could try the Wellness Super 5 Mix Healthy Weight because of the protein amount. So Louise is on the Wellness with the Herbsmith Bladder Care powder. Guess what? No more infections and crystals!! I really would like to put her on the Blue Buffalo but I don’t want to mess up her system and have her get the crystals again.
It really depends on the dog’s system which food works the best. Both brands are expensive but I pretty much break even with the Wellness with the bladder care cranberry supplement and that special food for Louise. Louise is just getting a better dog food…no corn. Yes..I do feel that Blue Buffalo is a better food than Wellness but I do what I think is best for my girls. If you never had a dog with infections and crystals, you wouldn’t understand. My goal is to never let Louise get stones which is an expensive surgery.
- DunnerI see many, many 5 star ratings and most canines probably do great on Blue Buffalo foods- BUT as a few people have related their horror stories and high vet bills when their dog became very ill. I too had the same disaster and BB almost killed my rescued 3 yr old Irish Setter. I spent over $2k at the vet and emergency animal hospital- tests, bloodwork, several meds yet still the vets couldn’t find anything definitive even though he was vomiting red, having bloody diarrhea, and losing serious weight- getting anemic.
While discussing his plight with a buddy he casually suggested feeding him normal, cheap dog food. I figured we had nothing to lose by trying. Surprise, Surprise he is on a cheaper commercial dry food now and finally regaining his health and putting some weight back on.
Bottom line: unless you start your dog on BB from young pup stage this scenario may happen to you. I think sometimes we go overboard on some rich yuppy trend.Feed em something average middle of the road! - Heather LambWe have just spent $1500 at the vet on our little Pomeranian. We have been feeding BB for 3 years and never had a problem. After opening a new bag of chicken/rice formula last week, Bella got severely ill and would not stop vomiting. After 4 xrays, ultrasound, bloods, urine and an overnight hospital visit we were out $1500 and told they think it was her food. They put her on Hills ID and she did fine. They said to slowly incorporate her BB dry back into her diet and when we did that she got severely sick again! Our vet said that recently they have seen issues with dogs who are fed BB and to bring it back to the store. We will never buy this food again!
- EmmanuelWhy won’t blue compare other food brands that are close to blue? I only notice the brands that only make blue look good. I feed my dogs diamond dog food and they love it. There coats are shiny and they look good. I get a 40lbs bag for $30!! I would like to compare other good brands. Come on blue if your food is that amazing then why don’t compare more brands!
- SheenMy cats have ate BB for a year now. The last few weeks, my cats are constantly getting sick, begging for food when the bowl is still full, and have not seemed to feel good. My coworker’s cat has the same issues and she also feeds BB. Anyone else?
- StaceyAbout 3/4 of the way through our first bag of Blue Buffalo basic Lamb and Brown Rice, our German Shepard started to drink and urinate more frequently, and 10 days later there were blood droplets when she urinated and she was vomiting up foam. I took a urine sample to the vet and the results came back that there was no bacteria in the urine. We researched Blue Buffalo and found pages and pages of people who’d experienced the same issues with their dogs on the food. We took her off BB immediately, and saw an improvement within 24 hours. It’s been a week, and I’m happy to report that she is healthy again and back to her old self.
- WandaWhat did you go to instead.What are you using now?
- jenniferwhat are you feeding now?
- gretchen zieglerI’ve been feeding BB Wilderness chicken to my dogs that range in age from 20 months to 12 years and have had an excellent experience with it. My dogs coat went from dull to shiny. Perhaps your dog had a reaction to an ingredient and needed a limited ingredient dog food.
- Donna W.I have three goldens that have been on blue buffalo for many months. The two older ones are on Wilderness senior and have lost weight and look great and they love this food. The younger one is on Basics and loves it also. Recently we have had two bad episodes of gastrointestinal issues. The first time with just the younger one. She was vomiting, had diarrhea, refused to eat, got lethargic, and had blood and mucus in her stools. She was xrayed and had inflamed intestines and stomach. She was put on meds and special food and got better. Two weeks later we are going through the same thing again. Her pancreatic enzymes were elevated after the first sickness and are higher this time. The other two are now experiencing those same symptoms. Now that I am reading all these complaints about BB food, I wonder if this is the problem. Right now they are all on Hill ID food because of being sick and I am afraid to put them back on BB. I have incurred almost $1000 in vet bills the last month. Up until a month ago they were fine with BB. I am researching other foods to switch them over to after the ID is gone and their symptoms are improved.
- AmandaDonna,
We have a shih tzu/bichon mix who has been on BB with the exception of one bag of food since we got her about 16 months ago. She always did really well on the Life Protection formula, but recently I’ve been trying Wilderness. It seemed ok for the first month or so, aside from her significant reduction in pooping. As soon as we started her on a second bag, she started eating less, picked out all the life source bits, and got noticeably constipated. Last weekend we woke up to her spitting up bile. happened twice in the same day. She refused to eat her kibble for two whole days (on day one I made her an egg at night after she hadn’t eaten all day and she ate it, and on day two I gave her a small serving of a Fromm’s kibble sample I had, which she also ate most of)…While I can’t be certain that the BB caused her problem, I’m not taking chances and I’m certainly not waiting for her kidneys to fail before switching her. Many, many, many people I know have switched to Fromm’s and swear by it. One woman contacted the company on behalf of the rest of us and asked them specifically about their inclusion of ANY Chinese-origin ingredients. They assured her that EVERY last ingredient from ANY supplier is guaranteed to have NO affiliation with China. Our dog is still on her bland diet, but we’re switching her to Fromm’s Four Star next. I know it’s supposed to be fantastic for my breed, so maybe look into it for your Goldens!? - HollyDonna, our Golden (8 yrs old) was on Natural Balance Limited Ingredients for about two years, but the vet insisted we switch to Science Diet DD. He has been on the Hill’s DD for about 3 weeks (the first two weeks mixed with his old food and this week just straight up Hill’s DD). This whole week he has been lethargic and has inflamed ears. I’m switching him back to the Natural Balance. I hope you’ve had luck finding something for your dogs. I was researching Blue to see if it might be better, when I came upon this web site. Very insightful. Think I will stick to Natural Balance.
- Joey GHad purchased Blue for years recently bone fragments started appearing in Blue food, I contacted their Customer Service 4 times, they were rude, didn’t care, so I switched food to Merrick, wow a change, my dogs are doing fantastic and Merrick people even sent me a little note saying ‘thank you’ for choosing us. Please do your homework before purchasing any Blue product.
- RileyCaroline, where did you find the information about Blue being sold to a company that manufactures in China? I’ve looked all over and could not find a single reference to it. Can you post a link to where you found this information? Thanks.
- CateBlue Buffalo is made & sourced in the USA. Blue is building a new manufacturing plant in Joplin, MO. They broke ground last Oct.
- CarolineBE WARNED; BLUE SOLD TO A BRAND THAT MANUFACTURES IN CHINA!
I’ve been using chicken blue buffalo since I got my dog two years ago. It brought her back to health and really turned her around.HOWEVER a few weeks ago my dog began to be very very sick. She had been throwing up and having runny, yellow, mucus-y stool. I took her to the vet, and they put her on a special food and she was better within a day. My other dog (who eats the same food) began having the same symptoms. I switched her food and she recovered.
I did a little research and found Blue sold to a company who manufactures and gets their meat ingredients from China. My favorite part of Blue was that they were manufacturing in the US so I knew the ingredients were quality and good for my animal. Now I’m stuck with a $60 bag of dog food that is basically poison. WILL NEVER BUY BLUE AGAIN! It’s disappointing that a good company is taking profit over the good of their customers! Be careful! Read the bag! Look for Made in the USA!- KrisCaroline, I have been having the exact same problem. My cavapoo has been on Blue since we got him a year ago. We started him on a new bag of food 2 weeks ago and now for the last week he has been throwing up and diarhhia. We took him to the vet and they put him on the Hills ID diet. So far it is day 2 and he seems okay, if we have no further problems them I am going to assume the food bad was bad and I will never buy Blue again!
- CateBlue has not been sold nor do they buy products from China. The meat is American except for the lamb which comes from New Zealand when the American lamb isn’t available.
My dogs have been on Blue a few years & it has been wonderful. All their illness and allergies disappeared after being on Blue a couple of months.
My one dog had diarrhea 3 or 4 yrs ago & I rushed her to the vet. The vet checked everything & found nothing. I asked what could have happened & the vet said she could have eaten a bug in the yard. I was given some doggie tums & by the time for her second dose it was cleared up.
I would not change food for my dogs any more than I would throw out or change the way my family eats if someone got a stomach bug.
- MonicaIs there ANY Blue Buffalo Dog foods without the lifesource bits? I have 3 small Chihuahua’s and ALL f them leave the life bits all over the floor (I see this is a common practice in other dogs from reading the reviews!)…I have tried to put them back in the dish, but they still weed them out. I EVEN tried putting them in my cats bowl just to see if someone would eat them, and the cats left them in the bottom of the bowl. I was thining of switching thier food due to the mess, but in reading other dog food reviews (most not good), I think I will stick with this brand..just wishing/wondering if they may any without the bits?!
- Johnuse earthborn holistic, those life source bits have all the vitamins and minerals blue buffalo advertises. Earthborn has them spread throughout their regular kibble to ensure your dog gets proper nutrition
- ElizabethI have a six year year shih-tzu that has been on Blue Buffalo for six months,when we first started the food she had horrible runs for days and kept me up for several nights pooping every other hour. I though it was just a side effect of a food change, which went away. So when I got a new puppy I decided to put her on it also. I happened to mention this to my Vet. he told me I should go look at reviews. He recently treated two dogs that had been on Blue since they where puppies and they both had kidney issues and died. He said there was an unusual amount of calcium in there blood test and oxilate crystals in there urine.
Needless to say my dog had recently had three seizures so I decided to go and get blood work done. This was at our new Vets office today. My baby has high levels of calcium and oxalite crystals in her urine and is being treated for and acute bladder infection.
Nobody seems to want to answer peoples concerns about where some of the different ingredients are being purchased. I heard nothing but good things about blue, but have come to discover they recently where bought out by a different corporation that will not respond to these concerns.
Buyer beware, if you care about your best friend. I would advise against this product and tell people not to buy it ever! - J PinkneyWe got a 5 year old Chihuaua / min pin / doxy mix from the rescue shelter, at first he would not eat. (I think in the hoarding situation he was in before, he was fed table scraps. He was sluggish, ornery, and overweight.) We gave him Wellness Diet because that’s what they’d been giving him at the shelter. He didn’t like it, wouldn’t eat it till he was very hungry and realized that’s all he would get, and it gave him horrible gas! Also it made him constipated. Then we switched to Blue and his health and weight improved, and he started acting like a much younger dog, lively and happy. Now that the weather is colder he’s not getting as much exercise so his weight is picking up a bit again, so we reduced his portions till spring.
Some people have bad experience with this brand, others have bad experience with other brands. Every dog is different. Find the brand that’s best for your dog, and stick with it. He’s worth it! - SusanI discovered Blue about 4 years ago. My then 13 year old Westie was getting over pancreatitis and would not eat much of anything. Long story short, he loved the Chicken and Brown Rice Senior. He just passed away 2 weeks ago. I know in my heart I would not have had him this long had I not put him on this food. We rescue and foster other small dogs and I always feed Blue… even those dogs that just arrive without knowing what they had eaten previously. Other than a soft stool for a couple of days, they do wonderfully. We took in several adult dogs from a puppy mill last November. All were sick and underweight. Now they look and act like different dogs… in a good way. Love Blue and always recommend it.
- CateI am so sorry for your loss.
My Shih Tzu had Pancreatitis when she was 12. I investigated nutrition and chose Blue for their quality ingredients. Blue cured the pancreatitis and she is still full of herself and will be 16 in July.
- RachaelLast year, my fiance and I got two puppies, and we had them on Pedigree for 4 months. As they grew, their coats were dull, their build was a bit on the chubby side (beyond puppy-chubby), they would have hiccups after they ate, and their poop was always a vibrant, runny orange. It was at the four-month point we hired a K-9 military dog trainer for a dog-training consult, and told us to switch to Blue Buffalo and mix their food with warm water (like oatmeal).
We made the switch and saw changes within a week: their coats were shiny, their bodies slimmed down to a fit shape, they quit getting hiccups, and their doo-doo became the natural-looking firm brown (and no longer stinky, I may add).
I’m not a fan of the price, but for sure the Blue Buffalo switch was the best thing I could have done for my dogs! - NancyI have a 5 year old female bernese mountain dog fed blue dry lamb and canned formulas since she was 4 months old . She was gassy when I first fed her blue but tha stopped after about 4 weeks she has been gas free ever since no problems . Recently got maltese puppy anf feed him blue lamb and oatmeal dry puppy and some. Canned puppy mixed in he has always done well on the blue food no gas no issues
- BethI keep Scottish Deerhounds (a giant breed that normally doesn’t live much past ten years). We fed Nutro until the 2007 issues with tainted food (what a nightmare!), when we switched to Blue Buffalo. What a difference!! Better coat, better weight, better digestion. I feed less of it than the Nutro, so the price ended up about equal. Have a pair of 13-year old healthy dogs now and I wouldn’t switch for the world. I feed the Basics, as my dogs get “hot spots” easily. Looking at the comments, not everybody has had as positive an experience, but I totally love this food.
- AmyKJust switched my 8 month old standard poodle to BB puppy from Nutro Ultra, because of easier availability. On the Nutro Ultra he had firm stools and was well house trained. As soon as we switched 100% to BB (after slow introduction/mixing with old food), his stools became soft, frequent, and he started pooping in the house. I’m switching back to Nutro Ultra Puppy!
- LaurenBlue buffalo is horrible! Made me dog sick, dehydrated, lethargic and uncontrollable stools & urination. He also had blood in his stools. I read about 170 of the same complaint on consumer affairs, beware of this food!
- kimMy dogs are doing great on BB and they love it.
- TeeBought blue wilderness red meat and would not recommend it to anyone or any dog if it were the last thing on earth!!
Bloody stools, vommiting, and distressed dog is something I would not want anyone to ever experience in their companion, not to mention the costly curious vet visits!
Their food has a really strong foul smell and that is exactly what you will get out of your pup.
Pure obvious toxic to give to your pet!!
Can’t make any accusations as to whether the company is fraudulent BUT I can say that the after effect of it is very questionable!!!
Biggest and only regret I have ever had/made!
I feel much more safe on the home cooked meal side.
EFFF blue brand, (and possibly all processed dog foods) SERIOUSLY!!!
- Jody zMy 4 1/2 yearold Lab/Chow mix had horrible skin allergies thefirst 2 years I had him, then I switched to Blue Buffalo large breed fish oatmeal dry food and he has not hada problem since. We tried 3 different high end food for him before we bought Blue. Each one of them, he would not eat at all, even after 10 days, hewould not touch them. With Blue, hecant get get enough andhis coat is just gorgous.
So, when I got my grat Dane mix, I started him on the Lamb for large breed puppies and he loves it! I get so many people who tell me how gorgous and healthy how healthy they looks all the time! - Terrence GrahamI have been using blue buffalo basics turkey formula for a few weeks and my dog yesterday 1/25/2013 tested for high levels of calcium. I found some of these reviews to also show dogs testing high in calcium and drinking/urinating excessively. I will be taking my dog off of BB immediately and contacting their corporate office. The only way we can stop this poison from being produced is contacting them with our concerns. If anyone else’s pet is also currently testing high or having symptoms other than allergies or you have lost your pet while using BB please email me terrencelgraham( at )gmail.com so we can put a stop to this. In your email include your name, the formula you used and the symptoms your pet is showing.
Thanks,
Terrence Graham- DebbieI have a 12 yr old poodle and noticed when I started him on the senior BB he is urinating more I just took him for a urine test and blood test to see if he has kidney problems, but everything seems ok. I just don’t want to lose hime to this food I need to switch to soemthing else and dont know what I have been giving him EVO for a few yrs and he has been fine.
- ChuckBlue buffalo is overpriced not a lot of meat. This PETA lady told me to feed them blue buffalo (3 dogs) blue buffalo they constantly had the runs my vet said the food is harsh on their stomachs I switched to evo and all is well.
- CateLOL…PETA does not believe any animals should be owned.
- BobKWe have been feeding our 1-year old terrier mix the Blue Buffalo Chicken & Rice Small Breed food since the summer. Seems like great food but one odd thing….one dog constantly pulls out the LifeSource Bits and leaves them al over the floor. She eats everything else. Has anyone else found this selective behavior??
- MichelleWYes, my dog pulled out the life source bits at first too, beagle, she ate everything else. We scooped them off the floor and put back in her dish and in a month she was eating everything. I like the dog food – I crock pot chicken wings and livers and add a tablespoon or so over her dry food at mealtime. She loves it.
- nancyis blue buffalo freedom dry puppy food good for my min pin
- AshleyHa! We have “life source bits” all over the kitchen floor He love the food but hates those things!
- Debbiemy toy poodle who is 12 yrs old is doing the same thing.
- sally, my yorkie has to go outside so many times since I put him on this food. Off of it rigjt away.
He has never had this problem, please be aware before u change to this food
- marilyn logiudiceI have a 3-4mon old baby boxer on blue.Occasionally he will puke his entire meal.I’ve pg attn to it but blamed it on his activity of running through house to tired himself out b4 he falls asleep.Urine fine.Stools go in fases.Some hard,some loose.Biting at butt,tai, and hardly any tail there-its been cut.He does leave those little pieces out of his food by knocking them out of his food bowl.Am worried cause of comments.People spking of high content of calcium in urine, plus seizues.Just went thru that with a beloved dog I had to put dwn.don’t want nothing to happen to Buddy.Seems like no food out there is good unless you make it yourself, and then how much is enough and is he getting the right amt of nutrition? So confused.Am getting off him off blue today and bringing back to store for refund.I may go back to Eucanuba which I never had trouble with regardless of it not being all natural and having by products in it.Gonna look up now what they say about.Keep in touch if you like. My name is Marilyn.
- Shirley MortonI liked the ingredients of this product however my 75 lb standard poodle did not like t he blueberries, he spit them out where he is fed (in a bathroom)) It was annoying to step on these little hard chuncks in the middle of the night barefooted, not to mention the carpet. I tried to find a BB product then did not include the dreaded blueberries, I did not. I have since returned to Science Diet that is kinder to my feet.
- E.B.I am surprised by all the negative comments about Blue. I guess each breed is different… I guess I am fortunate that my 2 pugs – both 7 have had no health problems from Blue. After the 2007 health scare I started making my own food on a daily basis, I continued for about 2 years. Due to my schedule I had little time to prepare the food so I switch to blue and since then have only fed them Blue dry and wet. I feed them Blue Buffalo Longevity Adult Dogs and the varity of canned. The only product they bulk at is the fish and sweet potato.
- joyI have fed my aussie mix dogs longevity for the past 9 yrs and they seem to do well. Most of these complaints are about the other varieties of blue, but makes me wonder.
- LB FloresStarted feeding my 4 month old gsd BB large breed puppy and soon after he started having explosive diarrhea, panting constantly and agitated all the time. He then broke out in a rash and started losing his hair and scratching all the time. Took him off the BB and immediately noticed a mark improvement, the rash is gone, his poop is getting back to normal and his a healthy happy puppy again. I don’t recommend this food to anyone.
- CindyWhy does everyone think if their pet becomes sick it’s because of the food they are eating? Even if they have been eating the same food for a long period of time?
Sometimes when I’m sick…..I don’t eat, I have diarrhea, throw up bile, I’m inactive and sleep a lot. I may change my diet, temporarily but I always go back to my same diet when I’m feel better. - PhilThere is nothing written on the cans to say refrigerate after opening, only if you go to the company website does it tell you this. We used canned Wilderness for a topper to the kibble for our Vizsla and even after a gradual switchover, developed really bad gas and loose stools.
- JodySo you really didn’t know you should refrigerate canned food? Don’t forget to breath…
- Donna DWARNING: DO NOT GIVE YOUR DOG BLUE BUFFALO DOG FOOD.
I was sucked in by all the ads about Blue Buffalo dog food being primarily beef and slowly started blending Blue dry food with my dogs old food. She is a 12lb Havanese. I noticed immediately the gurgling stomach and horrible gas she was releasing. Within a week she was throwing up blood and had liquid stools. It was horrible. I took her to the vet who narrowed it down to the food change. I put her back on her old food “Purina One” and the change back to her old self was almost immediate. I did some research (Google: my dog got sick on Blue dog food) and found out that there have been so many compaints about Blue Buffalo dog food that the company has pulled some of the brands. How do they get away with selling dog food that is hurting our pets??- JaneTry googling “my dog got sick on purina”
- CarolI have a miniature Schnauzer with a very sensitive digestive tract. I switched her to Blue Basics and all the diarrhea stopped. I have had only good luck with Blue. The canned food seems to bother her a little so I feed mostly dry. So far so good.
- ReginaI don’t know where DonnaD is getting her information. BlueBuffalo does not have a lot of Beef in their food, no beef kibble, only some cans. And I don’t know what products she claims they have pulled, but I work in a pet store and I have not seen any BlueBuffalo products pulled from the shelves.
- CateBlue Buffalo has no other “brands”.
- JulesI have fed my German Shepherd and Beagle BB Wilderness Duck Recipe for a year and in September 2012 tried BB Life Protection Large Breed Chicken and Brown Rice recipe. I noticed a decline in their digestive health over the summer & into the fall of last year. My Beagle was getting very sick in December and before we realized the food could be the problem, he passed away unexpectedly. He was 5 years old & our vet said he was very healthy. The digestive problems are attributed to the food and we are upset to think that the high quality food we were feeding him could have been the culprit. My German Shepherd is going to start a new food today. I will never buy BB again after doing some research. I wish we would have thought about the food being the problem. We thought we were doing a great thing by giving them “high quality” dog food. Horrible.
- marilyn logiudiceWhat next? Won’t give purina, nutro,..I have a almost 4 mon boxer pup.Heard bb was grt so I swithed him to it.Eating the one with chichen in it. He’s thrown up a few times and I thought it was just frm his over activity.Yesterday, he puked twice, big x! His stools are hard some days and soft others.People at dog store say its the best but findinga sre saying dogs have trouble with too much calcium in urine, etc. and death.I just put my other dog down.Can’t go through this again with the bills, contsant vet visits,seizures,lost of own life which my dog was more important. I am broke now.Really broke where I am on social programs.Buddy is an ESA dog. Ukaneba may have by products but had my doby on yrs ago with no problem.Time changes and so does products.Will look up and go back to if no recalls.If I have another dead dog,they can take me with him.Can’t handle.Love my animals more than people.Any suggestions? plse write back.my name is Marilyn
- MelanieI tried feeding my dog blue and will not make that mistake again. My poor dogs stomach was so upset that she didn’t get comfortable for 3 weeks. I even switched properly–very slowly. It didn’t matter the fat content was just too high.
- LisaI have a one year old German shepherd and he is coming off pedigree puppy food. What would be a good blue brand? No fish please.
- RenateI have two dogs,a large mix 13 and a shepherd between 8 and 10 years old. They have been eating Nutro for the last 6 years.
About three months ago my shepherd developed digestive problems and six weeks later the other dog got the same problems. Many visits to the vet later I decided to switch dog food. I switched to blue basic, senior,sensitive stomach. Since then they have both been pooping huge amounts, up to 4 times a day. That was about 6 weeks ago. My concern is that the food is moving thru too quickly and is not absorbed in the dog’s system.
Switching to blue was a waste of time, it made the company richer and I scoop up 75% of it and put it in the trash!
Also I was taken aback when I saw that the bag at 51.99 was only 24 pounds.
Morale of the story: Pick another dog food isle to shop in!- H SmithA possible reason that your dogs had some difficulty transitioning to Blue is that you might have been feeding too much. Of the first four ingredients in Nutro, three of them are rice, a carbohydrate. The first two ingredients in the Blue Basics is meat protein. Because there’s more real meat, and less fillers in Blue, you actually need to feed less of the Blue then you did of the Nutro. The feeding guidelines on the bag are just that, guidelines. You need to adjust the amount fed according to your dog’s weight, metabolism and activity.
And always transition from one food to another over the course of a week to ten days. - Shari M.wow, where did you find the 24 lb bag for $51.99.
Anyway, I guess all dogs are different and I hope you find a food your dog is ok on - Holly JonesMy 11 year old fog is having the same problem i just dont know what to switch him back to?
- DanaWhy is there a warning on blue buffalo bites to not give to a dog under 5lbs? My dog is 3lbs, will the treats harm her?
- Naomi RoyI was thinking about switching my dogs over to Blue grain free but some of these responces make my feel like I’m keeping to 4health.
- jACK (Toronto)My dog is 8 yrs. old jack russell/chichua mix. I started giving BB in Oct. 2012. He had no problem exceot his high liver enzyme. I noticed that he is starting to drink a lots of water, his weak and now start loosing his vision. I am very upset after reading comments regarding issues that my dog had have now. I will be visitng my vet on Monday to have him a blood works and find out what else could be the problem in regards to feeding my dog with BB.
It is only a month since I give him BB trusting their advertisement that they care for our furkid. I am hoping that after the test it will not be the ingridients like Vitamin D etc. should not be found.
For now I am praying that there is a solution or cure for whatever findings my vet found to my dog. - jon mullinsWhich blue buffalo would be best for a one year old lab with food allergies ?
- MelI like Blue Buffalo more now that they have their Freedom line (of grain free food). My dog didn’t care too much for the food, but she ate it anyway. The ingredients are great, but as always this is only half of the story. No kibble compares to cooking your own meal for your pet, so you can’t expect perfection from these companies.
This food is very expensive and it would be worth choosing a different food from online shopping, such as Acana. What I don’t like about Blue is that the kibble is very tiny. Although this should be great for people who own dogs of different sizes, I personally don’t like it because I tend to feed my dog with treat dispensers. This kibble falls out too easily so she doesn’t have to work for her breakfast.
Anyway, as far as the ingredients are concerned I would give Blu 5/5.
As always, be cautious with any brand of kibble. Wash your hands after handing, and be mindful of recalls. It can happen to any of the big brands because multiple people and companies are often involved in the processing and handling of the food. - SICK LABRADOODLE, MAINE COONE CAT AND TUXEDO CATI have fed Blue Buffalo wet and dry foods exclusively to my 1 1/2 year old Maine Coon cat and the 15 year old ‘tuxedo’ cat for over a year and have watched them decline in health for the last two months. Both cats seem to have diarrhea nearly every day. I took the older cat to the vet since he was drinking water excessively and is loosing weight…I suspected Diabetes, but blood work was okay. They are both house cats and are never exposed to other cats.
Our 8 month old Labradoodle was slowly switched (over 2 week period) and has the same Diarrhea, odorous issues. He also eats canned and dry Blue Buffalo exclusively. He is an indoor doggie also and only goes out on a leash.
Definitely something is different about the Blue Buffalo foods in the last two months; nothing else in their everyday habits has changed. I decided to search the internet for ‘Blue Buffalo problems” and found that the petfood review sites are loaded with the animal owners with the same issues as my pets. I’m immediately switching foods as many reviews stated the problems created by these foods set the animal up for various cancers. Pet Smart or Petco will fully refund the original price of any unused portions of the foods they carry (I have about $150 worth on-hand….last 2 weeks). I will post on the Blue Buffalo site, but expect nothing. They are a huge corporation and Blue Buffalo is only a division. My animals depend on me for their best welfare….not some greedy corporation that posts high earnings on Wall Street. - FroidI’ve been feeding my 2 dogs Blue Buffalo Wilderness for 3 years and thought it was a Godsend. In the last month, my 15 year old Beagle started vomiting bile. She ate less and less and finally refused to eat. Soon after, my 9 year old Golden Retriever refused to eat and started vomiting bile also. I’m feeding them grass fed beef burger with rice and which both ate readily and hungrily and both have stopped vomiting. I’m done with this brand.
- ERIN BOWLESi just started my 2 chihuahua’s on the Grain-Free BLUE Freedom chicken. Since starting it 3 weeks ago their stool is half brown/half cement color, they shed so much more. I had been feeding them Nature’s Recipe Grain-Free with no issues. But I decided to switch bassed upon recommendations. The dogs are different ages, different eating habits, physical features but they both are having issues.
- edieAfter doing much research, I transitioned my 1 year old to BB Rice/Chicken for small dogs. She has not had a normal bowel movement since then. At first I thought it was because we moved and that might have been hard on her. Now, I’m not so sure after reading these posts. Her poop is more like rabbit poop. And there is hardly anything to speak of. She had normal stools up until this new food.
Will take her to the Vet to make sure she’s okay otherwise.
- teresamy puppy thew up from this dogfood a few times…does it expand into real food when digested? Cause I saw pieces of chicken..
- RobinWe have been feeding BB for 3 weeks to our Shih Tzu puppy. She LOVES it. She will take her kibble to her bed and lay down and guard it, like shes afraid someone will take it, or she will run out. For people who are switching foods… You can’t just switch foods. You have to do a blend for a week or more. We do 2 weeks when we switch. Start off with mostly old food, and teency amount of new, and SLOWLY change the mixture until you are mostly new food, and very little old food. Eventually becoming only the new food. Sudden switching can cause loose stools, vomiting, lethargic tendencies. A slow switch is the answer. And, it’s ok for them to drink water. Our dogs go through it like crazy, always have. No matter what we feed. Summers hit 115 + here, winters are mild, and they drink a LOT. Don’t just yank your dogs off one food and switch to another. It’s hard on the system.
- KristinI have a german shepherd and switched her to Blue after she developed allergies. The Blue Basics (Salmon) is amazing. She loves it. She has NEVER had any adverse reaction to it.
I also usually mix 1/3 of the Blue canned products to add some variety & all that. Let me tell you – The stews, chicken pot pie flavors – look like food that you yourself would eat for dinner… They also have the canned “mush” as I call it which my dog also likes. One of my neighbors became ill, and her dog ironically got tired of their dog food and wouldn’t eat. I offered to help by way of giving her some Blue to try. After trying Blue for two feedings – She called me & was like “That stuff is AMAZING” – she went out and bought it and also has nothing but great things to say. You will see a GREAT difference in your dog’s coat, and energy level.
I’m not please about the “largest” bag going from 32lbs to 24lbs but what can you do?? This food is worth every penny I spend on it. I tell people I spend about $52 a bag, and then $2.67 a can. and they’re like “Ouch” (These are the people feeding their dogs the worst rated foods mind you- cheap cheap cheap)… My response is always “Mc D’s is cheap but would you feed it to your family everyday to save $ ? No, because it’s not healthy right? My dog is part of our family, and I want her to be fed the right foods even if it costs a lil more out of my pocket. - Lymari wellsI am a groomer and vet tech. Over the last few weeks I have has 5 clients’ dogs get sick. All same symptoms. Young, and otherwise healthy dogs. Vomiting, drooling, diarreah, sometimes with blood in it, elevated liver enzymes, bloating….. ALL ARE FEEDING BLUE BUFFALO!! Coincidence? I don’t think so. Researching, there had been a recall last year or the year before for vitamin d3 toxity from too high amounts of vitamin d added to the blue buffalo dog food. All these are symptoms of vit d3 toxicity. No telling how many others have been sick and even died from this. Why? Because no one would suspect a top brand of dog food that you pay an arm and a leg for, would be bad for your pet. Blue buffalo has gotten TONS of complaints, and they either low it off or refuse to return calls.
- KellyI have a 5 1/2 month old greyhound lab mix. She has been on blue large breed puppy since the middle of august when we brought her home from the shelter. I wanted to give her the best food because i read that by products in foods can cause all sorts of nasty stuff. Her stools have been pretty good with the exception of a couple soft stools here and there. Well with that said, this last bag i purchased i noticed her stools becoming very soft and now runny. She gets up twice a night to go out and has not done that for a long time. I feel terrible for her so i started to research how to correct it. Now i am angry because the more i search the more i find that Lola is not the only dog this is happening to! I feel betrayed by blue for not looking into this. I have read about customers contacting them and not hearing back from blue. Now i am switching to a new food that isnt going to make her sick. So do i just give her the new food or mix old and new to transition. Either way she is going to get diarrhea! I chose blue because they seemed to be a company that cared about dogs and made food that i felt good about feeding to my dog. Not cool blue, not cool!
- Kathy CountissI had a problem with the Salmon dry dog food from Blue Buffalo. My dogs were drinking water by the tons and it stopped the day I quit feeding it.
- mi mimy puppy got very sick on blue dog food thevet told me that she had other dogs with the same thing mydog had and it was blue as sone as i took him off it he got better
- SkeetAfter having my 2 older small dogs on Science Diet Oral Care for several years I heard that Blue
Buffalo was the best way to go. I gradually changed them over to that and it wan’t long before they had intestinal problems which the Vet diagnosed as colitis .My oldest one endeded with pancreatitis.( sp.?)
After much medicine and treatments I got them back on the Oral care.At first they were satisfied for awhile but now my 15 yr old, who has always eaten well, refuses it, even when ground in a processer, used dry, softened with a little soup or any thing to get her to eat it. Nothing works as she just licks up the little dab of soup , or whatever,and leaves the rest.
Another Vet told me ,at one time, that he fed Pedigree at the hosp and to his home pets. I got a bag and have been giving small pieces mixed with the Oral care. She eats the Pedigree and leaves the Oral Care. The 9 yr old still eats the Oral Care, if softened, after finding that there is nothing else except a little piece of Pedigree as a treat once in a while.
At almost 87 yrs, my self ,I’m at my wits end trying to find a food that will be good for them and that they will like so I can gradually try them on it.
I Don’t like what I’ve been reading about Science Diet and other well known brands, so don’t know what to do. I have had dogs all of my life and plain old Purina Dog Chow kept my dogs going for long times. What to do ???????? - DonnaHave a tiny little yorkie, just a lil over 3lbs , and as all little dog owners have experienced, quite finnecky. She LOVES the duck flavored Blue, and the nuggets are small enough for her to enjoy comfortably!
- SusanI have had my Chocolate Lab on Blue Buffalo Wilderness Salmon Dry Food for over 3 years now. She is currently 5 years old. She has allergy issues, and is on weekly allergy shots, but her coat is shiny and healthy and glossy, and she remains at a perfect weight. Her allergies are environmental allergies which have nothing to do with her food. She is full of energy and has had no gastrointestinal issues whatsover. I highly recommend the food!
- BerniceHi,
I also have a Chocloate lab and we first tried Koby on the Wilderness brand but the protein was absolutely too much to bare. It was going in one end and coming out the other end bad gas of gas.. So we switch to Healthy weight but we are having a hardtime seeing him lose weight. We do not give him treats, we feed him 2cups a day 1 in am and 1 in pm. The only treats he gets are green beans by the way he loves. Please share any information you have, his coat is shiny, we just need him to lose some weight. He weighs in at 86pds. Vet said he needs to be at least 75 – 80 max prefer he weighs in at 77 or 78 pds is good.
- CharleneWe lost our sheltie about a month ago due to lung cancer. He was only 7 years old. I am hearing about more and more dogs getting cancer and I wonder if it is due to the food they eat. We still have a daushund and I am thinking of changing his food. B&B is on my list of foods to try. Does B&B have snacks too?
- AngelicsheltiesBlue buffalo has a very nice selection of goodies! Go to there website. http://bluebuffalo.com/ and look under the product guide. They also have a couple of different grain free foods Wilderness and Freedom that you might be interested in trying.
- BeckyI have a 1 year old lab and a newly adopted 3 year old beagle. Both happen to have a grain allergy so I feed the BB basic salmon and potato. My lab was losing his hair until we realized his allergy issue. Once we put him on the right food, his hair came back beautifully. When we brought the beagle home and started her on BB same as the lab her stool actually firmed up. I’m looking forward to her getting healthy. For those of you who are feeding your dogs the high protein wilderness, I would ask you this, are they extremely active dogs? That is what that formula is made for. Read your labels and find what is best for your dog. As another lady posted, some foods cause detoxification. I know I may have to go through this with my beagle. Be patient and understand that all that switching could be causing as much distress.
- DonnaI have been using BB for about 3 months now. My Willow looks beautiful. I mean her coat, we get so many compliments on her fur.
I have had no issues, and she always gobbles up her food. Just because it works great for my dog, Willow is a Gsd, does not mean it is for all dogs.
The ingredients are high quality, if people are having issues with sensitive tummies, switch to the basic formula. - DeniseI have been giving my 11 pound shih-poo whose 7yrs the BB flavor Turkey and Potatoe for “Sensitive Stomachs”. She has been on it for about a year. No problems. I also at times mix the wet BB food, Beef stew or the Salmon with her kibble. She tolerates it very well. However, I started to switch her treats to BB. I bought the Health snacks. Pumpkin/Cinnamon and Banana/Yogurt. I started with the pumpkin. On day 4 and 5 she started vomiting and severe diarrhea. Thankfully she is drinking water but not excessively. I came home both days to droppings on my floor and she hasn’t had an accident in the house for over 5 yrs. the droppings were hard but the minute I took her outside she couldn’t stop and it was liquid. Today she started the vomiting and it spewed out of her mouth. I saw the pieces of the dried pumpkin that is in the treat and put two and two together. I have made a complaint to
BB and will find my receipt and take both bags back. I am gonna keep her on the kibble but wait an see. Sorry for the TMI but I wanted to share my exerience.- PaigePerhaps this could mean that your dog might be allergic to one or more of the ingredients in the treat rather than there being something wrong with the treats themselves. Have you ever given your dog pumpkin or cinnamon before? Dogs can be allergic to all sorts of things, just like humans.
- ChristinaSome of these comments are just plain silly and it is evident many of you dont know how feeding kibble works. For those of you that complained your dogs were ORIGINALLY on Iams, Pro Plan, Science Diet etc and then you swtiched to Blue Buffalo and your dogs were sick..Ummm that would be like humans living off of garbage food like hamburgers and fries for months and years and then eating healthy. YOUR BODY IS DE TOXING!! That is an indication your dogs arent used to premium kibble.
I have 3 Rottweilers and all 3 have always ( from 8 weeks old) been fed Blue Buffalo. They are all simply gorgeous!! Strangers ask me what I give them to make their fur so shiny and keep them so lean. They have beautiful white teeth, hard stools, and are full of energy. They do have gas from time to time but that is because they love the food so much they scarf it down.
I suggest you look at the ingrediants in BB compared to the other brands….I think it is quite obvious BB is one of the best premium brands on the market.
Oh, for those who claim to have dogs with kidney issues, protein levels dont cause kidney failure….getting a poorly bred pure breed ( especially small breeds) is a HUGE contributor to kidney problems…your dogs dont get kidney failure from eating BB for a few weeks!!!!! Thats just ridiculous!!- KatyChristina,This question of concern is for you.
I’ve been doing the research now for three days on another brand of dog food. Nutro changed their packaging and have not made it easy at all to find the brand I had been giving my senior rescues. I don’t like how small the bites are now etc…they use to label senior glucosamine etc…now I’m on the fourth bag of food and they only seem to like one ,and it’s Authority (pet smart brand! I have narrowed my search down to three dog foods. Blue buffalo, Innova ( which isn’t getting good reviews I guess they were bought out by P & G ) so that’s a deterrent . My question is this. I have a lab,greyhound pit mix 8yrs and an Akit,Lab, Boxer mix 7 yrs. The Akita mix I have always kidded and called him my blond as he was so clumsy as a puppy and is now paying the price with his bones,the other dog is too with hip problems.My blond (my Boy) was tested and diagnosed with cushings desease, after another vet looked at the same blood work he said it “seemed” like it with the HIGH LEVELS of proteins in his urine! We have always watched him,do blood work every six mos as he has thyroid issues as well! I have my other boy tested as well,once a year blood work is done and this time the vet is concerned,he said the proteins levels that always concerned him with my blond are almost double in my pit greyhound mix. I have been told by three top notch vets now,that the high proteins levels have nothing to do with the food they eat,he said these high levels (600) could be from pain !? They both get Novx twice a day and one gets a thyroid twice a day. You had mentioned kidney failure and this protine problem being from poorly overbred dogs etc…could you please give me and opinion on what brand of Ble you might go with if you were in my shoes? Thank you so much.
- ShawnMy pomapoo does great on salmon wilderness. Her coat is beautiful & she has lots of energy. Her stool doesn’t smell & it’s not messy at all. The duck or chicken formulas are not for her. Clearly it depends on the dog but BB Salmon Wilderness is the only dog food for my dog. She loves it.
- RobWe started our beagle at 8 1/2 weeks on Blue puppy food – mainly the dry with a spoonful of Blue puppy canned mixed in with it. She is now one year old and is the absolute picture of health. Perfect weight, beautiful coat, and full of energy. We recently moved her from puppy to regular and she loves it. I did notice that the lamb formula makes her a bit gassey! Don’t overfeed as is usually the case for weight gain. It takes less Blue food than regular dog food. Our vet is very pleased with the results so far, said she looks great.
- KimA girl I know told be how great Blue Buffalo is, so I started feeding my dachshund Blue Buffalo Grilled Turkey and Chicken about one month ago and am going to stop immediately. She can’t get enough water and she has been bloated and uncomfortable. I tried feeding my cats the indoor cat formula and they wouldn’t touch it. I will not recommend Blue Buffalo to anybody.
- RuthI just started researching online why my dog is drinking so much water a 6 month old puppy if this was unusual. Then checked out the brand which I have bought being organic the Blue Buffalo. I am quite concerned after reading these comments and will be taking my puppy off this food tomorrow and onto something else. She drinks excessively, and is lethargic.
- SharonI have had my dog on Blue now for about 8 months and she has not had any problems at all with it. We started her out by mixing it with her other food, and gradually worked up to all Blue…no problems.
- WilliamVery scary started my 9 year old Shih Tzu on BB today. Will return the rest of the cans tomorrow and return to the prior food
- ClaudiaBoth my 7 year old Airedale Meyna and 8 year old lab mix Ellie have been on Blue Buffalo since the big recall. I believe approx. 6 years. Their coats are beautiful, teeth and overall health are good. Many of my friends changed to Blue around the same time. I have had no issues with my pups since the change. Both dogs are very active and again have no health issues. Snacks include veggies and marrow bones. I wouldn’t change brands and really believe in this product. If your dog is gaining weight, check with your vet. I feed 1 1/4 C twice daily to my dale and 1C twice daily to my Ellie-no weight issues. Sad to read negative reviews on this product. I also want to add that I have spoken with the company and really had wonderful results from them. I love my pups and I wouldn’t change a thing. I believe in Blue Buffalo!
- sandy perrittjust because the blue buffolos headquarters are in the usa and manufactured here doesn’t mean the food is made here. china could be where it is first made and sent here.
- KipThey make the food in the US, don’t be ridiculous!! This starts stupid false rumors.
- judy ghorbanzadehKip, I think what she was trying to say is that not all the ingredients may not be from here. I read an article about dog food in the U.S.A. & it had a breakdown of where minerals/vitamins/foods used in dog food here are actually from and it was pretty stressfull reading. A large amount of minerals specifically, must be sourced from other countries (mostly Asia). The problem is their quality control. (especially China)The article gave examples of contaminated maaterials that had been caught & it was horrifying. There was alot of bribery going on in these countries for inspectors to look the other way. I wish I could remember where I read this article but it was a real eye opener.
- BrendaMy dogs were not able to switch even slowley to Blue Buffalo. Vomiting and diarrea. Or Call of the Wild. It was an awful experience. I went back to my Iams. I have raised 3 Pekignese on Iams. I still have one and he is 18 and still doing well. alittle artritis and takes a thyroid pill once a day. I ask and my vet sd Iams is fine. Been around a long time. I have Winston 18 and Antjuan 3. Antjuan has a sensitive tummy. I changed to the sensitive tummy no corn wheat or soy Iams, hes doing great. Still has allergies but due to pollen etc.
- leaI’m sorry to intrude on your comment,but If I were u I would seriously consitter takeing your dog off Iams dog food.I have had a 3 yr.old schnowzer to be diagnosed with kiddney failer.Died a slow painful death and Vet told me iams was to blaim.There is a specific ingrediant in it that slowy eats away at the liver cells.It was awful,she sufferd for weeks before she died.Only because the vet thought we could save her but she was too far gone.I would rather see some one give there dog food from the dollar store than that trash.It’s dangerouse and it is all at the expense of our beloved animal’s. Please consitter a switch!
- lgreeneMy little Yorkie died from kidney failure too and blame it on Iams…that was right around the recall too…
- StacyWe switched our dog from Kirkland Salmon to Blue Buffalo Basics Turkey. The hot spots went away but he didn’t like it. So bought Blue Buffalo Basics Salmon and he is drinking like crazy. I am very worried. So what next? No more Blue Buffalo.
- wandaI am so very confused now. Your review says good to great on it’s review of BB…. BUT every comment tells of horrow stories when this product is feed to theor pets. Think I’ll check out something else.
- KipThat’s because people are ignorant and make stupid comments that mean nothing. Blue is a great product.
- anniemy dog is doing good after i switched it to blue buffalo turkey and potato formula this March. However, she starts to gain weight over the past few months. which affects her legs badly. We tried to put her on other food, her weight is similar but doesn’t looked bloat. however, she is very sensitive, so we experience a bad time during switch food. now we switch back to bb diet formula, however she is not doing good on this one. i don’t know why, when i tried to put her on bb turkey and potato diet formula, her nose instantneously changes color, as i was gradully changing her food, i put like 5 g diet food with 25 g orignial bb turkey and potato, in case she eats too fast, i gave her the first 5 g first, several day i see the change in color on the nose when i put her on the new formula.i took her to the vets, vets doesn’t seemed to believe it is caused by the food change. but now, i see a lot complaint about this food here, since she needs to loss weight, but the healthy weight formula doesn’t suit her, the small bite makes her not eating enough but becoming fat. i think there is time to make a switch, though we thought bb is best for her. maybe i was wrong.
- anniewe love it. but it makes my dog gains a lot weight.
- RaenaI have been feeding Blue Buffalo to my two year old Pit Bull since I adopted her. I started her on the puppy Lamb and Oatmeal formula and kept her on it as directed by my vet until she was about a year old. I changed her to the adult Lamb and Oatmeal formula after that. Turns out my little one had a very sensitive stomach and the adult formula was a little much for her. She only had runny stools but otherwise completely fine, no changes in appetite or water consumption, no lack of energy, no bloody stools or vomiting, etc. However, as a precaution, I changed her to the Chicken and Brown Rice formula and she has been scarfing that down ever since. No adverse side effects. Just a happy, energetic, adorable dog. I will never feed her anything else. She loves all of their treats too.
- HeatherI have been feeding my dogs (1 female Bullmastiff and the other male Lab) The Blue Buffalo Chicken and Brown Rice. My bullmastiff has extremely bad gas. Has anyone else experienced this with their dogs and if so what have you done to correct it?
- nickI have had boxers for years with gas
now I feed them a little regular yogurt (plain full fat to no fat)
with every feeding and no more gas
from any of them - SerrinaMastiff’s have gas.
My Mastiff actually had the least gas on the cheapest most horrible food – go figure and he lived until he was almost 11.
My Poodle on the other hand had diarrhea with this product but it resolved after 1 month and he’s fine and get’s a total of 1 1/4 c/day. He does have weird pee though – seems oily when he’s had “accidents” on the cement.
- AmandaWe’ve been feeding the Wilderness variety to all three of our dogs for a couple months now. All three have had loose stools since the switch. We tried cutting back the amount of food, switching and then cutting the wet food out completely…and now one of them has explosive diarrhea, so we’ll be seeing the vet to make sure the food is really the issue. I was pretty sure it was, and am even more sure after reading all the comments here.
I’m sad it’s so hard on their digestive systems, because other than that, it’s been great. They’ve all lost the weight they needed to; their coats are better and softer, and they’ve been a lot more alert and active…but this poop situation is no good. - SuzanneHave a call into vet…..have had all theses problems with BB! Thirsty and diarrhea. Stopped food a week a ago per vet (tested stools no parasites) and switched to rice and chicken diet only. Now back to BB and he is back to diarrhea. Very worried after reading all these post. Waiting for vet to call back!
- JazzinwineThis stuff is awful at least for my dog. I tried the Blue Wilderness Small Breed Chicken and then I tried the Small Breed Lamb & Brown Rice. My dog is a Yorkie-Chon, 6 lbs. and not a picky eater. She didn’t like the food to begin with so I tried adding water to get the aromas going. I weened her off of her regular food by mixing the new with the old. That was for 14 days. She started eating it exclusively. By day 3 she was panting, did not want to play and could not get enough water. I assumed it was because it had too much protein at 36 grams. So I went to exchange it for the Small Breed Lamb & Brown Rice. Same thing, only this time she didn’t want me to pet her near her kidneys. Her stool is very soft and I’m not waiting for it to turn into diarrhea. Today is Monday and I took that back too. It appears it doesn’t matter how much protein is in the dog food. The issue is the food is not agreeing with my dog and after reading all of the horrible things it’s done to dogs, she is no longer on it. She will be going to the Vet tomorrow. Holistic or not, this stuff is crap and it appears to be hurting our very much loved pets. Bill Bishop needs to figure out what the issue is and STAT! Act like you care about our pets and find out what the issue is.
- GeorgeSwitched to Blue Buffalo and both my dog and I are very pleased! No issues at all and my dog is perfectly healthy.
- GARLIC!!!!!Their food contains GARLIC!!!!!!!! I will never feed to my dog again, if you ask any vet they’ll tell you the worst things you can feed your dog are: onions, grapes/rasins, GARLIC, almonds, chocolate (DARK in particular), AVOCADOS (Avoderm), Alcohol (my dog tries to sneak beer all the time), caffeine (like they need it!), milk (if they are lactose intolerant), macadamia nuts, candy/gum, fat trimmings/bone, persimmons, peaches, plums, raw eggs/meat/fish (can contain unhealthy levels of bacteria), salt, sugar, yeast, and prescription medicine.
Many of their foods contain GARLIC, and SALT. Plus they had a recall because of unhealthy levels of vitamins in their food. Seriousluy if you love your pets stay away. There are plenty of good brands out there that do no include ingredients the ASPCA has determined to be hazardous. Why choose a brand that disregards the preeminent pet health organization’s suggestions/warnings?!?!?!?!? This goes for AVODERM as well, seriously your main marketing ingredient is toxic to dogs!!!!!!!!!!! My dog loved Wellness, and Orijen. I prefer Wellness Core (not Ocean) because of the price tag. I am not an aristocrat, but I care for my puppy’s health just as much as mine! I encourage you to research this yourself. These are irresponsible companies! Do yourself a favor.- JazzinwineThank you so much for sharing this! Your post is the reason I took serious notice of what it was doing to my little Lexie and she will NEVER eat that mess again.
- LMH87I’ve read conflicting reports about the effects of garlic on a dog’s health, however, the ASPCA maintains that garlic is dangerous for dogs. Every product of Blue Buffalo dog food has garlic in it. I called the company to question why and they maintained that garlic was essential to a dog’s good health, and that if I did not want to give my dog garlic they were not the company for me. I can respect that, but I think they may want to take their customers’ concerns seriously and look into it. Dismissing their customers who have legitimate concerns about their product makes the company seem like they don’t take responsibility or these questions seriously. I know I am not the only person with this concern. I wouldn’t trust my dogs health to a company like this.
- AngrySwitched dog to Blue Buffalo Co. Life Protection Formula (fish & brown rice) and she is very sick. She has lot a lot of weight and won’t eat anymore. She lays around all day (when she used to have lots of energy). I am convinced this stuff is poison also!! I was so excited to swtich her to a holistic/healthy dogfood – this is just the opposite!!
- SheilaI started my Husky on Blue Buffalo after the previous dog food I was using was recalled and when he was about 2 years old. I tried several flavors of Blue Buffalo, but with all of them he would have diarrhea off and on. He hated the life bits-he’d spit them out and my old dog would eat them. About 6 months ago I started him on Kirkland’s (Costco’s brand made by Diamond)super premium Chicken, Rice , and Vegetable flavor. Since then he has had no diarrhea-not even loose stools. He seems to like it much better. The cost is also quite a bit less. I found out that last month this dog food was recalled, but not in the state in which I live.
- KarenDO NOT FEED your pet any product from this company,
they sell under many brand names. Chicken Soup for the Soul, Wilderness…….
My Lab started with tremors and then excessive scratching and thirst. As I continued to feed him this poison, his condition grew rapidly worse. He started loosing chunks of his beautiful normally glowing hair. I took him off 5 days ago, and he is getting better, more energy, less scratching, still loosing patches of hair though.- CathySorry Karen, you are wrong. Blue is a privately owned company that only makes Blue Buffalo. Blue Buffalo Wilderness is just a special high protein formula.
- CathyKaren, you are confusing Blue Buffalo with Diamond Dog Food. Some people call Diamond (Blue Diamond) Yes, Diamond makes Chicken Soup For The Soul & had made a very small batch for the Wellness company along with other dog food brands but not Blue Buffalo. Diamond had the recall that affected several companies.
Wilderness is made by Blue Buffalo & is a high protein food for very active dogs ie: hunting, K9, agility etc.
Please do your due diligence before you bash anything especially pet food as most of us would step in front of a vehicle to save our pets.
- jimJust left my vets office after getting my GSD puppy her shot. The first thing the vet asked was “you’re not feeding blue to her are you?”. I said no, why? She then went on to tell me she has 5 dogs right now with severe (critical) liver/kidney issues related to their food. She said she called Blue multiple times and got no response to the issues which isn’t surprising since the recall from Diamond only happened because a HUMAN got sick.
Any idea how wide-spread this is? We are in Arizona.
Man, running out of food options with all these recalls,poisonings etc. - P SolbyI usually don’t do this much reasearch on dog food. However, I recently switched my 4 year old Cockapoo to Blue and she seemed to be excessively thirsty. She typically eats a combination of Castor & Pollux Ultramix dry and some type of canned wet food. She is usually not that picky on the wet food and she has no issues switching as long as it is one of the main proteins chix, lamb or fish. I could not find anything about the sodium content of this food as it is not on the can or on line. heading back to return the remaining cans and go back to the Castor & Pollux organic wet food. Why are all of our dogs excessively thirsty?
- ConfusedI have been feeding my cat the basic blue buffalo turkey and potato flavor all year. He has been really sick since I opened this new bag two days ago. He is very thirsty and can’t stay out of the litter pan. The food is tearing him up all the sudden! I have a strange suspicion something is wrong with this food considering there is a recall on MANY pet foods right now. I don’t care what the disclaimer on the web site says, in my opinion something isn’t right with this Blue Buffalo food this go around. It’s a gut feeling. I’m switching foods, as I’m very concerned and just don’t trust.
- MichaelWe have been giving our 5 month old puppy BB since we got her. She was doing great on it with the 1st bag. But when he got the 2nd bag, she starting have very watery BW’s, was lathargic, and seemed to drink a lot of water. I have been digging online, looking at many webpages. All the reviews are the same. There have been tons of receint problems with this food, and BB has not done a thing about it. We have switched her over to wellness, and hope we have switched her over in time. The food is a little more money, but we can not put a price on her health, unlike BB who finds it’s cheeper to put our pets at risk then recall there product.
- Not HappyAs a pet owner I was not happy with Blue Buffalo dog food.
I started me dog on this brand at about 8weeks old,I thought the transition from mothers milk to food was the problem when me dog started to have diarrhea and vomiting. After I took him to the vet and was told to put him on a bland diet,things improved,long story short at five months of age my dog was 20 lbs under wights. With the long recovery he is now healthy but still has the problem of keeping on wight,due to the damage done to his digestive system.
Very unhappy American Bulldog owner - NathanI am so angry to read this. We have been back and forth to the vet with digestive issues, now I believe this is the culprit. I have a two year old toy poodle and he has developed intolerance to this food. We were using the small bread and puppy formulas. He will be fine and eating, then the next day his stomach is gurgling and he is throwing up mucus and wont eat. After trying several variations of the Blue Brand I am sooo glad we didn’t follow the pet stores advice and switch him to the high protein brand. It is time to go to another brand and hopefully my puppy will be able to be normal again. I will definitely give an update after the switch. What really angers me is how much I trusted this brand after reading how it is the best. I actually suggested it to other people for their dogs. I am listening to my dogs stomach gurgle from across the room right now. That doesn’t sit well with me, neither does the hundreds of dollars I have spent in vet bills only to find it is this stuff. I will update in a month after we find something else.
- Confusednathan, what are you switching too? thanks.
- elanyI’m a ferm believer that the oldest,simplest foods are the best.I have had a 3 yr.old schnowzer die of excessive kiddy failer caused by Iams dog food,againe “the best right”.On the other hand I’v had not one but 3 dog’s live to be 18 yr,21 yr,16 yr, on OL’ ROY.Sounds crazy I know but ask your self how long ol’roy has been around compaired to other brands and farther more how many recalls have u heard about the ol’roy and the less expensive brand’s. NOT MANY!
- Karen SteinrockMy 6-year-old Newfoundland was diagnosed with diabetes as well as heart issues AFTER I switched him to Blue Buffalo back in February. Increased thirst, urination, high sugar and now weakness in back legs. Diabetes is almost unheard of in this breed and I can’t help but think the diet change contributed. He was perfectly healthy before this.
We are switching back to his original diet. - KarenWe have a minpin that has been getting sicker and sicker since he started this food. Buying something different today!
- AngelaWe started our 5 year old bassett hound beagle cross on BB Wilderness chicken formula 2 months ago. For the past two weeks she had been quite lethargic and within the past week she began drinking an excess amount of water and as such losing control of her bladder and peeing frequently in the house-very out of character for her. We took her to out vet yesterday and they ran bloodwork and urine analysis revealing sky high calcium levels and vitamin D levels-causing the excess thirst. If left untreated can lead to death in dogs. We stopped her immediately of BB and within a day and a half she is nearly back to her old self. We are going back for follow up blood work in 3 weeks and hopefully fingers crossed her levels will be back to normal. Very very scary we thought we were providing a high quality food for our dog who is like our child only to find out we were nearly poisoning her:(
- Karen SteinrockEverything I’ve read here coincides with the symptoms my 6-year-old Newfoundland has suffered since switching to BB. Ten days ago he was diagnosed with diabetes which is unheard of in this breed. A month after being on BB he developed heart issues just out of the “blue”. He’s been so sick, lethargic, and now very weak in the rear which can be the kiss of death for a Newfoundland. His blood sugar skyrocketed in less than two weeks and is on insulin now, which almost killed him last week. I truly believe it’s the diet. No more BB here and I hope he makes it.
- SuzanneMy 4 legged child (100 lbs) had always been on Iams. Always felt it was superior. Began to read about another scare of the China melamine possibility. Reading about even the possibility petrified me. Again, our 4 legged children were being put in harms way. Then, because he is getting older and I have put him on condroflex2 the last few years to help his hips/joints I did extensive research into holistic dog/people food. – He has been on it for about 5 months. I did an immediate switch over – he experienced bowel adjustment for about 3 days – nothing dramatic – and has even lost a couple of pounds. He never misses a meal or snack. Yes, it is more expensive than the run of the mill. However, it is worth every single dollar – it is all about how you view your love and care for you pet family. My only wish could be that you could print a blue buffalo coupon online rather than mailorder. The $5.00 coupon is greatly appreciated.
- BrendaI tried Blue Buffalo I have 2 Pekignese They both had diarea and vomiting Thae thwe Petland Manaser suggested Taste of the Wild They were sick again and gas with both kinds Vet told me some of the higher quality foods are too high in protein and dogs w sensitive stomachs cant ttolerate them plus they cause pancreitis and or Kidney problems or failure Too many recalls and problems with this new stuff I ve raise 3 Pekignese on Iams and no problems My last of the 3 is here he is 18yrs old artirits some takes meds does ok thyroid alittle high takes meds still plays my new peke is 3 and Winston the 18yr old one pickks up the toys that Antjuan get out and puts them in the toy box some days he ha alittle trouble walking but usually ok I buy a supplement at the pet store that is the chroni and G and put it on their food Im scared of all the recalls and sick dogs Im reading abt some have died Today Im trying Science Diet Adult small Bites They have been around along time with no recalls if this doesnt work its Iams It has worked well enough to keep all my dogs to live healthy till 16 to 18yrs old and maybe longer since Winston is still kicken
- Billie LowryWe have two Jack Russell Terriers and started them on blue a few months ago. While their coats are beautiful, they are constantly abnormally thirsty and having to urinate. I too noticed one of them trying to eat feces. I feel confident their unusual thirst is linked to Blue as that is when it started.
- LisaI have two boxers, one I had since 8 weeks old the other I adopted at 10 months old – I have always had boxers and they are known to have gas and allergy issues with certain foods. I purchase Costco chicken and rice and Buffalo Blue and do a 75% Costco and 25% dry Blue Buffalo Chicken and Rice mix. Both of my boxers have no gas or allergy issues and solid healthy stool. This is also a good way to feed your dogs healthy when you are on a budget. I also recommend feeding two times per day with a 30 minute quiet time after feeding to help with digestion. Dogs are the BEST!
- Mike MIn the information that you have above you mention,
Who Makes Blue Buffalo?
The company who makes Blue Buffalo dog food is called The Blue Buffalo Company. Blue Buffalo is currently headquartered in Wilton, Connecticut.
Blue Buffalo does not make their products in their own facilities, they are outsourced to different companies.
Ainsworth Pet Nutrition, Dumas, AR
ANI/Vita-Line Products, Hazle Township, PA
CJ Foods, Bern, KS
ProPet, St. Mary’s, OH
Triple T Foods, Frontenac, KS
Tuffy’s Pet Foods, Perham, MN
Some Pet food companies who do make their own products in their own facilities are:
Breeder’s Choice
Champion’s Petfoods
Diamond Pet Products
Fromm Family Foods
Hi-Tek Rations
Horizon Pet Nutrition
By Nature
Merrick Pet Foods
Natura Pet Products (Evo, Innova, CA Natural)
Nutro Ultra, NC and Max Pet Food Products
Precise Pet Products
Tuffy’s Pet Foods - Tanya PhalenI have an 11 week old lab and 10 week old boxer. I gradually switched them to BB large breed puppy food. They love food, but they both get very wet stool and some times diarrhea. The boxer scratches now and the labs coat looks dry and her skin is flaky. Neither one of them had these problems until they got on BB. They ate both going back to vet for check up. I lost my 12 year old boxer last year, I can not deal with more heart ache. These are my babies and I want them to be healthy. What food do I go to?
- tateI had been feeding my schnauzer fromm dog food. this bag I got she is not eating. So i went and got a bag of bb lamb and rice. To me it make her drink more. Anyone else have that problem with BB??
- MalloryI am having the same problem with my two dogs, i thought this was supposed to be the best dog food ever?! They are soo gassy and my one dog has the worst dhiaria i have switched their food numerous times and this has never happened to them I don’t know what to do and the food was 50 bucks not worth it at all!
- TammyI am glad to know I am not the only one experiencing problems with this food. Our poor dog has so much gas, I can’t stand it! He seems to drink way too much, too. I’ll be looking for something else. I don’t think this food is that healthy for him.
- joWe have a 5 year old boxer and the gas smell is so bad we have to leave the room. We thought it was normal digestion problems from something else she was eating. However, I fed the same food to a neighbors dog and today, that dog had the same smelling gas (one no one had smelled previously)
What did you end up changing to if I might ask, I love the natural ingredients & everything about this food, but the gas has to stop…wet stools are another problem
- LorraineI have been feeding my two dogs Blue Buffalo Basics Turkey & Potato Recipe and they have both developed bloody loose stools and excessive thirst. The vet has put them on Metronidazole and I am having blood work done on both of them. I have called the Blue Buffalo company regarding this problem and they do not return my calls. They are very unresponsive which means they do not have our pets’ best interest at heart, no matter how much they spend on advertising trying to make us believe they do. Not a good company and I will no longer purchase any of their products. Once again, we think we are doing the best for our pets by paying a high price for what we think is a superior product, but Blue Buffalo dog food has made my dogs very sick. They were fine before I switched to this food.
- racheldangerously too high in protein, my dog was diagnose with kidney failure after being on the wilderness Blue food. Now has to be on a low protein diet for the rest of his life
- ElaineI agree.
Update to my posts in January: We submitted a claim to BB for reibursement of vet bills of $241.00. They sent us a check. They did not assume responsibility but rather sent the check as an act of “good will”. It was very nice of them but I’m thinking they must have received other complaints. - graffomg really so i dont think i should get any for my 2 year old dog and isnt it really pricey???
- JaneUnfortunately you’ve been misled. All the clinical data indicates that high protein does NOT cause renal failure, quite the opposite. Recommend you find a vet who actually does proper research.
- DaphneMy three small dogs switched from Iams (small breed) to Blue (small breed) and they’ve been doing great. Their gots shiny and they love the taste. It’s worth the money to me! I also give my dogs Blue jerky treats, which they also love.
- htannerFed BB to our dogs for the past few years. A few months ago we saw alarming symptoms… after a traumatic fight with colitis, we found that the cause was the food (turns out a while back BB changed their ingredients). several vet bills later, we are doing fine on other (ANY other) food (we now feed TOTW). and as trial has proven, switching back to blue will once again produce frequent bloody stool as soon as the blue is graduated to 100%.
- rachelcaution blue way too high in protein…my dog is a 4 year old lab diagnose with kidney failiure after being on blue wilderness food. He has to be on a low protein diet for the rest of his life
- MaryI found your post very interesting. Have fed my dog bb for two years now, but started having issues with colitis in October. She has always had some issues with anxiety and stomach upset, but we have been unable to put an end to the bloody diarrhea except for a short time while she was on prednisone. She was put on Science Diet id during this time as well. She is scheduled for a colonoscopy tomorrow due to changes noted in her colon. Would like a little more info regarding when the change in ingredients took place if you know.
Thanks,
- sheltervtBlue Buffalo is simply the best food and best company I have encountered in a 13 year nutrition specialty. It’s the brand I recommend to the vast majority of my clients, and it has worked wonders for my own pets. I discovered this brand several years ago, and even compared to a field of other super premium foods, Blue stands out above the rest.
- PammyWow, this is really scary. My dog is doing OK on this food, but maybe I should switch. I am hearing so many weird things.
- SteveBlue Buffalo has perhaps the finest quality assurance program in the industry. There is absolutely no evidence that any of the few negative experiences posted here is the fault of the food.
- McFeelyI’ve got a 75 lb Catahoula (who also happens to be a picky eater) and a 20 lb Manchester Terrier mix. I tried a number of lower quality foods that the big dog would refuse to eat after a couple weeks – purinaone, iams, eukanuba – not to mention the aforementioned foods would give him terrible gas! Anyway, switched to Blue life protection adult food about a year ago and both dogs love it. I’ve even switched between the three flavors depending on sales and neither of the dogs have any digestion issues. In fact the big dog’s gas issues are essentially gone.
That being said, my dog recently tore the pad on his front paw after pkaying outside all day and I’m almost certain it’s the food’s fault!!! I better switch to (insert whatever food you happen to be pushing here) before it happens again!
Just trying to stick up for Blue. Seems like there are a lot of unfounded comments on here trying to link unrelated health issues to the dog food. They’re dogs, and they get into much worse things than Blue Buffalo when running around outside or rooting through the house when you’re out of the room.
- KipDon’t believe most of this BS, these people know nothing about pet nutrition and their dogs are probably sick from something that has nothing to do with Blue.
- Elaine P.Beth, I’m pretty certain it was the BB that made my dog so sick. Since we stopped the food and started him on the medications he is gaining his health back each day. I’m currently doing research to find a reliable, grain free food for him as soon as he is finished with his prescription food.
As for eating poop, I had a dachshund several years ago that did that. I think I remember the vet telling me that she was missing some nutrients. You might want to mention it to your vet or do some online research.- ElaineWellness Core is the best grain-free.
- Beth ShervaisI’ve been feeding my four month old dachshund BB small breed puppy for two weeks now and after a slight adjustment problem she is doing good and loves it. However there are two issues, perhaps not even related to BB. First she is getting very itchy, has clean vet check, no problems. Second she has started trying to eat her poop, she quickly turns around and attempts to eat it before I can say leave it! would like to know your thoughts on these two things. Any suggestions on stopping this behavior would certainly be appreciated.
- JeannetteHi Beth,
It’s definitely the dog food. Feeding your dog Blue is like feeding your dog poison. If you read other reviews you will see the consistencies with feeding it to your dogs and health problems that develop afterwards. Things such as pancreitis to complete liver failure. I fed it to my dogs (2 beagles) and they began eating their own feces, throwing up and had an increase in thirst. This dog food was recalled in 2010 but people are still noticing the issues feeding it to their dogs now. I have read that when tested at their vet, dogs have had high increases in calcium as well. Please stop feeding this poison to your pets. Good luck.- BethJeanette, I have transitioned over to Orijen and Bella is much improved, likes it better too. Thanks for the info.
- Elaine PI have been feeding my 9 yr old dachshund Blue Buffalo Life Protection Formula for Healthy Weight for almost 4 years and never had a problem. I had immense trust in this company but that is no longer the case. We recently purchased a new bag right after Christmas and about a week later my dog started having diarreah and trouble moving his bowels. It was obvious that going to the bathroom was a very uncomfortable thing for him. Then this past Saturday he woke up lethargic and unable to move. He walked slowly as if in pain. I took him to the vet yesterday and they ran blood tests. Turns out his liver enzymes are very high. The vet said that there was another dog in earler that day with the same exact symptoms and also had been fed Blue Buffalo. Coincidence? I don’t think so. So my pet is now on 3 different medications to try and repair the damage done to his liver.
We have contacted PetSmart and they have agreed to refund the full price of the food, even without the bag or receipt. We are working to contact the company to let them know that there is definitely something wrong with this food. I will never trust their product again.- Beth ShervaisI am anxious to hear the outcome of this. Was it definitely caused by BB? I have a 4 mo. old dachshund on BB now and she is doing great, so far, but your story scares me.
- cj_lpskiTwo days ago, Christmas Eve we had to euthanize our beloved 6 year-old German shepherd due to lethal levels of vitamin D in Blue Buffalo’s Chicken/brown rice large breed dog food. About four weeks ago he abruptly stopped eating and started drinking large amounts of water and producing large amounts of dilute urine. His apatite would improve then disappear eventually he refused to eat. Our vet had little answers and eventually ran blood work finding he was in the initial stages of renal failure. They also found elevated blood calcium and urine analysis found calcium phosphate crystals. X-rays could not find any bladder or kidney stones. Out of desperation he was eventually hospitalized, IV fluids were forced in an attempt to clear his kidneys however after 24 hours (Christmas Eve) we had to have our beloved dog euthanized.
Our dog was an indoor dog never wondered outside our fenced yard was walked regularly on the leash and was always in close contact with us and could not have ingested a poison or toxin. Our second dog a 16 year-old Malamute was not fed a Blue Buffalo product and did not suffer any of these symptoms. I have little doubt that the Blue Buffalo product contained lethal levels of vitamin D producing hypercalcemia and eventually inducing renal failure killing our dog.
We trusted our wonderful dog with this expensive premium dog food. My wife and I are trying to move ahead after this difficult loss while having to deal with the frustration and disgust for this companies lack of responsibility. We urge any dog owner to avoid all Blue Buffalo products and strongly recommend monitoring all FDA recalls had we done this I’m convinced our dog would be with us today.
CJ- AnonymouserThere is absolutely no proof of that. This is an absolute guess.
- StevePeople connecting dog ailments with excess vitamin D in Blue Buffalo dog food fail to realize that vitamin D toxicity causes no lasting harm unless symptoms are ignored for weeks, and that Blue Buffalo invested millions into production and quality assurance after their vitamin D problem more than two years ago, and it is now literally impossible for excess D to be mixed into the food.
- LeslieWhen I adopted my dog, the shelter was feeding him Science Diet. I immediately switched Bailey from this food over to Blue Buffalo. I am embarrased to say that we did not do it gradually, but I guess that we are lucky because we did not have any problems at all. I guess that’s why this dog can eat dead animals that other dogs have ignored because they are so old. He just has a stomach made of lead.
So I guess I am not a good person to judge, but I just wanted to say that my dog is doing good on it.- duaneNever count yourself as a bad person. Cheap dog foods are sprayed with flavor, and thats why dogs love them. It is perfectly acceptable to make an immediate switch from bad food. You would not let a friend smoke crack until they run out then quit, no you would want them to quit immediately. Also, you would not feed your children McDonalds everyday, becuase its not healthy. Our little guy loves his blue. He has breed specific skin issues and I want to look into a mix to work for him.
- http://dogfoodreviews jaymemy dog has been suffering from the worst case of skin issues I have ever come across. I thought i was feeding her the best foods for her skin issues and no vet ever questioned what i was feeding her, in fact they complimented me. Well after allergy shots, lots of vet bills,etc. I brought her to a holistic vet and she reccommended Keen, the honest kitchen. Her hair is growing back in just a week. it is unbelievable! She is still itchy(not as bad), but looks so much better. Her ears look great. Food is everything! I also stopped washing her with shampoo, I only use a oatmeal and aloe soapless dog wash(shampoo can cause problems also).I hope this helps other people whom pets have skin issues. Also, she was able to swich immediately with no problems. She loves the food. Just wish it came in a product that could be left down in case of problems in making her food. Wish I had brought her to the holistic vet sooner.
- Pauljayme, what breed of dog do you have? We have a Shiht-tzu with a very bad skin condition and are at wits end.
- AdamI tried this food for both of my dogs (GSD and pooble), both of them liked the food but had a bad case of farting and stomache issues… i went to three VETs and all of them said that they have several cases like my experience with BB.. i got my dogs off of it and back to my old food.
this is just my two cents. - WilmaPRO PLAN??? One of the LOWEST foods on the market? WOW. BUYER BEWARE
- BobDo you work for Purina?
- amieI breed Akitas. I had my babies on Pro Plan to start then I got a wild hair and decided to feed Blue Buffalo. Where should I begin. I properly mixed in until they were switched then they had loose stool and vomiting. They were lethargic and they have always been perfectly healthy. Well I immediatley switched back to Pro Plan and the problems went away within one day. I will never switch my babies food again.
- Amber H.My dogs had mild seasonal allergies and are starting to age (beagle/pitt mix 13 years and border terrier mix 7 years). My vet suggested that maybe I switch to holistic food. I thought that it would be good since it’s just healthier for them all around. So several months later I started reading up on the brands I had heard before (Blue, Natura, Eagle Pack, etc.). Most of my searching was on sites like about.com, at that time I didn’t know that most websites are biased and enhance certain brands! After a couple days of reading and seeing commercials and receiving a $5 off coupon I decided on Blue Buffalo. Well I gradually and slowly switched as directed mixing the new food with their reg. food (Iams ProActive, which I have never had problems with). First I noticed their stool became softer, I didn’t do anything because I thought that might be normal due to the change in food. Then they started having terrible smelling gas. Then the loose stool turned into diarrhea, and finally when I had completely switched my dogs started throwing up in the mornings. After this they started displaying a disinterest in the food and didn’t want to eat it. First the vomit was just yellowish mucus and then they were throwing up the food and some blood! I became concerned, took my dogs to the vet and immediately went online to see if others were having problems too. I just typed in “my dogs are throwing up after eating Blue Buffalo”, and to my surprise there were tons of blogs and reviews saying the same thing and much worse. I went to the Consumer Reports site and felt sick after reading the reviews on Blue Buffalo. It is NOT what I thought it was and there is a lot of false advertisement on this big brand. There are ingredients in this food that are inferior and extremely high levels of certain vitamins can become toxic at those levels for your pet. They also use other very bad hidden ingredients to preserve that even big shelf brands aren’t allowed to use. I just wanted to warn anyone thinking of using this terrible brand, it might be okay for some dogs but it is deadly and costly after going to the vet for others. I did more research with un-biased non advertising sites and switched cold turkey (which I hated to do but there was no other option) to Acana. I found absolutely nothing negative about Champion brands Acana and Orijen. My dogs immediately became more interested in their food and all bad symptoms stopped after the new food was processed. Their stool is hard and smaller with this food. I don’t know which holistic food you will decide to choose for your loved one, but be wary of Blue Buffalo. They have had several recalls as well.
- KyleAmber, my dog has these same exact symptoms. It’s hard to say what to do. The vet says he probaly has valley fever, were waiting for the blood test. I might try mixing another food half/half. Every consumer report I look up on dogfood seems to be corrupt. Did you decide what else to use yet?
I’m getting over my ignorance and really trying to take care of my beloved Boxer more in depth.
- Marcie ConantAs a pet parent I believe that a reputable company should be willing and able to answer my specific inquiries. I contacted Blue Buffalo with a number of questions. They responded quickly with a “copy and paste’ of their usual sales “schtick”. I could have gotten that online. They seemed too eager to give me the brush off. While quality matters so does how I am treated as a consumer.
- JanetI was feeding my cat the Blue Buffalo flaked chicken, turkey, and salmon canned foods. Recently, when I purchased some cans in February and they were almost all water. This is supposed to be a flaked food with a little liquid in the can. I mean there were 4 or 5 pieces of food floating in a liquid. This happened 3 times.
When I called Blue they told me they were made at different locations. I never heard anything more from them. I don’t want coupons for more crappy food, but a nice letter and some sort of assurance they were working on the problem would be nice.
I don’t think they are working on the problem. I just bought some of the flaked salmon (June 2011) and it’s all liquid. I’m not even going to bother calling them. I understand things can go wrong but as a Company I have no faith in them. As soon as I can find a better flaked or cubed food that my 10-year old can likes and can digest, I’m switching. They don’t seem to care about quality. It’s a shame because I think they have a good product. - NickELC, every dog is different so it is quite possible your dog’s did not need the high amount of protein that is in BB. However, like most natural dog foods on this site, you can not just blame a dog food for what happened when you obviously did not do your research on the food and did not talk to your vet before switching. So, if you have 100% proof that your dog’s died because of BB and NOT because your dog’s could not handle the high protein diet (in which case any high protein dog food would have killed your dog’s you just happened to be using BB) then I am sure we would all love to read into it so we can make a better decision on which dog food to use.
- PaulHaving large dogs, I appreciate Blue Buffalo’s large breed formula, which includes glucosomine and chondroytin among the ingredients. I also appreciate that natural ingredients are used, it is relatively high in protein, does not use corn or fillers and is resonably priced compared to its competition. Oh, did I mention that my dogs love it?
- LindsayVery good food and very small stools when fed to your dog. They have VERY strict quality control and the recall in 2010 was over something very tiny that wouldn’t hurt your dog if it continued to eat the food. I admire the company for being so particular.
No by-products, no corn, little grain if any at all, and many formulas.- AnonI guess you havent read the bag where is says “wholesome whole grains”? While they do make grain-free varieties they are not all grain-free
- Dee KalaBlue Buffalo also had a recall in December of 2010. Though it was labeled “voluntary” it still matters when you can’t get the calcium ratio right. Had Michigan States’ VTH not found there mistake in a research study, one wonders how long it would have taken Blue Buffalo to realize they had a problem that made many dogs sick nationwide. I don’t have to worry because I feed my dogs a diet that I make from the same quality ingredients that I eat. It amazes me that publications like The Whole Dog Journal gives them a high rating especially since their recall in 2007.
- ELC4/29/11…
within 10 days blue buffalo wilderness chicken and their health bars
killed 2 of my 3 dogs…the 3rd was in emergency care f or a couple of days…one was so bad it bled internally and between the vomit and diareha with blood was a mess…he was 6 years old..the other my eldest was 10..i had NO idea BB had any recalls etc until the vet told me..
my advice is to stay away and also do your homework BEFORE you feed your babies.. - murphyBlue didn’t have a voluntary recall because of too much calcium, it was because of a suspected excess of vitamin D and was not life threatening.
My old dog, who was dying of cancer ate only the Blue health bars for the last two weeks of his life. I seriously doubt your dogs dyed from having eaten the treats. If they had, it would have been a nationwide problem, not just n your home. - MichaelWe have been feeding our 5 month old puppy blue buffalo since we got her. She was doing great on the 1st bag we got her. But with the second bad, she started to have bad diarrhea, was lathorgic, and was drinking a lot of watter. I went online to several sights, and all the reviews are the same and a lot of dogs are having the same issue. Something has recently changed with there formula, but there are no recalls being issued. We are switching fer over to Wellness. It’s a little more muney, but we can not but a price on her health. What is apparently what BB is doing by not recalling there food and fixing this.
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