How a Vitamin and a Mistake Led to the Downfall of Hill’s
No one knew how deadly a vitamin could be before the recall of Hill’s Science Diet and Prescription Diet dog food was until dogs started getting sick. And some dogs were dying. No one could comprehend how something – as innocent as a vitamin – could be so deadly.
It started as most recalls do with a single complaint. When the FDA got the report, they notified Hill’s Pet Nutrition that something was wrong: a dog fed their food was exhibiting signs of elevated vitamin D. Hill’s later confirmed elevated levels of vitamin D due to a supplier error and on Jan. 31 the company recalled 25 varieties of Hill’s canned dog food.
MINIMIZING ALARM
The recall was crafted so as not to create undue alarm, emphasizing the recall is voluntary, not mandatory. Publicly Hill’s officials characterize the problem as a possibility, that the food has only the potential to have elevated levels of vitamin D in it. Assuring consumers in boldface type that, “in most cases, complete recovery is expected after discontinuation of feeding,” never mentioning the cause for alarm: Vitamin D toxicosis. Privately, Hill’s puts a name to their fear: Dietary-induced hypercalcemia and hypervitaminosis D toxicity.
MISDIRECTED BLAME
As so many other pet food companies before them have done, Hill’s laid the blame for their failures and the excess levels of vitamin D in their Science Diet and Prescription Diet formulas on their supplier. Forgetting that it was the responsibility of Hill’s to assure the safety and the quality of their pet food. While Hill’s refuses to name the supplier, many wonder if it was the same supplier who provided Sunshine Mills with the dangerous vitamin premix that prompted the recall of multiple brands of dog food for excess levels of vitamin D.
BENEATH THE VENEER
Dig just below the veneer of Hill’s calculated calm, and you hear the stories, read the reports about dogs that are sick and dying after being fed the recalled food. Pet parents are grief-stricken. Veterinarians feel angry and betrayed. Dig further, and you’ll find a document written by Hill’s, quietly sent to veterinarians on the diagnosis and treatment of vitamin D toxicosis. In an attempt to repair that damage, privately Hill’s has made an offer to reimburse veterinarians for the cost of testing a patient for conditions related to vitamin D hypervitaminosis.
THE $10 COUPON
One of those grief-stricken pet parents contacted me and told me that Hill’s offered her $10 in coupons after her dog died from eating the recalled dog food. “That’s more than most people were offered,” she said. Most were offered only $5 in coupons whether their dog was dead or alive.
I didn’t believe it.
That was until I was offered $10 in coupons by Hill’s for my ailing dog Sadie, “maybe $20,” she said politely.
Sadie isn’t a real dog, just one I made up.
I called Hill’s to find out if what that woman said was true. I sighed when I told the Hill’s consumer representative that I had thrown the cans away. But she kindly took my information, and asked for permission to speak to my vet and gave me a promise to send me a packet of information. While she put me on hold, instead of music, I heard ads about Hill’s pet food.
Then, the call was over.
BROKEN TRUST
But, for many consumers, the heartbreak, the fear, and anxiety aren’t over. Their vets are struggling with the aftermath of vitamin D toxicosis in their patients. They have to face angry clients who trusted their advice their recommendation to buy Hill’s Science Diet or Hill’s Prescription Diet dog food formulas. Formulas designed to treat health problems, not create them. How do those veterinarians tell their clients that the dog food they prescribed more than likely led to the illness and death of their dog?
This drama is being repeated in thousands of veterinary clinics and animal hospitals across America. But the problem isn’t just limited to the US, the implicated formulas are being recalled all over the world.
It was only a matter of time that a legal complaint would be made. Only last week, three class action complaints were filed in the US. They are as follows.
BONE v. HILLS
Plaintiffs in Florida, North Carolina, and New York are leading a suit filed Feb. 11 in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York.
Kelly Bone, Christina Sawyer, and Janine Buckley say that Hill’s specialty dog foods contained “toxic and often fatal levels of vitamin D” and that the company knew about it months before its recall on Jan. 31. The suit claims that dogs owned by each of them died as a result of being fed tainted Hill’s products.
“Not only has Hill’s sold contaminated food, but it has dragged its feet in issuing a recall and including all contaminated food within the scope of the recall,” the lawsuit says.
The Chicago-based firm Cafferty, Clobes, Meriwether & Sprengel LLP represents the plaintiffs.
NAVARETTE v. HILL’S
John Navarrete of California is suing Hill’s on behalf of himself and other prospective plaintiffs in a suit filed Feb. 12 in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.
Navarette claims that his German Shepherd, Goliath, became ill after eating cans of Hill’s Prescription Diet that later were recalled. In December, Goliath was taken to an emergency veterinary hospital and referred to the University of California, Davis, veterinary medical teaching hospital where he recovered after treatment and a recommended change in diet. “As a result,” the lawsuit says, “Navarrete incurred substantial veterinary bills.”
The San Francisco-based firm Schubert, Jonckheer & Kolbe is handling the case.
RUSSELL v. HILL’S
Michael and Jodi Russell of Florida are lead plaintiffs in a suit filed Feb. 11 in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida. The lawsuit alleges that Hill’s dog food deemed “defective” due to excess vitamin D “poisoned” Russell’s dog Stella, who was euthanized on Jan. 26.
The lawsuit reads that “Mr. Russell spoke with the family vet on Feb. 8, 2019, and was advised that, in the veterinarian’s opinion, ingestion of the product was most likely the cause of Stella’s kidney failure. The veterinarian pointed out that the blood work performed before Stella ingested the product showed normal renal function, but after ingesting the product over many days Stella went into renal failure.”
The lawsuit is being handled by two law firms: Levin, Papantonio, Thomas, Mitchell, Rafferty & Proctor in Florida and Reese LLP in New York.
WHAT TO DO
Consumers wishing to find out the level of vitamin D in their Hill’s dog food may do so by having it analyzed at Heartland Assays. Consumers should order the Vitamin D2/D3 and Vitamin D4 by HPLC test to find out that important information.
TO ALL MY READERS
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33 Comments
Bernadette Fagan
I has recently bought Hills prescription diet metabolic mobility dried food for my dog who is over weight. This food was recommended by my vet,he does ot like it,refuses to eat it unless,I add soup to it,what is in this food that he instinctively rejects this food.Should I be worried???
Jan Kasmir
What an important service you provide. As pet parents we need your help in holding corporations responsible for unethical behavior. At this time I don’t have money to help you, I will try to broadcast your need in my postings. Please keep up the good work.
I wonder if there isn’t grant money you could access. The National Institutes may be a source.
Good luck!
Also, please include the year when you leave dates. I just saw that this is about 5 years old.
Lynda Russo
Is the Hill’s diet canned food safe today to give our dogs?
Ashley
Hills science diet has a new food out and I’m wondering if it should be looked into- it’s called perfect digestion. The company was giving out free bags and discounts to get people to try and review the food. The reviews said 100% recommended so I bought I bag. I’m transitioning and I’m at 1/4 to 1/2 perfect digestion and 1/2 to 3/4 the old food, and suddenly my dog has massive digestion problems, having diarrhea and vomiting all over, especially at night. We wake up to poop all over the house. I put a bad review on the site, but it never showed up even though the site acknowledged when I tried to review it again that I already had. I think they are hiding all of their bad reviews. There wasn’t a single review below 4 stars and not a single review that said a bad word about this new food….
Litmsb56@aol.com
This is a disgrace. Hills is a large company
Hi while not be feeding my babies hills any longer please put me on the recall list
Dino
I use Hills products, I have for 30+years and have not ever had a problem, I have heard of the recalls and my foods were not included in any of the recalls. Three of my pets require a prescription diet to be healthy.
Please know that these recalls aren’t just for hills diets.
But always do your research…you check info about your food, so check your pets food too
Lani Love
And so why is HILLS SCIENCE DIET STILL IN BUSINESS….AND STILL NEEDING A PRESCRIPTION WHEN THERE IS NOTHING IN THEIR SO CSLLED HEALTH FOODS THAT REQUIRE A PRESCRIPTION?
Sara
Not true. Kidney diets are a great example, very restricted levels of protein and phosphorus that would be detrimental to pets not in kidney failure. They are prescription because it takes the knowledge of the veterinarian to know what diet is needed for what illness your pet has. Or in some cases combinations of illness can be quite tricky to figure out which diet is best to support multiple illnesses in the same pet – for example an obese cat with bladder stones.
Vickie Lee Hernandez
So how. Do we protect our fur babies from pet food Companies? I myself have be making my dog her own dog food. From whatever recipes I find on line. Mostly healthy stuff but the weight piles on her. So it’s not a good thing..
Allison
I will never trust Hill’s again. Hopefully they will go out of business. I was feeding my 2 dogs Hills & the cans in my pantry were recalled. The panic I felt not realizing that the food I thought was good for them could potentially be fatal. Luckily after getting them tested from my vet their vit D levels were ok. I feel for all the dog owners who lost their beloved pets. Hills needs to take responsibility for what they did. This should never have happened.
N Hawthorne
My dogs prescription food was on a recall list. My vet did testing on both dogs to the tune of $378 but found no damage. We stopped the food and now my dogs eat human food that I prepare daily. I will never trust processed food again. My vet told me she would check on reimbursement for the testing but I never heard from her! They did refund my purchase price for all the food I had on hand!
N Hawthorne
Nahawthorne@gmail.com
Anna Niskanen
Please believe me when I say it’s not just Hill’s. A few years ago I was feeding Purina Senior for small breeds and my two chihuahuas almost died from the vitamin D toxicity! My veterinarian was so wonderful and investigated with specialists and nursed them back to health! She actually found a human drug that helped to remove the vitamin D, over a very long course of time and many blood test rechecks. My biggest issue was Purina never acknowledged my concerns because I no longer had the original packaging. Couldn’t prove it was them. But I know that was all they were eating. Long story short I know many people have probably lost many their babies without knowing it was the food! I’m happy that Hill’s investigated and acknowledged their problem. Matter of fact that is the company I went with for my babies now because I trust them to do their best and let us know when there is a problem. I fed Purina for many many years, never bought into the high end dog foods!
Donna Nehrenz
I bbn lost my Macy on January 8 and almost her sister in March. I had multiple cans of the recalled food. Did want to sue, wanted only reimbursement for expenses for both of my girls. I received $50 worth of coupons that I donated after Macy passed, not a dime since ?
M
Great article. We need more information. Glad we have it.
Dorlis Grote
I stoppede feeding Hill’s in 2008 when I had to have 10 cats tested for renal function. That year it was a component for gravy substituted by supplier in China to Diamond in Georgia who cans for most major brands.
Peter
Hills has contractual arrangements with shelters that stipulate exclusive use of and promotion of their products.