Beware the Costco bully sticks!

Sharon7

Sharon7

Moderator
Asta and Ally had bully sticks from Costco Saturday night, brand new bag, with "made in USA" on it in big letters. They've had bully sticks before with no problems. They are not real power chewers, especially Ally, she just kinda gnaws on stuff.

Sunday AM, Ally threw up some water about 45 minutes after breakfast. I thought that was odd since there was no food in it. She seemed OK though. We were with the girls literally all day and nothing else occurred. Then Sunday evening Asta had diarrhea. Ally still seemed OK and they had wolfed down dinner as usual.

Well,overnight, Ally became really ill. I found 5 - 6 pools of vomit, mostly water, and two diarrhea pools. Asta ran out on the lawn and had more diarrhea, but no vomiting.

As soon as I could I called the vet and went in, after racking my brain what could have set them off. Then it dawned on me about the bully sticks. When I got to the vet hospital, I told the vet tech and she said "OMG my dogs got REALLY sick from those bully sticks too!" She said she thought they smelled differently from the individual ones she had bought in the past.

So, after subq fluids, cerenia and lab work, Ally is resting. Her BUN was 39 but creatinine normal, so just dehydrated, and no wonder. I feel horrible for giving them those d**n sticks!!! :eek2:
 
Thanks for letting us know about this, Sharon. I'm so glad your dogs are OK. You have to wonder what we buy that you can trust these days! :uhoh:
 
Bestbullysticks company I get mine now gives me warning that bully sticks need to be in the freezer. They do get spolied just as meat does. Depends on how they make them I guess.
I had some pretty similar experience from another company, well known, US based etc. I contacted them and they told me that they did not change anything in their process. Needless to say I never bought it from them again even that on general I like the company.
 
Oh jeez. How are the girls doing now? Hopefully better.

Do you think it's the "area"? Wonder if they recall notices put up (y'know, where no one sees them)?

I'll share that info around, just in case.
 
Well, Ally has been kinda "low" all day but got some I/D for dinner with her meds and kept that down. No more vomiting, no diarrhea. Asta seems to have recovered much faster and ate her regular dinner.

Phew. That was an expensive lesson. Interesting, about keeping them in the freezer! When you think about it, I guess they could go bad since they are really dried meat.

It's true, now I don't know WHAT is safe for my dogs anymore!!! :(

Thanks for everyone's concern.
 
Wow this is awful! A year or so ago, I gave some chicken jerky from Costco to our 2 and Forrest was throwing up for several days until I figured it out too. I'm glad your dogs are feeling better now, but I'm really troubled by the way these products are poisoning our pets. This is a relatively small community yet we're reporting a lot of these problems, how many other dogs are getting sick & the owners are throwing away the treats & not reporting it to mfr's, or the USDA (or whoever oversees petfood quality/safety)
The mfr's put 'Made in USA' on the packages & we assume they're ok, esp. since more owners know now to avoid Chinese/imported meat treats. Yet we still are getting some very ill pets....:hide

A very expensive lesson indeed. I bought a dehydrator a month ago for sweet potato treats, was thinking of trying chicken, now I'm sure I will, I won't give commercial meat/jerky treats to my dogs again. It's just not worth the risk anymore. Again, I'm really glad your dogs are recovering!
 
I am using my dehydrator pretty regular to,and I feel o much better knowing where the chicken jerky & other items come from.

I usually order bully sticks if I oder a fair amount from BestBullySticks to. But I always put them in the freezer. To me it was a no brainer. They will rancid,as it is dried meat.
I have not ordered in a very long time,as they are not thrilled about them really,and I have to monitor how long they chew on them. As Jasper & Mia tend to get loose poops if givin for to long. Very rich.
 
Just a word of caution...."made in the USA" may not necessarily mean "originated" from the USA.

The raw product may still have been bought oversees but final manufacture in the US or Canada. I don't know how they get away with that, but they do. It doesn't mean that its all bad, because the US manufacturer may have excellent quality control in place. Smokehouse products come to mind, here.

But I would really, really recommend that you read the lable on any food or treat that you buy at a big box or grocery store and do your research. Pet health is NOT their specialty.

I've heard that Walmart and Loblaws (in Canada) are coming out with their version of premium, holistic :eek2: foods. I'd be very wary of these, even if the price point seems pretty good.

My tuppence worth.
 
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