Cross Breeds

Recently my litter of Shih tzu puppies was starving from eating Purina Beneful. Is there information?

After feeding my puppies Eukanuba following weaning, I changed my entire kennel to Beneful. My litter of puppies was not growing and two were very weak. When one died, my vet did an autopsy and found that the puppy was not getting any nutrition from the Purina Beneful. In addition, the puppies, who were the only dogs at that time using this food, got LICE. I had never seen them and had to research to identify what it was. Has anyone else had a similar problem with this product?

Public Comments

1. Did you do a full on swtich, like going from the puppies eating 100% Eukanuba to 100% Beneful? Because if that was the case, the puppies may not have liked the Beneful and were not eating it. If you are changing foods, I would recommend going 75% Eukanuba and 25% Beneful. After they get used to that, go to 50% of each, then 25% Eukanuba and 75% Beneful and then 100% Beneful. I had to do that when I bought a new puppy. It's not really a scientific answer, so I am sorry, but I hope that I helped you a little. Oh, and I have no idea about the lice, sorry.
2. Purina is low quality food most experienced pet owners know this. Eukanuba isnt all that much better either, made by the same company that makes IAMS (and there for linked to the cruelty linked to IAMS), many of Eukanubas products contain by-products (which are preserved with Ethoxyquin a chemical pesticide) and corn (and is over priced for its quality) The BEST dog food lists Chicken MEAL or Lamb MEAL as the first ingredient - and RICE as second - The mom dog, while nursing, needs to be on a quality puppy food too, not just the pups. You cannot get lice from food - perhaps mom got them from the groomer
3. i feed all of my shih tzu's and other dogs Iams. they are very heathly. i have always been sceptical of beniful because its suppost to be natural, they need formulated food to be healthy. i would be on the phone with the corporate office ASAP at least to ask for a refund on the food you bought!!!
4. Purina is low quality, but my dog loves beneful! I've never had a problem with it, but if you switch a dogs diet too fast its likley to get diareah and may even puke (I know from experience) that may cause them to be weaker.
5. I have a year old shih tzu male and a black lab sheltie mix and they love the purina beneful with the green label. they both gobble it up and the seem very healthy. they are both within healthy weight range and have no problems. maybe you switched the food too fast or maybe there was something in there that they didn't like.
6. Purina products contain no nutritional value whatsoever. You were probably better off staying with the Eukanuba. The best type of dog food to feed your dogs is an all-natural formula, such as Nutro or Authority, that contain no byproducts. Byproducts are the parts of the animal that we don't eat, such as chicken feet. They are potentially harmful to dogs, especially puppies. You can also buy all-natural *organic* foods at your local Whole Foods Market. If byproducts don't concern you, then Eukanuba or Science Diet are premium foods that would be acceptable to feed your dog. You should never use cheap grocery store brand foods such as Pedigree and Purina (Purina makes Alpo and Beneful). These foods contain fillers and junk and lots of preservatives that are potentially harmful to dogs, and do not have any nutritional value whatsoever. Many cheap foods also contain a known carcinogenic preservative called Ethyoxiquin, which can obviously cause cancer in dogs.
7. Royal Canin is one of the best dog foods, and has no by products either...it is a more expensive version of nutro, if you check the contents on the back you will see, however my dog was diagnosed with IBS so all he can eat is Royal Canin everything else makes him vomit. Royal Canin is an expensive brand but well worth the money.....