# Blue Buffalo - what are these white things?



## gsdforever850 (May 18, 2016)

I normally feed my girl Annamaet Manitok, but she has to be on wet food until her mouth heals from a tooth extraction. I just opened a can of Blue Buffalo Homestyle Recipe - Beef Dinner with Garden Vegetables and saw these weird white things inside. I have no idea what they are and I'm probably being paranoid. Has anyone else seen this before? It's hard to see in the picture, but it looks exactly like pieces of a crushed up pill.


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## Courtney (Feb 12, 2010)

Do those pieces move at all?


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## Beau's Mom (Nov 9, 2017)

?


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## gsdforever850 (May 18, 2016)

"Move" as in ... they're alive? No. I just don't know anything about BB other than it's a good brand, so I don't know whether this stuff is normally in there. I haven't noticed it in any of the other cans I bought.


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## tim_s_adams (Aug 9, 2017)

I'm thinking lard or fat...but it's hard to tell. Pull one out and examine it closer...


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## Magwart (Jul 8, 2012)

If your vet likes you, see if they'll slice a white blob from the food up and mount it on a slide to look at under the microscope. That's what I'd do. I'd also freeze the whole thing, and not feed it. If your dog gets sick, your vet can send it out to be tested at an independent lab for about $100.


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## gsdforever850 (May 18, 2016)

Magwart said:


> If your vet likes you, see if they'll slice a white blob from the food up and mount it on a slide to look at under the microscope. That's what I'd do. I'd also freeze the whole thing, and not feed it. If your dog gets sick, your vet can send it out to be tested at an independent lab for about $100.


Good idea, I hadn't thought of that. As soon as I saw the white flecks, I took the bowl away, scooped the rest back into the can and put it in the fridge. I also sent a message to BB along with the picture and asked if it's supposed to look like that. Gah. I try to do everything right by her but I second-guess myself more times than not. And by the way, I don't post on here often, but I really appreciate your wisdom, insight and advice.


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## gsdforever850 (May 18, 2016)

tim_s_adams said:


> I'm thinking lard or fat...but it's hard to tell. Pull one out and examine it closer...


I took it out and lightly rubbed it, and the consistency was like paste. You're probably right, lard or fat. I'm so paranoid when it comes to her. How do get over this sense of failure when it comes to our dogs?! I don't know when she chipped her tooth, so I feel like I failed her there. Then I just happened to notice a dark brown spot in one of her eyes. Did I do something wrong? Is it because I keep the window down just enough so she can stick her head out and feel the breeze when we're driving along? Is it because of the prong? Ahhhhhh! These, of course, are all rhetorical questions. I'm so glad I never had kids.


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## GypsyGhost (Dec 29, 2014)

I’d reconsider the brand you are feeding. Check out their recall history. I have no idea what those white pieces could be.


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## tim_s_adams (Aug 9, 2017)

gsdforever850 said:


> I took it out and lightly rubbed it, and the consistency was like paste. You're probably right, lard or fat. I'm so paranoid when it comes to her. How do get over this sense of failure when it comes to our dogs?! I don't know when she chipped her tooth, so I feel like I failed her there. Then I just happened to notice a dark brown spot in one of her eyes. Did I do something wrong? Is it becausue I keep the window down just enough so she can stick her head out and feel the breeze when we're driving along? Is it because of the prong? Ahhhhhh! These, of course, are all rhetorical questions. I'm so glad I never had kids.


Get over it! My dog chipped a tooth also, but I'll never feel like I let her down by not knowing exactly when or where it happened...it just happened. It's not your job to micro-manage your dog's life! That's not what makes a "good" owner good! Good owners care for their dogs, provide them with adequate vaccinations and medical care, and provide them with a stimulating and fun life, and enough training so that they are manageable. Of course you also notice when there are funny white things in their food LOL! You did that, and BB may have more to tell you. But either way, they aren't objects that you control, or live in an environment you can control. They are MAGNIFICENT animals you get the privilege to spend time with. Enjoy that time, it's all too brief. And stop taking things so personally >

PS: every dog I've ever owned loved to ride in the car with the wind in their face. If a dog gets somehow injured by that it's unlucky, but not in any way "your fault". JMHO!

PPS: If it were me, I'd have that spot on her eye looked at by a specialist!


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## Magwart (Jul 8, 2012)

I'm glad you're back posting! 



You can control some risk -- DH has a 2-seater convertible, and if a dog ride's "shot gun" with him, it's in Doggles. You can't control other risk -- running and playing, they can get injured in freaky ways.


If the dark spot is in the iris (colored part), I'd be less worried than if it's in the sclera (white part). In the white part, it needs to be seen ASAP by an ophthalmologist -- my dog had a tiny dark spot that turned out to be melanoma in his eye. In the colored part, the eyes get mottled (like a turtle shell) as they age, with "raggedy looking" color patterns (and sometimes spots). Either way, it would be a good idea to have a vet check it out.


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## kr16 (Apr 30, 2011)

gsdforever850 said:


> I normally feed my girl Annamaet Manitok, but she has to be on wet food until her mouth heals from a tooth extraction. I just opened a can of Blue Buffalo Homestyle Recipe - Beef Dinner with Garden Vegetables and saw these weird white things inside. I have no idea what they are and I'm probably being paranoid. Has anyone else seen this before? It's hard to see in the picture, but it looks exactly like pieces of a crushed up pill.



You are not being paranoid when dealing with Blue Buffalo. They are a company that is not to be trusted. Way to many dogs have died due to them. 

https://www.chagrinfallspetclinic.com/2018/03/08/blue-buffalo-dog-class-action-lawsuit/


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## gsdforever850 (May 18, 2016)

Magwart said:


> I'm glad you're back posting!
> 
> 
> 
> ...


I used to make her wear Doggles, but she hates them and always scraped them off her face. There's another kind that I think she'd have a harder time removing, but I just haven't had the time to look into them.

The dark spot is in the sclera. I took her to the vet as soon as I noticed it. She said it definitely isn't pannus, but that's the only thing she could definitively rule out. So I'm taking her to an ophthalmologist on Saturday. It's hard to get good pictures, but it's definitely more pronounced in her left eye. From what I've read, it's not uncommon for the color of the iris to kind of bleed into the sclera, and that's what seems to be happening in her right.


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## gsdforever850 (May 18, 2016)

tim_s_adams said:


> Get over it! My dog chipped a tooth also, but I'll never feel like I let her down by not knowing exactly when or where it happened...it just happened. It's not your job to micro-manage your dog's life! That's not what makes a "good" owner good! Good owners care for their dogs, provide them with adequate vaccinations and medical care, and provide them with a stimulating and fun life, and enough training so that they are manageable. Of course you also notice when there are funny white things in their food LOL! You did that, and BB may have more to tell you. But either way, they aren't objects that you control, or live in an environment you can control. They are MAGNIFICENT animals you get the privilege to spend time with. Enjoy that time, it's all too brief. And stop taking things so personally >
> 
> PS: every dog I've ever owned loved to ride in the car with the wind in their face. If a dog gets somehow injured by that it's unlucky, but not in any way "your fault". JMHO!
> 
> PPS: If it were me, I'd have that spot on her eye looked at by a specialist!


I guess part of it might be the circumstances. My parents had 3 GSDs prior to Xena, but went 20 years between our last one and her. I think they always wanted to get another one at some point. My dad was diagnosed with COPD back in 2013 or 2014 and needed to get more exercise, so they figured a puppy would do the trick. So here comes Xena, full of all that puppy energy and ready to roll. And, you guessed it, my dad could never go more than a couple blocks without running out of breath. He passed away in November, so maybe on some level, I'm overcompensating with her because there really wasn't much I could do for him. Or ... maybe I'm just being overanalytical. Either way, I worry about everything, every bump, scrape, hot spot, lifted paw :thinking::thinking:


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## gsdforever850 (May 18, 2016)

GypsyGhost said:


> I’d reconsider the brand you are feeding. Check out their recall history. I have no idea what those white pieces could be.


She's off the wet food as of today - the vet said no hard food for a week. But she hates eating straight kibble, and the only way to get her to eat is to mix wet food in there. What brand do you use? I wish Annamaet made wet food!


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## wolfy dog (Aug 1, 2012)

Can't you make some chicken bone broth and soak her kibble in it until it is fully soft? You only need a little bit of the broth and the rest with warm water in order to make it tastier. Canned food is about 75% water anyways.Can she have an egg (no shell) mixed in it as well?


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## gsdforever850 (May 18, 2016)

wolfy dog said:


> Can't you make some chicken bone broth and soak her kibble in it until it is fully soft? You only need a little bit of the broth and the rest with warm water in order to make it tastier. Canned food is about 75% water anyways.Can she have an egg (no shell) mixed in it as well?


Oh, believe me, I tried everything. Egg, chicken broth, little bits of ham, you name it. Other than treats, she's just not very interested in food. I make her meatballs and bake chicken breasts, then break them up into little pieces and scatter them around the house and yard for her to find, very little of the store-bought stuff.

Someone posted on that subject here recently. She ranted about how people were always telling her to do this and that but don't do this about everything, from walking to feeding. The part that resonated was when she essentially said if she didn't do the feeding a certain way, her GSD would just starve herself. I think she might be Xena's sister, lol! My parents said with their first GSD, they tried everything and finally said the **** with it, she'll eat when she gets hungry enough. But I think Xena sees dry food as beneath her somehow, and she'd rather just starve.


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## GypsyGhost (Dec 29, 2014)

gsdforever850 said:


> She's off the wet food as of today - the vet said no hard food for a week. But she hates eating straight kibble, and the only way to get her to eat is to mix wet food in there. What brand do you use? I wish Annamaet made wet food!


I feed my dogs raw, but years ago, before I made the switch, I had a picky eater who would only eat kibble mixed with Earthborn Holistic’s wet food. They’re a good, family owned company with a solid safety record. Bonus... their wet food actually looks like food, lol. It’s more like a stew than a paté.


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## Bramble (Oct 23, 2011)

gsdforever850 said:


> Oh, believe me, I tried everything. Egg, chicken broth, little bits of ham, you name it. Other than treats, she's just not very interested in food. I make her meatballs and bake chicken breasts, then break them up into little pieces and scatter them around the house and yard for her to find, very little of the store-bought stuff.
> 
> Someone posted on that subject here recently. She ranted about how people were always telling her to do this and that but don't do this about everything, from walking to feeding. The part that resonated was when she essentially said if she didn't do the feeding a certain way, her GSD would just starve herself. I think she might be Xena's sister, lol! My parents said with their first GSD, they tried everything and finally said the **** with it, she'll eat when she gets hungry enough. But I think Xena sees dry food as beneath her somehow, and she'd rather just starve.



Have you had her tested for food allergies or intolerance? There are a few on the market that you collect samples at home and send in. I have never had an animal tested and the tests may not be perfect, but might give you a place to start and/or some extra info.



https://www.nutriscan.org/


https://glacierpeakholistics.com/products/pet-wellness-life-stress-scan-1


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## saintbob (Jul 14, 2018)

I suppose you could call the 1-800 number...if there's one on the can.


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## Magwart (Jul 8, 2012)

GypsyGhost said:


> I had a picky eater who would only eat kibble mixed with Earthborn Holistic’s wet food. They’re a good, family owned company with a solid safety record. Bonus... their wet food actually looks like food, lol. It’s more like a stew than a paté.



Earthborn is one of the companies that showed up on the list of brands that had produced low taurine -- it may not mean anything at all, and it's only a few dogs so far and could be something other than the food, but if you want to review the data, the spreadsheet (with test results and brands named) is in this thread:
https://www.germanshepherds.com/for...-dog-foods-canine-dilated-cardiomyopathy.html



LOTS of brands recommended here had dogs show up on the list (Acana, Orijen, ToTW, Fromm, THK, and many more). Some only had a few, some had a LOT of dogs turning up with low test results.


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## kr16 (Apr 30, 2011)

gsdforever850 said:


> She's off the wet food as of today - the vet said no hard food for a week. But she hates eating straight kibble, and the only way to get her to eat is to mix wet food in there. What brand do you use? I wish Annamaet made wet food!


This site is pretty good. They do not just analyze the ingredients, they base it off the company's as well. Makes them better than the other review sites that never take the bad companies into the equation 

https://www.reviews.com/dog-food/


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## Sabis mom (Mar 20, 2014)

gsdforever850 said:


> Oh, believe me, I tried everything. Egg, chicken broth, little bits of ham, you name it. Other than treats, she's just not very interested in food. I make her meatballs and bake chicken breasts, then break them up into little pieces and scatter them around the house and yard for her to find, very little of the store-bought stuff.
> 
> Someone posted on that subject here recently. She ranted about how people were always telling her to do this and that but don't do this about everything, from walking to feeding. The part that resonated was when she essentially said if she didn't do the feeding a certain way, her GSD would just starve herself. I think she might be Xena's sister, lol! My parents said with their first GSD, they tried everything and finally said the **** with it, she'll eat when she gets hungry enough. But I think Xena sees dry food as beneath her somehow, and she'd rather just starve.


That was me. Feeding is an adventure. She liked yogurt for a couple of weeks, then it was the devil, then she HAD to have it. Same thing with eggs, and gravy, and canned dog food. 
She loved First Mate kibble, then not so much. I had recently switched to Acana, now may need to switch back.
I have the added bonus of having a dog that pukes up stomach bile if she doesn't eat, and yes she has actually pushed it so far that she is staggering and gagging. 
I hold this one in reserve for really desperate days, grated cheese. Not much just a sprinkle, but it falls between the kibble and she gets fed up and just eats. I also crumble cooked chicken liver over her food(they make good treats to).
Most recently I have been feeding her Pure Balance canned food with her kibble. Not great but not terrible food, it's cheap so when she decides she hates it I won't suffer tossing the remainder and so far she loves it. Only the meat ones though, not the veggie/stew ones. She did NOT like those!


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## gsdforever850 (May 18, 2016)

Sabis mom said:


> That was me. Feeding is an adventure. She liked yogurt for a couple of weeks, then it was the devil, then she HAD to have it. Same thing with eggs, and gravy, and canned dog food.
> She loved First Mate kibble, then not so much. I had recently switched to Acana, now may need to switch back.
> I have the added bonus of having a dog that pukes up stomach bile if she doesn't eat, and yes she has actually pushed it so far that she is staggering and gagging.
> I hold this one in reserve for really desperate days, grated cheese. Not much just a sprinkle, but it falls between the kibble and she gets fed up and just eats. I also crumble cooked chicken liver over her food(they make good treats to).
> Most recently I have been feeding her Pure Balance canned food with her kibble. Not great but not terrible food, it's cheap so when she decides she hates it I won't suffer tossing the remainder and so far she loves it. Only the meat ones though, not the veggie/stew ones. She did NOT like those!


I *loved* that post but couldn't find it! Yeah, Xena's likes new things, but only until the novelty wears off. I have to be careful what I try to hide her medicine in, too. She used to love brie cheese until I stuck a pill in there one time, now she won't have anything to do with it. Anyway, I just went out and bought some Fromms and Honest Kitchen to mix with her kibble tonight, so fingers crossed.

When you mentioned the shredded cheese, I couldn't help but laugh because it reminded me of this video:


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## gsdforever850 (May 18, 2016)

saintbob said:


> I suppose you could call the 1-800 number...if there's one on the can.


I sent them an email and got a message back asking for the batch number. Got this back in response a few hours ago:

Hi Kim,

Thank you for taking your time to provide us with the additional information and pictures. I have forwarded the information to our QA team to conduct a thorough review and to monitor for any similar reports. I apologize for this experience and any inconvenience it may have caused. From the pictures you have shared with us, it looks like it’s the fat separating from the meat. This is not unusual to see, especially in the beef canned food and we wouldn’t expect it to pose a food or health safety risk. 

Also, please know whenever you purchase BLUE it comes with a 100% satisfaction guarantee. If you are not completely happy with your purchase, you can return the unused portion back to the retailer for a full refund or exchange with a receipt. If you are not happy with the cans you purchased, I recommend contacting Chewy.com as they are excellent in honoring our guarantee. We do want you to be happy with the products you purchase.

As a thank you for taking the time to bring this to our attention I would be happy to send some treats for your pet to enjoy. Would you mind also providing your mailing address?


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## saintbob (Jul 14, 2018)

gsdforever850 said:


> I sent them an email...
> 
> ... Would you mind also providing your mailing address?


Good to know that is was just fat and they are serious about product quality. Thanks for ...

...the rest of the story.


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