A warning about Trader Joe's Turkey & Cranberry Recipe Cat Treats
We would like to warn cat owners to not buy, or if they have bought these cat treats from Trader Joe's, to please throw them out or return them. These treats are not safe for your pets. The other day we bought the Trader Joe's Turkey & Cranberry Recipe Cat Treats. Upon bringing them home we read the package for the treats and found in the ingredients two alarming ingredients that should never be in products consumed by a cat or dog; garlic and paprika.
For those not aware, garlic, onions, chives, and leeks are all very toxic to both cats and dogs in a single large amount or through eating small servings over time (Cope, 2005). Garlic is actually five times more toxic for cats and dogs than onions and the poisoning from it can cause gastroenteritis or oxidative damage which can cause the red blood cells to burst, otherwise known as hemolytic anemia (Salgado et al., 2011). Some of the main symptoms of garlic or onion poisoning are vomiting and diarrhea. For a full list of symptoms of garlic poisoning in your pet, you can go here.
Depending on what type of pepper paprika is made from it can be less troublesome for your furry friend, but it can be hard to know exactly what types of peppers it is made from until it is too late. If paprika is made from hot peppers, then like garlic, it can cause gastroenteritis in your animal with vomiting and diarrhea being the two main symptoms. On the other hand, if paprika was made from sweet peppers you would be in the clear. In any case, preventing pets from getting toxicosis through the ingestion of any form of Allium is the key, and educating pet owners to not feed their animals foods with Allium is what is recommended per Salgado’s research in The Journal of Venomous Animals and Toxins including Tropical Diseases (Salgado et al., 2011).
If you go to the Trader Joe's product reviews for this product, it has about 2 stars, with at least five 1-star reviews with at least four people warning about the toxic ingredients or reporting their pets got sick after consuming these treats. We have included a photo below of the reviews, but you can see all the reviews here.
We have reached out to our local Trader Joe's to make them aware of the product on their shelves and have also submitted an online form complaint about this product to Trader Joe's warning them of the dangers this product can bring to cats or other furry friends. Our local store said they will be passing this information on to their store manager to investigate further. We have not received a reply back from our online submission yet. We will update this article if we receive more information from Trader Joe's.
Sources:
Cope, R. (n.d.). Allium species poisoning in dogs and cats. Toxicology Brief: Managing Common Poisonings in Companion Animals. Retrieved December 9, 2022, from https://dungenessranchpetresort.com/images/vetm0805_562_566.pdf.
Salgado, B. S., Monteiro, L. N., & Rocha, N. S. (2011). Allium species poisoning in dogs and cats. Journal of Venomous Animals and Toxins Including Tropical Diseases, 17(1), 4–11. https://doi.org/10.1590/s1678-91992011000100002