Mary Cummins Wildlife Rehabilitation Animal Advocates News Los Angeles California: Petag Esbilac, KMR formulas have problems, kill animals, spoiled, rotten, poisoned, tainted, rancid

petag, esbilac, kmr, formula, poison, rancid, dead babies, poisonous, kill, murder, lab test, results, ewildagain, fda, animal advocates, mary cummins, los angeles, dead wildlife, dead babies, tainted, not made in usa, crafter in the usa made with domestic and imported ingredients, made in china

This page was originally published to the internet in 2009 at this location http://animaladvocates.us/petagesbilac.htm . It has since been copied to this blog as well. Animal Advocates web host infinology went out of business and dropped all servers with no notice. I had to find the files to republish them. Most of them are there. I saved all of the files on my hard drive. I'll continue to repost them.

UPDATE: 10/11/2021 Henry's Healthy Pet Foods is getting reports of bad Esbilac again. I just saw it on Facebook. Below is the notice on the top of their page.

"ESBILAC PROBLEMS (again). We are seeing 5-7 week old babies on Esbilac with MBD (calcium deficiency) and also severe bloat. If using Esbilac, please switch to the Homemade Goat Milk formula (3 tbs goat milk, 3 tbs plain yogurt, 2 tbs heavy cream, 1/2 egg yolk) or Fox Valley formula, as soon as possible. (If you can't find goat milk, double the yogurt.) For more info call 321-626-1897.:

It sounds like a similar problem they had in the past. They overheated the powder when drying which caused it to clump into undigestable fiber. Babies didn't get proper calories, protein, fat but instead got a lot of fiber. FDA investigated it and tested the formula in the past and came to that conclusion.

PREVIOUS: I'm so glad we as in Animal Advocates stopped using all Petag products in 2009. For that reason none of our current babies are dead from the current bad Petag products. I'm also very glad that there are others finally standing up and speaking out about the bad Petag products. In the beginning their posts were deleted just like mine were back in 2009 ten years ago. They were kicked out of rehab groups just like I was. Thankfully (?) there are more today who are willing to stand up to this disgusting company who continues to sell tainted formula which is killing babies. Petag is as bad as the Chinese companies who added melamine to baby formula which killed human Chinese babies.

09/30/2019 Rehabbers have figured out which batches of formula are bad. It appears to be a similar problem to what happened back in 2009. Petag said they may need to "microgrind" some ingredients mainly calcium which they allege is too big for tiny animals to absorb. That is clearly nonsense. A baby squirrel is not too small to absorb calcium. It's also affecting raccoons which are the size of dogs. It's just another insulting excuse. This leads me to believe some ingredients were again overheated until they melted into globs of undigestable fiber like last time. Babies don't get calories, protein, fat, vitamins or minerals. The main difference I am seeing is in 2009 babies died quickly. I believe that was from the copper causing organ failure then dehydration, emaciation from massive amounts of fiber and no real food being absorbed. Currently babies have bloat, diarrhea, lose weight but die more slowly. They live long enough to have major MBD with broken bones, deformed bones, missing bones, emaciation and dehydration. Again, Petag doesn't do the right thing for animals. They only care about money. Thank god for all the other brands.

In the meantime people are making homemade baby formula. I won't post the different recipes. You can find them. I used goat milk after the bad Esbilac. Then I used Fox Valley. Some use human baby soy formula adding powdered egg whites to increase protein and organic pressed flax oil to increase fat. Some add yogurt for probiotics.

09/29/2019 Henry's Pets is now stating there is something wrong with Petag's Esbilac formula. Back in the day the company threatened people for speaking out. Now that there are a ton of other formulas available in pet stores threats don't work anymore.

So glad to see rehabbers doing something about the current problem. I was all by myself the first time in the beginning. After I posted my lab results which were ultimately verified by FDA I was attacked by the company and rehabbers. Some rehabbers had the nerve to state I let my formula go bad. Then why did the unopened 5 lb bag of formula I sent to the lab turn out to be bad? As soon as I used Esbilac for a few days and saw the results I stopped. Babies still died. Finally eventually eWildAgain saw the problem and started investigating. They noticed differences in the texture, color and smell. Finally they sent samples to the labs and got the same results.

From other wildlife rehab groups. "Attention. Squirrel Rehabbers Anyone using Esbilac or any PetAg product for small orphaned babies.

We are trying to gather up as much information on these squirrel babies from this baby season in 2019. We’ll be asking the following questions on babies that have suffered and or passed away on Esbilac puppy formula. Please do not use any PetAg product we are seeing these health problems and death in all their products for small mammals.

1. At what age did you get the baby squirrel?
2. Did you use Esbilac all the way through? If you know if it was Made in the USA or Crafted in the USA on label.
3. What symptoms did you experience? (Broken bones, bloat, darkening of skin, failure to thrive any and all info we are wanting to know)
4. We would like all pictures if you have from beginning to end and stating on the picture when seeing symptons roughly around what age.
5. If you have done X-rays we would also like for you to share with us.
6. And what state or country are you in?

Esbilac has been the easiest formula for rehabbers, finders being the best on pinkies. People able to get at pet stores with a reasonable price and it’s used in many other countries that is affordable and available. It is critical we know what exactly is going on. If we gather all this info we’ll present this to PetAg as we have distributors and people researching the that are working directly with them to help.

Please make post with all info and pictures. We want to thank you very much for your help. This has been a very hard and heartbreaking season. These are just a few of the pictures we have gotten in our rehab group.

Best formula to use is Fox Valley

Please join our Esbilac group so we can continue to gather info.

****

People are being called to be interviewed as well."

The "story" from Petag doesn't appear to be true.

"Upon contacting the manufacturer we are begging told it is something to do with the molecule size of the dicalcium phosphate. Statement suggesting it is vital to bones and joints in puppies, however they believe that it is to big to be properly absorbed and digested of the smaller neonates that we have in care."

"Dicalcium phosphate molecules cannot be ground finer than the molecule (and it is not 2 calcium ions to one phophorus)."

More recent response from Petag. Notice they blame a supplier. They claim the product is still made in Illinois factory yet the labels don't say "made in usa." Even if the problem were the supplier, the company is still liable. They should have been testing batches. They've lied so much over so many years tough to believe a word they say. Their most recent letter.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1lX4-pCvv-RyftchaD6z44QWDJ07wU29g/view?usp=sharing

The current "story" from Petag is the "supplier changed the grind."

This is per Petag. As they lie all the time hard to believe what they say. Synopsis: "Those batches we started making around the last quarter of 2018? Yeah, that was different, and wildlife can't process it, it turns out, but because of our distribution metric it didn't hit shelves until this year so no one told us because no one knew. But in a month or so we will have it back to how it was in the first half of 2018." If this is true products made from July 2018 to present should be considered unusable for wildlife. Please do not take that risk."

09/23/2019 "There have been reports of rehabbers (both opossum and squirrel) seeing some of the same issues with GME as with Esbilac. The concern is that whatever was affecting the Esbilac may also be affecting the GME as well, perhaps in some of the newer lots. So if you still have young babies still primarily on GME, just be on the lookout for issues. The Caseys are concerned this is a Pet Ag issue, not just an Esbilac issue, and are testing different lots of GME as well. So if you ARE having an issue with the GME, PLEASE switch formulas and contact the Caseys at wlrehabproject@icloud.com. Also, I emailed Marsha Irwin today (Legal Affairs Specialist handling the “Esbilac Matter”) to follow up on emails that haven’t been answered and she responded that “There is a communication that was supposed to go out today to everyone who had contacted our customer service personnel.”

Last time Petag had a problem it was Esbilac and KMR. They were slightly different problems.

"September 10 at 7:20 AM ·
Hello! If you have successfully raised wildlife on a recipe using Esbilac (not GME) this 2019 baby season, I would love to hear from you. Your help and experience is valuable to those of us trying to understand what happened to the hundreds (thousands?) of animals that developed symptoms similar to the ones after the 2009 Esbilac changes (MBD, GI issues, death). Please contact me privately as it is easier for me to keep track that way. Thank you."

09/20/2019 ‎Just fyi when I sent in a sterile unopened bag of Petag straight from Petag to the lab it only took a week to get lab results. I will say that eWildAgain is thorough. Last time they personally tested the powders and noticed off colors, smell and a clumpy texture. After they tested KMR it had bacteria and was rancid. The Esbilac had the same problems I encountered. It wasn't mixing for them and babies got sick. I would offer my help with the new problems but I fortunately was not dumb enough to ever use Petag products again after what happened with my babies and the previous dead babies belonging to others. I only use Fox Valley which is better and cheaper.

"Stephanie Carlson‎ to Wildlife Rehab (licensed)

RE: Esbilac

With the moral support of Tanya Lee, Suzi Suzie DeGrassee and others in the MBD 2019 club.. I reached out yesterday Sept.19th to the Casey’s of http://www.ewildagain.org/

I sent a brief email just asking for suggestions of labs to test my powder,prepared to pay for it myself.. and she contacted me back. Then, today Sept 20th we spoke for about 4 hours.
She is getting reports from many people and suspects there is a trend and that COULD mean that there is something off with a few lots of Esbilac. What it is or what is happening is not clear yet and she cannot comment until the data comes back. It may be a few months. She did say this reminded her of the 2009 situation all over again. http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.608.5188&rep=rep1&type=pdf "

A few years ago someone stated Darlene Frudakis was no longer with Petag. I think they stated that to get away from her horrible image where she lied about the bad formula to consumers. She flat out told people ifff there was something wrong with the formulas it was the fault of the consumer. Even though she knew the formula was killing babies she still sold it.

I just checked LinkedIn. She is still the owner! That's why the correspondence, denial, language sound the same. Because Darlene Frudakis is still in charge. She's been part of Petag for 28 years. She previously ran Rawhide brand from 1982 to 1991 which she sold to Petag. Those rawhide chews also had major problems. Here is her LinkedIn page. After this woman refused to refund my money for my bad formula then she tried to bribe me then she threatened to sue me then she dared tried to connect with me on LinkedIn. So way.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/darlenefrudakis/

09/14/2019 I went to PetSmart today. Petag's liquid formula was made in the US. Petag's powdered formula was not made in the US. Petag is lying on their labels again. They must state the country of origin. Instead it states "Crafted in the USA with domestic and imported ingredients." They hope people just see the red, white and blue star and think it's made in the US. The other brands of baby formula sold in the store were made in the US. The other brands were either mainly or totally sold out. Only Petag products were left on the shelves. People are getting wise to their bad formula. I will be turning in Petag for violating the truth in labeling act and not reporting country of origin. These are major product violations. Most people have been having problems with the powder again. It's probably made in China.

09/13/2019 Lots of info being posted on the many rehab, squirrel, opossum groups on Facebook. This is from one. I remember being viciously attacked by Petag distributors back in 2009. I forget which ones they were.

"From Gayle Molloy

Esbilac issue info:
I spoke with Chris Clark of squirrelsandmore.com about esbilac. She is a distributor for them and has been in contact with them over our problem. We are advising people to try to be patient. PetAg is working on new formula with the old finer ground dicalcium phosphate in it. That will take us back to the good old esbilac. If you purchased yours from chris, she will take it back. I have spoken to another rehabber who called Amazon and they told her they didn't need it back but gave her credit and she purchased fox valley 20/50. If you purchased it somewhere else, our suggestion is to simply return it there.
For feeding babies: Esbilac goat's milk formula and full fat yogurt with NO ARTIFICIAL SWEETENERS (3 parts formula to 1 part yogurt) up until 4 weeks and then switch over to Fox valley 20/50 with nothing extra added.
There is a lot of talk about other things needed in fv 20/50. There is nothing that needs adding."

09/10/2019 Many, many more wildlife rehabilitators are coming together to try to find out what is wrong with Petag products. This has really affected a lot of rehabbers. I think it's more than in 2009. Considering the fact that Petag has been advertising themselves as the only formula for wildlife and exotics I could see why so many are affected. Petag is giving the same excuses just like the last few times they had bad formula. Petag has never been honest about the problems with the formula over many years. Thankfully FDA investigated and found out the problems. They confirmed my lab results. They also confirm the results of others who had rancid KMR. It came from the factory with the bacteria sealed in the containers.

I will start replacing all the missing articles about Petag's problems since 2009. I saved them when the articles came out because I knew the company and their rehabber friends would threaten all the people who spoke out about the formula. The company first tried to bribe me to keep me quiet then they threatened to sue me. They threatened others as well.

09/06/2019 Petag admits they are having issues again with their formula. They've been having problems since at least 1995. The problem is they keep trying to make the formula as cheaply as possible. One of their employees bragged about this in his resume, scroll down below. Below is their story about the issues. They always blame the consumer. They refuse to take any blame even though the FDA told them the problems were their fault. FDA info scroll down below. Here is the link to the letter as a pdf.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/17Kq57s1IuNdoc8gClHXvBKtuw3TglYvX/view?usp=sharing

"September 6, 2019

To our valued customers,

We have recently been made aware of customer concerns, specifically coming from those customers focused on caring for infant/neonate wildlife species, regarding their use of PetAg® Esbilac® Puppy Milk Replacement Powder product.

There has been no change in the formulation of the powdered PetAg® Esbilac® Puppy Milk Replacement Powder. However, after an investigation by the PetAg® R&D and Quality Teams, we have determined that the dicalcium phosphate ingredient included in the Esbilac® Puppy Milk Replacement Powder product may likely be the cause of the issues that some wildlife neonate caretakers are reporting. This ingredient has always been in the PetAg® Esbilac® Puppy Milk Replacement Powder product.

Dicalcium phosphate, is vital for puppies as they grow to develop healthy bones, cartilage, muscles and teeth. However, for smaller non canine species (such as opossums or squirrels) the dicalcium phosphate molecule may be more difficult to effectively break down due to the size of the ingredient particle. The PetAg® R&D and Quality Teams are working diligently to source a finer, micronized form of this ingredient that may be better accepted by small wildlife neonates.

PetAg® does offer an alternative product that does not contain the same dicalcium phosphate ingredient, PetAg® Goats Milk Esbilac® for Puppies, which may be used as an alternative to those caring for neonates that are experiencing difficulty with the Esbilac® Puppy Milk Replacement Powder product.

We encourage any customers with questions or concerns to reach out to PetAg® directly at www.consumerrelations@petag.com. We are so grateful for your continued product support and all your hard work saving little lives."

I noticed in one of the Facebook opossum groups people stated they fed their opossum Esbilac and had huge calcium type tumors. Below is about the ingredient in the formula. It's mainly used to stabilize products to save manufacturers money. It's an ingredient in toothpaste and is a polishing agent.

"Dicalcium Phosphate (DCP) Used primarily as a calcium supplement and tartar control agent, DCP is another additive used for improving texture in cat and dog food. It cannot absorb water and is virtually insoluble. It can cause calcification of soft tissue and research has shown it leads to kidney stones, as well."

Below are two pics of opossums with calcification of soft tissue in the mouth which were posted on Facebook opossum group. The first definitely used Esbilac and is recent 07/2019. Petag needs to get out of the wildlife formula business. They can't even make decent dog or cat formula let alone for each species of wildlife. After the 2009 bad Esbilac, KMR I never used Petag again. I made my own homemade formula then used Fox Valley. One of the people who started Fox Valley came from Petag. He makes a better formula that is cheaper. Sadly it's only mail order.

This pic is from 2017. The vet stated they are calcium growths. I can only assume this opossum died. The brown stuff is just food.

Below is the FDA statement about milk replacers. They forced Petag to have a warning on the front of their website linked to this article about milk replacers. If you scroll down, you will see independent lab results for which I paid $1,100. It showed exactly what the FDA found. They over heated the milk product causing the milk product to melt into undigetable fiber. Babies didn't get the calories, protein or fat per the label but they got a ton of fiber. They received no nutrition and instead were mainly given fiber which caused intense diarrhea. On top of that there were high levels of copper which caused liver and kidney damage. The babies died.

https://www.fda.gov/animal-veterinary/product-safety-information/center-veterinary-medicine-safe-food-facts-storing-handling-and-using-animal-milk-replacer-products

Below is an image of Petag's website 08/2009 with the warning linking to the FDA website. Petag was also forced to retract the false statement that the FDA was not investigating them. They were investigated and problems were found. The blue and orange box link to the FDA article above. Petag removed all of this from their website against what the FDA instructed them to do.

Below is early 2010. Petag lied and stated that FDA stated my report was "spurious." It was not. FDA forced Petag to remove that false statement. The blue box was linked to the image below this one.

The FDA forced Petag to remove that false statement about a "spurious complaint" by me and replace it with this statement about the issues and problems with their formula. I sent a copy of Petag's false "spurious complaint" after Petag was forced to add the FDA warning to the investigator. FDA made them replace that with this. This is how dishonest Petag is. They removed a mandatory FDA warning and replaced it with a false claim against me. To this day they tell anyone who will listen that I'm just a "troublemaker." Is the FDA and all those people who complained also troublemakers?

Below is ewildagain's investigation results cited in a university website.

http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.608.5188&rep=rep1&type=pdf

Below is the resume of an employee bragging about how he made the formula more cheaply even outsourcing to Asia. This was right when Chinese were killing their own babies with melanin in baby formula.

Petag employee brags about reducing costs

by Resume

Sunday Oct 4th, 2009 7:24 PM

This person from Petag posted their resume 2000. They brag about increasing margins, reducing costs. This is probably why the protein, fat, calories were lower while contaminants increased.

Management/Operations
Director of Purchasing and Inventory April 1998 to Present
Pet AG Nutritional Products Hampshire, Illinois
* Increased Margins 9% on Domestic Purchasing.
* Increased Margins 17% on Foreign Purchasing.
* Reduced Inventory $1,500,000 (40%) FY 99
Manager of Purchasing and Inventory 1997 to April 1998
Pet AG Nutritional Products Hampshire, Illinois
* Outsource finished goods in Asia and South America.
* Reduced Costs by $150,000 in four months.
* Reduced inventory by $900,000 (20%) in six months.
* Set program seasonal purchasing system in place.
* Implementing MRP/ Forecasting system.
Materials Manager 1993 to 1997
Assistant to VP Operations
Functions as Plant Manager in Absence of VP Operations

Below is some info, data from another page about the problems with Petag.

https://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2009/09/27/18623489.php

04/13/2017: I can't believe I'm having to update this blog about bad Petag products. You would think they would have learned from their past mistakes which killed many babies.

Petag KMR powder rancid bad, fda, do not use, poison, lethal

Another complaint to the FDA. This company is truly evil to continue to sell rancid baby formula that kills babies year after year. From a friend,

"I was forced to buy your product as my local pet store didn't have any other brand. The other brands were sold out. I bought KMR 2nd Step from Petco on Hope & 9th. #H1046N #7 0G:43 1346-1 Best by Apr 2018." When I opened it I noticed the top of the powder was a little yellow. It smelled okay. I gave it to some four week old kittens who were previously drinking another brand of kitten formula. The kittens became gassy then had diarrhea. Yes, I changed them over to the new formula gradually. The babies got diarrhea. After I stopped giving them KMR the diarrhea stopped."

Petag Esbilac and KMR have problems, Mary Cummins, Animal Advocates

Petag's Esbilac puppy milk contains heavy metal copper and less nutrition than promised
by Animal Advocates.

UPDATE: 09/28/12: Was emailing someone who was having problems with a baby squirrel. He told me he fed her Esbilac. I asked him if it was yellow or clumpy. He said "yes." Bad Esbilac is still on shelves! Smell and examine the formula before using it. I personally will not use their products. They don't care about animals or consumers.

The links below are broken. I'll try to fix them.

UPDATE: 06/01/11: Here is a photo of one of the squirrels that was fed Petag Esbilac by the finder. He almost died from a few illnesses. The vet said it was metabolic most likely caused by the bad formula he was fed by the finder. Bald baby squirrel thanks to Petag's Esbilac formula

UPDATE: 04/21/11: This is actually old news. It seems Petag has had problems with their products in the past. In 1995 their Esbilac formula gave babies gas then they died. This is from bat rehabbers. Alert: Do not use Esbilac They gave the same excuse, "we just changed the formula to butterfat." They used this same excuse for the 2009 poisoning 14 years later. This company has no shame.

UPDATE: 03/21/11: I just filed an online report with the FDA. I really like the online report. The information is accurate because you get to type it in yourself. The last report I did over the phone was riddled with errors. I also couldn't attach files or links. You can load up images and pdf files or links. You also can save a copy of the report. Here is a copy of the report.

UPDATE: 03/21/11: I just picked up two baby squirrels. The person was feeding them Esbilac. They are thin, have diarrhea and smell funny. He gave me the can of Esbilac. The color is very yellow, it's clumpy and it smells funny. Here is a photo of it compared to a good can of Just Born. Esbilac vs Just Born. For reference here is a can of Esbilac with proper coloring and texture next to this bad can. Good color, bad color. For comparison here is a can of properly colored, textured Esbilac next to the can of Just Born. Esbilac is lighter. Good Esbilac vs good Just Born".The rancid Esbilac is from Lot HG279OE exp 10/2012. I'm going to report this to the FDA. I will also forward eWildagain's report findings to the FDA and follow up on my last info act request. I can't believe they are still doing this to animals!

Below is a pic of good and bad Esbilac next to each other. Yellow, clumpy, smelly is bad.

UPDATE: 02/08/11: From eWildagain. More problems with the formula. Unidentified objects found in Petag's Multimilk. Peroxide level is 115. Anything above ten is considered rancid.Petag responded that the clumps could be undissolved minerals. They admit they still have problems. I'm so glad I stopped using and recommending all their products.

UPDATE: 08/15/10: They wrote this news 8/4/10 yet released it today.PetAg Initiates Comprehensive Pet Nutrition and Safety Eduction Program The FDA forced them to change their labels because they were violating the truth in labeling act. The FDA forced them to exchange the bad formula. Petag of course turns this around to make people think they are changing the labels just to help consumers. They are exchanging the formula just because they are nice. Soon I will have the final FDA documents about Petag.

UPDATE: 08/10/10: Petag updates their page on their formulas Notice they state the density, color, mixing have changed. These were the problems everyone noticed in the rancid batches. Density, color and mixing were different than before. Also note they say they changed their label. The FDA forced them to change their labels because they did not match the true ingredients in the formulas. Soon I will post the letters the FDA sent to Petag to force them to do these things. I'm still shocked that this company has the nerve to say "our products are perfectly fine."

UPDATE: 08/10/10: Petag releases a press release about storing their formula. Perhaps the FDA forced them to do this. Notice they said they reformulated their formula. Obviously it means something was wrong with the last reformulation. Also notice that they have no problem releasing a press release about reformulating formula. They could have easily released a press release informing consumers about their rancid and overheated formulas, but they did not. In fact they never even recalled it. They let consumers buy it and give it to their animals. The rancid and overheated batches are still out there on store shelves. I'm still getting reports of dying animals. How do they sleep at night knowing they killed and are still killing all these baby animals?

July 2010 I made this formula comparison. Prices and sizes have changed.

Price comparisons of various puppy and kitten milks

12 ounce powder.

Prices from Petco/PetSmart online stores only except Fox Valley
Doesn't include shipping.

Puppy

Nutri-Vet $24/$21
Just Born $16/$21
Esbilac $23/$23
21st Century NA/$17
Animal Naturals K9 ($19/l lb)=$14/NA
Fox Valley l lb $11.45=$9

Price Esbilac vs Fox Valley $23 vs $9
Esbilac costs $14 more
Esbilac is more than double the price for the same size

Kitten

KMR 12 oz powder $22/$20
Just Born (6 oz x 2) $18/NA
21st Century NA/$17
Fox Valley kitten l lb $12.95 =$10
l lb is 16 ounces. Fox Valley adjusted for size.

Price KMR vs Fox Valley $22 vs $10
KMR costs $12 more
KMR is more than double the price
Fox Valley is of course the best price and the product is good.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Shipping costs Petag vs Fox Valley

To ship a 12 oz can of Esbilac from Petag costs $8.45, total cost is $31.45
To ship a 12 oz can of KMR from Petag costs $6, total cost is $28
To ship a 16 oz/1 lb can of Fox Valley costs $1.50, total cost $11.50 max

Petag products shipped from Petag cost almost three times as much as Fox Valley.
Why does Petag charge over 5x as much to ship the same size product? They don't
even use refrigerated trucks.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Analysis of Petag frequent buyer program. Does paying more for Petag
products make sense if you use the frequent buyer program?

Esbilac

9 pts per 12 oz powder
Need 240 pts to get free 12 oz powder
Must buy 27 cans to get enough to get a free can
Price difference of 27 cans Esbilac and Fox Valley is 23-9=14/can
Must spend extra $378 to get a free $23 can plus $8.45 shipping.

KMR

9 pts per 12 oz powder
Need 132 pts to get free 12 oz powder
Must buy 15 cans to get enough to get a free can
Price difference of 15 cans KMR and Fox Valley is 22-10=12/can
Must spend $180 more to get a $22 can plus $6 shipping

It's also odd that it costs more to ship Esbilac than KMR when they weigh the
same. Odd that you need more pts to get a free can of Esbilac when Esbilac only
costs $1 more. Obviously the frequent buyer program makes no sense.

I've always known that Petag products were more expensive. I still bought
them thinking I was getting a better product. They probably manufacture their
formula in the same plants that the other companies use. It most certainly is
not better. Plus, they lie about ingredients and knowingly sold tainted formula
that killed babies.

UPDATE: 07/10/10: Petag the company was forced by the FDA to remove their false note stating the FDA was not investigating them. Petag was also forced by the FDA to post the FDA's warning on their website. http://www.petag.com

UPDATE: 07/01/10: Article about the FDA warning about pet milk replacers.

UPDATE: 07/01/10: The FDA releases a warning about pet milk replacers. They emailed it to me directly few minutes ago. FDA warns about pet milk replacers It basically says puppy and kitten milk replacers should only be given to puppies and kittens. You should not give it to any other species. You should not mix anything else with the formula. Fat in formula can become rancid if exposed to excessive heat at any time. Casein can clump together if exposed to excess heat. If a formula does not smell, look or mix properly, do not use it even if it's not expired. Contact the manufacturer. If an animal becomes sick or fails to thrive, stop using the formula and contact your vet. If you have problems with a formula, report it to the FDA. It sounds to me like the FDA realizes that Petag's formulas were overheated which caused the fat to become rancid. Overheating also caused the casein to clump which is why it was difficult to mix. The FDA can't force Petag to recall the product. At least they are warning the public about the problems with the formula.

UPDATE: 06/07/10: Someone just forwarded to me an email from eWildAgain. The person asked if they still recommend Esbilac and KMR and what formulas are they personally using. Shirley Casey stated she does not recommend any product. She didn't say what formula she herself uses. This is pretty interesting after she filed a report with the FDA stating Esbilac and KMR has been killing babies. I do know in the past she recommended Esbilac and KMR. Heck, so did I. My recommendations may even be in a few manuals floating around.
"Shirley Casey to ***

Thank you for your interest in powdered milk replacement products. Wildlife rehabilitators consider many factors in selecting milk replacers, including nutritional composition, ingredients, storage, shelf life, cost, performance, and more. We recognize that people will have many different opinions, preferences and experiences that will influence their personal decisions about milk replacers, formulas - as well as other rehabilitation practices.
As we have explained to many rehabilitators for years, we do not recommend a particular manufacturer, product, or even recipe. Rather we encourage rehabilitators to collect information, make their own informed decisions, evaluate results, and adjust practices if and as needed. Some rehabilitators have reported positive results with formulas prepared with Esbilac®, KMR®, Fox Valley Animal Nutrition products (e.g., 33/40), and more as adjusted for species, animal age and health, and so forth. The selection and use of milk replacers really is a personal decision and preference.

Further information and updates will continue to be posted on ewildagain.org. Thank you again for your interest. WildAgain Wildlife Rehabilitation"

I went through their website and they did recommend Petag products for squirrels. "Juvenile squirrels that are still nursing require effective squirrel milk replacers (e.g., Esbilac and Multimilk, and Zoologic; manufactured by PetAg, Hampshire, IL)." She didn't list any other brands. At least this shows she doesn't want to recommend them any more. Someone else told me she now uses Fox Valley.

UPDATE: 06/03/2010: In my FOIA request I asked for other complaints about the product. It seems eWildAgain a wildlife rehabilitation facility which specializes in squirrels filed a complaint to the FDA February 9, 2010. Shirley Case stated the formula gave baby squirrels diarrhea and other problems then they died. The FDA stated in their report "FDA action indicated." The FDA is still investigating this report. I will do another FOIA request to get a copy of the final report. Here is eWildAgain's complaint.

UPDATE: 06/02/2010: I did a FOIA request to get a copy of all complaints about the formula. There were nine complaints made to the FDA. The formula killed kittens, puppies, lions, tigers, jaguars and wildlife. I don't see my complaint in there. Complaints about formula made to FDAThe complaints were basically "diarrhea," "abdominal swelling," "GI distress, "death." The complaints were from March 2009 to February 2010 in regard to KMR, Esbilac and Zoologic.

The links seem to be dead. Here are a few complaints. I'll try to find the full complaints. I have them here.

There were 20 complaints made to Petag. Complaints about formula made to PetagThe complaints were basically "smells bad," "smells rancid," "puppies with diarrhea," "kitten death," "off color and odor," "puppies lost weight," "bacteria found in product." The complaints were from June 2009 to November 2009.

UPDATE: 06/02/2010: 23 baby tigers die. Oklahoma state lab says Petag's KMR formula most likely killed the babies. FDA is investigating.

UPDATE: 05/30/2010: Price comparison chart of various puppy and kitten milk replacement formulas. Petag formulas cost well over 60% more than the leading brand.

UPDATE: 05/28/10: FDA finds salmonella in Petag's rawhide for dog bones. The company still sells it to consumers anyway.

UPDATE: 05/27/10: The FDA responds to my FOIA request. I receive copies of the FDAs investigations into not only problems with the formula but with salmonella infected rawhide for dog bones. I will post the documents within a few days. Lots to read here.

UPDATE: 04/12/10: Petag states they are changing how they make Esbilac Petag changes manufacturing process for Esbilac

UPDATE: 03/16/10: The 13what article is back online. They decided not to let Petag bully them.

UPDATE: 03/15/10: Another article on the rancid formula Petco, PetSmart sell rancid Petag formula

UPDATE: 03/15/10: The news station pulled the article and video about the rancid formula. The company threatened to sue them. They also threatened to sue another writer who wrote an article. I saved a copy of the article here KMR is rancid

UPDATE: 03/12/10: A news station does an article on KMR. It's still killing kittens. KMR kills kittens

UPDATE: 03/07/10: eWildAgain updates their information on Esbilac. There are problems with the formula. They show photos of afflicted wildlife. eWildAgain report on Esbilac being bad

UPDATE: 02/11/10: Someone started a petition asking Petag not to sell tainted formula Stop selling Petag's tainted formulas I did not start the petition. Someone sent it to me to warn me about the product. I wish Petag had warned me last year.

UPDATE: 02/10/10: I sent Petag a cease and desist letter. They sent an email to all consumers, distributors and stores stating there is no investigation, the FDA said my complaint was "spurious" and there is nothing wrong with their formulas. They even said the FDA approved of their letter. I spoke with the FDA. They hadn't even seen it and do not approved. They never said those things. The COO of the company admitted that her own formula was bad and should not be used. Something is very wrong for a company to make such huge lies.

UPDATE: 02/08/2010: ACTUAL FDA INVESTIGATION REPORT!!!Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 The FDA redacted some "confidential" information. This is what the FDA gave me. I deleted my phone number.

UPDATE: 02/05/2010: Petag lies and says there is no FDA investigation. Read big lie here. I saved a copy as I know they will edit it or delete it. They also lie and say the FDA told them the complaint was "spurious." There was an FDA investigation which was completed January 29, 2010. See links above. The result was "manufacturer" was "responsible." They never said it was "spurious." What's odd is the company claims they make their own products but this report states they are made somewhere else in Kansas. Petag doesn't want people to know who makes their products? Menu Foods has a plant in Kansas. I wouldn't put it past Petag to use that plant that was involved in the huge recall and class action lawsuit.

UPDATE: 02/08/2010: I uploaded my FOIA request here and their response here.The report said the manufacturer was responsible for the problem with the formula.

UPDATE: 02/02/2010: FDA finds Petag responsible in tainted infant formula

UPDATE: 01/29/10: I just received the FDA Complaint #98535. The FDA stated that the manufacturer Petag is the responsible party for the problem with the formula. Oddly enough Petag told the FDA that their manufacturer is in Kansas. Their website says they manufacture it themselves in Illinois. Co-owner George Gill is the one who made the statements to the FDA. He stated they had no other complaints about their products except mine. I have copies of other complaints made to the company. I even sent them to the FDA. If this company will lie to consumers, distributors, and the FDA, they can never be trusted. I will never use or recommend their products ever again. There is no way to tell what's in the product without spending $600 and running your own tests.

UPDATE: 01/15/10: I sent in a Freedom of Information Act request in October 4, 2009 which the FDA confirmed. File number is 2009-8723. The original investigator referred it to the CVM Department and the Chicago District office. The Chicago District office has not yet completed the investigation because they are running behind. I will post it here when I receive it.

UPDATE: 12/29/2009: Petag announces they have just changed how they manufacture KMR. I hope this means that KMR won't be rancid and fatal any more. KMR manufacturing changed

UPDATE: 12/29/09: eWildagain updates their report on problems with KMR and Esbilac. They've been covering this since the beginning.

UPDATE: 12/28/2009: Audio interview with CEO of PetSense pet stores on link below. This company checked out the product, found that it was rancid and pulled it from all 31 of their pet stores. They told Petag to give them new formula that is not rancid. This is the same interviewer from the below interview. She said that she felt the COO of Petag Darlene Frudakis was doing "corporate ballet" in her last interview. Darlene was dancing around the questions not answering them. She was upset that companies such as Tylenol recalled their product when they found someone had tampered with it. Why didn't Petag? My opinion is that Darlene does not care about animals, only money.

UPDATE: 12/17/2009: Audio interview with COO & President of Petag Darlene Frudakis by Sunny Aris of 575 Magazine. Darlene is not honest in this interview. She states she has not heard of any kittens dying because of the formula. She said she had no complaints, untrue. Petag states they told pet stores to remove their KMR. Untrue. The pet stores removed it on their own when they realized it was rancid. Consumers told the stores it was rancid. Interviewer thinks it wasn't Petag's fault. Bull. They changed KMR and Esbilac processing again to deal with the problem. Expiration 5/11 is the bad lot. Rancid corn oil. COO stated the "formula can only give them diarrhea. It won't kill them." Interviewer said "diarrhea can kill a kitten." "As of this morning, the pet store checked all powdered KMR and it was rancid." She's in New Mexico. Interviewer asked "how will you notify the consumer that the bad product is still on shelves?" COO "we'll get back to you on that." COO Darlene Frudakis lies to interviewer on tape

UPDATE: 10/21/09: Today Petag posted a new notice on their website. The notice states that their KMR and Esbilac have no preservatives. They must be stored in a cool, dry place. They test their product before it leaves the plant. It could be exposed to high temperatures in transit and go bad. If it smells, looks bad, don't use it and call them. 10/21/09 update One, the label states the products have copper sulphate which is a preservative. Two, if their product is that perishable, they should use temperature controlled trucks.

UPDATE: 10/16/09: They have since deleted this news item from their website. I saved a copy as a pdf file. Click hereThey also now state that Esbilac is not meant for wildlifeThey also deleted this notice. Here is a jpg image of their original main page which shows both notices.Original Page.
UPDATE: 10/07/09: Since our investigation into Esbilac the company admits on their website that their KMR formula is bad and should not be used. Do not use KMR!

UPDATE: 10/07/09: Petag admits KMR formula is bad. Check out the comments.

UPDATE: 09/27/09: Petag's Esbilac formula contains heavy metal copper. Check out the comments.

Sunday Sep 27th, 2009 12:49 PM

Here is the independent lab result.

Independent lab tests of Petag's Esbilac puppy milk have revealed it contains twice the maximum allowed of heavy metal copper as per government standards, 20 ppm vs 10 ppm max. Results also revealed that the contents are 17.6% fiber while the label states it has "0% crude fiber." A report was filed against Petag with the U.S. Food & Drug Administration on 9/15/2009.

Over the last few months wildlife rehabilitators across the nation have been complaining about problems with "new" Esbilac. Raccoon, skunk, opossum, squirrel, bear and bunny babies were getting severe diarrhea and dying.

Various organizations contacted Petag headquarters and complained about the problems over many months. They were told by Judy Polanowski that Petag merely changed their manufacturing process to "spray drying." The product was now supposedly more "digestible." Petag refused to refund unopened bags of Esbilac stating there is nothing wrong with the product.

9/10/2009 Animal Advocates sent a sterile sample of Esbilac straight from the Petag factory to an independent lab in California. September 24 they received the results which showed the contaminant heavy metal copper and large amounts of fiber. These results were forwarded to the FDA.

The significant lab results are as follows:

Protein 24.8% Fat 31.5% Fiber 17.6% Heavy metal copper 2x Maximum Contaminant Level (MCL)Petag's label states a "guaranteed analysis" as follows:
Crude Protein min 33.0% Crude Fat min 40.0% Crude Fiber max 0.0%The actual protein and fat in Esbilac is less than the minimum guaranteed by the Petag label. The fiber is far greater than the maximum guaranteed. The lab has stated that even though the product contains 17.6% fiber, there is no fiber source listed in any of the ingredients on the label. Copper poisoning is fatal causing diarrhea and organ failure. Excess fiber causes diarrhea, dehydration and emaciation. The dead babies looked like they were starved to death even though they were fed the recommended amount of Petag's Esbilac formula.

Melamine was tested but only to the 2.5 ppm level and found to have less than 2.5 ppm. The maximum allowed for infant liquid formula is 1.0 ppm. A new melamine test has been ordered to test to the 1.0 level as the original test equipment was not capable of going to 1.0.
The FDA regulates pet foods and treats. The Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA) requires that pet foods, like human foods, be safe to eat, produced under sanitary conditions, contain no harmful substances, and be truthfully labeled.

Animal Advocates Animal Advocates rehabilitates ill, injured and orphaned wildlife for release back to the wild. They are licensed by the California Department of Fish & Game and are located in Los Angeles, California. http://www.AnimalAdvocates.us

Petag As per their website Petag produces the number one selling puppy milk Esbilac and the number one selling kitten milk KMR in the world. Their manufacturing plant has been located in Hampshire, Illinois for over 50 years. http://www.Petag.com 800-323-6878
Supposed comment from Petag and others here.

New article about problems with KMR killing kittens and Petag admitting their KMR formula is bad and should not be used.

Click to learn more about the founder of Animal Advocates

Mary Cummins of Animal Advocates is a wildlife rehabilitator licensed by the California Department of Fish and Game and the USDA. Mary Cummins is also a licensed real estate appraiser in Los Angeles, California.

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Mary Cummins of Animal Advocates is a wildlife rehabilitator licensed by the California Department of Fish and Game and the USDA. Mary Cummins is also a licensed real estate appraiser in Los Angeles, California.

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Wednesday, November 12, 2014

Petag Esbilac, KMR formulas have problems, kill animals, spoiled, rotten, poisoned, tainted, rancid - Animal Advocates

Petag Esbilac and KMR have problems, Mary Cummins, Animal Advocates

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