46 Responses to Iams

1. V M Kitchen June 1, 2015 at 7:00 pm #

   I have always fed Iams to my various dogs, throughout the years, with only good outcomes. In the last two years, my 10 yr old Australian Shephard started having urinary incontinance. The vet could find no logical reason, so I assumed it was age. I tried transitioning to Iams Eukanuba, and the problem got worse. Back to the Proactive. I recently took in a young Shephard-Golden-Great Pyranese mix, who was on a Purina brand food. I transitioned her to Iams Proactive, and when she got to her first full bowl of Iams she had a night of leaking urine all over. Constantly licking and trying to clean herself, the same as my older dog. I immediately went out and got a new food for both, and transitioned them to it. So far, no more problems. In hind site, my older dog had digestive issues on and off for the same last two years. Now I read the review on this site and I am shocked. There really was a time when this was a good brand, and my animals thrived on it. No more, it seems.
2. meadow20 May 8, 2015 at 1:26 pm #

   My dogs have eaten iams for years with no problems. Of course sometimes they get sick, but its because they are not discriminating about what else they put in their mouths. Overall, they are healthy. One of my dogs who we’ve had since he was a year old is now 15 and his health is good. And Iams is what we have fed him that whole time.
3. Laurie L September 3, 2014 at 10:05 pm #

   Both my dogs are sick. Vomiting with blood…all over my house and furniture. Diarrhea and more blood. I have been feeding them Iams mini chunks adult – 5.7lb dog food. I have a huge mess of stains and an even larger vet bill. I will never buy Iams again and pray my two dogs dont die. Thanks to insufficient quality control….it appears many animals are very sick.
4. Robin August 18, 2014 at 6:40 pm #

   I have bought Iams for 3 yrs for my terrier mix. The last bag I opened made her very sick (diarrhea and vomiting). I will never feed her Iams again. I am very disappointed that they can’t quality check this food before they let it out of the plant. There have been so many recalls and I have been very careful, but there was no recall on this bag of food.
5. Donna June 25, 2014 at 3:19 pm #

   Glad I looked here. Picked up a bag of adult large breed last week. Our dogs have been vomiting and refusing to eat as well. I think it’s time to switch food. Something is definitely amiss!
6. barb June 22, 2014 at 12:00 pm #

   Our 2 dogs are vomitting too and don’t want to eat, or when they do, they vomit. Something is definitely wrong. We are using iams healthy natural chicken and barley.
7. Patty June 13, 2014 at 8:24 pm #

   I have been feeding my rescue dogs IAMS mini chunks for the past 2 years with no problems. The past few weeks, they are reluctantly eating, and now 3 are vomiting over the past 2 days. Has there been a recall on this food, or have they changed the formula?
8. Sandy May 3, 2014 at 1:38 am #

   2 healthy dogs that I fed Iams So Good (new bad purchased on a Sunday) both of my dogs became violently ill with vomiting and diaharea …no other changes in environment , dogs are healthy and up to date on shots. They only go outside to play in backyard…I feel this food caused both of them to become ill.
   • k May 21, 2014 at 1:17 pm #

     If they were eating something else and then you suddenly switched to Iams So Good without transitioning slowly, that can cause GI upset…which leads to diarrhea and perhaps vomiting
9. Sandra Nash May 2, 2014 at 1:38 pm #

   I have been using Iams large dog (both puppy and weight control) for over two years with good results. I blend the Iams with a higher quality breed specific food. However, I purchased the new Iams wet food called “Iams Woof”, specifically the turkey variety. After mixing it into the dogs’s dry food my American bulldog smelled it then refused to eat. My English bulldog ate his portion and immediately threw up his entire dinner. I often mix wet food into their dry food so that experience was not new. I will be throwing the other Iams Woof varieties I purchased away.
10. Linda April 17, 2014 at 5:18 pm #

    We started feeding our dog IAMS with Lamb and Rice for his allergies in January. He liked the food and his skin looked much better. I bought two new bags, one for the house and one for our camp. The dog will barely eat anything from either bag. Has the formula changed????
11. Suzanne Suddeth February 8, 2014 at 11:19 pm #

    I have always fed my dachshund Iams mini chunks. I haven’t had a problem until last week. I opened a new bag…there are four dogs in the house and the only two that ate this food ended up very sick with vomiting and terrible diarrhea. I am desperately trying to switch to a different food my dog will like. Very disheartening.
12. robin January 14, 2014 at 1:08 pm #

    I bought a bag of Iams So Good Chicken flavored for my furbabies. I had to go out of town for a few days and when I came by one of my babies has very loose horrible smelling stools. My daughter and son say this has been going on since we’ve been gone. The only difference for them is the Iams. I have had to go behind her with paper towels and cleaner when she walks it has gotten so bad. I think it’s time to go back to the old food and pray I can reverse my babys symptoms.
13. Kelly November 27, 2013 at 11:18 am #

    Both of my dogs have been eating Iams Puppy Food, one since he was weaned from his mother, and the other since I got her several months ago. They are both now throwing up, one started six days ago and the other started today. Are there any recalls on this product?
    I am taking the food back immediately and have them eating rice and ground beef to ease their stomachs. Need a new puppy food to feed my pups now.
14. Caberfeidh 881 October 19, 2013 at 7:56 pm #

    I have fed my 15year old Japanese Chin on Iams all his life and never had a problem with it. He has never had any health issues during his life and the vet told me at his last check up that he has a very strong heart and I’m now feeding my two Chihuahua’s on this without any problems.
15. Dennis August 29, 2013 at 9:34 am #

    I was very disappointed when i brought my big bag of Iams dog food home from the store, and look down in the bag and found out it was only a half of bag. I know economy is bad but so is $13.99
    from my wallet.The bag was 13.5 lbs.(6.12 Kg)
16. kim thomas August 27, 2013 at 10:26 pm #

    I gave my 4 year old Pitbull Iams proactive health and she is hyper. She’s panting and wanting to walk, walk, walk. I don’t think she likes it very much either, because she’s not eating a lot of it. I have given her Blue, the salmon blend and we (me and my dog) think it’s healthier and meets her needs. I will never cut cost again when it comes to my dog. I am going to give the Iams to my sister and get us some Blue.
17. drew kenton July 24, 2013 at 10:48 pm #

    Here is my two cents about this dog food problem.

    I haven’t found one trusting website that I can visit that has done all of their homework. Outdated information and reviews in most places I have found companies buy out companies and change their products or just change them to save money. It is the same everywhere. I even contacted Betty Crocker to explain that their hambuger helper is more of a side dish now and gave them a comparision of sizes from a box I just bought…almost 3 oz in difference.
    iams might have had a management crew that cared in the past, but something has changed. My vet thinks iams is better than a 5 star dog food that starts with meat and not a byproduct. Kickback or she just doesn’t really care about my pup…you decide.
18. PS King June 6, 2013 at 3:21 pm #

    I purchased a new bag of Iams dry dog food 7 days ago. Within 3 days of eating it, my dog developed large hives/welts all over her body. The hives caused her itching to the point of open wounds from her scratching. The hives and welts were even in her inner ear canals. This dog food was the only change in my dog’s daily life. She was a completely healthy 1 1/2 year old dog prior to the use of this food.
    • Sdoyle July 14, 2013 at 12:06 am #

      Our dog has had the same reaction. We took him to the vet and he put him on antiobotics and medicated shampoo. Has yours healed from the hives? We are extremely worried
    • spud July 21, 2013 at 3:03 pm #

      My dog breaks out in hives occasionally and it’s really hard to put your finger on what the problem is without spending hundreds of dollars at the vet. Usually, giving him a fresh dose of flea and tick stuff and keeping him on an ingredient sensitive diet works (no corn, chicken, or wheat.) On the bright side, benadryl for humans works for dogs too. Even makes them sleepy. Sure the vet can offer a bit better stuff, but it will cost you!
19. Lu Ann May 5, 2013 at 8:01 pm #

    WTG Iams! Dropping the amount in the bag but not the size of the bag or the price. I was not a happy camper when discovering this today. If I wasn’t scared to change my dogs food, I would definitely be switching!
20. Dr Cathy Todd April 29, 2013 at 8:47 pm #

    I am a veterinarian and I showed afghan hounds, greyhounds, standard poodles and other dogs for 20+ years. Always fed Iams and their premium brand the entire time. No problems whatsoever, started buying it from Paul Iams when he set up a booth at the shows–he used to sell it by the pound in brown paper grocery bags, BTW. All my dogs lived over 15 years which is a little over the normal of 12 years for hounds. One of my afghans was nearly 20. Maybe it has changed since P%G bought them out, maybe not.

    I see poor practice and poor diagnosis every day in my practice so before people start pointing fingers at their dog food, they should investigate things like accidental poisonings by household items–cleaners, waxes, air fresheners, etc. Also outdoor irritants both airborne and surface (pollen, dust, insect sprays, weed killers, snakes, insect bites, frogs and toads (big neuro toxin risks), deliberate abuses, etc. Also flea collars and those convenient one drop flea and tick remedies. Keep track of where you pet goes, etc Owning a pet is a huge responsibility…educate yourself and your family!
21. Laura March 24, 2013 at 3:03 am #

    Our 10 year young Siberian Husky has been fed Iams Mini Chunks her entire life and just received a perfect health check up at the vet. I would recommend this food to anyone who wants a happy, healthy pet. She should be the next Iams Dog in a commercial!!
22. Cindy March 18, 2013 at 10:37 pm #

    I have been using Iams for over 5 years now…..since then they have change the amount in the bag without changing the size of the bag….with the price going up. When i call them out on this they said well to keep the quality of our ingredients we had to do this….i don’t buy that i know prices fluctuates on all products as a consumer…when i buy a gal of milk from one week to the next or a gal of gas the price changes not the size (i am still getting a gal)….there bag stays the same with less product….it’s gone from a 20 lbs to 15 lbs same size bag less product more money.
    • Anne March 26, 2013 at 10:14 am #

      I didn’t believe it at first, but I too realized after a while that the amount of dog food in the bag was less, but I was still paying the same prize for it! Really outrageous. My dog has eaten IAMS for 10 years, loves it and is in perfect health so I will not change brand. I guess, that the people in charge at IAMS are counting on that most customers purchasing their dog food feel the same and will not change. Not a great strategy.
23. KIm March 11, 2013 at 10:50 am #

    I recently fed my 6 dogs on a bag of Iams chicken and rice dry food and found that my 2 Malamutes both developed horrible weepy inch round spots all down their legs and that were itchy and painful and sore smelly ears, the other dogs didn’t seem to have an issue with it. We went back to our usual food and with quite a bit of medication both the dogs recovered, I WILL NOT be buying any Iams brand food ever again
24. Josie October 25, 2012 at 8:02 pm #

    Can Iams KO be used on a growing breed puppy?
25. Andi August 15, 2012 at 10:08 am #

    the best food on the market to date for the money is Natural Choice as it has NO Chemicals Fillers or By-Product in it & it has EVERY thing a dog or puiepps need it can be gotten at tractor supply or major pet stores the company has a program that if you save 10 bar codes from the bags & return them to the store you will get one free bag of equal value try it you & your dogs will like
26. Emily August 15, 2012 at 6:39 am #

    Royal Canine Does breed specific foods, Nutro is also rellay good I have used both and love them both. Even though sciece diet is supposed to be premium when I used it made my dogs skin flaky and dry. So I don’t like it. I also feed Natural balance log cut up as treats. You rellay just want a food that is made with human quality ingredients and have no fillers.
27. karen August 1, 2012 at 3:09 pm #

    I used to feed Eukanuba or Iams food to my cats and they seemed to do fine on it. The last five years I have not used their food. My elderly cat gets Science Diet because she had bad diarrhea in Iams food. My Shih Tzu is 6 years old and has had nothing but Royal Canin Shih Tzu 24 because that’s what the breeder feeds. He looks and feels great. Now the story about Iams. I bought him a bag of Iams Natural dog food on sale. He ate at night and the next morning vomitted three times. He gets all kinds of dog treats and never gets sick and he only had a small amount of this food along with his own. I’m pretty sure now it’s the food for both cats and dogs, it’s a no from me.
28. ashley May 6, 2012 at 8:04 pm #

    Fed my puppy this when we got him. Didn’t take long before he started getting pimples on his head then horrible dandriff and hair loss. Switched him to newmans and now NO dandriff at all pimples cleared up and is back to his old ways! Deff. Would never recommend iams there obviously isn’t the needed nutrients that are needed
29. ruth April 14, 2012 at 8:53 am #

    Iams has been guilty of ‘soylent green’ for using dead and diseased animals ground up and used in their food. It is a scam of criminal proportions. Watch the video on youtube to see this disgusting practice that several pet food companies have doing. Iams was at the TOP of the list. I have told everyone I know about this wicked product.
30. summer March 27, 2012 at 4:15 pm #

    Last March one of my dogs became extremely ill, she was vomiting and unable to use her hind legs. Rushed her to the emergecy vet. They ran several tests and sent her home – the next day she was worse so i brought her back in and they said they wanted to keep her overnight. I left feeling helpless, i needed to do something to help her. So i called Iams and asked if any recalls, it was the only thing i could think to do to help my dog. They told me no, no recent recalls, had me check expiration and lot numbers on dog food and suggested i throw out the current bag just to be safe. They sent me coupons for several free bags of dog food and treats. The representative was VERY sympathetic, kind and seemed to genuinely care about my dog. (It turned out to be Cushings Disease – she’s on daily meds now and is doing well) Anyway I’ve had her since she was 7 weeks and has been on Iams since she was about a year old, (she’s 9 now) my other two dogs – one i got 8 years ago, she’s 14 now and one i got 2 years ago and is now 9 first two rescues last one was a foster i kept. All my dogs are healthy, the 14 year old has seizures (she’s had since i got her, i assume reason she was dumped) so aside from that and this dogs Cushings – they are doing pretty great. I just saw the video on FB – didn’t know it was an old one and have contacted Iams to see what they have to say about it – and in the meantime do a little research on my own and came across this website. Anyway, i just wanted to add my 2 cents about Iams and will wait further judgement until i hear back from them. – Just saying – they’ve treated my dogs and i with care and respect (fyi they all eat the green bag mini chunks)
31. Mica February 5, 2012 at 8:07 pm #

    My two year old chihuahua died three days after I fed her five chunks of beef from a can I bought of Iams Beef chunks with gravy. Her symptoms were: vomiting, lethargic and later orange color urine. I took her and the food to the vet the next day and advised my vet I thought she had food piosoning but she said that Iams was a good company and perhaps the food was just too rich for her. I tossed the food and the can away and after she treated my dog with fluids and shots, I took her home. But she got worse during the night and the following day I took her back to the vet. I left her in her care, but she died that night.
    Could there be another explenation? Perhaps. But if you look up the food recall duing 2007 on Cornell University Vet site, you will see that the symptoms were typical of aflatoxin piosoning. I tried to have samples of her liver sent to a lab but my vet said there were no labs in NYC that could handle it. Was it the food??? Maybe, maybe not. I wish I knew for sure! But Iams just had a recall for this very reason : high levels of aflatoxin.
32. Pam February 4, 2012 at 7:43 pm #

    I can tell you as someone who has toured rhe Iams facilities, including their plant & the housing that Proctor & Gamble keep their dogs that test their testing dogs and cats in that the “animal rights acitivsts” are way off base.

    The footage that PETA shows is not of Iams animals at all, although Iams did at one time do testing in that facility. They have totally changed the way they do product testing & I can tell you from firsthand expeience they are as a whole, people who love dogs & cats passionately.

    Rumors that PETA wants the public to believe are nothing more than zealots trying to stir up trouble.

    I think a fair review would state that PETA has no real foundations for their claims.

    Pam Hoerauf
    • maralevine February 4, 2012 at 9:05 pm #

      Hi Pam,

      Our page on Iams is about the food. We have one sentence that mentions animal rights and it is this: “However, Iams has also been cited by animal rights activists as being a company that mistreats animals.”

      It is also fair to mention that your site (Pet Blogs United) has a lot of tie-ins with Iams, so your comments are not without prejudice.
33. Andrea Partee January 30, 2012 at 9:53 am #

    I’m going to stick my two cents worth in here. Iams foods are awful. I don’t know whether they have always been, or it is a result of Proctor and Gamble after buying the company.

    For myself, after 30 years of feeding commercial dog foods, I switched a few years ago to raw and it has had a profound affect on the health of my crew of 4 large dogs.

    My son, on the other hand isn’t ready to jump on the raw bandwagon and was feeding his dog Iams the first 3 years of his life. When some health problems cropped up, he decided to start with a change in food. I helped him choose the high end of Blue Buffalo. Although not perfect, it was much better than Iams and his dogs health problems disappeared without a vet visit.

    By the way, if you ever see a dog food with
    ethoxyquin, ( preservative ) run the other way. It is banned in most countries, but not the U.S. and it kills.
34. Denise Novelli December 6, 2011 at 7:26 pm #

    Several Vets in the last 5 years have told me I am better off putting my dog (small breed) on Organic Dog Food, and to stay away from any store brand food or chews, and yummies. They all contain too many artificial and unknown ingredients that cause SEVERE alergic reactions. I was cooking boiling chicken and vegis for my last dog, and he ended up dieing from the chicken. Now my new dog, has same severe reaction to all the store brand foods and chews, etc. He has been on Organic Food, Duck and Sweet Potatoes and I have broiled lamb and boiled carrots for his meals and guess what? No more Ear infections or open wound sores on his body. My nephew and his wife just found out their two big dogs continued illnesses was linked to “chicken”. We have to do more to ALERT the public, or those who LOVE their pets to all this… Those same ingredients or processing methods of foods is also hurting humans and found linked to artificial ingredients, food coloring dies, etc. It’s about time someone starts a Huge Campaign to Alert the public. I have even called the FDA, about all this and they claim they can’t do anything about it, and that we would have a national if not an international economy collaspe if we removed Red Food Die Red 40, from foods, makeup, etc, and this alone is causing many severe health problems in children and adults., which is now only being discovered.

    Just a few words on how I feel about this world…and one day we will all reap the rewards of putting known bad substanes on the market FOR SELF PROFIT.
35. amie October 1, 2011 at 10:52 pm #

    My mom always fed her dogs iams and funny how in the past twenty years she has lost all of her animals by the age of ten by cancer. Tumors. Sad. I have owned my first Akita for fourteen years now and she is still going strong and I have always fed her Pro Plan and I switched my breeding stock to Blue Buffalo and they had loose stool and vomited. I switched back and the problems disapeered but now i m noticing they are having and allergic reaction (fur changing colors reddish). So I am now looking for a good food. I’m thinking about Bil Jac
36. K. Cook March 10, 2011 at 6:15 pm #

    I raise & show AKC Champion Pekingese and our 21st champion finished recently. All of our dogs are fed Iams Mini Chunks because it keeps their skin & coats in excellent condition. The dogs are all great body weights and very healthy. We have fed this exclusively to our dogs for over 4 yrs now. Before we tried Iams, we fed Solid Gold, Innova & Canidae and were never able to achieve good results and actually had some serious problems. I think some people are so worried about feeding holistic organic food to their dogs they don’t notice their animals don’t do well on it. Any dog I know will fight over a dead bird carcass in the yard, the dogs aren’t concerned with by-products and they’ll happily eat them if they find them in the yard. One of the things I like most about it is that no matter where I travel I can easily pick up a bag of my dogs food without having to worry about upset stomachs when travelling. One more thing, our dogs teeth are much better since feeding Iams, we had far more tartar and bad breath and had to do dentals more frequeuntly with the other brands.
37. Concerned March 2, 2011 at 8:57 pm #

    Our Rottie has been on Iams for the past 11yrs and within the past couple of months we noticed a change in the food. It looked different and she seems to be having serious digestive issues because of it. Rugs have been ruined!! Mom has poop elbow(similar to tennis elbow),she has been throwing up and SEVERE gas (I think the neighbors are moving because of it). I changed her food to a higher grade dry dog food and poof she is fine. What have they changed recently with their dog food to cause such a dramatic change in her digestion? She has always been on Iams from a puppy and actually refused to eat anything else until recently.
    • Pam May 26, 2011 at 4:53 pm #

      What did you change your Rottie’s food to? Our dog has developed digestive issues in the past couple of months also and she has always eaten IAMS Lamb and Rice.
38. Lindsay February 24, 2011 at 2:04 am #

    They downgraded their quality in the past few years. They are produced by P&G, which had a huge salmonella recall on a large portion of their foods (Eukanuba, Naturally Wild, and Iams). They did, however, undergo a giant upgrade of their facilities immediately after. Still a lot of corn and a lot of byproduct regardless. You pay for a brand and not for nutrition.
    • Steven christiansen March 9, 2014 at 7:16 pm #

      I bye Iams smart puppy food for my puppy I had recently purchased a bag of Imes puppy food in phoned mouse feces in the food please advise me what shall I do with the package of food thank you
      • maralevine March 12, 2014 at 5:17 pm #

        Please contact Iams directly. The phone number is 1-800-675-3849.