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Waggin' Train Wholesome Chicken Jerky Tenders were among 13 Nestle Purina brand treats listed among 22 complaints being investigated by the Food and Drug Administration. The treats, made in China, have been tied to reports of illnesses and deaths in dogs.

Stumped by mysterious illnesses in at least 600 dogs in the U.S., federal health officials have turned to consumers for help investigating problems possibly tied to chicken jerky pet treats made in China.

A log of complaints collected from pet owners and veterinarians contains references to at least three popular brands of jerky treats that may be associated with kidney failure and other serious ailments, according to internal Food and Drug Administration documents obtained by msnbc.com.

Of 22 “Priority 1” cases listed by the FDA late last year, 13 cited Waggin’ Train or Canyon Creek Ranch jerky treats or tenders, both produced by Nestle Purina PetCare Co., the records show. 

Another three listed Milo’s Kitchen Home-style Dog Treats, produced by the Del Monte Corp. The rest listed single brands or no brand.

Priority 1 cases are those in which the animal is aged 11 or younger and medical records that document illness are available, an FDA spokeswoman said. In many cases, samples of the suspect treats also are collected.

The report, obtained through a public records request, is the first agency indication of any brands linked to illnesses that have climbed since the FDA warned pet owners about jerky treats in November. That was the FDA's third caution about the pet products since 2007.

Nestle Purina and Del Monte officials said their treats are safe and FDA regulators said repeated tests have shown no absolute tie to any brand or manufacturer.

“No specific products have been recalled because a definitive cause has not been determined,” FDA officials said in a statement.

The internal report, overseen by the FDA’s Coordinated Outbreak and Response Evaluation, or CORE, group, is one of several ongoing assignments in which FDA regulators are seeking jerky treat samples and medical records of dogs that may have developed kidney failure, liver disease or Fanconi syndrome, which can lead to serious illness and death.

The recent complaints were filed from October through December by people in cities from California to New York, but the agency will continue to accept them.

“We still invite owners and veterinarians to submit complaints and samples,” said Siobhan DeLancey, an FDA spokeswoman. “The more information we have, the more likely we can find a link.”

The move comes as the FDA is under growing pressure from consumers and lawmakers to address rising numbers of illnesses blamed on the China-made treats. Before the warning was issued in November, the agency had logged 70 reports of illnesses tied to the treats last year. Since then, more than 530 additional complaints of illnesses and some deaths have been filed, officials said.

Bella, a 2-year-old pug, died last fall after her owner, Robin Pierre, said she ate Waggin' Train chicken jerky treats.

Consumers who say their dogs were sickened or killed have launched at least three petitions demanding recalls of jerky pet treats made in China, including one begun in December that has more than 3,400 signatures from the U.S. and around the world.

“At the slightest doubt, these products should have been recalled, especially knowing there was a link or at the very least a caution/warning label put on the packaging warning the consumers,” said Robin Pierre, a co-founder of “Animal Parents Against Pet Treats Made in China.”

Pierre, 49, of Pine Bush, N.Y., believes Waggin’ Train chicken jerky treats were responsible for the sudden death last fall of her previously health 2-year-old pug, Bella, who developed kidney failure. 

“The last week of her life was nothing but misery and pain, separated from her family, she died all alone, in a cage, despite the fact that she had a family who loved her,” Pierre wrote in an email to msnbc.com. “She meant the world to me and my family.”

Courtesy Susan Rhodes

Ginger, a 14-year-old family dog, sparked one of three petitions after she developed kidney failure possibly tied to chicken jerky pet treats. Her owner, Susan Rhodes, 51, of Port St. Lucie, Fla., wants the treats pulled from the market.

More than 375 people have signed a petition launched last week by Susan Rhodes, 51, of Port St. Lucie, Fla. She believes her 14-year-old dog, Ginger, may have developed life-threatening kidney failure after eating chicken jerky treats. She was stunned to hear that consumer complaints alone can’t force the FDA -- or a company -- to recall potentially tainted products.

“That is just unreal. I am not happy with that,” Rhodes said.

For their part, FDA officials said the companies are free to enact a voluntary recall at any time.

Lawmakers call for action
Lawmakers, however, are demanding stronger FDA action. Ohio Democrats Sen. Sherrod Brown and Rep. Dennis Kucinich in February called on the FDA to step up investigation of tainted pet treats.

In a response sent late last week, an FDA official told Brown the agency “continues to actively investigate” the reports and to pursue testing for chemical and microbiological contaminants.

On Monday, Brown called the agency’s response “inadequate” and urged prompt release of results of 153 pending tests on the Chinese-made treats.

“I will continue to press the FDA on this issue because Ohio consumers shouldn’t have to worry about the safety of their pet’s food,” he said in a statement.

Since 2007, FDA scientists have analyzed jerky treats for evidence of dangerous toxins, including heavy metals, melamine, melamine analogs and diethylene glycol, chemicals used in plastics and resins.

So far, they’ve found nothing convincing, a point emphasized by Keith Schopp, director of communications for Nestle Purina.  He noted that FDA officials also suggest that illnesses may be a result of causes other than eating jerky treats.

“Our chicken jerky treats are safe to feed as directed,” said Schopp. “The safety of our products -- and the pets who consume them -- are our top priorities.”

The company has a comprehensive food safety program in place, he said, including at manufacturing plants in China.

Pierre, who lost her dog, has little faith in pet food manufacturers -- or in the FDA.

“Actions speak louder than words and there has been no action from them up until now,” Pierre said. “Waggin’ Train has hid behind the technicality that the FDA cannot find the link and the FDA has let them.” 

Consumers can report illnesses to the FDA's pet food complaint site.

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Knode family

Crystal Knode says her Chesapeake Bay Retriever, Rachel, shown with her 15-year-old daughter, Alex, pays close attention to the family and "anticipates what is going to happen."

Scientists have finally proven what every dog owner knows – our canine friends read our facial expressions like dedicated detectives.

Dogs don’t just depend on verbal commands to figure out what we want, a new study shows. Instead, they look into our eyes and try to guess what we’re up to, according to the study published in Current Biology.

Hungarian researchers showed that dogs will even follow our gaze if we make eye contact with them first.

This study “reveals that dogs are receptive to human communication in a manner that was previously only attributed only to 6-month-old human infants,” said study co-author Jozsef Topal a researcher at the Hungarian  Academy of Sciences.

Topal and his colleagues studied 29 canines. The dogs were shown a movie of a woman who sometimes would stare straight at the dog and call out to him and then turn her head to stare at an object next to her. The other times the woman would just turn her head and stare at the object.

For the most part, dogs who were addressed both through eye contact and with a verbal greeting tended to follow the gaze of the woman in the movie. When no eye contact was made, the dogs didn’t follow the gaze of the woman.

There have been similar experiments in babies, Topal said. And the dogs are behaving just as 6-month-olds do.

The new findings come as no surprise to Crystal Knode, a 51-year-old legal secretary from San Jose, Calif. Her 9-year-old Chesapeake Bay Retriever, Rachel, is always observing family members’ body language and facial expressions.

“She anticipates what is going to happen,” Knode said. “She watches and takes cues to figure out what I’m going to do and what I’m not going to do. Dogs are very attuned to body language and hand motions.”

Topal is convinced that the dogs’ behavior is something that has been bred into the species over its long partnership with humanity.

“Dogs have evolved to sharing their lives with humans,” Topal said. “And they gained new skills that support their social interaction with humans.”

Deleta Jones isn’t buying that analysis. She thinks this is just the way dogs interact – whether it’s with a human or another dog.

“When they learn verbal commands, they are learning a foreign language,” said the 48-year-old dog trainer from Hollister, Calif.  “Dogs normally speak through body language and facial expression. It’s more natural to them.

“If you’ve ever watched dogs at a dog park, you’ve seen it. Within 30 seconds of the time they enter the park a huge amount of information has passed back and forth between the new dog and the ones already in the park. They’re exchanging looks, observing eyes and body posture. In seconds they know who is dominant and who is submissive.”

That skill just transfers to relationships with their owners, Jones said. “If people are upset and crying the dog sees the upset facial expression and also smells the adrenaline,” she added. “Dogs read all of that.”

Video: 'Talking' husky: From YouTube to big screen

So ultimately, babies, until they develop language, are using a communication system that all social animals do. Later on, they’ll lean more heavily on the spoken word, while dogs, cats and horses will continue to rely on body language.

People sometimes forget that body language is the more natural mode of communication for their pets, Knode said. If you really want to have a conversation with your pet, tune in to their language, she says.

“You have to try to communicate on their level, what they understand,” Knode said. “They have their own language and you just have to try to communicate and think as they would think.”

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Imported chicken jerky treats from China are being blamed for at least 353 reports of illnesses in dogs, federal Food and Drug Administration officials say.

Reports of illnesses in dogs given chicken jerky treats have spiked dramatically following a new government warning about pet snacks made in China.

The federal Food and Drug Administration has logged at least 353 reports this year of illnesses tied to imported chicken jerky products, also sold as chicken tenders, chicken strips or chicken treats, a spokeswoman said.

That’s up from 70 reports of illnesses -- and some deaths --  received in 2011 before the Center for Veterinary Medicine issued an updated warning on Nov. 18.  

Dog owners and veterinarians are reporting that animals have been stricken with a range of symptoms within hours or days of eating chicken jerky, including serious problems such as kidney failure and Fanconi syndrome, a condition marked by low blood sugar.

Though the illnesses appear tied to chicken jerky products manufactured in China, the source of the problem remains a mystery, said Siobhan DeLancey, an FDA spokeswoman.

Despite extensive chemical and microbiological testing, the agency has not identified problems with a specific contaminant -- or a specific brand or type of treat.

“[We are] still digging through the reports to see if we can discern a common thread that’s more specific than just chicken jerky,” DeLancey said.

The latest warning was the agency’s third alert about chicken jerky treats, with previous cautions issued in 2007 and 2008. In 2007, 156 reports of dog illnesses tied to chicken jerky were logged, but the number fell sharply, to just 41 in 2008, according to FDA records.

Because the agency has not identified any particular products as the culprit, no recalls have been issued.

In the meantime, FDA officials are warning pet owners to avoid chicken jerky treats imported from China. They’re also urging owners to seek medical care if dogs develop symptoms including decreased appetite, decreased activity, vomiting, diarrhea, bloody diarrhea, increased water consumption and increased urination. Stop feeding the treats to the animal and seek veterinary care, especially if symptoms are severe, or persist for more than a day, officials say.

Consumers can report suspicious illnesses to the FDA’s Pet Food Complaint site. 

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Halloween hazard: Xylitol-tainted treats could kill your dog

Timothy A. Clary / AFP - Getty Images

Tank, an English Bulldog, dressed as the Runaway Bride for the 21st Annual Tompkins Square Halloween Dog Parade in New York this month. Dressing up is fine, but keep dogs away from Halloween candy that may contain xylitol, a sugar substitute that can be dangerous or deadly to canines.

Keeping kids from overdosing on candy is every parent’s Halloween duty, but pet experts warn that the vigilance should extend to the furry members of the family as well.

That big bag of candy, gum and other treats hauled home from trick-or-treating can be dangerous -- or even deadly -- to dogs and some other pets, particularly because so many goodies now contain xylitol, a sugar substitute found in a growing number of sweets.

“Halloween is kind of the prime day for xylitol poisonings,” said Karen Leslie, executive director of The Pet Fund, a non-profit animal medical care agency. “This can be a very small exposure and a very big problem.”

The federal Food and Drug Administration earlier this year warned consumers about the dangers of xylitol poisoning in dogs and ferrets.

Just a single stick of gum could endanger a 10- to 20-pound dog, cautioned Eric Dunayer, an expert on xylitol poisoning and an associate professor of clinical sciences in the School of Veterinary Medicine at St. Matthew’s University, Grand Cayman. The amount of xylitol varies widely among foods, with those that contain less than 2 percent of the substance posing less risk.

In dogs, xylitol stimulates a massive release of insulin, causing a drop in blood sugar, which can lead to weakness, loss of coordination and seizures, Dunayer said. Xylitol also can lead to liver damage and death in rare cases. Symptoms can occur within 30 to 60 minutes of ingestion of xylitol and require immediate veterinary attention.

Reports of xylitol problems have been steadily rising for the past several years, said Tina Wismer, a veterinarian and medical director at the poison control center operated by the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, or ASPCA.

In 2010, the agency received more than 2,500 calls from owners frantic because their animals had ingested toxic treats. That's probably a fraction of the actual incidents, which are more likely to be reported to local vets.

“We tend to get a lot of gum calls,” Wismer said. “We can also find xylitol in other candies and mints.”

Visits to animal emergency clinics rise dramatically around Halloween and other candy-centric holidays, said Joan Dolance, a veterinarian and director of emergency care at the Animal Surgical & Emergency Center in West Los Angeles. She still recalls treating a Yorkie who ate an entire pack of gum found in his owner's purse.

"He was very sick, but he eventually recovered," she said.

Chocolate is a better-known poisoning culprit, but many pet owners still don't know about the dangers of xylitol, the experts added.

There is no antidote for xylitol poisoning, so veterinarians typically try to induce the pet to rid its system of as much of the dangerous product as possible. Activated charcoal, which is often used to treat other types of poisoning, may help, but some pets wind up hospitalized and on intravenous fluids for at least 24 hours, said Dolance.

The best treatment is prevention, of course, the experts say. Pet owners should keep xylitol-containing treats out of reach of animals. And they should check the ingredients on common foods such as pudding, Jell-O gelatin and baked goods, to make sure they're not sharing bites of xylitol-laced human food with their dogs.

With all of the chaos of parties and costumes and treats, pet owners should be especially cautious on Oct. 31, added Leslie, of the Pet Fund.

“Halloween is the one day we make sure they get nowhere near the candy," she said.

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