A Walmart customer took to social media to post a PSA about refrigerated dog food, sparking a debate.

In a viral TikTok video with over 214,100 views and thousands of likes, user SarahinFl (@SarahinFl) explained why she believes refrigerated pet food is extremely unsafe.

“Dog owners, please listen,” demanded a text superimposed over the clip.

The woman mentioned a specific brand of pet food and similar ones.

What is FreshPet?

“This is the stuff, FreshPet,” the woman began, holding up a bag of the brand’s dog food. “Please stop giving it to your dog immediately,” she urged.

She advised against refrigerated pet food, referring not only to the Freshpet brand, but also to all other brands that she said can be purchased at Walmart.

The pet owner said she discovered a problem with the pet food when she took her 12-year-old dog to the vet. Her daughter told her she noticed blood in the dog’s stool, which prompted the visit.

After the dog’s blood work was done during the visit, the TikToker was told that some of her pet’s “values” were off and that the dog was anemic, as well as a disturbing possible diagnosis.

“I’m worried,” the doctor told her. “I don’t want to scare you, but this looks like it could be cancer.”

Why refrigerated dog food can cause gastrointestinal problems

The woman was told that further blood tests would be needed to confirm the diagnosis, but the veterinarian raised serious concerns. The doctor also reviewed the dog’s medical history and eating habits to rule out that he had ingested anything that could have caused the troubling test results.

“The only thing we give him is dry food,” she said. “And the chilled food.”

When the veterinarian heard that the woman was giving her pet the chilled food, he immediately advised her against it, according to her.

“Absolutely not!” the vet is said to have told her. “Stop giving him that immediately. Never give him that again.”

The content creator further explained that the vet said that temperature fluctuations when storing the food could lead to bacterial growth, which could harm pets and lead to the symptoms she observed in her dog.

The TikToker said she left a bill for $600 and had to treat her dog with four different medications and special pet food for his gastrointestinal problems.

However, she also admitted that she was not entirely sure whether her dog’s problems were actually caused by the pet food.

“Although I’m not 100 percent sure it was the food that caused his problems,” the woman continued, “the vet is pretty convinced that’s what’s going on.”

Viewers react to the veterinarian’s advice

In the comments section, some raised concerns about refrigerated pet food.

“My dog ​​won’t eat it,” wrote user Wanda Dow. “I make his food and give him Katherine Heigl’s Badlands dry dog ​​food. He loves it.”

“Fresh pet is not the best,” said user Melissa Green. “Often it can go bad quickly. I use freeze-dried raw food and add water/broth to wet food to give my dogs extra moisture. That way there is no risk of salmonella.”

However, other pet owners vouched for the pet food and said it was safe.

“I’ve been feeding my dogs fresh pet food for several years,” said user BrownEyedGirl. “No problems. One is 12 and the other is 10.”

“I’ve been feeding this to my dog ​​for years and have never had a problem, and I feed him the stuff in the bag, everything,” said another user.

The popularity of fresh pet food has exploded in recent years and is expected to continue to grow. Yet experts have said that fresh pet food is not necessarily better or more nutritious than regular pet food. Fresh food also carries a higher risk of bacterial or parasite contamination or nutritional imbalance.

@sarahinfl Please be careful what you feed your dog 😭 #dog #dogsoftiktok #freshpetfood #doglover #dogmom #dogsofttiktok #dogowner #sheamus #Pekingese #mybaby ♬ Original sound – SarahInFL

The Daily Dot contacted TikTok user SarahinFl via TikTok comment and direct message, Freshpet via email, and Walmart via the contact form.

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