Nutramax Warns of Counterfeit Proviable, Dasuquin and Cosequin Sold On Amazon

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180810005461/en/Nutramax-L...

Nutramax Laboratories Urges Consumers to Return Counterfeit Pet Dietary Supplements Sold by Unauthorized Resellers on Amazon

August 10, 2018 08:28 PM Eastern Daylight Time

LANCASTER, S.C.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nutramax Laboratories Veterinary Sciences, Inc. has determined that counterfeit versions of three leading veterinary Nutramax products – Cosequin® DS+MSM 132 and 250 count chewable tablet bottle, Dasuquin® with MSM 150 count chewable tablet bottle for small to medium and for large dogs, and Proviable® DC 80 count capsules carton – have been sold by unauthorized third-party resellers on Amazon. To date, we are not aware of any other product sizes, formulations, or forms that are affected. However, we want to alert pet parents to what we know, the steps that have been taken, and additional steps they can take to protect their beloved pets from unscrupulous online resellers.

What we know:

The counterfeit products we have examined to date were essentially made of a starchy filler compound that is often used in pills, capsules, and other ingestible products, but it is important to note the composition may vary from package to package. Our active ingredients were also not present in them; therefore, pets are not receiving any of the needed health benefits of authentic Nutramax products. For these reasons, we are treating these counterfeit products as a threat to pets’ safety and well-being.

All of the sellers identified below are unauthorized resellers of our products and appear to be based in China.

• Jiaxin doing business as Pegato Big Save LLC
• Kaptan LLC doing business as Pets Care Center
• Yuhua Yuan doing business as Pet Health Shop
• Teng Rongting doing business as HUCrety
• Liao Liangfa doing business as MNishanfk
• Keke Ding doing business as Valentine-Goods
• Kang Du doing business as Pet-healthline
  
  

  Steps pet parents should take:

  If you know or suspect your Cosequin® DS+MSM 132 and 250 count chewable tablet bottle, Dasuquin® with MSM 150 count chewable tablet bottle for small to medium and large dogs, or Proviable® DC 80 count capsules carton is a fake, stop using it and contact us through our Customer Service Center at 1-888-886-6442 or [e-mail]. We will send you a shipping label to return it to us at no cost and will replace it with an authentic Nutramax product.

  It can be extremely hard to tell a counterfeit product from an authentic one, but among the red flags are misspellings on the label, slight differences in logos or other graphics, and differences in the appearance of tablets or capsules, sometimes even within the same package. Concerning future purchases, if you want to be assured that the product you are purchasing is authentic, go to your veterinarian, or visit our “Where to Buy” page.

[Josh Adams]

Thank you so much for sharing, Karen. 

[Joani, Skadi & Elli]

wow....crazy...thanks for the alert Karen.

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

Thanks for posting this officially. We received an email and refund from Amazon telling us that our 80 count Proviable was counterfeit. I had another smaller box and compared them. The colors were slightly- and I mean slightly!- different. Everything else was exactly the same except the product code one the counterfeit one was a sticker glued on and was printed directly  on box bottom of the real Proviable. Charlie had loose stools- caused by fake product or not having real product?

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Maybe both.
Counterfeit products fool a lot of people because they are very good copies; you really have to look hard to spot the differences. I remember years ago, someone showing me how you could tell a fake Prada bag or a fake Omega watch from the real thing. It was teeny tiny differences in the logos, the slant of the letters or a logo being printed in black instead of gold; things you would never even notice if you weren't looking for them or didn't have pointed out to you.
We've had conversations here in the past about counterfeit flea, tick and HW preventatives, too, which is even scarier.

[J and Riley (and Luna)]

This is so distressing :/

I'm pretty careful about ordering anything that goes in/on my body (or my family's, including furry family members).  On Amazon I only order from the manufacturing company's seller account (instead of a reseller) since otherwise who knows what you are getting.