# Costco dog beds and seizures?



## MichelleLovesDogs (Sep 14, 2010)

I've been doing research on dog beds recently and a lot of people have said they really like the dog beds available at Costco. Upon further research I've discovered many people saying immediately after their dog started using the bed they started having seizures and when they threw it away the seizures stopped. It appears they're made in China and they tend to cut corners chemical wise and that's what causes it. I was shocked to hear this! Has anyone else heard about this and or do you know if there's any truth to it?


----------



## Binkalette (Dec 16, 2008)

I don't.. But if your worried, it's very easy to make your own dog beds!


----------



## MichelleLovesDogs (Sep 14, 2010)

Binkalette said:


> I don't.. But if your worried, it's very easy to make your own dog beds!


I can't even sew a button lol and I'm not kidding. Someone showed me how to make one and it looks like she did an amazing job. How do you make yours? I was planning on recommending the Costco beds until I saw a few comments. I would never want to suggest something that could harm someones dog. Here is what I've found.

"Thank-you for posting your comment. I truly believed our dog was impacted by chemicals used in the Costco bed. Our dog's dermatologist also believed this could be the cause. She said Chinese manufacturers have perfected the art of making things look beautiful but cutting corners on the materials used. It is why they can sell this bed so inexpensively. It's been 1.5 years since I threw the Costco bed away and our Golden Retriever hasn't had any more seizures. She had two seizures in the month or so that she slept on the bed. And she never had any seizures before purchasing the bed. I wish I had the contents analyzed before I threw it away to see what toxins were in the bed. She is still dealing with the skin disorder as we were told it will take 3 years to get out of her system. I wonder how many other dogs are affected by this as our vet said he's seen a rise in seizures in dogs. 
After my experience with the Costco bed, I researched to find beds made from materials that were not made in China. It was very difficult to find a bed not made in China and if they were made in the USA or Canada, they were extremely expensive. I searched the internet for three nights before I found a company who made a good quality bed for a decent price. The company is called Animal Comforts. They are located in San Diego, CA. They made the bed to order but I had the bed within a couple of weeks. They keep you informed of every step of the process. I was so impressed with the quality that I ordered another bed from them and plan on purchasing a third dog bed from them."

"Last week I bought the Costco orthapedic foam dog bed. After 2 hours of laying on it my corgi/lab mix had a seizure! I have had her for her entire 10 yrs of life and she has never had any medical problems nor had any seizure in the past. The vet could not find anything wrong with her. I have removed the bed and she has not had another seizure since."

"Warning to all! I was reading expired articles on zootoo.com about this subject. We bought this bed for a Christmas present for our dog and gave it to him on December 25. He really didn't like the it but we encouraged him to use it. He slept in it all day. He had a major seizure the next morning (on the stairs, had to be picked up). It took him two days to recover. He is feeling better today and I returned the bed to Costco. I thought it was moth balls but the Costco representative said that it was cedar. The tag does not say anything about cedar though it does smell. There is something wrong with this bed and the reaction I received from Costco was not one of concern. I noticed that someone else had returned a dog pillow (from the same boxes) and I am wondering if something happened with that dog bed as well. Why would they continue selling these pillows? I am going back today."

Hopefully none of this is true and is just a coincidence or misunderstanding.


----------



## Binkalette (Dec 16, 2008)

You don't even have to sew! If you know how to use a scissors and how to tie a knot you've got it! We have pet beds made at the Humane Society by essentially making a fleece tied blanket stuffed with a pillow. 

http://www.wikihow.com/Make-a-Fleece-Tie-Blanket

Follow these instructions, just change the amount of fabric to how large you want the bed, and stuff with a pillow before sewing up. If you can't find a pillow the right size, you can buy quilt batting (prefferably the stuff that rolls out in a sheet) fold it up a few times, put it inside the fabric and tie it up! I wouldn't recommend the loose quilt batting as it will bunch up when you wash it and won't stay inside as well.

Oh here are some for making pillows: http://www.ehow.com/how_2100865_nosew-fleece-pillow.html


----------



## pugmom (Sep 10, 2008)

We gone though about 5 costco beds and never had a problem with any of ours ?


----------



## Legacy (Mar 9, 2009)

We've had a Costco dog bed for well over a year with no problems. We got it for our old dog, when she passed our 2 cats took it over. Now Shayna has claimed it as her own! :wink: Maybe they used different materials when we got ours...I will be watching for more info on this as we were thinking about getting another for the cats because they loved it!

Thanks for the heads-up!
Legacy


----------



## toblerone (Nov 24, 2009)

We have a giant bed from costco and my pups love the thing and no problems at all. I have had to wash it so yes it is cedar chips inside (thought it was a little odd, but I suppose some people like the smell) One of my pups has even begun chewing on it  but he has no problems.

I'm only an amateur biologist but I don't think its really possible for chemicals in fabric to cause a seizure and especially not in 2 hours. If there were chemicals present the absorption would take more time and I hesitate to say it would even be possible unless a sore was present on the dog.

Smells can trigger seizures, but the history would have to be there. An otherwise healthy dog with absolutely no history of seizures should not seize because of a smell. There are always exceptions, but if your dog is healthy I do not think he/she would be poisoned by fabric from China. Scent aside, I feel like this connection (especially the fabric chemically poisoning the dogs) is an attempt to explain a scary event and place blame on China due to the negative hype surrounding the country. 

If your are seriously concerned by all means make your own dog bed, but if your dog is healthy the chances of them having a seizure from a bed is low to none.


----------



## MichelleLovesDogs (Sep 14, 2010)

Thank you for all the information. I thought maybe it was a coincidence and or misunderstanding. That's what it appears to be by what you're telling me. I'm not concerned with it really but it seems the Costco beds are well-liked and I wanted to recommend them to customers. I would never want to suggest something that could harm someones pet, so I just wanted to make sure!


----------



## CallistaSunrise (Aug 9, 2012)

I realize this is an old thread, but I have some experience with the Costco Cedar-filled dog beds, and they have all been perfectly fine for my family's dogs. However, some dogs may have a reaction to the cedar (are more sensitive to it than other dogs), as people do, so that, in my mind, would be why some of the dogs have issues with these beds. I don't know if it makes a difference, but I washed every outer lining before letting the dogs use the beds, and kept the inner bed with the cedar filling away from the dogs while the outer lining was being washed.
These beds smell wonderful, and my family's dogs love them. It's unfortunate that some dogs are having this strange negative reaction to them, but I am glad I found this thread- I wasn't aware of it before.


----------



## gingerkid (Jul 11, 2012)

I totally agree with Toblerone... I feel like this is a case of correlation, and not causation. A similar comparison that one of my university professors once made was this: There is strong evidence that average global temperatures have been rising since the early 1800s, since the 1800s, the number of pirates and pirate ships has also sharply decreased. Therefore, global warming is responsible for the extinction of pirates.

Especially with all the dog's hair, it seems unlikely that a couple of hours of exposure would trigger something as severe as seizures. Additionally, there is actually very little information provided about the situation in which the dog had the seizure, aside from it had started using a costco bed (confounding factors). We have no way of knowing everything that might have happened to that dog before it had a seizure... for instance, had the dog started any new foods, eaten something outside, did it have a tumble down the stairs, get bitten by an insect/spider/tick, was it particularly hot on that day, etc. Not to mention seizures can happen sporadically - a dog with epilepsy can go months or even years between seizures. That said, if the dogs mentioned above actually had un-diagnosed epilepsy, perhaps the cedar/something else in the dog beds was a trigger? The dog had had other seizures while the owner was at work during the day... but (from a scientific perspective) there is simply not enough information to assume that the Costco beds cause seizures.

We also have one for Snowball, but he doesn't like it much right now, probably because it makes him too hot (I have seen him laying on it when its cooler outside). Its been unseasonably hot out, and he wasn't properly groomed when he was blowing out his winter coat (he was a stray) so I imagine he's a bit warmer than he'd like to be.


----------



## Cascio (Nov 6, 2012)

We have three large dogs (Boxer, Weimaraner, and Kuvasz) and a housecat that frequents the dog beds,, and have been purchasing a new dog bed for each of them every 4 months for the past 5+ years. At $20, we estimate that we can keep them fresh for less than another store brand. The beds start in the living room, and progress into the laundry room, then into the garage as they age.

We have never had a health issue with any of the dogs in that time - not from food, environmental exposures, "culinary indiscretions" and I would therefore class dogs beds into the list of non-hazardous exposures based on their health records.


----------



## gr8fulsj (Dec 23, 2012)

Where are you finding Costco beds for $20? I looked online the cheapest is 59.99. At $20 I would love to rotate thru the beds like you are...are these $20 beds the cedar ones referred to in the string?


----------



## gingerkid (Jul 11, 2012)

gr8fulsj said:


> Where are you finding Costco beds for $20? I looked online the cheapest is 59.99. At $20 I would love to rotate thru the beds like you are...are these $20 beds the cedar ones referred to in the string?


Most of the products that Costco sells in stores are not available in store (at least in Canada - may be different in the US). The $20 beds referred to in this thread do have cedar in them, and they seem to be a stock item - that is, they are a product that Costco carries regularly. I have never seen them listed online, even though my local Costco has had them in stock for at least a year.

ETA: They are like this one, although the current patterns are different: http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_w6ZEvQqaJRs/S9ZZCD5hxoI/AAAAAAAAC14/Owwo4flaN50/s320/New+Beds+007.jpg


----------

