Vets can’t figure out why this woman’s dog is lethargic and ill. Then she looks at her T.J. Maxx water bowl

One of the most trying aspects of being a pet owner is that when animals are sick, they can't say what's wrong. As such, pet illness often results in owners trying to solve the mystery of what went wrong.

One dog owner says her search ended somewhere she never thought to look.

‘She Was Just … Acting Like She Was Dying'

Business owner Kierst Rath Rabinowitz (@kierst.r) shares a warning to her fellow dog owners about water bowls she bought at T.J. Maxx. Her video has more than 1.3 million views.

“Okay, if you guys have dogs, this TikTok is for you,” Rabinowitz begins, while introducing her two dogs, Doja and Zilla. “Two weeks ago, Zilla came down and got really sick. And I was taking her to the vet, and we were running all the tests, doing X-rays. She wasn't getting better.”

Rabinowitz says she took Zilla to the vet on a Friday, thinking the dog might have chewed something up. By Monday, the dog was in worse shape.

“By this point she had a fever,” Rabinowitz says. “That's when we did the X-rays to see if maybe something had been lodged in her,” she says. “The only thing that they [came] up with was that it was pancreatitis.”

According to PetMD, “pancreatitis in dogs is inflammation of the pancreas that can cause abdominal pain, inappetence, and vomiting.”

Rabinowitz says she searched the backyard and the house for what Zilla might have ingested. She found nothing. What was even more baffling is that her other dog, Doja, was completely fine.

‘This Coating…': The Dog Bowls Are the Key

Then, she looked at the dogs' water bowls, which were “kind of like a copper color.” Rabinowitz says she thought that was simply the color of the metal. She didn't realize it might have been “a coating” instead. One bowl looked completely fine, while the bottom of Zilla's looked like it was flaking off. Rabinowitz, on camera, peeled off a translucent flake of material that apparently coated the bottom of the bowl.

“This coating … I don't know exactly what it is … it does not say on the container what this coating is,” Rabinowitz says. “[I] started looking up all the possibilities, what it could be, and basically yes. No matter which type of coating this is, if my dog ingests it, they can get pancreatitis.”

While the infirm Zilla drank out of her bowl, Doja preferred to drink out of the toilet bowl. She was showing zero signs of ill health.

A T.J. Maxx Call-Out: ‘Take These Bowls Out of Your Stores'

In her video, Rabinowitz demands T.J. Maxx to “take these bowls out of [their] stores.” She says that the vet bills “piled up pretty dang quick.”

“I do feel a little ignorant for maybe not noticing that something was wrong with these bowls before I bought them,” Rabinowitz says. “But like I said, it looked like just a metal bowl to me. So PSA to all the dog people out there: If you love your babies like me, don't make the same mistake as me.”

Multiple viewers in Rabinowitz's comment section said they owned the same bowls from her video. They had experienced their dogs subsequently becoming ill.

“Omg what!!?? My dog died and was using these bowls,” one viewer wrote. “She was so sick we had to put her down because they said no surgery would help AND THESE WERE THE BOWLS SHE USED.”

“My dog recently died of severe pancreatitis that came out of nowhere,” another commented. “I have these bowls.”

A third echoed, “$3800 in vet bills due to pancreatitis – I'm throwing out those same bowls.”

However, there's no proven link between pancreatitis and T.J. Maxx's specific retail products. As PetMD notes, “Most cases of pancreatitis in dogs are idiopathic, meaning the cause cannot be determined.”

What Kinds of Bowls Are Safe for Dogs?

General veterinary guidance points to stainless steel as being the recommended material for dog bowls. The American Kennel Club says that stainless steel, along with causing fewer allergies, is “basically indestructible, dishwasher-safe, and doesn't hang onto odors and bacteria like plastic does due to its non-porous material.”

Veterinary technician Shannon Nowak advises pet owners to go for grade 304 or 18/8 stainless steel and avoid containers with “pet use only” labels, as that may signal a lower quality. She writes that “owners should opt for products from a company that routinely tests its products for contaminants.”

The American Kennel Club's veterinarians also say it's a best practice to wash dog bowls at minimum daily—if not after each meal—with hot soapy water.

“If you hand wash your dog's bowl, you may want to disinfect the bowl once a week using bleach diluted with water,” it says. “Let the bowls soak for 10 minutes and rinse thoroughly. If you're using the dishwasher, make sure the bowl is dishwasher-safe and use a high heat setting to kill bacteria. As long as your dog is healthy, and you wash their bowls regularly, you can wash dog bowls in the same load as your dishes.”

@kierst.r

Subplot News reached out to Rabinowitz via TikTok comment, and T.J. Maxx via email.

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