Pet-Food Recall Blamed On Rodent Poison
Mar 23rd, 2007 by Beate
According to My Fox Atlanta, Rodent poison has been found in pet food blamed for the deaths of at least 16 cats and dogs, a spokeswoman for the State Department of Agriculture and Markets announced today.
However, they would not identify the chemical or its source beyond saying it was a rodent poison.
There is a news conference scheduled by State agriculture officials for Friday afternoon to release laboratory findings from tests on the pet food conducted this week.
The deaths led to a recall of 60 million cans and pouches of pet food produced by Menu Foods and sold throughout North America under 95 brand names. There have been reports of kidney failure, some fatal, in pets that ate the recalled brands. The company has confirmed the deaths of 15 cats and one dog.
Menu Foods last week recalled “cuts and gravy” style dog and cat food. The recall sparked concern among pet owners across North America. It includes food sold under store brands carried by Wal-Mart, Kroger, Safeway and other large retailers, as well as private labels such as Iams, Nutro and Eukanuba.
The company’s chief executive and president said Menu Foods delayed announcing the recall until it could confirm that the animals had eaten its product before dying!
Wheat gluten itself would not cause kidney failure, but the common ingredient could have been contaminated by heavy metals or mold toxins, the FDA said.
By now, you are probably familiar with the avove mentioned extensive national recall of many brands of pet foods. Sadly, several dogs and cats have been sickened, and a few have died as a result of eating contaminated food. This is a tragic event, and our hearts go out to the families who are dealing with the heartache of the situation.
We want to reassure you that none of HealthyPetNet’s products are affected by this recall. At present, authorities believe the illnesses to be caused by contaminated wheat gluten. As you already know, none of HealthyPetNet’s products include wheat gluten or wheat products of any kind.
My 15 year old lab died last month. Why? The vet claims fluid in the chest. But he stopped eating and drinking water. Didn’t move. He was eating Nutro dry dog food. The vet claims it came on “suddenly.” No warning. We then gave him gravy dog food to get him to eat. So we’re unsure why he died. In fact, no one will know until we hear more, or as I say, the real facts will come out. I will bet every dollar I have that there is MORE contamination with this recall. Why did it take three months to hear about this poisoning by CHINA? The food was contaminated since Dec. 2006. My family now has a new lab. We paid $850 and are training her again. Keep in mind, families with pets, especially dogs, give them training. This is costly. A good dog, requires special care, food and training. Imagine if our dear lab was a service dog? What would the cost be to replace him then? These dogs cost $50K up to replace. It is not like going to the pound and getting a replacement.
I am so upset. Now I hear on my local news (not national) as well as international (Canadian) that it “might” be in the human food supply? They can’t rule this out? Let’s see. Where is our Homeland Security dept? Where is our Dept. of Agriculture?
I read last week that one of the US processing plants for dog food which was part of this recall was located in Kansas. Apparently, this same plant was fined years ago for contaminated cow food, and the FDA or dept of agriculture had to intervene and warn them not to mix certain feed in their product for cattle.
Mad cow?
There is definitely more to come from this CHINA poisoning.
I don’t believe anything they tell me.
My otherwise healthy lab is gone and I’m now left wondering who is watching out for Americans!
Angela
Washington, State
My cat Sabastian 12 years old died February 5, 2007. He had stopped eating and drinking water all of the sudden. He only at the purina dry cat indoor formula at the time he got sick. I then started to give him some canned food (friskies and/or fancy feast) to see if I could get him to eat but no luck. This had been going on for about a week so I took him into the vet’s (on a saturday) and had him checked both physically and also had blood drawn. By the following Monday he had gotten even worse.
Sunday about 2am he started crying and could not walk on his back legs. I called the vet first thing Monday morning to see if the blood work came back and it had come back and was showing nothing was wrong with his blood. By early Monday afternoon he started having sezures. I then took him back into the my vet’s office and was told that he was getting very cold, could not see or walk on his back legs any longer but without further investigating they could not tell me what was wrong with him. At that time I did not what to make him suffer any longer and had NO choice but to have him put to sleep.
This cat had nothing wrong with him his entire 12 years of life and now all of the sudden he was gone. He was a HUGH part of my family and life and I hear my 7 year old son cry all the time because he misses him so terribly bad. Yes I can get another cat, but no cat would or could EVER replace my Sabastian. From what I can see MENU was not the manufacturer on the food my cat ate, but it makes me wonder if other foods from other manufacturer’s have not been affected as well.
And it seems to be even worse than first thought:
Animal rights advocates are calling on federal food safety regulators and pet food companies to expand a nationwide recall of dog and cat food to include dry varieties, claiming they make pets sick.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said Thursday it had no plans to suggest a wider recall to pet food companies, and veterinarians said they have not seen a trend of animals becoming ill after eating dry pet food.
The People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals plans to make the appeal Friday in Washington after it said it received complaints from pet owners who claim their animals suffered kidney failure after eating dry pet food.
Norfolk, Virginia-based PETA wants the FDA and the companies to extend the recall to foods that have received complaints, chemically test it and perform necropsies on the animals involved. It also wants companies prosecuted if the FDA’s probe turns up wrongdoing.
FDA spokeswoman Julie Zawisza said she did not know how many of the more than 7,000 complaints the agency has received have concerned dry pet food. The FDA plans to release preliminary results from its investigation into the recall Friday.
Officials at Ontario, Canada-based Menu Foods, which made the recalled pet food, did not immediately return a call seeking comment.
Nearly 100 brands of pet food were recalled after animals suffered kidney failure. The recall involved “cuts and gravy” style dog and cat food. The recall covered products carrying names of major brands including Iams, Nutro and Eukanuba.
New York state’s food laboratory last week identified aminopterin as the likely culprit in the recall. Aminopterin is a derivative of folic acid that was once used to induce abortions and is now banned as a rodent poison in the United States. It can cause kidney damage in dogs and cats.
Veterinarians aren’t seeing a trend of pets getting sick off dry food, said Paul Pion, founder of the Veterinarian Information Network. He said since so many people use dry food, you would expect to see many more ill pets if the food was tainted.
“I wouldn’t put much credence in it, but it’s not out of the realm of possibility,” Pion said.
The Veterinary Information Network reported Tuesday that at least 471 cases of pet kidney failure have been reported since the recall, and more than 100 pets have died. Menu Foods has confirmed 16 pet deaths.
It’s getting worse and worse. Those criminals should never be allowed to sell even one bag of pet food. Read what I just find and please comment on it:
WASHINGTON — Government testing found a chemical used to make plastics in recalled pet food linked to the deaths of dogs and cats, officials said Friday.
The Food and Drug Administration said it found melamine in samples of the Menu Foods pet food, as well as in wheat gluten used as an ingredient. Cornell University scientists also have found the chemical, also used as a fertilizer, in the urine of sick cats, as well as in the kidney of one cat that died after eating the company’s wet food.
Menu Foods recalled 60 million containers of cat and dog food earlier this month after animals died of kidney failure after eating the Canadian company’s products. It is not clear how many pets may have been poisoned by the apparently contaminated food, although anecdotal reports suggest hundreds if not thousands have died. The FDA alone has received more than 8,000 complaints.
The new finding comes a week after scientists at the New York State Food Laboratory identified a rat poison and cancer drug called aminopterin as the likely culprit. They’ve since detected melamine as well, though it’s not clear how that chemical would have poisoned pets.
The recall involved nearly 100 brands of ”cuts and gravy” style dog and cat food made by Menu Foods. The recall covered products carrying names of major brand-name and private-label products sold throughout North America.