OT: pet food recall

Yep, NPR is saying "rat poison." They're citing 16 animal deaths. If someone else has counted 240+, I wonder what the real number is? Hug your critters tight

Monique in TX

Reply to
monique
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This is so sad. And I don't understand why an investigation isn't being started! It might not be a criminal act but something has to be done so this doesn't happen again.

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Reply to
Jeri

Probably more... the company will *never* admit to more as they are scared they will have to pay $$$$ to hundreds of pet owners and not everyone will connect their pets death to the pet food - many people with older pets feed them the nice mushy food and well .. if the pet dies they are more likely to think that their beloved pet died of old age and not of the food.

Reply to
Jessamy

The processed wheat gluten was imported from China, cheap labor, cheap processing, none, if any health regulations, to the Menu pet food plant in Canada. More than likely they were using the poison for rodent control in the fields or during grain storage. This practice was stopped here years ago.

Last night on the news the prof at WSU School of Vet Medicine was saying they don't even have tests to identify this chemical in blood or tissue samples so I'm sure one more big company will skate out of their responsibilities. As she said, if you can't prove that the chemical is in the animal it will be hard to prove positive that's what killed it. Thank goodness my 19 year old QI wasn't being fed any of those foods on the lists. I feel so badly for those who have sick animals now.

The other scam brought to light is that the huge price difference people pay in what they *think* is "quality" has blown up in the face of the pet food industry.

Val

Reply to
Val

I get annoyed with the critters... sometimes I envision a house without barking, "accidents", and the need for child safety gates.. but then a story like this comes around and I realize they could have died!

Yes, my dogs ate the expensive "wet" food, mixed with the dry. IAMS brand. They had run out of the wet about 2 days before the recall (I mixed a little tuna in the dry for flavor).

Having no packets to look at... I went to the store. And the food was pulled. I asked the clerks if it was precautionary and they said no.. the stuff they sold was the stuff that was recalled.

The two little ones (shih tzu and bichon-jack russel mix) look okay at the moment. But it was just 3 weeks ago that the shi tzu had a bad case of vomiting and 3 days of lethargy and being just 'off'. My DD finally got her to eat (by hand feeding treats) and she seems better now... but I am left to wonder.

The 'rat poison' found is aminopterin

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It is not even used as a rat poison here in the US. It is a form of folic acid, which is a vitamin. In the form they found it, it is used in chemotherapy, with "unpredictable" toxicity.

I have to wonder whether the drug came into being as part of a vitamin supplement, or whether someone purposely is trying to poison our animals.

Reply to
L

This situation is so very sad. My heart goes out to anyone with a pet affected. I've been reading and following this story because Cornell Vet school's Animal Health Diagnostic Center is just down the road from me) and they are involved in a lot of the testing. They've been posting updates in the local paper and online.

Scientists tested three cat food samples provided by the manufacturer and found aminopterin in two of them. Aminopterin is highly toxic in high doses and is no longer marketed as a cancer drug. Andre Rosowsky, a chemist with the Dana Farber speculated that the substance would not show up in pet food "unless somebody put it there."

-Irene

=46DA:

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Cornell:

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IMS

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