New concerns about pet food recall

(3/27/07 - KTRK/HOUSTON) (KTRK) -- There are new concerns about the pet food recall. Some veterinarians say tens of thousands of dogs and cats could be affected.

According to the Veterinary Information Network website, there have been 104 deaths so far related to the contaminated food. The vet who runs the site believes the scope of the problem is being seriously underreported. But the official death toll from the government and the food maker, Menu Foods, remains at 15 animals.

And now comes word that there may be a human victim. A Canadian woman tried to coax her dog to eat by eating some of its pet food. She became violently ill, even foaming at the mouth. Tests are pending to see if her illness was connected to the tainted food.

A toxicology expert at Texas A&M School of Veterinary Medicine isn't convinced researchers have come up with the last of the pet food poison puzzle. There've been other cases of pet food contamination in recent years, including a fungus found in dry dog food some three years ago. That was quickly identified. This, though, is taking longer because in several ways, it may be an imported problem.

"There's no magic bullet that's going to save the animal," said Dr. Murl Bailey, veterinary toxicologist with Texas A&M. "No antidote, no antidote we know of."

That is the one thing of which Dr. Bailey is sure. So much else about the tainted pet food recall is conjecture. At this point, the poison believed to be aminopterin, he says, is not an absolute.

"It hasn't been proved and even the veterinarians at Cornell, where they first identified this, are not completely sure," said Dr. Bailey.

Aminopterin has been banned in the U.S. for a half century, once used in chemotherapy. Its side effects are so severe that it was outlawed. In China, though, it's used as a rat poison. The theory is that wheat gluten exported from china for use in soft pet food was exposed to the poison and wound up in cans of wet dog and cat food, causing kidney damage in a lot of pets, if not death. Hundreds of claims are being investigated. More are expected.

"I think we're looking at the tip of the iceberg, in terms of number cases," said Dr. Bailey.

What makes confirming the poison more difficult is that it's been out of use so long in this country that researchers don't have data to compare with the ailments that pets have after exposure to the tainted food. At the very least, it should make animal owners question what they're feeding to their pets and if labels accurately reflect ingredients and where they're from. More than that, Dr. Bailey says...

"I think there should be a level of concern on the part of regulators," he said. "Human and animals."
(Copyright © 2007, KTRK-TV)

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