Photo by H. Berends
We’ve seen this before. Last year Diamond Pet Food recalled dog and cat food when their products became contaminated with aflatoxin, a fungal toxin, and a lot of pets, mainly dogs, died of liver failure. The fungus was later identified to have come from contaminated corn crops used in manufacturing the pet food.
Diamond was really good about it. They offered to cover vet bills for pets that were affected. What I found frustrating was that reports conflicted regarding the number of deaths: it ranged anywhere from two dozen to over 100, depending on who was reporting.
Now here we go again with the Menu Foods recall. (For company press releases and information on exact products recalled, visit their website.)
Instead of the tainted food causing liver problems, this time around kidney failure is the concern. And cats, not just dogs, are equally at risk. (Like Diamond, Menu Foods will cover the vet bills.)
From the beginning there have been concerns it had to do with the wheat gluten used. It had been purchased from a new supplier and was used in the products associated with the renal failure problems. On March 23rd scientists found aminopterin present in the recalled foods, and pinpointed this as causing the sicknesses.
According to Wikipedia, aminopterin “is an antineoplastic drug with immunosuppressive properties used in chemotherapy.” (Antineoplastic drugs inhibit tumor growth and development.) In addition to treating cancer, it’s also a rodenticide. (But it’s not approved for that use in the United States or Canada.)
So how the heck did something like that find its way into a processing plant?
That’s what everyone wants to know and hopes an answer is found for soon.
Until then, the food is off the shelves and hopefully anyone who bought it has heard of the recall and is not feeding it to their pets.
In the meantime, the pets affected are being treated, but how many have already died or will die because of this horrible accident? (I’m keeping my hopes up that it was some unfortunate accident and not intentional sabotage.) Unfortunately, as with the Diamond Pet Food recall, the numbers so far fluctuate all over the map.
As reported on CBS’s The Early Show yesterday, the Veterinary Information Network 471 cases of kidney failure, with 104 of those resulting in death. However, only about 10 to 20 percent of vets who belong to the VIN had answered the survey that provided the information. Which means the numbers could be much, much higher. Like up to 2,000, which is the number of deaths PetConnection.com claims has been reported to its site regarding the recall.
Let’s just hope the root of the problem can be found so further incidents like this can be prevented from happening in the future. One pet’s death is one too many as it is.