From: "Rich Gauszka" 

I'm sorry to hear that. Hopefully your pets will recover

 One of the worrisome news items that ABC reported was that our government
relies on the foreign company to label food imports properly ( human,
animal consumption ) and only test less than 2%  of imports. A toxic
chemical in imported grain could slowly poison the populace over months.
Let's see do I chance mad cow or aminopterin in a veggie burger?


"Gary Britt"  wrote in
message news:46048528{at}w3.nls.net...
> One thing that's being kept out of the public eye are the details on
> *when* Menu Foods knew their was a problem.  They have claimed that the
> existence of a problem was noted when doing their quarterly taste tests of
> the food. They said those tests involved 50 animals. What they don't say
> and what is my guess is that of the 50 test animals only 25 were cats.
> They have said 9 of the test cats died.  That's 1 out of 3 died.  They
> didn't say if the others became very ill, which likely happened.  They
> also haven't said *WHEN* these quarterly taste tests were done.  If it was
> two days before the recall that would be one thing.  If it was two months
> before the recall that would be entirely something else.
>
> We feed three cats.  All of them got tainted food.  It did almost kill one
> of them, and made the other two ill and lose 20% of their body weight.
> Fortunately for me and so far (knock wood) for them I realized something
> was going on and started watching their eating before the recall.  They
> still kept getting tainted food after I knew something was wrong until
> news of the recall came out.  Fortunately, recalled foods only made up 1/2
> of their total diet, perhaps a little less for 2 of the 3.  The one that
> almost died ate the highest percentage of the tainted food as her total
> diet.
>
> I don't think we will be completely out of the woods on any of the tree
> for two more months.  From what I've read renal failure could take place
> up to two to three months AFTER having had the tainted food.
>
> Gary
>
> Rich Gauszka wrote:
>> http://abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=2975912&page=1
>>
>> March 23, 2007 - The president of pet food maker Menu Foods, which last
>> week issued a recall of 60 million cans and pouches of pet food after a
>> rash of animal sickness and death, said today that the company would
>> reimburse pet owners who can trace their pets' illnesses to the company's
>> products.
>>
>>  Earlier today, New York State veterinary health investigators announced
>> that the pet food responsible for pet deaths around the country was
>> contaminated with the rodent poison aminopterin.
>>
>> Investigators, meanwhile, are looking into whether the rat poison came
>> into the United States on an ingredient used in the recalled food. ABC
>> News has learned that Menu Foods bought wheat gluten, the only ingredient
>> changed in its plants, from China. That possibility raises questions
>> about the safety of pet and other food products in the United States.
>> The chemical can cause kidney failure in dogs and cats, said Donald
>> Smith, dean of Cornell University's College of Veterinary Medicine,
>> during the conference.
>>
>> Scientists at the state's food laboratory in Albany, N.Y., made the
>> discovery a week after Menu Foods issued its recall.
>>
>> "This is one step in a long process that will lead us to know what has
>> happened and how it has happened," Smith said.
>>
>> Aminopterin is not registered for use as a pesticide in the United
>> States, and it has been known as a potential source of birth defects in
>> humans.
>>
>> Interestingly, trials are under way to test the chemical's effectiveness
>> in the treatment of certain types of cancer.
>>
>> ABC News first reported that the rodenticide may have been present in the
>> wheat that was imported from China and used by Menu Foods, according to a
>> source close to the investigation.
>>

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