From: "Robert Comer" 

My cat died of kidney failure a few months ago.....

--
Bob Comer


"Rich Gauszka"  wrote in
message news:46044f00{at}w3.nls.net...
> 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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