Sam Carter
The precautionary recall nearly two weeks ago of many popular pet food varieties may have done well to save the lives of millions of pets across the nation, but actual numbers of stricken pets are far higher than both the U.S. government and the company that manufactured the tainted food are letting on, one local veterinarian says.
According to Dr. Jeffrey French, a veterinarian at Cape Ann Veterinary Hospital on Essex Avenue in Gloucester, pet deaths and illnesses have been “grossly under-reported” by the Food and Drug Administration and Menu Foods, the Toronto-based pet food manufacturing company whose “cuts and gravy” style foods have officially killed at least 14 cats and one dog, and sickened one woman in Ottawa.
As of several days ago, the Veterinarian Information Network (VIN), an Internet forum for veterinarians, reported 471 cases of cats and dogs that showed symptoms of having been poisoned, and 104 deaths due to kidney failure, Dr. French said.
On March 23, scientists at the New York State Food Laboratory identified aminopterin, a poison used to eradicate rodents, as the primary contaminant in the 95 brands of recalled pet food, which include Iams, Nutro, Eukanuba and Stop & Shop’s Companion. Aminopterin has not been legal rat poison in North America for more than 50 years, but is still used in wheat fields in China. According to Menu Foods president and CEO Paul K. Henderson, officials theorize that tainted wheat gluten from China may have been used in the manufacture of Menu Foods pet food between Dec. 3 and March 6.
According to Dr. French, aminopterin poisoning results in crystals forming in kidneys, which block tubules and inhibit the sieve-like function of the kidney in removing toxins and poisons from the bloodstream. Treatment for aminopterin poisoning is aggressive hydration and dieresis to remove the crystals.
Dr. Anne Lewis, owner and chief veterinarian of The Cat Doctor in Gloucester, agrees that cases of pet food poisoning have not been accurately reported. She said she was forced to euthanize one cat last week that displayed symptoms of aminopterin poisoning after having eaten food on the recall list and reported the case to the VIN.
“It’s so hard to get straight information” from the FDA and Menu Foods, Dr. French said. “Nobody wants to feed any kind of food that has one of (the recalled brands’) labels on them. I think people are still suspicious.”
Susan Giglio, owner of Animal Krackers on Main Street in Gloucester, said last week her business was receiving upwards of 100 phone calls per day from customers and non-customers alike who were concerned they might have bought tainted pet food. “For a week straight we were flat out,” Giglio said.
Giglio said she sent back at least 30 cans of Nutro pet food to her distributor, even though the dates of their manufacture did not fall within the bracket announced by Menu Foods. “Nothing on the shelf comes from Menu Foods,” Giglio said. “Everything here is free from the Menu recalls.”
Stop & Shop supermarkets released a statement March 17 that announced their cat and dog “Companion” brand, both canned and pouched foods, were part of Menu Foods’ recall, and pulled them from their shelves.
At least two cats from Cape Cod were sickened last week by tainted Iams food purchased at Shaw’s supermarkets. Both cats were treated by vets and released. Calls made to Shaw’s media relations office were not returned.
Some people have found it difficult to find out exactly which brands of cat and dog food have been recalled. Phone lines to Menu Foods have been jammed by thousands of concerned callers, and by people who don’t have access to the Internet, where a complete list of recalled foods can be found.
For many elderly Cape Ann residents who often buy the less expensive brands of pet food, most of which are on the list of tainted food, finding out if their cat or dog will be stricken is of the utmost importance.
“For some of these elders, that pet is the only living thing they see each day,” said Anne Springer, public relations manager at SeniorCare Inc., in Gloucester. “That’s their basic companionship for days at a time. If you remove that pet, you’re removing their support.”
“Our pets are our children,” Dr. Lewis said. “I’d be devastated if I lost one of my pets (due to tainted food).”
