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Rat Poison Believed to be Source of Some Pet Food Contamination

EXCLUSIVE: Sources Tell ABC News Rat Poison Has Been Found in Some of The Contaminated Pet Food That Has Killed Scores of Animals
By DAVID KERLEY

March 23, 2007— - ABC News has learned that investigators have determined that a rodent killing chemical is the toxin in the tainted pet food that has killed several animals.

A source close to the investigation tells ABC News that the rodenticide, which the source says is illegal to use in the U.S., was on wheat that was imported from China and used by Menu Foods in nearly 100 brands of dog and cat food.

A news conference is scheduled for this afternoon by experts in Albany, New York where scientists at the state's Food Laboratory made the discovery a week after a massive recall of 60 million cans and pouches was issued.

The chemical is aminopterin.

What investigators can't say so far is whether this is the only contaminant in all of the recalled food.

There is some good news according to the source. Knowing the chemical should aid veterinarians who are treating animals that have been sickened by the pet food.

The chemical is used in the United States for, of all things, a cancer drug, according to the source.

Copyright © 2007 ABC News Internet Ventures

http://abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=2975912&page=1
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Complete Story

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PHRatz

Interesting. I wonder...does it work like your standard rat poison and make them bleed out then? You'd think that if that were the case, bloodwork would have been really helpful in determining which course of treatment to take. Maybe it works differently, because if all they needed was vit K, that would be extremely sad. Or maybe by the time they got sick enough to be taken to the vet, it was already too late.

I'd be so mad! You know, after the shock of losing my pet wore off.
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~Rachel~

Yeah I'd be furious if I'd lost a pet to this.
Really ticks me off that they use cheap ingredients from foreign countries where the people may eat & don't care about dogs & cats.

I had to leave because my dog is a garbage disposal. He eats all sort of things he's not supposed to like weeds, grass, sticks, bugs, you name it.. so now he has an obstruction & I had to take him back the vet right after I posted this. He's getting scoped right now. ::::rolling eyes:::::
I am SO happy though that it's not the dog food because he didn't have any of it that was on the list.
In fact now that it's time to change him to adult food, when I pick him up I'm going to see what the vet has because I don't want one from the store. I saw 100% organic dog food in the health food store.. maybe I'll go with that & let the rats have some too.
I bought some USDA certified organic treats for dogs at the health food store that are edible for humans. The rats LOVE those things- peanut butter flavor.
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PHRatz

Ok, I just read the article you posted the link to.

"Renal failure is not the expected response to these drugs," said Susan Weinstein, executive director of the Massachusetts Veterinary Medical Association. She added that most rodent poisons work as severe anticoagulants — meaning they cause the rats that ingest them to bleed to death.

"Whether this particular toxin in this case can create renal failure depends on how this drug works in the body, which may be an entirely different pathway than the anticoagulants," Weinstein said. "Because we aren't yet familiar with this toxin, we can't be confident of the causation link."

Whatever it is, I hope they figure it out soon before any other pets get sick! I'm so glad we don't use any of those brands (we don't do canned food anyway).
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~Rachel~

I stick to Hill's Science Diet foods and my animals have always done so well it's not even funny. They grow big, straight and healthy, and ahem - poop much less, because more of the food is absorbed. I've tried switching out to other foods in the past and there is just no comparison so I end up going back.

I used to use Science Diet.. but my problem with dog food now is.. because of health problems I've been using prescription diets for the 2 dogs before we got this one.
When we got a new puppy, dog foods had changed so much in the 18 years or so since I bought non prescription.. I didn't really know what I wanted to use anymore! There are so many new foods, so many of them are so much better than they were years ago.
I've always done best with foods bought from the vet, so that's what I'm going back to.
We'll see how it works out. Ya never know it may not & I'll be shopping again...
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PHRatz

for me it was easy, Science Diet is the food my vet recommends and sells, so that is where I tried it first and saw the difference.

This afternoon the rats are acting crazy/wild - I wonder if it could be spring fever?

As far as I know there's nothing wrong with feeding Science Diet.. if this DVP the vet sells doesn't work out, we may go with it ourselves.
It's a heck of a lot better choice than Ol Roy!!!!
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PHRatz

>>Rat Poison Believed to be Source of Some Pet Food Contamination
>>

Due to the findings of rat poison and pending further testing, as a safety precaution, it is recommended that you recheck any of the brands noted on the recall list. They have further expanded the list of dates so something you may have thought was ok, may now be on the list.

If you purchased any of those brands in a variety or multi-pack mix,

Do NOT rely on the date noted on a box. Check EACH INDIVIDUAL pouch or can as the dates on them may be different from what is noted on the box.

I know I just checked a brand I have.. half of the pouches are now on the recall list but the other half were not!

http://www.menufoods.com/recall/

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Wyvern

Is it just me or is anyone else thinking this?
I think someone somewhere did this on purpose.
For what reason I wouldn't know but I think this food was sabotaged on purpose.
Infuriating!!
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PHRatz