ALBANY----Although officially the death toll of the pet food recall by Menu Foods of Canada remains at 16 animals-15 cats and one dog---according to a veterinarians' information service, at least 471 cases of pet kidney failure have been reported since March 16 when the nationwide recall of the dog and cat food was announced.

Veterinarians say that thousands of dogs and cats could be affected and say that the scope of the problem is being seriously underreported. According to the Veterinary Information Network website, there have been 104 deaths attributed to the contaminated food and others are still undergoing treatment.

It is also being reported that a Canadian woman have been a victim of the tainted pet food, becoming violently ill after she had eaten some of her dog's Iams in order to trick the dog into eating it after the dog refused to touch it. She claims that she and the dog continued that routine for two weeks.

The woman, Elaine Larable allegedly claims that in mid-March she began vomiting, foaming at the mouth and suffered other physical discomforts and her dog became ill at the same time. After learning of the pet food recall She went to a hospital emergency room for a blood test and is awaiting test results to learn it her illness related to the contaminated food.

Scientists at the New York State Food Laboratory at Cornell University's College of Veterinary Medicine have identified Aminopterin, a toxic chemical used to kill rats and to treat cancer, as a toxin present in cat food samples from Menu Foods, the manufacturer of the more than 90 brands of dog and cat food that are currently the subject of a nationwide recall.

Aminopterin, a derivative of folic acid, can cause cancer and birth defects in humans and can cause kidney damage in dogs and cats. Aminopterin is not permitted for use in the United States.

On March 16, the Canadian company Menu Foods initiated a recall of numerous varieties of dog and cat food that were manufactured at two of its plants in the United States between Dec. 3, 2006 and March 6. The products are both manufactured and sold under private-label and are contract-manufactured for several national brands.

Since the recall, agriculture department food inspectors have contacted all of the organizations that represent retail food and pet food stores to ensure that the stores were aware of the recall and that the recalled products had been removed from store shelves in New York State.

More than 60 million cans of tainted pet food have been recalled.

Some 50 brands of dog food are affected and 40 for cats. There are many flavors and different styles of packaging affected, both cans and pouches. Two of the leaders in pet foods, Iams and Eukanuba, are both affected. They have code dates 6339 through 7073 followed by a plant code of 4197. People with the recalled products are asked to stop using it immediately.

Primarily affected are 13.2-ounce cans of beef cuts and gravy dog food and 3-ounce cans of turkey and gravy cat food.

While Menu Foods has asked retailers to pull all "cuts and gravy" style food packaged dated Dec. 3 to March 6 researchers have warned that there may be undetected hazards in the food.

A list of the recalled pet food includes Menu Foods Products listed below:

Cat foods recalled
Americas Choice; Preferred Pets; Authority; Best Choice; Companion; Compliments; Demoulas Market Basket; Fine Feline Cat, Shep Dog; Food Lion; Foodtown; Giant Companion; Good n Meaty; Hannaford; Hill Country Fare; Hy-Vee; Key Food; Laura Lynn; Li'l Red; Loving Meals; Main Choice; Nutriplan; Nutro Max Gourmet Classics; Nutro Natural Choice; Paws; Presidents Choice; Price Chopper; Priority; Save-A-Lot; Schnucks; Sophistacat; Special Kitty; Springfield Pride; Sprout; Total Pet; My True Friend; Wegmans; Western Family; White Rose; and Winn Dixie.

Dog foods recalled
America's Choice; Preferred Pets; Authority; Award; Best Choice; Big Bet; Big Red; Bloom; Bruiser; Cadillac; Companion; Demoulas Market Basket; Fine Feline Cat; Shep Dog; Food Lion; Giant Companion; Great Choice; Hannaford; Hill Country Fare; Hy-Vee; Key Food; Laura Lynn; Loving Meals; Main Choice; Mixables; Nutriplan; Nutro Max; Nutro Natural Choice; Nutro; Ol'Roy; Paws; Pet Essentials; Pet Pride; President's Choice; Price Chopper; Priority; Publix; Roche Bros; Save-A-Lot; Schnucks; Springsfield Pride; Sprout; Stater Bros; Total Pet; My True Friend; Western Family; White Rose; Winn Dixie and Your Pet.

If your pet displays symptoms of vomiting, loss of appetite, lethargy, decreased or increased output of urine, difficulty urinating, more of less frequent urination or increased drinking or decreased drinking, contact your veterinarian immediately.

A complete list of the recalled products along with product codes, descriptions and production dates has been posted online by Menu Foods at http://tinyurl.com/2pn6mm or http://www.menufoods.com/recall/ The company has also designated two phone numbers that pet owners can call for information, 866-463-6738 and 866-895-2708.

So far, there are no criminal investigations underway into the pet deaths.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said their investigation was focused on wheat gluten imported from China. According to the FDA, wheat gluten itself would not cause kidney failure in the pets but a common ingredient could have been contaminated. 3-27-07

© 2007 North Country Gazette