Tainted pet food sickens 7 local animals.

Byline: Bill Bishop The Register-Guard

CORRECTION (ran March 25, 2007): In a story Saturday about a pet food recall, The Associated Press, relying on information from the Food and Drug Administration, reported erroneously that the recall had been expanded to all 95 brands of the "cuts and gravy" style dog and cat food by Menu Foods, regardless of when they were produced. The company said Saturday that the recall still applies only to products packaged from Dec. 3 to March 6. Retailers were advised Friday to remove all the products from their shelves in order to verify the dates they were packaged, but products not made between those dates can still be sold.

Seven pets in the Eugene-Springfield area have died or become ill after eating recalled pet food tainted with a rat poison, the Oregon Veterinary Medical Association said Friday.

Statewide, 25 animals have suffered renal failure, including 15 cats and nine dogs. The last animal was not identified. At least four of those animals have died, including a cat in Springfield.

The Oregon Veterinary Medical Association continues to urge veterinarians to report suspected cases and advises pet owners whose animals exhibit symptoms of kidney failure to consult with their veterinarian for treatment and possible listing to track the effect of the tainted food.

Food-safety scientists in New York said they don't know how the poison got into the food. They predicted that more animal deaths would be linked to it.

After the announcement, the company that produced the food expanded its recall to include all 95 brands of the ``cuts and gravy'' style food, regardless of when they were produced. The company also said it would take responsibility for pet medical expenses incurred as a result of the food.

The substance in the food was identified as aminopterin, a cancer drug that once was used to induce abortions in the United States and is still used to kill rats in some other countries, said Patrick Hooker, state agriculture commissioner in New York, where scientists are investigating the tainted pet food.

The federal government prohibits using aminopterin for killing rodents in the United States. State officials in New York would not speculate on how the poison got into the pet food, but said no criminal investigations had been launched.

The discovery of poison in the food does not change the course of treatment for affected animals, said Glenn Kolb, executive director of the Oregon veterinarian association. All will need intravenous fluids and other medications specific to the condition of the individual animal, he said.

Kolb said it will be difficult to differentiate illness caused by tainted food from normal illness associated with aging, particularly among older cats. Pet owners should save unused portions of tainted food and have patience as animal health officials investigate.

"There is just a lot we don't know yet," Kolb said.

Of the five cases reported in Springfield, at least one - a cat - had died after eating the tainted food. There were two reported cases in Eugene as of Friday evening. The association will continue to update local numbers on its Web site: www.oregonvma.org, she said.

Information on the brands and lot numbers of recalled foods can be found at www .menufoods.com.

So far, at least 25 cats and dogs in Oregon are suspected of having consumed recalled Menu Foods brands and are in various stages of kidney failure, Oregon's public health veterinarian, Dr. Emilio DeBess, said Friday.

The federal government prohibits using aminopterin for killing rodents in the U.S. State officials would not speculate on how the poison got into the pet food, but said no criminal investigations had been launched.

The pet deaths led to a recall of 60 million cans and pouches of dog and cat food produced by Menu Foods and sold throughout North America under 95 brand names. The company has confirmed the deaths of 15 cats and two dogs.

On Friday, the company expanded the recall - which initially covered only cans and pouches of food packaged from Dec. 3 through March 6 - after the FDA alerted it that some products remained on store shelves.

There is no risk to pet owners from handling the food, officials said.

The Food and Drug Administration has said the investigation into the pet deaths was focused on wheat gluten in the food. The gluten itself would not cause kidney failure, but it could have been contaminated, the FDA said.

Paul Henderson, chief executive of Ontario, Canada-based Menu Foods, confirmed Friday that the wheat gluten was purchased from China.

Bob Rosenberg, a senior vice president for the National Pest Management Association, said it would be unusual for the wheat to be tainted.

``It would make no sense to spray a crop itself with rodenticide,'' Rosenberg said, adding that grain shippers typically put bait stations around the perimeter of storage facilities.

Scientists at the New York State Animal Health Diagnostic Center at Cornell University and at the New York State Food Laboratory tested three cat food samples provided by the manufacturer and found aminopterin in two of them. The two labs are part of a network created after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks to keep the nation's animals and food supply safe.

Henderson said Menu Foods does not believe that the food was tampered with because the recalled food came from two different plants in Kansas and New Jersey.

Menu, which continues to produce food at the two plants, said it is testing all ingredients that go into the food.

When asked whether there would compensation for medical bills for sick pets, Henderson said ``to the extent that we identify that the cause of any expenses incurred are related to the food, Menu will take responsibility for that.''

The Associated Press contributed to this report.