Oregon State University’s College of Veterinary Medicine routinely helps local and regional veterinarians perform diagnostic work-ups to determine the cause of death or illness in animals.

Since the nation’s recent pet-food recall, the Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory at OSU has performed necropsies on dead cats and dogs that displayed symptoms matching those caused by the tainted food — namely, sudden kidney failure.

It’s suspected that a toxin in the food is poisoning pets, but its identity remains a mystery, said Jerry Heidel, director of OSU’s Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory.

Many scientists suspect a toxin called aminopterin, which is used as a rodent poison outside the United States.

The Food and Drug Administration also has said that melamine, a chemical used in plastic cutlery and fertilizers, was found in imported wheat gluten used in the recalled pet foods, and could be to blame.

In Oregon, there are 106 suspected cases of animals becoming ill after eating recalled food, and 38 deaths, according to Emilio DeBess, public health veterinarian with the State Department of Human Services.

These pets all suffered kidney problems and had consumed recalled foods.

There is no test to confirm suspected cases at this point, but Oregon has developed a case definition, DeBess said.

The FDA has registered 12,000 complaints from people saying their pets were harmed by tainted food, according to DeBess. He said thousands were likely affected.

Two of Oregon’s pet fatalities occurred in Benton County. Necropsies on the deceased animals were performed at OSU’s Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory.

Changes found in those animals’ kidneys suggested they likely were poisoned, Heidel said.

Until scientists identify the toxin making pets sick and develop a test to detect it, however, there is no way to know for sure. The diagnostic lab is saving samples from the animals in question, so it can run additional tests as they become available.

“Until they know what the poison is, we can’t verify anything,” Heidel said.

The vague symptoms caused by the tainted food also present diagnostic challenges, said Jean Hall, associate professor in OSU’s College of Veterinary Medicine.

Symptoms include anorexia, depression, listlessness, diarrhea, excessive water consumption and frequent urination.

Kidney problems aren’t uncommon among animals, particularly older cats, so it can be hard to tell whether tainted food is the culprit in some cases, according to Hall and DeBess.

Of the 106 pets in Oregon with illnesses linked to recalled food, 69 are cats and 37 are dogs.

ON THE NET: For a list of recalled foods, see the American Veterinary Medicine Association’s Web site, www.avma.org/aa/

menufoodsrecall/default.asp

Mary Ann Albright covers higher education. She can be reached at 758-9518 or maryann.albright@lee.net.

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steve davis wrote on Apr 21, 2007 9:57 AM: " what about anti-freeze? "

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