About Poisoned Food And Your Dog Or Cat (Part 1)

If you’ve watch the news, you doubtless have seen the epidemic health crisis plaguing this nation’s pets in the early part of 2007: infected petfood that’s sickening pets, and killing a number.

Very soon after consuming the poisoned food, the pets have started suffering. These pets are having serious problems, including kidney failure, lethargy, vomiting, and even death for some animals. Though so far few animals have died (less than two dozen) the scare has affected many dog and cat lovers.

At first, people were concerned that the problem was a substance in rat poison, specifically aminopterin. Aminopterin is used mainly for chemotherapy. However, while New York officials stated this, FDA officials never confirmed the matter.

Currently, the main opinion is that there was a quality control issue with the wheat gluten supplied by a food distributor. The toxic chemical in the wheat gluten, melamine, is also used in pesticides, as well as for plastics.

Wheat gluten is the protein part of the wheat flour. It resembles gelatin, and is valuable in food manufacturing because it adapts to the texture and flavor of the food it is with. It also adds volume to products, and may resemble meat by taking on the flavor and texture as well. It can also add chewiness and elasticity to foods, as well as act as a filler, binder, and gravy thickener.

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