http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/...pet-food_N.htm
*There is no national reporting system for animal injury or death, so
official numbers are impossible to come by. However, data from the nation's
largest chain of pet hospitals, Banfield, suggests it is as high as hundreds
a week.

Over the three months the food was on the market, the more than 600 Banfield
hospitals in 43 states saw 200 to 250 cases of kidney failure in cats above
the usual number that would have been expected, says Hugh Lewis, president
of Data Savant, Banfield's data collection arm.

During that period the Banfield vets saw 100,000 cats. Extrapolating to the
entire cat population of the USA, that could mean "we're probably talking
several hundred cats a week across the country being affected," Lewis said.*

Also:
*Henderson confirmed that Menu Foods, the largest maker of wet cat and dog
food in North America, buys wheat gluten from China. It also buys from the
USA, says Menu spokesman Sam Bornstein, and another country that Menu didn't
identify.*

*In 2006 the U.S. imported 28,295,401 pounds of wheat gluten to be used as
animal feed from China, according to USDA's Economic Research Service.
China is the third-largest exporter to the USA, after Australia and the
European Union, which is the largest, estimates MGP Ingredients, of Kansas,
the largest single U.S. wheat gluten producer. It didn't supply Menu with
wheat gluten.
MGP President Tim Newkirk says its tests of wheat gluten from China find it
to be "typically a lower-quality product" than found in the EU, Australia or
the U.S. It's also about 20% cheaper than other imports, he says.*

buglady
take out the dog before replying