UC Davis asks for pet food and urine to test & more news

A UC David toxicology lab (that found melamine in unrecalled Nutro food
recently) is asking vets to contact them about testing possibly contaminated
food. They also want cat urine to test.....yesterday.

http://www.sacbee.com/101/story/153049.html
Pet food recall expands again
UCD toxicology lab detects tainted varieties not on FDA list, triggering a
wider alarm.
By Carrie Peyton Dahlberg - Bee Staff Writer
Published 12:00 am PDT Wednesday, April 11, 2007
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[,,]In light of the new findings, toxicologists at UC Davis' California
Animal Health and Food Safety Laboratory System are stepping up their offer
to test other, unrecalled foods to ensure all problems are found.

"There aren't that many labs that are doing this kind of testing right now.
It's our obligation to follow up," said Bob Poppenga, a UC Davis professor
of veterinary clinical toxicology.

The lab is encouraging veterinarians to contact it through its Web site,
http://cahfs.ucdavis.edu/, to arrange testing of food eaten by pets hit with
acute kidney failure.

At first, said Poppenga, lab toxicologists had offered to test unrecalled
foods in an effort to reassure owners that something else may have caused
the kidney failures.

Now that the lab has had a direct role in expanding the recall, its experts
are hoping to help get to the bottom of what's safe and what isn't.

"We're committed to helping each vet and owner," said toxicology professor
Birgit Puschner. She added that she doesn't expect the lab to be overwhelmed
by the workload as long as pet owners seeking tests make arrangements
through their vets.[,,]
They think they're close to developing the test, but would like vets to
provide some urine samples from ailing cats to help refine the new tests.

"I'd love some yesterday," said analytical chemist Mike Filigenzi.
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From the reporter who broke the story on melamine:
http://pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsbur.../s_502101.html
Researchers, however, are making strides toward uncovering what has sickened
cats and dogs nationwide. A lead scientist said yesterday he is convinced a
second contaminant was in the wheat gluten, which FDA and independent
researchers said was laced with high amounts of melamine, a chemical used in
plastics.
Dr. Richard Goldstein, associate professor of medicine at Cornell University
’s College of Veterinary Medicine and a kidney specialist who is researching
the outbreak’s health impact on pets, said he and other researchers saw what
they believe is a second contaminant in the gluten and the urine of infected
animals, but have yet to identify it. Cornell is among labs working with the
FDA.

“The concerted effort now is to identify what else is in there, and what’s
in the crystals” of infected animals’ urine and tissue, Goldstein said.

She also reports the numbers:
http://pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsbur.../s_501983.html

buglady
take out the dog before replying