Melamine in pet food, human food?

A friend in North Carolina recently bought a healthy puppy that within a few days began to have trouble urinating.  He took the puppy to a vet who confirmed that the puppy had an obstructed bladder and recommended putting the puppy down.  It died on Monday.  The symptoms are similar to what happened to our cat, Romeow.  Our neighbor across the street recently spent over $800 on vet bills trying to save her cat with identical symptoms.  The vet told her that it was due to feeding her cat Frisky’s cat food.

Is it possible that pet food is sometimes tainted with melamine?  I found this article: http://www.truthaboutpetfood.com/articles/is-it-melamine-again.html that substantiates that the FDA has turned away many imports including cookies, soya protein and other food products because they are tainted with melamine.  It also explains that the FDA only tests about 2% of the food imported.  So there is a potential for many foods that we and our animals consume are tainted with melamine.

It seems that different individuals have different tolerances for this melamine.  In individuals who process it like my kitty, Romeow and my friend’s puppy, it collects in the bladder and clogs the bladder, leading to death.

Buying food that is made in the USA doesn’t guarantee that all of the ingredients are made in the USA.  It isn’t required for food manufacturers to label that some ingredients are imported.  Of course there is also no guarantee that USA manufacturers don’t adulterate their products with melamine, either.  This is a sad state of affairs, but it confirms our commitment to growing everything we consume.

~ by Anuttama on October 31, 2012.