A Texas laboratory has found a new type of contamination in dog and cat food: Acetaminophen. The pain reliever can be toxic or lethal to pets, especially cats. Worried pet guardians are frustrated and angry that neither the FDA or the lab (ExperTox Inc. in Deer Park, Texas) have released the names of the pet food manufacturers involved, despite the fact that it has been over a month since the initial lab results.
The pain medication is the fifth contaminant found in pet foods during the past 2 1/2 months.
Donna Coneley, lab operations manager for ExperTox Inc. in Deer Park, Texas, told the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review that at least five dog and cat food samples submitted by worried pet owners and pet food manufacturers contained varying levels of the pain reliever. The contaminants were found in foods that are not among the more than 150 brands recalled since March 16, Coneley said. The highest level of acetaminophen was found in a dog food sample submitted by a manufacturer, she said.
Coneley declined to identify the company but said its officials were given the results "well over a month ago."
That pet food company should have -- but did not -- notify the FDA. The FDA first learned of the acetaminophen findings after pet owners posted lab reports on the Internet.
A still-unmeasured amount of acetaminophen and cyanuric acid were found in Pet Pride cat food submitted by Don Earl, 52, of Port Townsend, Wash., whose 6-year-old cat, Chuckles, died in January.
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