Poisoned pet food – three ingredients contaminated with melamine

How did Melamine, an ingredient used to make plastics, come to be in pet foods in such high concentrations that it kills or sickens pets?

Melamine was added to at least three different protein sources to artificially increase the protein concentration. Melamine isn’t a usable protein but the instruments that measure protein levels cannot distinguish between usable and unusable proteins. Thus, someone driven to make a profit put the inexpensive plastic into foods. Melamine has been found in wheat gluten, rice protein, and corn gluten. These altered ingredients were detected only because they killed the pets. Melamine-contaminated ingredients have also been found in food for livestock, including food for hogs.

What can be done?
1. Feed pets more table food and less store-bought food. Start by supplementing your pet with small amounts of meat, fish, and vegetables. Gradually increase the amount fed as the amount of store-bought food is decreased. Making the change slowly prevents diarrhea. Previous blog entries have covered which “table” foods are best for pets.

2. If feeding store-bought pet food, read the ingredient list and choose only those pet foods with whole ingredients. Whole foods are less likely to be contaminated with artificial materials than are portions of foods. For example, rice, wheat, or corn did not contain melamine. Instead, rice protein, corn gluten, and wheat gluten were contaminated in order to make them appear to contain a higher concentration of protein.

3. Don’t develop a false sense of security because the food your pet gets is expensive or because it was purchased from the veterinary clinic. Many “veterinary” foods and expensive pet foods have been recalled, including foods from Hills, Eukanuba, Blue Buffalo, Drs. Foster & Smith, SmartPak, and Royal Canin.