Federal food safety officials said Monday that they expected the death toll to rise from pet food contamination that has prompted a recall of 60 million cans and pouches of so-called cuts-and-gravy meals.
The Food and Drug Administration said that at least seven of the 10 confirmed deaths -- nine cats and one dog that suffered renal failure -- were a result of tests conducted by manufacturer Menu Foods Income Fund of Streetsville, Canada, after it received customer complaints.
"We anticipate those numbers will increase as the investigation continues," said Stephen F. Sundlof, director of the FDA's Center for Veterinary Medicine. "We're getting information constantly, and we're trying to put all the pieces together."
On Monday, that included calls and complaints from owners of sick and deceased pets, who flooded phone lines at state FDA offices, as well as from veterinarians, pet food companies and media outlets reporting on the recall.
Rio Hernandez, 38, of Eagle Rock took her healthy orange tabby cat Red to the vet Thursday after his energy level fell and he turned away from his food -- cuts-and-gravy packets made by Nutro, one of the brands on the recall list.
By Friday morning, the vet told her to get Red to an animal hospital because he was suffering kidney failure.
"The vets kept saying, 'This is weird. He doesn't seem like a cat with kidney disease because they're generally older and have signs of wasting, like weight loss,' " said Hernandez, whose cat remains on dialysis.
The FDA said the affected food was produced at Menu Foods' plant in Emporia, Kan. The company, based outside Toronto, also took the precaution of recalling food made at a factory in New Jersey, the agency said.
Sundlof said he could not estimate how many pets were at risk as a result of the recalled food, which was sold under 88 brands, including popular labels Iams and Eukanuba and private-label brands sold at large retail chains.
Nestle Purina PetCare Co., Colgate-Palmolive Co.'s Hill's Pet Nutrition Inc. and Nutro Products Inc. also recalled some products made by Menu Foods.
The FDA said the investigation was focused on problems with wheat gluten, which the manufacturer said had been coming from a new supplier.
Neither the FDA nor Menu Foods would identify the supplier or that company's other customers, saying the ingredient had not been confirmed as the source of the problem.
