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Latest theories
http://www.cnn.com/video/player/player.html?url=/video/us/2007/04/07/vo.nm.train.through.wildfire.krqe
http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/04/06/pet.deaths/index.html
http://www.banfield.net/about/article.asp?id=10
There's a possibility that melanine was added to the wheat gluten intentionally and fraudulently to try and get a higher price. The reasoning goes as follows. When there's a high protein content in the wheat gluten, it fetches a higher price. Protein has lots of nitrogen. Melanine has lots of nitrogen. Prior to this fiasco there was no indication that melanine could cause kidney failure in either cats or dogs, so why not add it?
Two other bits of info also. They're still not sure melanine really DOES cause kidney failure in cats and dogs. It could be that there's another chemical, as yet undetected, that is causing the kidney failure, and the melanine is either coincidentally there as well, or is somehow linked to the source of the other chemical. They will have to do more tests and probably deliberately kill a few (lab) cats and dogs with melanine to know for sure.
And lastly, the closest they have to a national database of information from vets is the Banfield pet hospital chain/group. They've reported a 30% increase in kidney problem diagnoses over the past few months, but they have also reported a recent decrease in the number of diagnoses, indicating that the worst may be over.
http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/04/06/pet.deaths/index.html
http://www.banfield.net/about/article.asp?id=10
There's a possibility that melanine was added to the wheat gluten intentionally and fraudulently to try and get a higher price. The reasoning goes as follows. When there's a high protein content in the wheat gluten, it fetches a higher price. Protein has lots of nitrogen. Melanine has lots of nitrogen. Prior to this fiasco there was no indication that melanine could cause kidney failure in either cats or dogs, so why not add it?
Two other bits of info also. They're still not sure melanine really DOES cause kidney failure in cats and dogs. It could be that there's another chemical, as yet undetected, that is causing the kidney failure, and the melanine is either coincidentally there as well, or is somehow linked to the source of the other chemical. They will have to do more tests and probably deliberately kill a few (lab) cats and dogs with melanine to know for sure.
And lastly, the closest they have to a national database of information from vets is the Banfield pet hospital chain/group. They've reported a 30% increase in kidney problem diagnoses over the past few months, but they have also reported a recent decrease in the number of diagnoses, indicating that the worst may be over.