RICHMOND, Va. -- Government testing of recalled pet food linked to dog and cat deaths has found a chemical used to make plastics. The recall also expanded Friday to include the first dry pet food.
The Food and Drug Administration said it found melamine in samples of the Menu Foods pet food, as well as in wheat gluten used as an ingredient.
Meanwhile, Hill's Pet Nutrition recalled its Prescription Diet m/d Feline dry cat food. The food included wheat gluten from the same supplier that Menu Foods used. The recall didn't involve any other Prescription Diet or Science Diet products, said the company, a division of Colgate-Palmolive Co.
Menu Foods officials Friday would not provide updated numbers of pets sickened or killed by its contaminated product.
Cornell University scientists also have found the chemical, also used as a fertilizer, in the urine and kidney of a sick cat.
Earlier results from a lab in New York had blamed a rodent poison and cancer drug called aminopterin for the deaths.
PETA Wants Bigger Recall
Meanwhile, some animal rights advocates say a pet-food recall does not go far enough.
The group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals called on the government and pet food makers to expand the recall to include dry varieties, too.
Nearly 100 brands of pet food were recalled after animals suffered kidney failure. The recall involved "cuts and gravy" style dog and cat food. Some major brands, including Iams, Nutro and Eukanuba, were involved.
The Food and Drug Administration said it has no plans to suggest a wider recall and veterinarians said they've seen no trend of dogs and cats getting sick from eating dry food.