Veterinarians who suspect they have treated animals affected by the Menu Foods Inc. pet food recall can take part in a survey to help pathologists conduct further research on the recalled foods.

The American Assn. of Veterinary Laboratory Diagnosticians will be gathering the data on behalf of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, and will use it to define what constitutes a confirmed case of food-induced kidney toxicity, identify common elements among the cases and establish a clearer understanding and description of the illness.

The survey, which can be found at www.aavld.org, asks for information about the brands and lot numbers of pet food ingested, the speed of illness following consumption, the clinical signs of the sick or deceased animals and other information such as chemical markers.

Pathologists plan to develop a verified list of animals affected by the recall and the common symptoms and aspects of the illness. They also hope to establish valid estimates of the number of animals affected, their ages, breeds and species.

The American Veterinary Medical Assn., which has already informed its members who specifically treat companion animals (about 30,000 veterinarians) about the survey, has a comprehensive list of recalled pet foods on its website: www.avma.org.

04-13-2007