By MARY BETH LEHMAN

marybeth.lehman@heraldbulletin.com

When Rita Hunt first heard about the recalled pet food from Menu Foods last week, she was understandably concerned, but when she heard Friday’s announcement that the contaminated pet food contained rat poison, she went into full panic mode.

“I think it’s just terrible,” Hunt said. “I can’t in my wildest dreams think of how that could have happened by accident.”

A spokeswoman from the Indiana Department of Agriculture announced Friday morning that rat poison was found in the pet food recalled by Menu Foods last week. Spokeswoman Jessica Chittenden said she would not identify the exact chemical or its source beyond saying it was rodent poison.

Menu Foods confirmed the deaths of 15 cats and one dog, along with several reports of kidney failure, from the affected foods. The pet deaths led to a recall of 60 million cans and pouches of pet food produced by the company and sold throughout North America under 95 brand names.

The recall applied to cuts and gravy types of “wet” lines of pet food and excluded dry lines of food, according to a release from Menu Foods.

Hunt, who lives in Anderson with her cocker spaniel and sheltie and baby-sits for her children’s Shih Tzu and Yorkshire terrier, was excited to find out Friday her dogs were not affected by the recall.

“I probably would have been up to St. John’s emergency room with them because I love them that much,” she said. “I just feel so bad for pet owners who were affected, because I know what my pets mean to me, and I would have never gotten over it.”

State officials wouldn’t speculate Friday on how the rodent poison got into Menu Foods’ now-recalled pet food but said no criminal investigations had been launched.

Scientists at the New York State Animal Health Diagnostic Center at Cornell and at the New York State Food Laboratory tested three cat food samples provided by Menu Foods and found the toxin aminopterin in two of them. Hooker said they would test individual components of the pet food as well. The early test results were released to give veterinarians a better idea of how to treat sick animals.

“Any amount of this product is too much in food,” Hooker said.

Aminopterin, also used as a cancer drug, is highly toxic in high doses. It inhibits the growth of malignant cells and suppresses the immune system.

In dogs and cats, it can cause kidney failure, according to Donald Smith, dean of Cornell University’s College of Veterinary Medicine.

The Food and Drug Administration has said the investigation into the pet deaths was focusing on wheat gluten in the pet food. Wheat gluten itself would not cause kidney failure, but the common ingredient could have been contaminated, the FDA said.