Lawmakers across party lines yesterday urged the Ministry of Agriculture to investigate a suspected case of cat food causing hypokalemia, while the Taipei Animal Protection Office said it had collected samples from the manufacturer for testing.
A cat owner on Friday last week posted on a Facebook group that their four pet cats were diagnosed as having hypokalemia — a lower-than-normal level of potassium in the blood — and one had died.
As they had been eating a local brand of cat food for a long time, the food was suspected to be the cause, the owner said.
Photo: Wang Yi-sung, Taipei Times
Other people responded to the post, saying that their cats who had eaten the same food had also had hypokalemia.
The office said in a statement on Monday that the ministry notified it of the case, and it contacted the cat owner to gain an understanding of the situation.
It sent inspectors to the cat food company on Monday to collect samples from the same batch the cat owner had purchased, the office said.
The samples were delivered to a ministry-approved laboratory, and tests would be conducted for salmonella, enteropathogenic Escherichia coli, Clostridium perfringens, sodium nitrite, aflatoxin, arsenic, cadmium, mercury, lead and propylene glycol, among others, it said.
Under the Animal Protection Act (動物保護法), the company could be fined NT$50,000 to NT$250,000 if the food contains pathogenic microorganisms or hazardous substances, the office said.
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislators Wu Pei-yi (吳沛憶), Su Chiao-hui (蘇巧慧), Chen Pei-yu (陳培瑜), Lin Yueh-chin (林月琴) and Huang Jie (黃捷) yesterday held a news conference calling on the ministry to investigate.
Su said the ministry should supervise the local animal protection office in clarifying the suspected case, and immediately remove the product from shelves if needed.
Laws should be revised to protect pets, similarly to how food safety laws protect humans, she said.
A survey found that about 30 percent of households in Taiwan have pets, and as the Pet Management Division at the ministry’s Department of Animal Welfare was established last year and the public has become more aware of animal protection, the ministry should ensure a friendly environment for pets, Chen said.
The ministry should also establish a communication platform with veterinary associations so that information can be exchanged more promptly, while owners should be encouraged to take their pets to see a vet when they behave abnormally or develop symptoms, Lin said.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Lo Ting-wei (羅廷瑋) and party workers also held a news conference, saying that they had observed about 50 owners reporting on social media that their cats had symptoms of hypokalemia.
It is unclear whether the hypokalemia was caused by the cat food, but the ministry should set up a reporting mechanism for suspected pet food safety issues, Lo said, adding that related agencies are urged to investigate the case as soon as possible.
Department of Animal Welfare deputy head Chen Chung-hsing (陳中興) said the Pet Management Division conducts random testing of pet food, and if a problem is found, the department would notify the local animal protection office to send inspectors to visit the manufacturer and collect samples for further testing.
The department received a report about the case on Saturday last week, and the Taipei office conducted an inspection on Monday, he said.
When reporting such cases, pet owners should provide the local animal protection office with the pet food brand, product batch number and the time or date their pet became ill, he added.
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