Ectoral Time Capsule

Ectoral_2 Some time ago, I posted on demodectic mange and mentioned that the treatment when I graduated in 1978 consisted of daily dipping with a stinky, poisonous insecticide.  Today I found some in a cabinet.  I guess I hadn’t really forgotten it was there (though the expiration date is  1986).  It’s one of those things that you quit using because something better comes along, and then it just sits there.  It’s too good to throw away, not to mention too toxic.  On the other hand, you’re not using it for anything, either.  So it just sits there. 

Ectoral was Pittman Moore’s tradename for Ronnel, a potent organophosphate insecticide.  We just don’t use stuff like that much anymore, as we have safer and more effective alternatives.  It does stink, too.  When we used it to treat demodex cases, you diluted it with propylene glycol, which helped it penetrate the hair follicles to kill the mites.  The whole building would stink for hours when you mixed up a bottle under the vent hood.  That was "Scott’s Solution of Ectoral", and it was the state of the art.  It was so toxic that you could only dip a third of the dog at a time, but it worked so poorly that you had to dip them daily.  Monday, you’d sponge the dog’s head and front legs; Tuesday, the trunk; Wednesday, the hindquarters;  Thursday, start over.  Continue for months.

It was dismal.  Not very many dogs got cured, though some might have if it hadn’t been so nasty.  A lot of people gave up early in the treatment because it was so unpleasant. 

The upside of being a geezer is that you can really appreciate how much better things are now, as in "these are the good old days".  The downside is that I have really got to clean out those cabinets.

One thought on “Ectoral Time Capsule

  1. Mian Qin says:

    Questions that Need to Be Raised

    >>What about the rat poison (Aminopterin) that had been confirmed by two New York State Labs on March 23 ? ,

    These two labs are New York State Animal Health Diagnostic Center at Connell, and the New York State Food Laboratory. They are not ordinary labs, but “part of a network created after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks to keep the nation’s animals and food supply safe.” (Bucks County Courier Times, Levittown, PA, March 24, 2007).

    After a relatively extensive research, I found out that FDA and its officials have never repudiated,since March 23,the New York State Labs’ findings. There are NO statements, and NO reports on FDA site to that effect. Nor can anyone find them on any publications.

    So, facing the current China-blaming surge in the American media, we need to ask ourselves this question: Are We Going to Be Mislead to Ignore the Findings—— the Very Existence of Rat poison, Aminopterin in Our Pet Food? It is this substance that has caused the death and the kidney failures in our pets. And it is the same reason that 60 million cans had been recalled in the first place! Is it not?

    >>When the finding is out and done, is it not the next logic step for a further investigation into how and why as the rat poison, Aminopterin, got into the pet foods?

    On March 23, Menu Foods declared that its next “goal” as “quickly identifying the means through which this substance entered our supply chain.” (Press Release: Menu Foods Press Conference Opening Statement, March 23, 2007, Author: Menu Foods, http://www.menufoods.com/recall/PressConferenceOpening03232007.htm )
    But now ten days later, why does Menu Foods suddenly drop its declared goal? Instead, it is now switching our attention in pursuit of Melamine “contamination”.

    >>Should FDA Recall All Pet’s Eating Bowls? Melamine in It!
    But any chemist or scientist in toxicology can point it to you that Melamine does not and could not harm humans IN SMALL AMOUNT. As a matter of fact, EPA(Environment Protection Agency) had removed it from the tolerance list. Melamine is manufactured in the USA in large quantity. Actually, it is in our daily life, and even indispensable for a pet life————-Melamine can be found in a dog’s or a cat’s eating bowls! That is right, it is an essential ingredient that makes yours, mine and everyone’s pet eating bowl !

    >>Why Does Menu Foods Shut Down Its Emporia Plant in Kansas ?
    Here may come a smoking gun: at the conference on March 23, 2007, Paul Henderson, President and CEO of Menu Foods, asserted unequivocally that Menu Foods’ plant at Emporia, KS, is keeping its usual operations. But my investigation found it quite otherwise:

    On Friday, March 23, 2007, at 10:24 a.m., an ABC local news station: KTKA 49 ABC reported: Menu plans brief shutdown of Emporia Plant. This TV story was reported by Scott Rochat. He reads: “Menu Foods, dealing with the after-effects of a massive recall of pet food, said Wednesday that it would shut down its Emporia plant for a few days but that no layoffs would be involved.”
    On March 26, the same TV station, by Lisa Coble-Krings, at 11:00, reported that Menu planned to shut it down for another week.

    But in its March 16, 2007 press release, Menus Foods declared it had changed to a new supplier source after March 6, 2007. This means that the Chinese company’s material was longer in use at Emporia plant after said date. Furthermore, Menu Foods has asserted repeatedly, on its first and subsequent press releases, that it had kept vigorous tests on both supplies and the products; and the tests’ results had found no issues since March 6——-the ending date on the recall list. (Press Release: Menu Foods Income Fund Announces Precautionary Dog and Cat Food Recall, March 16, 2007, Author: Menu Foods, http://www.menufoods.com/recall/Press_Recall_03162007.htm)

    Now here are the questions to Menu Foods: why did Menu Foods shut that plant down? And for more than one week?
    Inside that plant, is there any operational process or any proceedings throughout the production course, that had been tainted by the found substance: Aminopterin?

    >>Would Menu Foods make an unequivocal statement in that regard for the North American pet owners?

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