It is not uncommon for pet owners to have physical contact with their pets, whether by letting their dog lick their hand or petting their cat. Pet owners know that by washing their hands after coming into with their pets will remove these germs. But what about the consequences for their pets? Tara Parker-Pope recently wrote in The New York Times about the health effects of hormone creams on household pets. This trend was noticed as veterinarians saw cats and dogs, who were already spayed, displaying symptoms of active hormones. The commonality among these pets, both males and females, was that their females owners used hormone creams, and came into contact with their pets by letting their pets lick their hands or by cuddling with their pets. Contact between pets and humans is generally not a problem for feline, canine or human species (outside of rabies or fleas), but this case has proven that to be wrong.
Consequences of synthetic hormones have made news in the past, such as hormones in food causing early puberty in youth, and the use of DES (Diethylstilbestrol), an estrogen prescribed to pregnant women, which caused health complications in some women who used it and in some of their children as well. It can’t be denied that hormone supplements can have health benefits, such as birth control pills reducing symptoms of PMS and PMDD. Even these, however, can negative health effects on a population when trace amounts are ingested in water. It may be time to rethink how quickly we turn to hormone products to treat animal and human health, or at the very least increase testing methods to see what consequences they may have the indirect consumers.
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References:
Parker-Pope, T. (2010, Oct. 25). When Hormone Creams Expose Others to Risks. The New York Times. Retrieved from http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/10/25/when-hormone-creams-expose-others-to-risks/
Public Health Perspectives 