As I was perusing the North American Veterinary Conference Clinician’s Brief the other day, a blurb about lead in canine tennis balls caught my eye. A quick Google search brought up the article mentioned in the Brief.
Healthystuff.org has been independently testing various consumer products for toxins over the last few years. Here is a bit of what the site had to say about pet toys.
HealthyStuff.org tested over 400 pet products, including beds, chew toys, stuffed toys, collars, leashes, and tennis balls. Since there are no government standards for hazardous chemicals in pet products, it is not surprising that toxic chemicals were found.
45% of pet products tested had detectable levels of one or more hazardous chemical, including:
One-quarter of all pet products had detectable levels of lead.
7% of all pet products have lead levels greater than 300 ppm — the current CPSC lead standard for lead in children’s products.
Nearly half of pet collars had detectable levels of lead; with 27% exceeding 300 ppm — the CPSC limit for lead in children’s products.
One half (48%) of tennis balls tested had detectable levels of lead. Tennis balls intended for pets were much more likely to contain lead. Sports tennis balls contained no lead.
Lead poisoning affects many systems in the body. Learning and cognitive difficulties are a common feature of lead poisoning. This means that my pal Buster, who loves playing fetch and no doubt has consumed ample lead from various balls, may have to give up on his dream of a Nobel Prize in economics.
Photo: I hope that’s a sport tennis ball. By Bruce.
Editor’s Note: Here is a list of toys, beds, collars and more Healthy Stuff has found with high levels of lead. Also see their list of pet products of medium concern.
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Wrapping cats in duct tape is, for reasons I cannot fathom, a relatively common practice among deranged lunatics. In the last year I have treated two cats who suffered this form of abuse.
Therefore, when Dr. Jennifer Schori (who earned a bit of notoriety on the Vet Blog when she discussed unauthorized autopsies on pets) wrote about a news story involving a cat wrapped in duct tape, I wasn’t that surprised.
However, as I read the post on her blog, I came to an alarming statistic: 8% of the people who responded to an online poll about the story thought the incident was funny.
The link between animal abuse and violence against people (progressing all the way to serial killing) is well established. With 8% of the population responding to the story in that manner, it may be time to buy an additional lock for the front door.
Photo: Myk Dowling
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In my practice as a veterinarian I must constantly battle fleas. Worse, and much more frustrating, I also must do daily battle against human ignorance regarding the vile, pestilence-spreading blood sucking parasites.
People’s knowledge of history is poor. Very few of my clients are aware that merely six hundred and fifty years ago fleas spread a disease (bubonic plague, also known as black death) that wiped out a third of Europe and changed the nature of society forever. Only in the last 80 years has the plague receded as the preeminent threat to human existence.
Now that in the United States plague isn’t the imminent threat it once was, many people view fleas as merely pests.
Indeed, fleas are pests. But they are much more than pests. They are vectors for many diseases other than plague in cats and humans.
A page published recently on the NAVC Clinician’s Brief website discussed some of the vague, creepy diseases that fleas can spread to your cat–and to you.
I suggest you check it out. Also, don’t forget to read what I have written about the parasites on my website:
http://drbarchas.com/fleas
Image: The little fella almost looks cute. Don’t be fooled: he’s deadly!
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As I was perusing the North American Veterinary Conference Clinician’s Brief the other day, a blurb about lead in canine tennis balls caught my eye. A quick Google search brought up the article mentioned in the Brief.
You have questions. 