All the Creatures

As pet owners, we have to be well aware of certain chemicals around our homes that could be toxic or fatal to our pets. I bet you assume that most cleaning products are dangerous to them and you would be right. For example, did you know that PineSol that pine scented cleaner will knock fleas out cold, but will not kill them? But cats often have ill effects after walking on a floor just cleaned with the stuff.

Speaking of cats, they are very sensitive to products used on dogs. Many flea products used on dogs will send a cat to the vet in a big hurry. The spot-on products such as frontline plus for dogs is highly toxic to cats. This makes it harder for households that have both dogs and cats to use spot-on products. Of course if the cat and dog never go near each other then it makes it easier.

What makes products such as frontline plus for dogs toxic to cats is the fact that cats groom themselves and ingest chemicals from their fur and off of their paws. So if a toxic product in on their skin or picked up by their paws, they are likely to ingest it. Dogs are less likely to do that but a word of caution here - dogs do lick their paws too and may ingest toxic chemicals into their systems.

For further reading on chemicals toxic to pets visit the ASPCA Poison Control page. There you can find many answers to general poison questions.

As a long term pet owner, I have experienced first hand what a pet that has been poisoned will act like. I had a dog that got into toxic chemicals and then run like crazy until her paws bled. She died just after we got her to the vets emergency office. There the vet confirmed that she had been poisoned by the chemicals.

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I wrote a blog a while back about the depictions of animals on gold coins. That was prompted by the rise in gold prices and the rush to buy gold bars. In fact here is a photo of one of those coins:

Although gold coins are often the coins that animals are depicted on, other metals such as copper and silver are known. Animal depiction on a country’s coins are more well known outside of the USA. Australia has most of their native species of wildlife are on their coins. New Zealand also has many of their birds on their coins.

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Most of us are familiar with products that are made from animals. The products are made from the animal either while they are still living, such as wool, milk or silk or after the animal has been slaughtered.

Now I wonder how many of you are aware some of the products you use everyday can have animal  ingredients in them………………..and I am not talking about food. Lets start off with what you do first thing in the morning, have a shower or bathe. That little bar of soap is made from tallow, the product of fat from cattle, sheep, pigs and sometimes horses. If you are a women then after the shower you would be putting makeup on and some of those products might or might not contain animal products but many of them have been tested on animals. Before you buy that next tube of foundation or lipstick check out what is in them. Some products like eyelash growth products do not state what they contain and in some instances hide ingredients behind made up trade mark chemical names.

Next it is time to get dressed. The majority of clothing you put on will be either cotton (plant based) or polyester (oil based) but some clothing items are still made from animal based fibers. Cashmere is made from the soft undercoat of only 2-3 breeds of goats. Silk is made from the cocoons of silk moths. The silk moth is farmed just like cattle and the larva inside the cocoons is killed prior to removing the silk.

If you really want to look at more of what you are really using everyday just Google “what is ____ made from?” Just put the item you use in the blank spot.

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