Does your cat scratch a lot?

It could be that your cat acquired the common scratch disease known as Bartonella. It appears that 20% of cats living in the US carry this disease. It is acquired by cats coming in contact with flea feces. If your cat has a history of flea infestation, feces left on the skin of the cat can develop this disease. Symptoms include swollen glands, oral or corneal ulcers, fewer, diarrhea, inflammatory bowel disease, and muscle aches. A simple blood test is available to diagnose the disease.

Suggested remedies include keeping your cat free of fleas and ticks. Avoid any scratch or bites during treatment for fleas and ticks. Avoid rough play with cats and keep their nails groomed. There is no vaccine available for the disease at this time.

This disease can be acquired by humans from contact with the infected cats. Human symptoms include fatigue, redness of the area contacted, loss of appetite, mild fever, chills, nausea and inflammation of eyelids. The treatment of the disease includes cleansing of the wound area, bed rest, and avoidance of contact with cats.

Keep your house and vehicles free of fleas and ticks to avoid the spread of the disease.

What are Cruelty-Free Products?

What are cruelty-free products? A cruelty-free product is a product on the market that has not been subject to animal testing. A common practice with many cosmetic and household companies is before offering new products to the public they test new products on animals. However, a growing number of companies have stopped using this practice and are now supporting the animal rights movement. For instance, companies Revlon and Avon have been developing new products without the use of animal testing for several years. To ensure more companies start developing cruelty-free products, consumers must stop buying products from those companies who have not implemented these new practices.

A federal law requires cosmetic and household companies to use animal testing on animals if they contain a new product. However, as long as the substances are known to be safe no testing is required. Many responsible companies have been continuing to offer many safe products for many years without testing on animals. This is different with medications; federal law does require animal testing for pharmaceutical companies before introducing new products to the public.

Some issues with companies proclaiming to be cruelty-free is with specific ingredients used in their products. Some companies purchase products from other companies that are using animal testing during the manufacturing of their products. A true cruelty-free company will purchase ingredients from other companies that are known to use cruelty-free products. In addition, other companies may be owned by parent companies that still practice animal testing. This is the issue when a larger company that is not cruelty-free purchases a smaller company.

There are several issues to consider if you want to support cruelty-free companies. Researching companies before purchasing their products will help identify those who use responsible manufacturing processes. Reading labels will also help to identify certain chemicals that may have been subject to animal testing.