Hormone Creams Risk to People and Pets

From a recent comminique from the Iowa Veterinary Medical Association to its members: An article in the October 26th, 2010 issue of The New York Times reported that some veterinarians have been seeing mysterious hormonal changes in some dogs and cats such as males showing swollen breasts and hair loss while spayed females exhibited signs of "heat" (estrus). It was discovered that the animals had had close skin to skin contact or had licked their owners skin after they had applied creams that are used to control symptoms of menopause. You can find the article from the Times and a report from the F.D.A. on the risk of accidental exposure to pets and children related to human estrogen hormone products by going to these links:

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/10/25/when-creams-expose-others-to-risks/

http://www.avma.org/issues/drugs/Evamist_10079.asp