i would guess that if you could get the vets to tell you and give you proof of what the problem is then you could also try and get your friends to get vet checks or proof that this was the case for them too that way you could put a solid case forward

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BOBBY


*I'm back for a bit*

we use glade products throughout the house... anti tobacco stuff (my mum smokes) and not had any issues with my boys or my dog (who has chronic respiretory issues)

Could it be a specific scent?

The problem is that no amount of anecdotal evidence will be taken as proof. You could line up a hundred people who will honestly say 'My cat was OK, I started using this product and within x amount of time he was sick', and the company will respond by lining up a (genuine) 100 other people who say 'I've been using the product for three time as long, and my cats have no trouble'.

That's what scientific research is for, to settle such arguments. To determine if the product is harmful to cats would require vivisection. Cats would have to be exposed to the active ingredients in a controlled laboratory conditions, and the experiment would have to be run over several years with many animals in order to constitute scientific proof. The very great likelihood is that not all cats would respond badly to all levels of exposure to the product. Enough research would have to be conducted to establish the percentage probability of the average cat have a response that was of a level as perceived to be harmful. This would take years, many thousands of pounds (even millions), and would cause suffering in a lot of cats taking part in the experiment.

I'm not saying I like that or agree with it, but thats the way science works, and companies (any company or any product) are only obliged to conform to dangers that have been scientifically established.

The reality is that in this kind of product, there is rarely any substance that cannot be encountered regularly in normal day-to-day life. Thats why every product doesn't have to go through these types of tests: probably all of the ingredients have been tested previously, or are common or garden substances (such as flower essences etc).

The only other alternative is campaigning. If you can muster enough popular support, provide enough anecdotal cases (any case not happening in a laboratory is counted as anecdotal, by the way), get the media involved and kick up a fuss, you may be able to get the company to voluntarily withdraw their product with no scientific evidence, but it is very unlikely.

The best thing to do is to contact the customer services department of the company, and ask if they will give you a complete list of the substances in the product, or at least the 'active ingredients'. If you do this in a calm and reasoned manner, and explain you are just trying to track down possible allergens then I'm sure they will be cooperative.

Once you have that list, you can show it to a vet and you can see if they think there is anything that might cause such a reaction.

Thank you for your reply, as soon as we realised what his allergy was, we were going to go all out to try & get the packaging changed BUT we're just worried that kicking up a fuss would lead to us getting into trouble? I mean, is there anything that could be done? or is it classed as freedom of speech?

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Scented room deodrisers and candles shouldnt be used around cats anyway - most contain essential oils, many of which are phenol based which is highly toxic to cats.

Aromatherapy and Essential Oils - Potentially Toxic to Cats

So sorry to hear that, perhaps you should report it to the shop, where you bought the product from

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There's no need to use them, they make me wheeze let alone smaller creatures like dogs and cats. They're full of chemicals, probably carcinogenic too, so why take the risk?

If it's an allergic reaction, you might struggle to get anything done. The problem is that there are many individuals, of many different species have reactions to many different things. If every product on the market that could possibly cause allergic reactions had to carry warnings, then those warnings would have to appear on pretty much everything in the shops.

Having said that, there is nothing to stop you trying to campaign to get something done about it, you are perfectly in your rights to express a grievance and to attempt to gather support and backing for changes to be made.

If you do find enough people seeing the same effects, then there is a chance that you could get the company to print a warning on the packaging. What you have to realise, though, is that the company will perceive that this will negatively impact the sale of their product, so it's a rare company that will do this out a feeling of social responsibility. Most will only do it if there is either a legal requirement (requiring the testing I mentioned previously leading to legislation against the product or ingredients), or, if they feel that the negative publicity generated by campaigners against the product is having a bigger effect than printing the warning would have.

I'm not saying you shouldn't do it, and I really don't think you could get into trouble (except see below). But if you do decide to try, you may find it takes a lot of effort to gain any momentum.

The only way I think you could get into trouble is if you were to present the link between this product and damage to human or animal health as fact. It's best with any campaign material (websites, interviews with media etc) or communications (letters to MP's, the company etc.) to phrase things in such a way that makes it clear that you have a certain amount of anecdotal evidence, though no clear proof, and that you believe the situation warrants either further investigation, or voluntary adoption of packing warnings by the company.