Pet health info: A web of lies

IF YOU'RE online, you've seen them: the social media rumors, emails or blog posts claiming that particular products are hazardous to a pet's health. Whether we're talking foods, treats, cleaning products or pharmaceuticals, there are likely stories floating around that one or another of them causes illness or death. They sound alarming. But are they true?

The Internet is wonderful, but how can you know if what you're reading is accurate? Here are five ways to avoid the spin and get the real skinny.

*  Go to the source. By law, drug manufacturers must report all potential adverse effects to the Food and Drug Administration. You can find adverse drug experience reports for veterinary drugs online at www.fda.gov. "Each pharmaceutical company is required to conduct a thorough investigation of all adverse events," says my colleague Michael Dryden, professor of veterinary parasitology at Kansas State University College of Veterinary Medicine. "In these investigations, all relevant information is obtained, such as the medical history of the animal, clinical pathology reports, toxicological data for the product, necropsy reports and any other available information. This information is used to help determine the likelihood that a product is linked to the reported event in the patient."

*  Contact the company directly. Food manufacturers are required to provide contact information on the label. Ask what is being done to investigate the situation.

*  Go to neutral fact-checking sites. Neutral sites aren't associated with or supported by manufacturers, and their only goal is to seek the truth. These independent sites present evidence and facts to verify or debunk all kinds of rumors. They look for confirmation from authoritative sources and list their references. Reputable sites that often address pet-related e-rumors include snopes.com and truthorfiction.com.

*  Don't confuse correlation with causation. In other words, coincidence happens. Here's what my colleague Tony Johnson, an emergency-medicine and critical-care specialist, has to say about that:"If a dog or cat is diagnosed with an infection or cancer or organ failure, and the owner had used a certain product in the preceding days or weeks, it's human nature to want to associate something new with the outcome. It looks bad, but there's not necessarily any correlation." For more about how to distinguish between correlation and causation, especially in the context of science and health, take a look at George Mason University's website stats.org, which addresses the subject in a way that's easy to understand.

*  Talk to your veterinarian. Your pet's veterinarian is trained in looking at data and has experience with many different pets and the products made for them. There's no doubt that adverse drug events can occur, especially in pets with underlying health conditions or other unknown causes of sensitivity, and that foods or other products can become contaminated. When you have concerns, your veterinarian is the best person to help you sort out reality from rumor and science from spin.