RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) devices used to track pets cause of cancer?

A recent Associated Press article in The Washington Post stunned cat and other pet owners who have animals with tracking implants. A series of highly accredited research studies, done over the last decade, have now been brought to light and show the same microchips or RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) devices used to track pets are the cause of fast-growing, malignant cancers in 1% to 10% of lab animals tested. Now animal owners are faced with what to do.

Why Are the Microchips Causing Cancer?

As Dr. Katherine Albrecht, a consumer educator and privacy advocate who helped investigate and break this story, explains what the scientists believe is happening is similar to a common splinter. When you get a splinter in your finger, your body does everything it can to get rid of it. The site gets red, it swells up and attempts to dislodge the foreign object.

However, when a microchip is embedded deep in the fatty tissue of your pet, its body can't push the chip out like a splinter. Instead an inflammation forms around the microchip. Scientists believe these inflamed cells can turn malignant and then metastasize and move around in the body. What's worse is these tumors can be fast-growing and malignant.

What the Research Shows:

Between 1996-2006 eight published veterinary and toxicology journals reported that lab mice and rats injected with microchips sometimes had a tendency to develop subcutaneous "sarcomas" or malignant tumors surrounding the implants. Below are a brief summary of the some of the major conclusions.

* A 1998 study in Ridgefield, Connecticut of 177 mice reported cancer incidence to be slightly higher than 10 percent. Researchers described the results as "surprising."

* A 2006 study in France detected tumors in 4.1 percent of the 1,260 microchipped mice. This was one of six studies in which the scientists did not set out find microchip-induced cancer but noticed the results incidentally.

* In 1997 a study in Germany found cancers in 1 percent of 4,279 chipped mice. The tumors "are clearly due to the implanted microchips" the authors wrote.

What the Researchers Are Saying:

When Associated Press asked scientists to weigh in on the available research, specialists at some pre-eminent cancer institutions said the findings raised red flags.

--"There's no way in the world, having read this information, that I would have one of those chips implanted in my skin, or in one of my family members," said Dr. Robert Benezra, head of the Cancer Biology Genetics Program at the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York.

--Dr. George Demetri, director of the Center for Sarcoma and Bone Oncology at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, agreed. Even though the tumor incidences were "reasonably small," in his view, the research underscored "certainly real risks" in RFID implants. In humans, sarcomas, which strike connective tissues, can range from the highly curable to "tumors that are incredibly aggressive and can kill people in three to six months," he said.

--At the Jackson Laboratory in Maine, a leader in mouse genetics research and the initiation of cancer, Dr. Oded Foreman, a forensic pathologist, also reviewed the studies at the AP's request. At first he was skeptical, suggesting that chemicals administered in some of the studies could have caused the cancers and skewed the results. But he took a different view after seeing that control mice, which received no chemicals, also developed the cancers. "That might be a little hint that something real is happening here," he said.

--"The transponders were the cause of the tumors," said Keith Johnson, a retired toxicologic pathologist, explaining in a phone interview the findings of a 1996 study he led at the Dow Chemical Company in Midland, Michigan.

What Can We Do?

1. Check your microchipped cat or other pet regularly for swelling or lumps, especially around the injection site. If owners or veterinarians find anything abnormal in that area or any other (as the chips may migrate), an x-ray or biopsy should be performed.

2. Dr. Albrecht also suggests pet owners help her volunteer to educate and contact animal advocacy and animal rights groups as well as veterinarian organizations by taking action at her AntiChips.com website. Many of these animal-loving groups endorsed microchipping pets without having access to the studies above. Dr. Albrecht hopes public pressure will also force Verichip Corporation, the manufacturer of the chip, to take responsibility or face a class action lawsuit.

3. Report any incidences of pets who have died of cancer or animals who have been cured of cancer to Dr. Albrecht at AntiChips.com, especially if is known or suspected that the tumor is or was linked to a microchip. This will help further document proof of the cancer and stop microchipping.

About the Author:Marika Ray, researcher and writer at Natural Cat Lovers (http://www.naturalcatlovers.com/index-html), makes it easy to learn nature's simple healing secrets from top veterinarians and cat experts. Get a free subscription to tips about natural cat health care. Okay to post, just use name and website.

Fleas and Your Cat or Kitten

Fleas and Your Cat or Kitten

If your cat is allowed outside, chances are it’s going to bring fleas into your home. Most indoor cats will not have this problem.

Your first course of action should be to treat your yard. Bring in all pets and spray the yard with an insecticide to kill fleas, flea larvae and ticks. Next, you will need to treat your carpet and your furniture. Fleas will burrow into carpet as well as your seat cushions, slipcovers and bedding.

Begin by vacuuming your carpet and your furniture. Be sure to get all cracks, crevices and corners of the room. You will also want to use a powder, spray or fogger in your home as well. Powders are used on carpet and you simply shake and vacuum them back up. They can penetrate down into the matting to kill the fleas.

Sprays are short-term flea control. They kill adult fleas, but not the eggs. Foggers can be difficult to use because you have to leave your home for several hours and keep your pets out as well. You also have to be sure that they don’t get on food or appliances used to cook and prepare food.

After your home flea free, you will want to prevent any further infestations. Preventing is a lot easier than getting rid of fleas and you can begin by using these products:

Flea Baths & Dips: Flea baths use a medicated shampoo that is used to treat fleas. These are good for short-term, but they wear off quickly. Flea dips are more effective and last for several weeks. Flea dips should be a last resort as they often contain heavy chemicals.

Flea Powder and Spray Treatments: Flea powders and sprays are also a short-term defense. These treatments only affect adult fleas.

Flea Collars: Flea collars are also popular. These exude a gas that fleas do not like and is absorbed into the skin of the animal. They tend to only work in the vicinity of the neck.

Flea Medications: These are a pill that keeps eggs from hatching and reproducing on the cat. These do not kill adult fleas, but stop the reproduction process.

Absorbable Medications: This is a spot medication that is applied between the shoulder blades of the cat. They spread across their skin and kills fleas for about a month. They also halt the reproduction process.

Flea Combs: This is a good method to use on kittens and you don’t want to give her any unnecessary treatments. This is a fine comb that you use to pull the fleas off of the hair and then you have to kill the fleas by dousing them in soapy water.

Deworming Your Cat

Deworming Your Cat

Just about all kittens are born with some type of worm infection. These worms are often transmitted through the mother’s milk while the kittens are still in the womb. It takes a lot to keep all cats worm free, so you will definitely need to work with your cat to keep worms down.


There are several clues that your cat might have worms:

If you find a stray cat, don’t assume that the cat is healthy. Automatically take it to the vet to be dewormed as well as have its health checked overall. Also, if your cat prowls outside and is prone to hunting, they are more susceptible to worms.

Even if your cat is predominantly an indoor cat, they will still be able to develop worms. If your cat has a heaving or retching problem that does not end in a hairball, there is a good chance that the cat has worms.

They may also vomit up worms or they may also be present in feces.
Not all veterinarian tests will show that cats have worms. Even feces tests do not always indicate worms as they worms can lie dormant in the system.

If your cats appetite changes, or if the cat develops diarrhea, you should have the cat dewormed. Some cats will also have dull fur or a potbelly. These are typically signs of worms.

There are a variety of different worms and they affect the body in different way. There are several over the counter worm medications that you can give to your cat in its food or as a pill.

Worm your cat on an "as needed" basis or whenever you see your cat getting in a wormy situation.