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Speak Out
Be careful with your rodent pets' health
I provided a succession of hamsters with well-ventilated, spacious cages they enjoyed climbing, treadmills, wholesome food, regular cage cleanings and frequent out-of-cage time. Nevertheless, they all died far short of normal life span.
After adopting two mice, I learned about the pine shavings I had used for the hamsters' bedding. Softwood shavings, particularly cedar and pine, have been linked to respiratory, liver and skin diseases in animals constantly exposed to them. Veterinarians have confirmed this.
Initially, you notice nothing unusual. Later on, it never crosses your mind that the animals' illnesses or deaths could be related to traditional beddings. But autopsies have revealed afflictions associated with softwood exposure. People report improvement in animals' conditions after switching to other bedding. One study found that when given free choice animals reject softwood shavings in favor of other types of beddings.
Most animal research laboratories-even though they often do horrible things to animals-avoid softwood (their toxic qualities would offset the findings of other toxicity tests). But people devoted to their pets are largely uninformed.
Studies have found that people in the woodworking industry who are exposed to softwood dust have higher than usual incidences of squamous cell cancers of the respiratory tract. Softwood shavings can aggravate other human respiratory ailments or allergies.
My mice are doing well with a nontoxic bedding made from reclaimed wood pulp waste. They also like soft tissue paper. Other safe beddings include those made from pressed paper pellets, alfalfa, grain by-products, aspen, straw, or recycled newspaper printed with soy ink (regular print can be harmful. Corncob bedding is nontoxic, but there have been cases of smaller animals choking on the pieces.
Joel Freedman
Canandaigua, N.Y.
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Campbell, California
