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[matildamouse]

  Had to take my cat back to the vet within the last 2 weeks with blood in the stools, not eating and swollen genitalia. In between she was in a cattery while we went away and was OK there. Two days back in the company of her menopausal owner she fell ill again. I had a light bulb moment and bounced it off the vet who confirmed my suspicion. As I rub the gel in my arms she gets exposed to that when I pick her up or when she is on my bed etc.
It is toxic to them and they can become very very ill.

I feel so bad about me being the reason she is so ill and plan to change my script to troches or oral estrogen or a patch.

[Taz2]

Thanks for the reminder matildamouse. I as hoping that this sort of information would have been included in the accompanying patient leaflets. Maybe we need to ask the manufacturers? http://news.vin.com/VINNews.aspx?articleId=15950

Taz x

[Cassie]

Poor Kitty....perhaps just a good idea to let it dry, I find mine gets absorbed so quickly but I rub it on the length of my leg either thigh area or calf, so once again perhaps a good idea to apply it there and not inner arms....all the best.

[Machair]

Thank you for that very important information that I have passed onto my daughter who is a vet. I will ask her if she has seen a case of this before. I have 3 Persian cats, so if I ever have this I will always remember your experiences as I am sure many will do. I guess it will apply to dogs as well.

[CLKD]

  ……. not only pets then but human babies too?

How's puss 2-day?

[Mary G]

Thanks for that.  We have a dog and she sleeps in her bed in the corner of our bedroom but luckily, she usually goes to bed before us and before I apply my gel.  Now you have told us this, I will always be extra careful not to go near her "corner" until the gel has dried although I do always wash my hands thoroughly after applying it. 

[Briony]

Thanks so much for telling me this. I knew lilies and the well known hair re-growth product could both be dangerous, but never considered gel.     

[Hurdity]

Thanks for posting this matildamouse - that's a good reason for applying the gel to your inner thighs rather than your arms.

In fact the information in the product leaflet say that skin to skin contact should be avoided for one hour after absorption. This is from the Summary of Product Characteristics. Look in Section 4.2:

"The gel should be applied by the patient herself, not by anyone else, and skin contact, particularly with a male partner, should be avoided for one hour after application. Washing the skin or contact with other skin products should be avoided until at least one hour after application of Oestrogel."

https://www.medicines.org.uk/emc/medicine/19898

This from the drugs website - two different places:

"Children should avoid coming into contact with skin areas where you have applied Estrogel. Topical estradiol is absorbed through the skin and can cause side effects in a child who comes into contact with this medicine or with skin where Estrogel was applied."

"Children should avoid coming into contact with skin areas where you have applied Estrogel. Topical estradiol is absorbed through the skin and can cause premature puberty in a child who comes into contact with this medicine or with skin where the medicine was applied. Cover treated areas with clothing to protect others from coming into contact with the skin where you apply this medicine".

http://www.drugs.com/estrogel.html

There is also this paper (only the abstract is available) - I've just extracted the relevant bits:

" Absorption, bioavailability, and partner transfer of estradiol from a topical emulsion.
Objective : To investigate the systemic absorption of estradiol in partners of postmenopausal women after making skin-to-skin contact with the application sites of estradiol topical emulsion.

Intervention: Women applied 1.74 g/day of estradiol topical emulsion (containing 2.5 mg estradiol/g) to each leg on 2 consecutive days. Their male partners were exposed to the application sites by mean of vigorous skin-to-skin contact at 2 and 8 hours after application.

Conclusions: Estradiol was transferred to male partners by means of vigorous skin-to-skin contact at application sites. Although the increase in postexposure levels of estradiol was statistically significant, all levels were still below the upper limit of the normal range for men (45 pg/ml)."

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18503399

The mind boggles at what "vigorous skin-to skin contact" involved 

The same will apply to contact with animals I would imagine.

Hope this helps

Hurdity x

[CLKD]

 

[matildamouse]

You are welcome ladies! PLEASE share this. I felt so so bad when I saw how she was suffering!

Wow Hurdity, I totally forgot my poor hubby will get exposed as well as we like to "spoon" at night. So much more reason to ask for a different administration route.

And children can have premature puberty! THis is shocking. I am wondering whether it will be progesterone and other hormonal creams as well? Must be....?

[Hurdity]

Sorry matildamouse I didn't mean to sound alarming. Re the partner transfer - I think the point of that paper is saying if you have sex within a few hours of applying gel then there could be a small amount of transfer eg from inner thigh - but the paper said the amount is not thought to be sufficient to be a problem. If it was a serious concern there would be something about this in the patient information leaflet which there isn't. I just found it and it seemed interesting and relevant!

I think most women apply gel in the morning anyway (maybe wrong here?) - I certainly do with my testosterone gel (I don't think my husband would object to an extra bit of this anyway  )

However the most important point about any skin to skin contact within an hour is mentioned so this is the bit to take note of.

Progesterone won't matter as this is not the main sex hormone that makes us male or female - it can't do any harm I wouldn't have thought but obviously as with anything like this it is sensible to avoid skin to skin contact for a while after application.

Hurdity x

[sheila99]

Bump as pet contact with gel/spray on skin has been mentioned in another post, the consequences don't seem to be common knowledge. I believe losing fur is another symptom.

[MrsMitch]

Thank you, Sheila. My dog loves to lol on me & gets in bed with us for a cuddle pre sleep time on his bed. He's had 2 boughts of sickness of diaherra in the last 2 weeks & the vet cannot find a cause. I apply my gel before bed. I'm wondering now & I'm horrified that I may be the cause.