Animal Care Products for People: Yay or Neigh?
Using horse shampoo or other products designed for animals may seem a bit strange, but according to some pet-care industry experts, there's a growing trend of consumers doing just that.
W.F. Young, for instance, sells an equine topical pain-relief product called Absorbine Veterinary Liniment, but company officials say that some of their human customers use it for treating their own achy muscles and joints.
"We often hear from our loyal customers that in addition to using Absorbine Veterinary Liniment on their horses, they have found that they reap the same therapeutic benefits the liniment gives their pets," said Jaime D. McKinley, corporate vice president of sales and marketing at W.F. Young. "Our customers tell us that when they apply the liniment to their horses, they feel the soothing, warm sensation on their own hands and it feels great."
Horse products aren't the only ones making it out of the barn and into Americans' bathrooms and medicine cabinets.
Creams made for moisturizing cows' udders are used by some people to moisturize their hands, while certain balms designed for soothing animals' cuts and skin abrasions have also proved popular in recent years.
Such products are popular enough, in fact, to be sold at many major retail chains.
CVS, for instance, sells a cow ointment product in its skin-care section, as well as a shampoo initially developed for horses. And W.F. Young's Absorbine Jr., a pain-relieving liniment made specifically for humans but similar to veterinary Absorbine, is also sold at CVS locations as well as Rite Aid and Brooks Eckerd stores.
So why might people use animal care products on themselves? At least in regards to Absorbine, perhaps it's a question of commonality.
"Muscle pain and stiffness are conditions common to humans and animals," says McKinley. "We all need a little relief now and then."
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