The World Homeopathy Day is celebrated on 10th April every year to honour the birthday of the creator of Homeopathy Dr Christian Friedrich Samuel Hahnemann (1755–1843).

Homeopathic pills are pure sugar, whereas powders contain lactose (sugar derived from milk). Both pills and powders can contain animal ingredients but the percentage would be tiny. Most substances used are in minute quantities, e.g. a single cockroach makes millions of bottles of potencies. Insects are harmed far more than bigger animals whose blood or milk is generally utilised.

Homeopathy works on the principle that less is more, and X, C and M are Roman numerals. The number that precedes them indicates the potency or number of times the product has been diluted. Therefore X means that the substance has been diluted 10 times, C 100 times, and M 1000 times. In short, the higher the potency, the lesser is the amount of the substance in the product and is considered stronger and deeper-acting.

Below is not an exhaustive list of animal derived substances. New remedies are developed every year using blood, feathers, milk, and so on. As remedies are not prescribed for specific ailments but on the basis of the patient as a whole, medicinal uses of products can vary and have therefore not been listed.