Vonnies Health Spot

LOVE YOUR KITTY, LOVE HER E. COLI … EUWWW!

When I was a kid and had cats and dogs around the house, my mother was always reluctant to let them inside. The inveterate animal lover that I have been, even from the cradle, wanted all my pets indoors at night so there was a nightly, emotional tug-of-war about whether my pets could come in or not. I could never understand my mother’s resistance. She would say, “Animals are dirty. They make the house dirty.” In my child’s perception of things, I didn’t see that at all. It seemed like a very weak excuse to me, just to make us all miserable. (Strangely, in her later years, my mother has done an about-face and has quite a few pets that she treats like her children, to my delight and amusement.)

Anyway, my mother’s legacy lives on, in a watered-down way, in me. I still make sure that my animals are inside, safe, warm and cozy at night. But one of the first things my new kittens learn is that the kitchen table and counter tops are definitely off-limits. So are the bathroom counter tops. All other spaces are permitted as long as they don’t start clawing. What the little cuties do when I’m not at home is a whole other matter.

Now a report in the Journal of Infectious Disease (Vol. 197, No. 2), vindicates my mother somewhat. The report titled “Escherichia coli Colonization Patterns Among Human Household Members and Pets, With Attention to Acute Urinary Tract Infection” says that our systems have the ability to clone the bacteria that is spread when kitty explores the higher reaches of your kitchen, carrying on her dainty paws the residue of her latest visit to her litter box.

The study’s subjects were human volunteers, recruited from the staff and visitors at a Minneapolis Veteran’s Administration hospital, and their pets — 48 dogs and 25 cats. Not every fecal sample from people and pets had the so-called extra-intestinal pathogenic E. coli, and even fewer people had acute urinary tract infections during the study.

But in households where people and pets all had E. coli, the bacteria were genetic clones of one another. That meant the person had given the bug to the cat or vice versa. In some cases, researchers said, the animal might have been an intermediate host between two infected humans. They said in conclusion: “Within-household sharing of E. coli … is common and can involve any combination of humans and pets.”

Granted, the study was small and we don’t know how well controls were instituted, but I’m including it in my blog as a cautionary tale, and I suggest that it might be a good idea to make sure your table and counter tops are cleaned with a sanitizer of some kind before preparing each meal. Also be fastidious about washing your hands after cleaning the litter box.

And if our little furry friends could read medical literature, I’m sure they would do the same for our germs.

Take a look at www.catwatchnewsletter.com for more information.

TRANS-SPECIES PSYCHOLOGY BREAKS DOWN BARRIERS FOR UNDERSTANDING THOSE WITH WHOM WE SHARE THIS PLANET

On March 26, 2008, I began writing on a topic that, while near and dear to my heart, has been hard for me to write about. (See Can Human Evolution Be Measured by How We Treat Animals?) The way some humans have historically treated animals is beyond the pale. For those of us who view animals as extensions of ourselves, the pain elicited when we read or hear about horrible crimes perpetrated against our animal kin is almost more than we can bear. I’m usually drained by the time I finish my research because the stories I read are so heartrending. But the bottom line, once I plow through the bad stuff? There is hope shining on the horizon.

TRANS-SPECIES PSYCHOLOGY
This new hope lies in trans-species psychology, which is a part of a new area of science committed to the idea that animals have minds of their own just like we do. It marks a formal turning point in what we know and, even more significantly, what we do. This new discipline erases the conceptual walls that have held humans apart from other species. Our differences are more like those we might see between human cultures. How each culture eats, lives, mourns, celebrates and works may be somewhat different, but at the end of the day we all have the same feelings inside: joy, sadness, grief, pride, love.

Author Gary Kowalski writes in The Souls of Animals: “Animals are not our property or chattel, therefore, but our peers and fellow travelers. Like us, they have their own likes and dislikes, fears and fixations. They have plans and purposes as important to them as our plans are to us. Animals not only have biologies; they also have biographies. We can appreciate the lives of animals, but not appropriate them, for they have their own lives to lead.”

In Best Friends magazine, November/December 2007 issue, authors Gay Bradshaw and Lori Marino go on to say, “Equality in mind and heart means equality in how we live. If we are serious about our kinship with other beings, we must adopt nothing less than the Golden Rule in our dealings with them. This sounds simple but it has profound implications for everyday life. For instance, current laws affecting humans and animals reveal a wealth of inconsistencies. Kidnapping a baby elephant, beating her as part of circus training and making her live a lifetime alone in chains is routine and legal.

“Killing an animal is not only permissible but also part of everyday culture. Deer, elk, bear, cougars, ducks, turkeys and other wildlife are routinely killed, as are countless cows, pigs, chickens and fish. And with few exceptions, killing a dog or cat does not count as a serious crime. In all these cases, were the victim human, it would be called murder. Acknowledging that animals have minds and feelings like us compels a radical change in laws to make what we know about other animals consistent with how we treat other animals.

“Trans-species psychology also affects how research and education are conducted. Middle and high schools regularly us frogs and cats in biology classes. For centuries, animals have been used as research tools because they resemble humans so closely. Yet, to perform such experiments on humans is considered unethical and is not allowed.

“Trans-species psychology rejects this double standard. It calls for a science that serves humans and other animals alike without make one suffer at the hands of the other.

“A new science also raises new questions. For example, much research is devoted to investigating how and why so many species — whales, birds, fish — are going extinct, and how to conserve them. But little attention is given to the most obvious problem; human behavior. Stanford biologist Paul Ehrlich has been making this point for years. Finding solutions to human overpopulation and consumerism are politically uncomfortable subjects. As a result, conservation hasn’t stopped the landslide of extinctions.

“Now that we know animals have the same attributes that have permitted people to dominate other species, a new egalitarian, trans-species ethic is emerging. Instead of demanding that animals continue to change their lives to suit people, humans are asked to take responsibility for changing how they live, and science is charged with helping people to do this.”

A case that occurred recently in Ventura, California, comes to mind. Bob, a 40-pound African spurred tortoise, was kidnapped from the back yard of the home he shared with the Sullivans and their young autistic son. Bob was later found near death with his legs and necked slashed and a hole in his shell. He was rushed to a hospital and after a long, arduous recovery, eventually returned home. The perpetrator of this crime, an 18-year-old named Jose Antonio Mosqueda was apprehended and after a long trial ultimately received five years’ probation.

During the trial, the Sullivans received phone threats against their own lives and those of their pets, telling them to “drop all charges or their little brown dog would be next,” and then their miniature dachshund, Flapps was murdered. If Bob and Flapps had been humans, the case would have been considered much more serious and the criminals would have been hunted down and would have received lengthy sentences. As it was, nobody was caught for the murder of Flapps and Mosqueda gets off with a fine, a 270-day sentence commuted by time served awaiting trial and only five years probation for torture and attempted murder! The Sullivan family will never be the same. The Sullivans live in an embattled atmosphere, bringing Bob and the other pets inside each night. Their son William, a 7-year-old autistic who prefers to speak only to the animals, has been severely traumatized.

In another instance, I have trouble reconciling the dichotomy of the heritage of the minister of a church I know who has studied theology and languages and will soon be receiving his doctorate, but who comes from a family that still enjoys hunting and who is teaching his 10-year-old son to hunt. This man is obviously a humanitarian, highly educated and feels a mission to  improve the world he inhabits, yet he sees nothing wrong in sending his young son out into the forest with a rifle!

Killing animals is murder, pure and simple.

For more information check out the following sites: www.animalliberationfront.com

www.bestfriends.org

www.kerulos.org

www.theoceanproject.org/actfordolphins

www.kittenrescue.org

www.aspca.org

www.ispca.org 

CAN HUMAN EVOLUTION BE MEASURED BY HOW WE TREAT ANIMALS?

Love all living creatures.

If it could ever be said that I have a motto, that would be it. And I often find it easier to love the beings we call animals than I do those of my own species. To answer the question that the title of this post asks: In my opinion, there is but one, very simple answer … YES!

Over the ages, homo sapiens, the most predatory creatures on earth, have slaughtered other animals for their meat, hide, feathers, bones, tusks and even precious gems in the form of pearls. (In order to stay on track with this article, I won’t even touch on the tortures and murders we perpetrate on our own species.) When our species finally stood upright and began to develop a larger brain, the power of speech and tool-making concepts, we left other species behind as far as intellect is concerned. Yet there is a profound, more visceral understanding that runs deeper than the higher brain, the brain responsible for building the pyramids, designing early ships that sailed the ocean, or engineering wood and vine bridges spanning great chasms.

This intuitive reverence for life brought home to us more obviously in some cultures than in others … witness the Tao or the Native American belief systems or Wicca, just to mention a few … is now being brought into the realm of science through a discipline called trans-species psychology, which is gaining momentum as I write this.

In Best Friends magazine. November/December 2007, an article titled “Minds of Their Own” written by Gay Bradshaw and Lori Marino tells this story: “Seemingly out of the blue, three teenagers went on a killing spree, in a community that never seen that kind of violence. But only a few years earlier, the young killers had witnessed the massacre of their families.

“In another case, a psychologist is asked to visit a 31-year-old female in a halfway house who has had a nervous breakdown. Before coming to live there, she was held prisoner, isolated and subjected to experiments by her captors for nearly a decade. Her symptoms classically fit the diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

“At another facility, a social worker visits an infant who cries inconsolably for his absent mother. The distressed infant is a victim of genocide, one of the few survivors of a mass killing that occurred only a few days before, in which his mother and most other family members were brutally slaughtered.”

These are not isolated incidents. These stories are common to animal-care workers throughout the world. The teenage killers were young bull elephants, the entity suffering the breakdown was a chimpanzee, and the crying infant was a dolphin. Bradshaw and Marino ask, “Are these descriptions anthropomorphic exaggerations, dramatizing animal lives with the language of human experience?"

They answer their own question, "Only a few years back, the answer might have been yes. But today, a bounty of scientific discoveries has erased many (some argue all) of the differences that have seemed to separate humans from everyone else. Whales have culture, apes have a sense of art and aesthetics, elephants mourn their departed loved ones, snakes play, and the list goes on.”

“Trans-species psychology is part of a new area of science committed to the idea that animals have minds of their own just like we do. It marks a formal turning point in what we know and, even more significantly, what we do,” say the authors.

As I write this post, my heart aches and my eyes fill with tears of shame and sorrow. It is one of the most difficult posts I have ever written. I’m thrilled that the new discipline is emerging … and not a moment too soon, I might add. I do what I can to aid the little creatures who have come into my care. And I donate a dollar here and a dollar there to various animal rights organizations. But I’m only one person. I hope that those of you who read this will join with me in this very important quest. I believe our own survival as a species is tied in with how we treat other species. ... So far our track record has been very poor.

I will be writing more on this subject in my next post, slated for March 28, 2008.

A SIMPLE WAY TO PROTECT YOURSELF FROM INFECTION

I guess by now most of you have heard media reports about MRSA (or methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus) infection being on the rise; some people still refer to it as a “staph infection.” About 10 to 15 years ago a strain emerged that has been dubbed community-associated MRSA (CA-MRSA). The organism is one that rapidly evolves, outwitting most antibiotics, (Vanomycin is one of the few left that is still effective against hospital strains).

About 30 percent of the population are carriers. That means healthy people harbor colonies of the staph bacteria on their skin and around their noses, yet suffer no ill effects. They can pass the germ on to others, however, who may not have as high an immunity level. Staph bacteria are usually harmless unless they enter the body through a cut or other wound, and even then in healthy people they usually cause only minor infections. But in the population with compromised immune systems, such as older adults, those who are HIV positive, or people on various kinds of immuno-suppressants, MRSA or CA-MRSA can cause serious skin and soft tissue infections and a serious form of pneumonia. By the way, the combination of flu and pneumonia is the eighth-leading cause of death in the USA.

With cold and flu season rapidly approaching [colds and flus are caused by viruses, which lower our immunity and make us more vulnerable to staph and other infectious bacteria], one simple thing that many of us can do to protect ourselves and others is to frequently wash hands or disinfect them with alcohol gels. Studies have shown that despite the proven health benefits of hand washing, many people still don’t practice this habit, even after they use the toilet. You can pick up germs by touching anything that is accessed by the public at large, door handles, gasoline pumps, counter tops, pens, key pads on ATMs, etc.

The Mayo Clinic recommends the following as the proper method of hand washing with soap and water. By the way, you don’t need antibacterial soap; it’s been proven that it is no more effective than regular soap, and its use actually may lead to resistant strains as well.
*Wet your hands with warm, running water and apply liquid soap or use clean bar soap [in my opinion liquid soap is safer]. Lather well.
*Rub your hands together vigorously for at lest 15 to 20 seconds. [I’ve found that singing the Happy Birthday song at a normal tempo is just about the right timing.]
*Scrub all surfaces, including the backs of your hands, wrists, between your fingers and under your fingernails.
*Rinse well.
*Dry your hands with a clean or disposable towel.
*Use a towel to turn off the faucet.

Sometimes you may not have access to soap and water and that’s when alcohol-based sanitizers come in handy. They are also easier on skin than frequent washing because they contain softeners. Just make sure you’re using a sanitizer that contains at least 60 percent alcohol. Following is the proper technique for using sanitizers:
*Apply about ½ teaspoon to the palm of your hand.
*Rub your hands together, covering all surfaces including your wrists, until they’re dry.
*Teach your children to wait until the alcohol evaporates before they touch anything. (Little ones are often in a hurry.)

To help protect your children and the rest of your family from frequent infections, teach them to wash their hands often and set a good example for them by doing so yourself.

Always clean your hands:
*When they have any visible dirt
* When using public restrooms, such as those in airports, train stations, bus stations and restaurants
*After using the toilet
*After changing a diaper—wash the diaper-wearer’s hands, too
*Before and after touching a sick or injured person
*Before and after treating wounds or cuts
*After touching animals or animal waste
*Before and after preparing food, especially before and immediately after handling raw meat, poultry or fish
*Before eating
*After handling garbage
*After blowing your nose
*After coughing or sneezing into your hands
*Before inserting or removing contact lenses

For more information, click on www.mayoclinic.com/health/hand-washing/HQ00407.

________________________________________________________ Disclaimer: The purpose of this weblog is not to dispense medical advice nor in any way is meant to be construed as prescriptive. Always check with your physician before beginning any new program or trying any of the items discussed in the posts that appear on this site.

PETS ENHANCE THE QUALITY OF OUR LIVES, SO LET'S RETURN THE FAVOR

By now I'm sure we've all been exposed to the information that keeping pets is good for human health. Besides just plain making us feel good, stroking a soft, furry little friend has measurable benefits on blood pressure, heart rate, endorphins and so forth. But keeping a pet also carries with it some responsibility. They have to be fed, cleaned up after, socialized, and provided for in many other ways as well. The Humane Society of the United States works hard to end animal neglect, cruelty and abuse, encouraging people to take the following steps:

• Make sure your pet wears an identification tag to enable it to be returned to you if lost.
• Enroll new puppies in behavioral training classes to prevent behavior problems www.petsforlife.org.
• Sometimes behavioral problems are health related. Make sure your pet has a complete medical exam at least once a year.
• Other times behavioral problems in pets come from humans lack of understanding pet psychology. Read up and educate yourself on how to keep both yourself and your pet happy. A good starter book: PetSpeak from the editors of Pets: Part of the Family, (Rodale Publishing, 2000)
• Prepare for disasters. Make sure you have a plan for your pet in the event of a hurricane, tornado, fire or flood.
• Plan for your pet's future in case something happens to you and visit www.hsus.org/petsinwills for more information.
• Learn how to avoid dog bites, and how to prevent your dog from biting by going to www.NoDogBites.org.
• Be smart and be kind by making sure your pet is spayed or neutered.

You might want to also click on www.aspca.org, www.kittenrescue.org and www.bestfriends.org.

PETS ARE GOOD MEDICINE

A little more than a year ago we lost our beloved 20-year-old cat Mollie Brown. She ultimately succumbed to kidney failure. But what a trouper she was and what a comfort to me throughout some very trying periods in my life! I know from first-hand, if anecdotal, experience how improved my life has been through caring for the many varied animals I have had the pleasure to share some time with along the way. When my boys were little, we ran a veritable rescue mission for every creature they brought home, from stray puppies and kittens to a downed baby mockingbird and even a baby possum, whose mother had been killed in a barn razing.

I began feeding a feral cat who lived at the back of my property as Mollie’ s health continued to fail. Now Miss Snickers, as we came to call her, lives on the patio and will even allow me to pet her occasionally, although she runs and hides when anyone else shows up. Lately she’s even begun to venture into the kitchen if I leave the back door open while I’m preparing her food, but the moment she detects the slightest indication of my closing the door, she scoots right back out again. So while I have accepted responsibility for her care on her terms, she is not the cuddly ball of fur that Mollie was.

But as things often happen in life, I was offered the opportunity by a friend to adopt a kitten he rescued from a slow, miserable and sure death — she was dehydrated and starving — when he found her on a Hollywood street at the tender age of about eight weeks old. He brought her to a party I attended, hoping to convince at least one out of the 50 or so revelers to adopt this tiny helpless baby. But no takers. It took me a week of being haunted by that sweet little face to decide that destiny had made the decision for me. I was the one. Spunky St. Jude (first name reflects her personality, second name is for the saint of desperate situations) has been providing me with tremendous joy from the moment I brought her home and I’m sure our association will extend and enhance the quality of both our lives.

“There are many articles out there that present pet ownership as a key to heart health, social support and long life,” says a column at the Prevent Disease.com site. http://preventdisease.com/home/tips41.shtml “In a 2003 study researchers at the State University of New York at Buffalo found that married couples who owned pets had a lower heart rate and blood pressure whether at rest or when undergoing stressful tests than those without pets. In May 2004 at a seminar in Portugal, the Federation of European Companion Animal Veterinary Surgeons emphasized the many health benefits of pet ownership.”

Listed below are some of the ways our pets keep us healthy:

• Dogs and cats, and perhaps other animals too, show us affection.
• Walking a pet “provides exercise at both ends of the leash.”
• Having a pet often promotes human contact as well when pet fanciers communicate about their charges or join various groups. For example, I was gifted a few months ago with a sulcata tortoise. I knew nothing about how to care for one, so I joined Sulcata Station. Lurking on their site has given me a great education! http://www.sulcatastation.com
• Pets provide structure for your life: You have to set out the food, visit the vet, clean the cage, empty the litter, provide play time and exercise, provide socialization and training, and so on.
• A pet will often ease tensions at family or other social gatherings by taking center stage and providing a conversational outlet.
• Dogs can be trained for useful work such as guide dogs, herding, etc.
• Even the most pampered feline can help rid the house of rodents.
• Pets have a calming effect on most people. Nursing homes now arrange for animal visits and some even keep pets on the premises. The government got involved almost 20 years ago when The National Institutes of Health conducted a workshop on the health benefits of pets and pet-facilitated therapy (PFT). The conclusion was that benefits do exist, especially for the elderly.

Check out http://www.CatChannel.com, http://www.catfancy.com, http://www.dogfancy.com and www.hsus.org. There are many others out there, all you have to do is run a search.

Disclaimer: The purpose of this weblog is not to dispense medical advice or in any way meant to be construed as prescriptive. Always check with your physician before beginning any new program or trying any of the items discussed in the posts that appear on this site.