bless you, little guy!

*~*I received an email alert this week from the SCVMA that stated a 13yo cat in Iowa had tested positive for H1N1, otherwise known as (gasp!) Swine Flu. It went on to say that the cat had become ill after 2 HUMAN family members had also been sick. All 3 recovered.
People who are sick with the flu may not only spread it to other people but to some animals too! *~*A germ responsible for an infectious disease that was previously linked between humans has now been linked to animals, says the NY Times (9/21/09)! MRSA is a serious drug-resistant illness (also referred to as “Staph”) that is common in healthcare settings and hospitals. The disease has been seen to “flip back and forth” between species. One of the first known cases of it in the canine world was over 5yrs ago in therapy dogs working in healthcare facilities.

In a study this summer in The American Journal of Infection Control, Elizabeth A. Scott and her colleagues at the Center for Hygiene and Health in Home and Community at Simmons College in Boston swabbed household surfaces like kitchen and bathtub drains, faucet handles, toilets, high chairs, trash cans and kitchen sponges at 35 randomly selected addresses to see what germs they would find. They found MRSA in nearly half of the homes they sampled.
When they tried to figure out what might make it more likely to have the bacteria at home, they ruled out many supposed risk factors, including working out at a gym, having children who attended day care, having a recent infection or recent antibiotic use, and even working in a health care facility.
The one variable that overwhelmingly predicted the presence of the germ was the presence of a cat. Cat owners were eight times more likely than others to have MRSA at home.
J. Scott Weese, a veterinary internist and microbiologist at the University of Guelph in Ontario, believes MRSA infections transmitted between people and animals are relatively rare.
His tests of randomly selected dogs, for example, have shown that at any given time only 2 to 3 percent carry MRSA on their fur or skin or in their saliva. And even if a pet becomes colonized, meaning that the bacteria take up residence and reproduce, veterinarians say most healthy animals should be rid of it in a matter of weeks.
For protection, Dr. Oehler recommends hand washing or using hand gels before and after playing with a pet, not letting a pet lick people around the face, and not washing pet food or water bowls in the same sink that food is prepared.
People should also wear gloves when attending to pets that have open wounds, he said, and should keep any of their own broken skin bandaged.
“If you think about the individuals with whom you have the closest contact in terms of duration, intensity, intimacy, in most people, it’s going to be the spouse, then small children, then pets,??? Dr. Weese said. “For some people, pets are No. 1 on the list.???

*~*Another article stated that you are more likely to transfer germs to/from your pet from NOT WASHING YOUR HANDS than by sleeping with your pet.

*~*It just goes without saying that frequent hand washing, covering your mouth and nose during coughs & sneezes, and minimizing contact with other people and animals when you’re sick is paramount. But I know from first-hand observation in public over the most recent few days, that people are NOT doing the first two abovementioned items…

There is no excuse especially during this season.

*~* Reverse sneezing. If your dog has it, you know it. Or at least, you’ve heard it. It sounds like a cross between rapid gasps for breath and a donkey braying. It is otherwise referred to as “mechanosensitive aspiration reflex” and actually is a common, and usually benign, phenomenon in dogs. My dog has it!

If the noise is associated with multiple episodes per day, sudden lethargy, decrease in appetite, facial deformities and/or heavy, perhaps thick, nasal discharge it could signal a problem needing immediate medical attention, though.