pet connection

A cat in Iowa contracted the H1N1 influenza virus — the so-called “swine flu” — from his stricken family members. This is the first confirmed feline case of the disease, previously thought to affect only humans, birds and pigs.

There has also been a confirmed case in at least one ferret. While the ferret case isn’t too surprising — ferrets are notoriously susceptible to influenza viruses — the cat’s illness is causing concern among veterinarians and cat owners.

The American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) sent out a letter to its member veterinarians an hour and a half ago, informing them of the feline case. They also posted a public announcement on their website:

A cat in Iowa has tested positive for the 2009 H1N1 influenza virus, state officials confirmed this morning, marking the first time a cat has been diagnosed with this strain of influenza.

The cat, which has recovered, is believed to have caught the virus from someone in the household who was sick with H1N1. There are no indications that the cat passed the virus on to any other animals or people.

Prior to this diagnosis, the 2009 H1N1 influenza virus had been found in humans, pigs, birds and ferrets.

The American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) and the American Association of Feline Practitioners (AAFP) are reminding pet owners that some viruses can pass between people and animals, so this was not an altogether unexpected event. Pet owners should monitor their pets’ health very closely, no matter what type of animal, and visit a veterinarian if there are any signs of illness.

The AVMA is actively tracking all instances of H1N1 in animals and posting updates on our Web site at www.avma.org/public_health/influenza/new_virus.

Pet Connection’s Dr. Tony Johnson acknowledges the concern that many people may feel about this, but asks them not to over-react. “The humans who gave the virus to their cat, and the cat, all recovered,” he said. “And there is no evidence H1N1 goes from cats to people; it was the other way around.”

I asked him why, if a virus can be passed from humans to cats, we shouldn’t be worried it can pass the other way, too.

“The answer is, we don’t know for sure,” he told me. “But sometimes a virus can make a host sick, but not reproduce and become infectious in that host. So far there is no evidence that this virus can be passed from cats to humans, although that doesn’t mean it can’t.”

The bottom line: “Think about this critically, and don’t make knee-jerk reactions,” he said. “Common sense and a cool head are better than flipping out and putting your cat out with the garbage.”

The AVMA said that owners who have the flu should try to avoid close contact with their cats. If your cat shows signs of respiratory illness, seek immediate veterinary care.

We’ll update as more information is available.

We promised you details about Thursday’s edition of “The Dr. Oz Show,” and here they are. Check your local listings for channel and time.

Our Dr. Marty Becker is a member of Core Team Oz, and on Thursday America’s Veterinarian  and Dr. Oz are sharing information about the diseases your pet has that you can get. They’ll let you know who is most at risk  — the very young or very old, along with the immunosuppressed.

Rather than just talk about the scary stuff that could happen, they’ll offer  preventive solutions that go beyond washing your hands and using a pooper scooper. Did you know that MRSA (methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus) is eight times more likely to occur in homes with cats, and that it can ping-pong back and forth between pets and people? They’ll talk about why that happens. They’ll also provide information about why you shouldn’t let your pet lick you in the mouth (no matter how much fun it is for both of you), why parasite control for the four-footers benefits our health, and skin infections (ringworm anyone?).

And for those of us who forget to do poop patrol at least every other day (we know who we are) Dr. Becker will remind us why that’s important.

Both doctors have a simple solution: Get rid of the risk and keep the pet! We know that the health benefits of having a pet far outweigh the risks.

On Dec. 3, Dr. Becker will be back for another visit to Oz, taping a segment on what to do in a pet health emergency. Pet Connection blogger and Purdue U  vet school emergency and critical care expert Dr. Tony Johnson provided the background to make sure only the latest and greatest information is offered.

We’ll let you know when the next can’t-miss segment will air!

Cats enjoy a good scratch, so help them get one. That’s the message from Dr. Marty Becker and Gina Spadafori
in this week’s Pet Connection feature:

We don’t like declawing, and we don’t recommend it as a first reaction to any behavior problems in cats.

That said, we understand how in some cases it’s a cat’s last chance to stay in a good home rather than face uncertain prospects at a shelter. And we know, too, that a well-done veterinary declawing with full pain control is no worse in the short-term than many other surgeries. But we still don’t recommend it as anything except a last-chance alternative to losing a good home. In other words: It shouldn’t be a preventive or immediately reactive approach to a behavior problem that can be dealt with in other ways.

That’s because scratching is a natural and satisfying behavior for cats. It provides a good stretch, marks territory and keeps the claws in good shape. If at all possible, we’d rather a cat be allowed to be a cat in all ways, and that includes enjoying the pleasures of scratching.

More on cat scratching and declawing here.

Dr. Becker and Mikkel Becker Shannon report on the high cost of service dogs:

Care for therapy and service dogs can be pricey. Trained service costs range from $5,000 to $50,000, with some organizations donating dogs free of charge to those who need them, although the waiting list is usually long. Regardless of how the dog is acquired, the patient has the responsibility of keeping the dog fed, groomed and healthy. An average yearly food and routine veterinary bill is $1,500, according to Canine Companions for Independence — and of course any health problems beyond routine care can increase the veterinary bills considerably. The high costs associated with service animals present a real challenge to many of those who rely on them, since 70 percent of disabled people are unemployed.

Want more? Read the entire Pet Connection for this week, or download the PDF file exactly the way we send it to our client newspapers!

In an epic example of missing the point, Wysong pet food company has updated its recall information to include the following Q&A (h/t to reader Sandi Shaw):

I am seeing many bad and scary comments on the Internet. Who am I to believe?

The Internet provides a means for anyone to say anything without regard to merit. We have provided the facts with regard to this incident. We are the only ones who know them.

Is that not totally awesome? I mean, how many companies really are willing to come right out and say something like that?

It seems Wysong took exception to some earlier internet reporting (including, apparently, ours) about its handling of the recall and what some saw as inadequate efforts to notify those who might have purchased the affected foods. And just who was the authority the company invoked to demonstrate it had handled the matter with the highest standard of responsiveness?

The FDA.

No, really:

We did all we could think of to do as fast as we could. This includes contacting the FDA. After days of review by them at our corporate and manufacturing sites, they advised that we could not have reasonably done more than we did. The matter was of small enough consequence that we have even been told by the FDA that a news release is not necessary.

Yes, the villains of the pet food recall themselves, whose efforts to track sick and dead pets were called out in Congress as a national disgrace, who completely failed to keep melamine and related compounds out of the human food chain, who still don’t inspect imported foods even after the seemingly unending series of contamination incidents involving human foods and drugs as well as pet food.

Let me be blunt here. The fact that processed foods can become contaminated is not exactly breaking news. And even companies with good practices and strong quality assurance systems can have problems. In fact, sometimes food we make ourselves at home spoils or becomes contaminated. That’s not the issue here.

The issue is transparency. The issue is rapid and effective corporate communication and good citizenship. The issue is protecting your customers. It’s an issue that’s bigger than the pet food industry — in fact, it’s bigger than industry itself, as it applies to corporations, government, and all kinds of communities.

Do you have a problem? Did something, big or small, go wrong? Be honest. Be fast. Be open. When things go wrong, stand up and make them right. That’s what sets the great institutions apart from the rest.

Whining that bloggers are mean? We call that FAIL.

From my column this week on the San Francisco Chronicle’s SFGate.com:

Which is a greater threat to your pets at Halloween: ritual satanic sacrifice, or your kids’ trick or treat bag?

Yes, it’s that time of year when the flood of cult cat sacrifice stories start piling up in the inbox, with that breathless “forward this to everyone you know!” tag line. (Note to my readers: Pet related or not, there has never been a message that should be forwarded to everyone you know. Trust me on this.)

Which means it’s also that time of year when I wish that the people who worry about cat sacrifices would instead worry about far more common and preventable holiday threats to our pets. Like the fact that chocolate, while a wonderful and healthful food for humans, is toxic to dogs and cats. Or that the sweetener xylitol, while beneficial to human blood sugar levels and dental health, can be fatal to dogs and cats even in very small quantities.

Or the biggest threat of all, the way that superstition and prejudice about black cats stops a lot of people from adopting them, any time of year:

While tales of cult sacrifice are the stuff of urban legend, and there is no evidence at all to support them — check out the myth-busters at Snopes.com if you don’t believe me — cats, especially black ones, might be “borrowed” to provide atmosphere at someone’s haunted house or holiday party, or become the victims of Halloween pranks.

Concern over this issue is why it was once fairly common for shelters to ban black cat adoptions around Halloween. Today, shelter directors realize that homelessness is a far greater threat to black cats than Halloween is, and the practice is on the decline. I called several Bay Area shelters, and none restricted black cat adoptions in October.

“We have no special policy or restrictions on Halloween black cat adoptions,” said Bobbe Bartlett, development director for Tony La Russa’s Animal Rescue Foundation in Walnut Creek. “Our regular screening procedures are enough to provide safeguards for the cats we adopt.”

“So many cats need homes, particularly the black ones who are often stuck in shelters the longest, that the whole idea of banning their adoption strikes me as ridiculous,” said Scott Delucchi, senior vice-president of communications for the Peninsula Humane Society. “Our mission is to get cats into homes, so we’d be more likely to do a Halloween promotion than a ban.”

Here’s the rest.

And why yes, this was pretty much just an excuse to use those two fantabulous Halloween photos. Diesel the devilishly handsome Pharaoh Hound is owned and photographed by the amazingly talented Renee Needham, who posts her work on DogHobbyist.com. Timmy the Halloween kitty is owned by photographer Julie Olsen, who I discovered on Flickr.